The Tragic Story of a Wise Fool

Do you like stories with happy endings?

Most people do.

In fact, I don't really know anybody who would say,

I love to read a story that just rips my heart out at the end.

I can't imagine that.

Well, have you ever noticed that most of the Bible stories

that you were taught growing up or that you just have read yourself,

have you ever noticed that most Bible stories have a happy ending?

Think about some that you know well, like the story of Joseph.

Joseph started off, he was sold into slavery.

He was abused in various ways,

but God raised him up to a position of prominence and power in Egypt.

His story had a great ending.

You know the story of Daniel,

how he was thrown into a den of lions,

but God rescued him, closed the mouths of those lions,

brought him not only out of the lion's den,

but put him back in a place of power,

of great influence in a foreign pagan nation.

The greatest story is the story of Jesus,

how he died on a cross and was buried,

but God brought him back from the grave.

He not only was resurrected,

but he has ascended back into heaven where he is today

and one day will return to this world.

And if you know him as your Lord and Savior,

or you'll come to put your faith in him,

your life story can have a great ending.

No matter what happens in this world,

you will live for eternity in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ.

That'd be the greatest ending, wouldn't it?

But I'm going to guess most people in this room,

you know that not all stories, even in the Bible,

have a happy ending.

One of the saddest stories that you'll ever read in the Bible

is the story of Solomon.

Now last week we saw how God blessed him with such wisdom

that the Bible even calls him the wisest man who ever lived.

Now you would think that the wisest man who ever lived,

according to Scripture,

that his life would be a great life.

That his life would just be a life of faithfulness.

It'd just be a good life that would end well.

But it didn't.

Solomon's life does not have a happy ending

because he, even though he was a man of wisdom,

he made a lot of unwise choices throughout his life.

Chuck Swindoll describes how Solomon's failure

to consistently act wisely led to its tragic ending.

Look at it.

By the end of Solomon's life,

the royal tree that once stood so straight and tall

had rotted from within.

In the springtime of his life, he had written,

Solomon wrote that, Proverbs 1.7.

But by the autumn of his life,

he had ceased fearing God

and simply depended on his own human wisdom.

He was no longer the world's wisest man.

He had become the world's wisest fool.

Last week, we looked at the bright side of Solomon's life.

Well, today we're going to look at the dark side.

It's in 1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

Turn with me if you would.

1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

As we go through this message,

as we go through this passage,

our goal is to learn some good lessons

from Solomon's bad example.

Our goal is that we learn from him

and not follow in his footsteps

because we don't want to become wise fools

with a tragic ending to our life.

So let's read 1 Kings chapter 11.

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

Now Solomon loved many foreign women

along with the daughter of Pharaoh,

Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women

from the nations concerning which

the Lord had said to the people of Israel,

You shall not enter into marriage with them,

neither shall they with you,

for surely they will turn away your heart

after their gods.

Solomon clung to these in love.

He had 700 wives who were princesses

and 300 concubines,

and his wives turned away his heart.

For when Solomon was old,

his wives turned away his heart

after other gods,

and his heart was not wholly true

to the Lord his God,

as was the heart of David his father.

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth,

the goddess of the Sidonians,

and after Milcom,

the abomination of the Amorites.

So Solomon did what was evil

in the sight of the Lord

and did not wholly follow the Lord

as David his father had done.

Then Solomon built a high place

for Chemosh,

the abomination of Moab,

and for Molech,

the abomination of the Amorites

on the mountain east of Jerusalem.

And so he did for all his foreign wives

who made offerings and sacrifices

to their gods.

And the Lord was angry with Solomon

because his heart had turned away from the Lord,

the God of Israel,

who had appeared to him twice

and had commanded him concerning this thing

that he should not go after other gods.

But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.

Therefore the Lord said to Solomon,

Since this has been your practice

and you have not kept my covenant

and my statutes that I have commanded you,

I will surely tear the kingdom from you

and will give it to your servant.

Yet for the sake of David your father,

I will not do it in your days,

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

However, I will not tear away all the kingdom,

but I will give one tribe to your son

for the sake of David my servant

and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.

Solomon, the wisest man on earth

because God had graciously chosen

to bless him with that wisdom.

He didn't use it wisely.

He made foolish choices.

And the result was,

God was angry

and God told him,

I'm not going to take the kingdom from you right now,

not because of you,

but because of your father David

and my covenant with him.

