Solomon's Wives

Let's pray together.

Father God, we are so grateful that one greater than Solomon has come.

And so, Lord, as we look at his failings,

Father, as we look at this incident with his wives in mass idolatry,

Father, would it not serve to make us smug,

but may it serve to cling to your son even more.

Father, bless us and help us.

Teach us and change us.

Father, be glorified in this time, we pray.

Amen.

This is the last part of our series in Solomon's life.

I found it fascinating to spend these four weeks together

exploring Solomon's character.

And I think it is a definite warning

when giftedness doesn't match godliness.

And we've seen all the way through

that perhaps there are some difficulties brewing.

There are some awkward situations

where God's gifts are not necessarily employed in the right way.

And so today is the day when the wheels will finally fall off.

Where Solomon's sin finally comes to the surface.

And I think it's important as we begin to think of a word,

schadenfreude.

It's a German word, but we don't have an English equivalent.

So we use the German word.

And schadenfreude means harm joy.

It is endemic in our world that we take great delight

when we see famous people, celebrity people,

fall a long way.

Schadenfreude.

And as we study Solomon and his wives,

this is our biggest danger.

That we'll sit here and we'll almost laugh and poke fun

and feel better about ourselves on account of Solomon's fall.

But that would be to totally miss

all that we're to learn from this eerie chapter.

I remember being at school about 13,

just as that point that, you know,

boys start to grow at different rates.

And you get some boys who are 13, who are 6'2".

They've got hairy shoulders and kind of Barry White voices.

And my rugby team was quite spindly.

And our coach would always say,

the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

It was a complete lie on the rugby field.

The bigger they were, the more they hurt us.

But I think when it comes to Solomon,

we can say the bigger he is, the harder he fell.

And so we're going to read in 1 Kings 11,

the fall is catastrophic.

It is so enormous.

We're very familiar with people falling from grace.

It seems that the sports arena is particularly prone.

We all remember OJ Simpson,

this highly paid NFL star moving into a really lucrative movie career.

And then the wheels fell off.

Or Lance Armstrong,

this person who was the epitome of fighting clean

and fighting hard and persevering and bouncing back,

is then found to have taken EPO for all of his Tour de France career.

A massive fall from grace.

Who doesn't remember Tiger Woods?

The most prolific golfer ever to have lived,

whose royalties and sponsorships were bringing him

100 million pounds a year without even hitting a golf ball.

And that day that he appeared in the newspaper,

having wrapped his car around the tree,

and his marital infidelity comes to the surface.

Since then, he's not been able to hit a golf ball straight.

Or just recently, Maria Sharapova,

the highest paid female athlete ever.

And all this drug scandal that's seen her career stalled,

if not ended.

And even this week,

Oscar Pistori is the most famous para-athlete ever.

Now a man who is going to prison

and whose life is utterly broken.

The bigger they are,

the harder they fall.

And we're going to see that in Solomon's case,

the fall is gigantic.

The downfall, catastrophic.

And it's into a decline of deep, dark, and slipperiness.

That the nation never recovered from.

Solomon's sin spirals out and ripples out into the whole nation.

With terrifying consequences.

That it will never really bounce back from.

We must learn from Solomon's mistakes.

If Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived,

could be so foolish,

surely that means this can happen to any of us.

We must, unlike Solomon,

resist the drift and cling to Christ.

We must resist the drift and cling to Christ.

So if you've got a Bible, turn with me.

To 1 Kings chapter 11,

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

and we'll read the first 13 verses.

The chronicler writes,

King Solomon, however,

loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter.

Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.

They were from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites,

you must not intermarry with them.

Because they will surely turn your hearts after other gods.

Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines.

And his wives led his heart astray.

As Solomon grew old,

his wives turned his heart after other gods.

And his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord,

his God,

as the heart of David,

his father, had been.

He followed Ashtaroth,

the goddess of the Sidonians,

and Molech,

the detestable god of the Ammonites.

So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

He did not follow the Lord completely,

as David, his father, had done.

On a hill east of Jerusalem,

Solomon built a high place for Chemosh,

the detestable god of Moab,

and for Molech,

the detestable god of the Ammonites.

