Downfall

Introduction

Ever done something wrong after having been told not to do it? Children are not the only ones to test the limits of a command. We adults do as well. Knowing the right thing to do and doing it are two different things. We know what a yellow signal light means, but we still act as if it means to speed up. Our failure to do the right thing is not always an expression of defiance. Sometimes we forget the command. Sometimes we find better things to do which seems to preclude following the command. Sometimes we find the wrong thing more alluring and ignore the right thing. Consider the life of David. He would agree that adultery is wrong, but seeing Bathsheba resulted in his losing his focus about what was the right thing to do. It does not seem to me that at the moment of adultery that David shook his fist at God as much as he lost sight of what was really important.

Knowing what is the right thing and doing the right thing are two different things. There are times in which we have a hard time understanding why a person would do the wrong thing especially when they know what is the right thing to do. Who here hasn’t said to your child these words, “why did you do that? You knew that was wrong.” Sometimes we have a hard time putting things together.

I have even thought this (see if you have thought this too): how could the Israelites have been so slow. God appeared to them and they still did the wrong thing. I think if God appeared to me, I would do the right thing. Does that sound familiar? Or maybe the statement was made about the disciples who ran from Jesus on his betrayal night. They each had spoken with such resolve and determination not to fail Jesus on that night and yet they did. It’s easy for us to say that sin is the culprit and we would be right. Temptation causes us to think that the wrong thing is the right thing or the right thing can be set aside for a time. Perhaps if we realize that we are no different than the Israelites or the disciples at Gethsemane then maybe we can have some compassion for others who end up doing the wrong thing just like we do. Otherwise we are going to have to leave here and never violate the speed limit again.

Solomon is no different. He knows what is right and yet doesn’t do it. What we find in our text is that losing his focus displeases God tremendously. In fact, we would be safe in saying that God has definite expectations about keeping his commands especially if he takes the time and makes the effort to tell you what is right.

Enticed

Solomon is at the top of the political and financial world. He has no rivals. But he isn’t satisfied. It was not uncommon for political alliances to be made by marrying some relative of another king. He had according to verse 3, 700 wives from this arrangement. And he loved each one of them. 700 wives all of whom it appears came from other nations. Wives which God had forbidden in Exodus 34 not to marry. Solomon knew the law. He knew what God’s expectations were. As king, he would have had the law read at times. How could he ignore such an obvious command?

Added to that is that God had appeared twice to Solomon to encourage him to make sure that he held to his commands. If Solomon remained faithful to God’s commands, then God would bless him with a long life and a continuation of kings coming from Solomon’s descendants. Don’t you think that hearing these commands, promises, and consequences not once but twice would have been convincing? How could he ignore such an obvious command?

But let’s not stop here. All these wives and concubines—1000 in all—have their own gods that they want to worship. Solomon knows that a political alliance is only as strong as the happiness of the guarantee. So Solomon does what most husbands try to do and he tries to make every wife happy. Except there are 1000 of them to please. So he builds idols and worship places and begins to participate with his wives in the worship of various false gods. Solomon knew the law. The detestable gods, Chemosh and Molech were appeased and worshiped through human sacrifice. While there is no indication that Solomon engaged in or allowed human sacrifice, he allowed his wives not only to worship these gods, but encouraged such worship through the building of a place of worship for his wives.

He married foreign women. He ignored God’s commands and words of warning. He encouraged the worshiping of idols in Israel. Solomon knew the law. He knew what God required. He knew what was right, but he didn’t do it. We can excuse him for a variety of reasons. We can even feel compassion for him. We may even be able to understand Solomon based on our own lives, but God didn’t excuse him or overlook his sin.

Expectations

Notice verse 9. God is angry with Solomon. He is angry because Solomon’s heart is no longer set on God. But he is also angry because he had appeared twice to him. Not once but twice God had appeared to Solomon to encourage him to remain faithful. He had been forbidden from following other gods. God had honored Solomon. He had blessed Solomon. He had revealed himself to Solomon and yet Solomon turned his back on the Lord. So for a third time, God appears to Solomon and this time judgment is pronounced. The kingdom is going to be ripped from his hands. But not during Solomon’s lifetime will this happen. God is going to give the bulk of the kingdom to a subordinate. This is Jeroboam. Part of the kingdom, Judah with Jerusalem will remain with Solomon’s family. Rehoboam will become Solomon’s successor.

Two lessons follow. First, none of God’s commands are optional. There may be times that we think that God doesn’t really mean what he says. Or even worse he means what he says but his commands apply to others and not to me. If God appeared to me, then I would follow him, we might say. If God appears to you, then you have no excuse for not knowing the truth. That is the implication of verse 9. God appeared to Solomon twice and he expected Solomon to obey the words given. It wasn’t a matter of doing everything right, it was a matter of Solomon’s heart. He turned from wanting to obey God and his commands to listening to his wives and desiring to please them. His heart turned away from God.

Some things we have no problem understanding. “Repent and be baptized” is hard to misunderstand, but there are plenty who say baptism is not necessary. Why argue with God’s word? Do not worry about the things of this life. Yet, we find plenty of opportunities to wring our hands. God became angry with Solomon because his heart turned from him. Solomon discovered ways to ignore the commands of God in order to satisfy his personal desires. Justifying our heart will not make God any less angry.

Second, God is merciful. Solomon is allowed to finish his reign. Although he had bitterly disappointed God, God still was willing to allow him to finish his reign because of the promise he made to David. A promise made because of God’s intense love and grace was kept. Although there seems to be no indication that Solomon changed his heart, God was certainly giving him more time to make things right. I suspect that God does that for us as well.

Look at what he has promised us. “I will never leave you or forsake you.” “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.” “Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ.” We mess up. We know the right thing to do and do not choose the right thing. But God keeps his promises and allows us more opportunities to do right and to come to him. But these promises do not ignore the truth.

Here is one of God’s great promises—2 Timothy 2:12-13: “If we disown Jesus; he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot disown himself.” The point: you are here today suggesting that you have not disowned Jesus. There is still time to repent. God is merciful and gracious giving us opportunity to make sure our heart is set on him.

Follow Jesus

If you’d like to respond to this message or learn more about following Jesus, please reach out.