But I'm going to take this kingdom from your son.

And every parent in here knows

that would have ripped the heart out of Solomon

to think all that he had,

all that he had amassed,

that he knew one day would belong to his heirs,

God was going to take it away.

His son would suffer.

And Solomon, if you go ahead and read on,

Solomon suffers all,

also because God raises up adversaries

who are going to create problems for Solomon

from here on out.

Solomon shows us the way

someone becomes a wise fool.

Let's see what we can see

with prayer to help us avoid

following those footsteps.

Number one,

a wise fool compromises biblical truth

when it seems personally beneficial.

Solomon compromised

what he knew,

the scripture says,

because he thought he was an exception.

He thought it would help him

maybe be a better king,

enhance his reputation,

and in the back of his mind,

he probably thought,

as the king of God's people,

if my image is made greater,

burns brighter,

maybe that'll make God's burn brighter as well.

He was a compromiser,

and so he had probably

all kinds of rationalizations in his mind.

Let's look at some of the ways he compromised.

Number one,

he compromised in the way he sought power.

He sought to make his kingdom secure

by developing alliances

with foreign kings

through marriages

to their daughter.

Look at verse 3

that we've just read.

Look at the description

of his many wives.

It says,

He had 700 wives

who were princesses.

Now that word,

princesses,

means that many of his wives

were daughters of foreign kings.

Those marriages

were politically motivated.

He didn't have a real relationship

with 700 wives

and 300 concubines.

That was a part of his image.

That was a part

of what kings did in that day

to make them look

greater and mightier

before people.

But also in this case,

this was Solomon's way

of aligning himself

with other kings

and kingdoms

to avoid future conflict.

He did not have to do it

at this time

because there were no problems.

David had taken care

of everything.

Basically,

the kingdom that Solomon inherited

was at peace.

He did not need to do this,

but he chose to do it.

He was politically motivated.

You can understand maybe

he wanted to make sure

that his people,

his nation,

would be secure.

So I'm going to make

what might be an enemy

become my ally

through these marriages.

Now,

what we were reading about

in chapter 11

took place at the end

of Solomon's life

or near the end.

But Solomon didn't do this

just toward the end

of his life.

He started his reign

as king

making the same compromise

as we saw last week

in chapter 3.

In chapter 3

of this 1 Kings

that we're looking at,

verse 1,

it says this,

Solomon made a marriage alliance

with Pharaoh,

king of Egypt.

He took Pharaoh's daughter

and brought her

into the city of David.

Solomon

thought he was being,

what you might say,

politically savvy.

Now,

he was not trying

to be defiant.

He was not trying to,

he was not openly

rebelling against God.

Especially here

in chapter 3,

he didn't really see it

as a compromise.

Chapter 3,

verse 3 says,

he loved the Lord

and we looked at that

last week.

Solomon probably thought

in his mind,

this is just what kings do.

this will enhance

our nation's security.

This will prevent

problems from happening.

It will make peace

between neighboring countries.

That may have been

a very wise thing

for a secular king,

but it was not

for God's king.

God warned his people.

God warned the people

of Israel

from the beginning,

before they ever went

to the promised land,

before this ever

could happen.

He warned his people

that they were not

to do things like this.

What is said

in the last part

of verse 2

here in chapter 11

that we saw,

that came from

Deuteronomy chapter 7.

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

I want you to look at it

from Deuteronomy 7

on the screen.

God said to

the people of Israel,

you shall make

no covenant

with them

and show no mercy

to them.

That's those foreigners

who occupied

the promised land

prior to God

sending his people

in there

to take it.

You shall make

no covenant

with them

and show no mercy

to them.

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.

Now I want you

to just stop

and think.

The very thing

that happened

to Solomon,

God said

before there was

ever even

a nation of Israel,

don't do things

like that.

Don't

intermarry

because if you do,

these pagan,

false God

worshiping people,

they'll lead you

astray.

They'll take you

away from me

and that'll result

in my anger

and your judgment.

God

mercifully

warned them.

Solomon,

the wisest man

who ever lived,

didn't listen.

He compromised

the truth of God

in order to

maybe seek

or maintain

political power,

national security.

That's not all he did.

That's not the only compromise.

He compromised

in some of the ways

he spent his wealth.

Solomon

in some ways

flaunted

that great wealth

that God gave him.

One was in the way

he accumulated

many horses

and chariots

from Egypt.