He did the same for all his foreign wives,

who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

The Lord became angry with Solomon

because his heart had turned away from the Lord,

the God of Israel,

who had appeared to him twice.

Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods,

Solomon did not keep the Lord's command.

So the Lord said to Solomon,

Since this is your attitude,

and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees,

which I commanded you,

I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you,

and give it to one of your subordinates.

Nevertheless, for the sake of David, your father,

I will not do it during your lifetime.

I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him,

but will give him one tribe,

for the sake of David, my servant,

and for the sake of Jerusalem,

which I have chosen.

We've seen over this four-week series

that Solomon is not so much good guy gone bad

as complex guy turned catastrophe.

And this evening, the wheels finally fall off,

but there have been warning signs all the way through.

We saw in week one that wisdom is graciously given,

but perhaps inappropriately employed.

We then see worship exuberantly offered,

but with an air of hypocritical exhibitionism,

that he's doing it on such a grandiose scale.

It is to draw attention to himself.

And then we saw his wealth last week,

wonderfully gifted, but increasingly idolized.

There have been the breadcrumbs

that something's not been quite right

all the way through our series.

And tonight, the wheels finally fall off.

This evening, with Solomon's wives,

the dam finally bursts,

and everything is laid bare,

what's gone on in Solomon's life for many years.

So let's look at it together.

The first thing I want us to see is

the first four verses.

Solomon's sin surfaces.

Solomon's sin surfaces.

I wonder, have you ever had an ice cream headache?

Probably don't get them in Scotland,

because ice cream is probably only edible

for about two weeks of the year.

But the strange phenomenon about an ice cream headache

is the pain caused by the coldness in your mouth

presents as a splitting headache in your head.

It is what clinicians refer to as referred pain.

Similarly, if you've ever had gallstones,

it can quite often present as pain in your shoulder blade,

which is quite a long way from your gallbladder

where the stones are situated.

It's called referred pain,

where the symptoms are a long way from the problem.

And when it comes to Solomon's wives,

this could also be referred pain.

The symptoms appear as 700 wives and 300 concubines,

but the problem is in Solomon's heart.

The heart of Solomon's problem is Solomon's heart.

It presents as polygamy,

but it's really down to half-heartedness.

Heart is mentioned six times

in these 13 verses.

Look at verse 3.

He had 700 wives of royal births

and 300 concubines,

and his wives turned his heart away.

Look at verse 4.

His heart was not fully devoted

to the Lord his God.

A little bit earlier on in verse 4.

His wives turned his heart

after other gods.

Verse 9.

The Lord became angry with Solomon

because his heart had turned away from the Lord,

the God of Israel,

who had appeared to him twice.

The heart of Solomon's problem

is Solomon's problematic heart.

Solomon falls into sin,

his half-heartedness,

long before he falls into disgrace.

We know that to be true.

These big scandals that have hit these mega church pastors in America.

Once the scandal finally breaks,

they roll back the years and isolate the many different times

that there's been failings and faults.

A heart that should have been devoted to the Lord starts to drift.

Whole-heartedness becomes half-heartedness over a period of time.

And as his heart drifts away from the Lord,

it drifts towards foreign wives.

He has 700 wives.

That means he has pretty much two wedding anniversaries to remember every day.

Over a 40-year reign,

that means he's getting married 18 times a year.

I have just about recovered from the trauma of getting married once,

nearly eight years ago.

Although the text says 700 wives,

there's 700 wives of royal birth.

So he may have a few more dotted around.

He went from such high class.

Alongside, he has 300 concubines.

300 plus 700,

a thousand women in his life.

He would need to be the wisest man.

In the world to cope with that.

This is a scary accumulation.

It's scary on a number of reasons,

not just the numbers,

but it stems from disobedience.

So many times in the law of God,

God has forbidden the king particularly to marry foreign wives.

Exodus 34 explicitly forbids Israelites taking foreign wives

because they will lead them astray after their own gods.

Exodus 20 verse 14,

Exodus 20:14

one of the 10 commandments,

if you shall not commit adultery.

300 concubines probably suggest you haven't taken that law that seriously.

Deuteronomy 17, 17,

particularly about the king,

and he shall not acquire many wives for himself,

lest his heart turn away,

nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

And the passage quoted here in chapter 11 of 1 Kings,

Deuteronomy 7, 3 and 4,

you shall not intermarry with them,

giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons.

For they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods.

Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you,

and he would destroy you quickly.

Real warnings.

And this is the law that Solomon,

the king is supposed to have written out

and meditated on all the time to keep with them.

And yet he thinks,

700, that's fine.

That's not what I would consider to be excessive number of wives.

Or he just didn't believe it would happen.

He thought so great was his gifting that he wouldn't fall,

as God said,

that anyone would.

It's direct disobedience,

but it's also distrusting.

There's been a warning sign of this in 1 Kings chapter 3,

1 Kings 3 · chapter mention

in verse 1,

where we read,

Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt

and married his daughter.

So this military alliance is finalized and forged

and ratified by Solomon marrying Pharaoh's daughter.

And it would seem from context

that many of these other royal weddings have happened

about shoring up Israel's borders.

So Israel's great enemies are the Moabites

and the Ammonites and the Edomites

and the Sidonians and the Hittites.

So what does Solomon do?

He gathers all their princesses together

and makes them Mrs. Solomons.

And why?

Because he trusted more in his diplomacy

than he did in his God to keep them safe.

He thought,

I know what?

Solomon's will get us through.

Rather than my trust in the God

who has brought us safely thus far.

Solomon relying on his own diplomacy

more than he is on the God of the universe.

And then there's real duplicity.

Because not only does he let his,

not only does he marry many foreign wives,

he lets them continue to worship their own gods.

There's a real pluralism going on here.

He lets his wives worship their gods

in the very city that God had chosen

to bear his own name.

The city out of all the cities of the world,

God said,

that is where I'm going to place my name.

And suddenly we find hymns of worship

raising to many foreign gods.

The wisest man has played the fool

and has drifted into difficulty

and opened the door to calamity.

Chapter 11, verse 2.

The end of it.

Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

Literally, Solomon clung to them in love.

This language of clinging

usually refers to one's relationship with God.

How we cling to God in love.

How we lean on him and cleave to him.

It's in fact the very words

that have been used to describe

Solomon's relationship with God.

Solomon 3, 1 Kings 3, verse 3.

1 Kings 3:3

Solomon showed his love for the Lord

by walking according to the instructions

given him by his father.

It's exactly the same phrase.

Solomon clung.

He held fast to his gods.

What a scary contrast that has happened

over eight chapters.

The beginning of Solomon's reign.

He clung to his gods.

Solomon, 1 Kings 11, verse 2.

1 Kings 11:2

Solomon clung to his wives.

There's been a complete switch, a total swap.

The last time we heard Solomon speak

was at the end of his benediction

in chapter 8.

Chapter 8, verse 61.

This is what he prays for all his people.

And may your hearts

be fully committed to the Lord our God

to live by his decrees

and obey his commands

as at this time.

Well, he was the first person to disobey.

Well, he was praying for others.

Someone whose heart was not fully obedient.

Who didn't fully laugh.

And then look at verse 4.

What a warning this is for all of us.

As Solomon grew old.

As Solomon grew old,

his wives turned his heart

off to other gods.

It is a stark warning.

Aileen and I have friends

who are trying to sell their flat

in Aberdeen.

And it's a tenement flat

and all the toilet blocks

are on top of each other in a stack.

And they can't sell it

because for many, many years

there has been water ingress

into the toilet stack.

And actually,

the toilet stack is coming away

from the rest of the tenement

and is actually only braced on

and held by these huge metal clips.

Undetected.

Year after year,

drip, drip, drip, drip, drip.

You get the sense

that's exactly what's happened

in Solomon's life

with all of these wives.

That over time,

they've just worn him down.

That when he was old,

his heart turned

from the Lord.

Worn down by this swarm

of foreign wives.

You could see how it happened.

Oh, Solomon,

love,

will you not come to the festival

for my God this week?

Will you not come

to this celebration?

You wanted me to come

and be your wife.

Come and celebrate

like we used to in Sidon.

Come and do this ritual

that we used to do in Moab.

Come on.

You're always dragging me

off to the temple.

Now it's your turn

to come to one of my things.