I want you to just

look at it real quickly,

just a couple of verses.

In 2 Chronicles chapter 9,

2 Chronicles 9 · chapter mention

that's sort of a parallel

story.

And horses

were imported

for Solomon

from Egypt

and from all the lands.

Here in 1 Kings,

just back up

from where we are

in chapter 11,

chapter 10,

verses 26 and 28.

And Solomon

gathered together

chariots

and horsemen.

He had 1,400

chariots

and 12,000

horsemen.

And Solomon

imported horses

from Egypt

and Q.

And you might think,

what's the big deal?

Don't kings acquire

all kinds of things

like that?

Yes.

But Israel's kings

were specifically

instructed

not to

amass

an army of chariots

and horsemen.

Look at it

from Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17.

Basically,

instructions

to Israel's

former

or future

kings.

When you come

to the land

that the Lord

your God

is giving you

and you possess it

and dwell in it

and then say,

I will set a king

over me

like all the nations

that are around me,

you may indeed

set a king

over you

whom the Lord

your God

will choose.

Only he must

not acquire

many horses

for himself

or cause the people

to return

to Egypt

in order to

acquire many horses

since the Lord

has said to you,

you shall never

return that way

again.

Solomon,

it appears,

was more concerned

with competing

with other kings

in accumulating

a lot of horses

and chariots,

that kind of army,

that kind of division

in his army.

He was more concerned

with competing

with the other kings,

maybe outdoing

the other kings

than he was

with obeying God.

Solomon also

put more emphasis

on building

his own house

than he did

the house of God.

I want you to note

one sentence

that is said

about Solomon

building the temple,

God's house.

It's in 1 Kings 6, 39.

It says,

he was seven years

in building.

That's the temple.

The very next verse

is chapter 7, verse 1.

Isaiah 7:1

And just look

at what it says.

Solomon was building

his own house

13 years

and he finished

his entire house.

Now, most commentators,

most Old Testament scholars

who are trying to figure out

what's going on here,

interpret that

as the writer

of 1 Kings

contrasting,

pointing out

the difference

between the time

and the money

Solomon spent

on the Lord's house

versus the time

and money

he spent

on his own house.

And time-wise,

Solomon spent

almost twice

as much time

building his

elaborate

palace

than he did

building the temple

of God.

the ESV study Bible

points this out.

Look at it.

Solomon spent

much more time

building his own house

or palace

complex

than he did

building God's house,

another indication

of his

divided

heart.

From everything

we see,

it appeared

there were times,

not all the times,

there were times

when Solomon

was not wise

in the way

he used his money.

And there were times

when he was just

concerned to put

on a show,

flaunt

what he had,

make other kings

envious,

but he was

compromising.

He wasn't

acting

faithfully

to the Word

of God

as he knew it.

and he really

just wasn't

acting as a man

that God

had given

such great

wisdom to.

But there's

a third

compromise

we need to notice.

He compromised

in the way

he fulfilled

his sexual

desires.

Solomon

had a great

interest

in women,

in foreign

women.

He had a

weakness

for women.

Look at verse

one.

Now Solomon

loved many

foreign

women.

Now as we've

said,

some of these

marriages were

politically

motivated.

Hey,

but nobody

twisted Solomon's

arm to make

him do this.

Nobody put

any pressure

on him to

take all

these women.

Solomon was

king.

Solomon could

do what he

wanted to do

and not do

anything he

didn't want

to do.

Solomon loved

women.

He loved

foreign women.

And in the

power,

with the power

he had,

the position

he was in,

he took

advantage of

that.

Whoever he

wanted,

that's who

he got.

And he

did it

excessively.

Look at

verse three.

They captured

his heart.

He loved

foreign women.

He gave

himself to

many women.

There was

love,

there was

emotional

attachment.

And because

he gave

himself that

way,

they had

influence over

him.

They

influenced

him in

some terrible

ways.

Verse three,

and his

wives turned

his heart,

turned away

his heart.

As we have

already seen,

this was a

clear violation

of God's

word.

Deuteronomy

seven,

you shall not

intermarry with

them.

Also in

Deuteronomy

17,

Israel's

kings were

not supposed

to take

all these

wives.

Look at

it.

And he

shall,

talking about

Israel's

kings,

and he

shall not

acquire many

wives for

himself,

lest his

heart turn

away.