Oh, Solomon,

can't we sacrifice some goats

on this high place today

as well as in the temple?

You could see her

when he was old.

His heart turned away.

He just gradually drifts away.

Gradually.

But over time,

he's pointing

in a totally different direction.

I think it's right

that we spend a lot of time

praying for young people

at Brunsfield.

I think it's right

that they would build

their lives

on the rock of Jesus Christ

over and against

the tide of popular culture

that comes running against them

at school

and in the media.

But I think

on the back of tonight,

we must also pray

for our older people.

We should pray

for all our people.

But particularly

our older people

that they wouldn't drift.

So we wouldn't be

saying about people,

but when they were old,

their hearts turned away.

The daily discipline

of devotion to Jesus.

Jesus.

We must pray

that it won't be diluted

down through the decades.

I thought Ian

was brilliant this morning.

He's talking about familiarity

and the danger that is

with how we see Jesus.

Well, that becomes

more and more dangerous

the longer we're on this road

that we just build

a familiarity

and almost immunity

to his grace

and his wonder

and his glory

and his goodness.

Is your attitude

like the elderly Caleb

who says,

give me this mountain

or has it become

like Victor Meldrew

passed me the slippers?

It's a serious question

because Solomon,

the wisest man

who had ever lived,

who knew gifts

unlike anybody

who's ever lived

and even he drifts away.

Even he drifts

to half-hearted

idolatry.

In orienteering,

another sport

we were made to play

at school,

you had to have

a compass

and a map

and you were chasing

these flags

that were never

where they were supposed

to be,

so bad is my map reading.

But if you got

the compass direction

a little bit out

after you run

in 10 minutes

that direction,

you are miles away.

So easy,

isn't it,

to drift?

So easy that

today I'm going to

line my life up

with Jesus.

Tomorrow I may be

a degree out

and I go a bit

further down the road

and then I'm

another degree out

and before we know it

the distance between

us and Jesus

is miles apart.

It's what happens

to Solomon

when he's old.

His wives

turned his heart

away,

he drifted.

We've got to

resist the drift,

we've got to

cling to Christ.

Not taking a,

not letting it slip away

but clinging to him

to daily get up

and say,

today Jesus

I love you

and I want to

follow you

that I want you

to be the number

one priority

in my life

that we do sing

I am so glad

that Jesus loves me

because the danger

is we just drift away.

It's never,

nobody ever sins

like Solomon

in one great big leap.

It's just by little

steps closer and

closer to a line

before we're miles

away

and miles away.

The Puritans

have this lovely

image that they

use over and

over again.

They describe

sin like baby

snakes.

And they appear

in our lives.

But we're so

bad at just

stamping on them

that these

little snakes

that look so

innocuous

end up growing

and becoming

poisonous

death vipers

in our lives.

Solomon is married

to 700

baby snakes

and over time

they've turned

into

an enormous

wriggling

mass

of poisonous

death vipers.

Instead of

killing sin

and fleeing

temptation

Solomon

caught sin

and cohabits

with temptation

on a

ginormous

700

scale.

Hebrews 2

Hebrews 2:1

verse 1

is something

we must

come back to.

Therefore

we must pay

much closer

attention

to what we

have heard

lest we

drift away

from it.

Lest we

drift away.

Solomon is a

case and

point of what

it means to

drift away.

Solomon got

lax

and then he

got lost.

there's nothing

sadder is there

than to see

somebody drift

away.

I think of

some people

that I was

on CU

committee with

so passionate

and ardent

for the

Lord and

at least

two of

their cases

it was

when

unbelieving

females

came into

their lives

that the

drift

catastrophically

happened.

If there's

nothing sadder

than seeing

somebody drift

away there

is nothing

more heart

warming

than to see

people still

going strong

for the

Lord.

Even in

later life.

I had the

joy last

week of

being at

the faith

mission

minister's

breakfast and

there was

John Shearer

talking about

50 years of

pastoral ministry

and at the

age of 75

he said I

love Jesus

more today

than I did

when I

started.

Isn't that a

great thing

that we

should all

be pursuing?

Now I

dare say

none of

us are

drifting away

into polygamy

at least I

hope not.

however we

can drift

away through

many things

not just

wrong things

but good

things wrongly

prioritized

where we

prioritize job

and pursue

that or

possessions or

reputation or

friendships or

family or

spouses or

hobbies or

leisure activities

all of them

can upset the

course of our

lives and

orientate our

lives away from

the Lord

Jesus.

None of

them are

bad but if

our hearts

let go of

Jesus and

start clinging

to these

more we'll

be in

desperate

danger of

drifting away.

Solomon's

sin surfaces

and that needs

to be a real

warning for us.

Think where

will you be in

your relationship

with Jesus if

you continue on

your current

trajectory?

trajectory?

Where will

you be in

a year's

time?

Five years

time?

Ten years

time?

If you

carry on

on your

current

trajectory

where will

you be?

Will you

be more

in love

with him

or less

in love

with him?

Will you

be walking

closer to

him or

will you

be miles

away?

If you

continue on

your current

trajectory

because the

way to resist

the drift is

to keep

check on

yourself.

what in

your heart

is competing

with Jesus?

What is in

danger of

you clinging

onto more

than the

Lord Jesus?

What baby

snakes are

you stroking

now that

might bite

you then

instead of

stamping on

their head

right now?

Solomon's

issue when

he was old

the sin

that he'd

been storing

up for

ages

surfaced

and manifested

as gross

idolatry.

Solomon's

sin surfaces

but it's

been bubbling

away for

ages

drip,

drip,

drip.

Then we

see Solomon's

worship

wavers

verses 4

to 8.

The true

extent of

Solomon's

half-heartedness

his duplicity

starts to

become apparent

as he sets

up shrines

and pursues

the false

gods of

his foreign

wives

and the

three that

are mentioned

are an

unholy

trinity of

foreign gods

to start

worshipping.

We get

Molech,

the detestable

god of the

Ammonites,

Ashtaroth,

the fertility

god of the

Sidonians,

Chemosh,

the abominable

god of the

Moabites.

This is not

just flirting

with idolatry,

this is jumping

in with both

feet.

Ashtaroth is

the goddess

of the

Sidonians,

whom you

worship with

your glands

for whom

sex is

the way

you worship

particularly

involving

temple

prostitutes

and rituals.

Chemosh

and Molech

are described

as detestable

gods or

abominations.

We have

loads of

evidence saying

that their

worship involved

child sacrifice.

Leviticus

18, 21,

you shall not

give any of

your children

to offer

them to

Molech,

and so

profane the

name of

your God,

I am the

Lord.

We have

extra

biblical

evidence of

what worship

of Molech

looked like.

One historian

comments,

worship of

Molech

included people

burning their

own children

to death

in fire,

often by

placing them

in the arms

of a hollow

metal idol

of Molech

that had

been heated

very hot

with a

fire and

they're

burnt

inside.

Terrifying.

You have

to say

that on

the back

of Solomon's

prayer,

in 1 Kings

1 Kings 8:59

8,

verse 59,

let me read

that for

you.

And may

these words

of mine

which I

have prayed

before the

Lord,

be near

the Lord

our God

day and

night,

that he

may uphold

the cause

of his

servant

and the

cause of

his people

Israel

according to

each day's

need,

so that

all the

peoples of

the earth

may know

that the

Lord is

God and

that there

is no

other.

Terrifying.

That is his

declaration and

here we see

the Lord

Molech,

Lord Chemosh

and Lady

Ashtaroth have

moved into

town.

Notice as

well that he

erects a high

place east of

Jerusalem,

on the mountain

east of

Jerusalem on

the hill.

This would be

known later in

the Bible as

the Mount

of Olives.

That this

high place

is within

sight of the

temple mound

that Solomon

has spent

seven years

building as

a majestic

representation of

where God

dwells on

earth.

And later in

life what's he

doing?

He's building a

high place

to Chemosh

the detestable

God of

Moab and

for Molech

the detestable

God of the

Amorites.

Within the

very few

of God's

dwelling

place.

Terrifying

how far

Solomon has

fallen.

Notice as

well that

these three

are just

the tip

of the

iceberg.

Verse 8

he did

the same

for all

his foreign

wives.

Potentially

another

697

shrines

going up

around the

place.

Terrifying

how deep

in idolatry

Solomon is

falling.

Jerusalem

turns into

a smorgasbord

of cult

deities and

idols.

The wheels

have fallen

off and

they've

rolled down

the hill.

Solomon's

poisoned

pluralistic

heart now

flows into

polytheistic

paganism.

And you

have to say

Solomon would

do quite

well in

the 21st

century.

Pluralism

is the

spirit of

the age.

A place

where anything

goes as

long as

everything

goes.

A place

where the

only thing

you cannot

claim is

that your

God is

the only

God's.

Your way

is the

only way.

Your

worship is

the only

acceptable

worship.

That

Solomon's

Jerusalem

is like

21st

century

Britain,

a place

where

tolerance,

acceptance

and

inclusivism

are

treasured

above

truth,

holiness

and

devotion.

A place

where Solomon's

actions

would be

reported as

broadening

his

horizons,

exploring

other realms

of

spirituality.

See

though what

the

chronicler

calls it

in verse

6.

This is

not open

mindedness,

this is not

inclusivism.

Solomon did

evil in the

eyes of the

Lord.

Solomon did

evil in the

eyes of the

Lord.

His drifting

from God

turns into

evil

against

God.

Resist

the drift.

Don't

accommodate.

Cling to

Christ.

Resist

the drift.

Our

culture says

don't be so

narrow-minded.

Don't be so

arrogant as to

think that

Jesus is the

only way and

you can see

how we just

start to

drift.

resist the

drift.

Don't

accommodate.

Cling to

Christ.

Well that

won't happen

to me we

say.

I'm not like

Solomon.

That's not how

Nehemiah sees it

in the end of

his writing.

He writes

this to the

Israelites who

were also

courting

foreign

ladies.

Solomon

king of

Israel

sin on

account of

such

women.

Among the

many

nations there

was no

king like

him and

he was

beloved by

his God

and God

made him

king over

all Israel.

Nevertheless

foreign

women made

even him

to sin.

Nehemiah

very much

sees it that

if Solomon

is susceptible

to it then we

must be very

careful.

that if

Solomon can

fall so

drastically

be careful

if you think

you can

stand

lest you

fall.

A daily

devotion to

the Lord

getting up

each and

every day

Jesus I

love you

Jesus I

want to

walk with

you Jesus

I want to

cling to

you.

And tomorrow

just repeat

Jesus I

love you

Jesus I

want to

walk with

you Jesus

I want to

cling.

Tie up

tightly to

Christ.

Pay close

attention lest

we drift

away.

We finish

with this

Yahweh's

fury

fueled.

Verse 9

The Lord

became angry

with Solomon.

The Lord

became angry

with Solomon

as the

nauseating

smell of

idolatry

enters the

nostrils of

God.

It evokes

a visceral

reaction.

Solomon

so gifted

by God.

Solomon to

whom God

appeared

twice.

He has

loads of

evidence.

He's not

doing this

in ignorance

he's doing

it in

arrogance.

Solomon's

drifted away.

He's turned

his back on

God.

He's turned

his heart

away from

God.

And

judgment

falls.

And his

sin has

consequences.

Jesus.

This is

going to

do major

damage to

his people.

Solomon's

kingdom had

been a

place of

peace.

And it

says at

least three

times that

Solomon's

subjects were

happy.

And now

Solomon's

kingdom is

going to be

divided and

split.

It's not

going to be a

place of

peace.

It's going

to be a

place of

division.

It's not

going to be a

place of good

kings.

it's going

to be a

place of

bad kings

with the

odd

exception.

Look at

verse 11.

So the

Lord said to

Solomon,

since this is

your attitude

and you have

not kept my

covenant and

decrees,

which I

commanded you,

I will most

certainly tear

the kingdom

away from

you and

give it to

one of your

subordinates.

Solomon

clings to

his wives.

What does

God do?

He tears

the kingdom

out of his

hands.

Nevertheless,

for the sake

of David,

your father,

I will not

do it in

your lifetime.

I will tear

it out of

the hand

of your

son.

Yet I

will not

tear the

whole kingdom

from him,

but will

give him

one tribe

for the

sake of

David,

my servant,

and for

the sake

of Jerusalem,

which I

have chosen.

A divided

kingdom will

be the

penalty for

Solomon's

blatant

disobedience.

The rest

of chapter

11 is

going to be

all about

these seeds

of division

being sown.

As Hadad

and Rezon

and Jeroboam

are raised

up as

adversaries,

Solomon's

know nothing

but peace

and now

adversaries

are raised

up.

Solomon's

reign that

had been

plain sailing

now has

tumultuous

storm clouds

brewing in

the distance.

Yet see,

and with this

we finish,

there's hope

even amidst

judgment.

that even

when God

is angry

because of

this evil

that Solomon

has perpetrated,

see that

there's grace

in the midst

of it.

I will not

tear the

whole kingdom

away,

but on account

of my

covenant,

God,

despite his

anger,

will remain

utterly faithful

to the covenant

that he made.

that even

though Solomon

has broken

the covenant,

God will

keep the

covenant.

He will

have one

tribe.

He will

keep Judah

as it

turns out.

This is the

great hope

of the

gospel,

that our

salvation is

not dependent

on how much

we love

God,

but on how

much he

loves us.

that even

though we

break covenant

with him,

he will

keep it

forever.

That his

unfailing

love will

never fail.

One tribe

is ultimately

preserved,

the tribe

of Judah,

from which

would come

the one,

the lion

of Judah,

great David's

greater son,

greater than

Solomon,

whose undivided

heart would

be the ultimate

remedy of our

fickle faith.

One whom on

the mountain

east of

Jerusalem didn't

flirt with other

faiths,

whose half-hearted

heart didn't

build high

places for

other gods,

but this one

who lay

prostrate,

sweating drops

of blood from

a wholehearted

heart,

praying in

obedience,

not my will,

but yours be

done.

The ultimate

expression of

what it means to

be a wholehearted,

obedient,

worshipper of

God.

So there are

lessons to be

learned from

Solomon,

important lessons

that cause us

to take seriously

the command to

resist the drift

and cling each

and every day to

Christ.

We are to do

exactly what

Joshua commanded

God's people as

they enter at the

end of the

conquest of the

promised land.

Be very careful

therefore to love

the Lord your God.

Be very careful.

what Jesus says

on that night in

Gethsemane at the

Mount of Olives,

watch and pray that

you may not enter

into temptation.

Watch and pray that

you may not enter

into temptation.

1 Kings 11,

36,

I will give one

tribe to his son

so that David,

my servant,

may always have a

lamp before me in

Jerusalem,

the city where I

chose to put my

name.

that lamp that

God preserves

down the line

would grow up

into the light

of the world.

He would be

snuffed out so

his light could

shine for all

eternity on our

lives.

Let's pray.

Father God,

we pray for

ourselves and we

pray for each

other.

Father,

we want to be

wholehearted

worshippers.

Father,

we don't want to

treat faith in

you as a hobby

or something we

just do on a

Sunday.

Father,

we want to love

you and cling to

you.

We don't want to

drift from you

or turn from you

or walk away from

you.

Father,

we want to be

yours and wholly

yours.

So,

Father,

whether we're

young,

may we resist

the drift.

May we,

whether we're

middle-aged,

Lord,

keep us

clinging to

Christ.

And,

Father,

may those who

are old have

this testimony

that they love

Jesus more

today than

they ever have

in their

lives.

Father,

we pray the

same for our

church that we

would not drift

away.

But as your

body of people

in this place,

we would cling

to Christ

together.

And,

Father,

we would

encourage each

other in our

walk that we

might walk

closely to your

son Jesus,

who is the

very epitome

of what a

wholehearted

worshipper is.

And,

Lord,

because of his

wholeheartedness,

thank you that

there's forgiveness

for when we're

half-hearted.

But,

Lord,

kindle in us

such a faith

and a love

for your son

that we will

worship and

follow and

adore him

all the days

of our lives.

We pray this

not for our

safety.

Lord,

we don't pray

this for our

own fame,

but we pray

it so that

Jesus might be

glorified in

our lives

and that

people might

see that we

love him

most.

Father,

bless us and

help us in

his glorious,

all-conquering

name.

Amen.