Solomon

compromised

the truth of

God's word

in his

pursuit of

women.

He

compromised

the truth of

God's word

in the way

he fulfilled

his sexual

desires.

Now,

let's look at

it now.

Solomon never

renounced his

faith.

Solomon never

says or does

anything to

say he's

turning away

from God.

He doesn't

believe God's

word.

He doesn't

care what

God thinks.

But his

love for

God,

and his

trust in

God is

obviously,

as you just

read through

this,

it's not

wholehearted.

He did

love God

to a certain

degree.

He was

committed to

a certain

degree.

But there

was not the

wholehearted

love and

commitment that

God required.

How do you

know that?

Because all

along the way

he compromised

and disobeyed

God to

increase his

power,

to flaunt

his wealth,

to fulfill

his lusts.

All too many

times,

Solomon was

more committed

to pleasing

himself than

he was to

pleasing God.

God.

Now,

do you see

yourself in

any of these

pictures,

in any of

these compromising

situations?

You know,

money,

sex,

and power are

the big three

sources of

temptation in

this world,

aren't they?

One or two

of them,

probably not all

three,

one or two of

them really

resonates with

you,

because we're

just that way.

You know,

you know what's

one of your,

maybe what you

might call root

sins,

one of the

greatest temptations

for you,

but the person

sitting right

beside you in a

pew,

that may not be a

temptation for them

at all.

What you struggle

with,

it's not even a

thought for

somebody else.

But you think

about it.

We in this

room,

we all struggle

with temptations.

Are yours more

along the lines

of,

you struggle

with an area

of money,

of wealth,

of material

things.

Maybe just

your desire

for it.

Maybe some

of the things

you might

compromise in

order to get

it,

or to hold

on to it.

Or maybe

do you

compromise in

the area

of power,

of control?

Maybe you

abuse your

authority.

Maybe you

envy those

who are

in authority,

who have

power.

Maybe you

resent it.

Or maybe

your temptations

in the sexual

realm.

maybe it's

just thoughts.

Maybe it's

some of the

ways you

entertain

yourself.

Or it

could be

just a

flat-out

relationship

that you

know is

not right.

We struggle.

We are

tempted.

We're not

tempted all

in the same

ways.

But most

of us in

this room,

we struggle

with one

or more

money,

sex,

power.

What are

you doing

to guard

against

stumbling

and falling

over one

or more

of these

temptations

in your life?

I mean,

what are you

doing?

How are you

fighting it?

How are you

resisting it?

One of the

most important

ways to avoid

compromising and

falling, as

Solomon did, is

to learn to

choose God's

way of wisdom

and obedience

every day.

You know, if you're

familiar with the

Old Testament, this

story, or here

last week, chapter

three, verse

three, God

said, Solomon, I'll

give you anything you

want.

You tell me.

And Solomon made

this choice.

I want wisdom.

A great choice.

But it wasn't

enough for

Solomon to ask

for wisdom

one time

at the beginning

of his reign.

Solomon should

have been asking

for wisdom

every day

of his reign.

And he would

have avoided

these compromises

if he had

truly sought

day by day

to be faithful

to God,

to listen to

God, to obey

God,

in every

detail.

Here's what I

want us to

understand.

Choosing to

trust God and

be faithful to

him is not a

once-in-a-lifetime

choice that you

make.

You don't have

some kind of

emotional experience

or really just

think it through

and come to a

real serious

decision and

say, I am

going to put my

faith and trust

in God.

I am going to

really and truly

trust Jesus as my

Lord and Savior

and think to

yourself, it's a

done deal.

I never need to

think about it

again.

I make this

commitment and I

go on with my

life.

That's crazy.

That is not

biblical faith.

faith.

We must make this a

daily, sometimes

even hourly

commitment if we

really want to be

faithful.

You don't make a

decision to trust

Christ one day,

never think about

it again.

Saving faith is

continuing faith or

it's nothing at all.

Everything you read

about faith in both

the Old and New

Testament.

Somebody begins a

relationship with the

Lord one day, putting

their faith and trust

in Him, but they

continue to trust Him,

to obey Him if

they're faithful.

That's what God

calls us to do.

That's why it's so

important for us to

spend time every day

with the Lord in

meaningful, heartfelt

prayer and Bible

reading.

We need to seek to

cultivate a conscious

awareness of God's

presence in our life

on a regular basis.

Begin the day with

Him in the morning.

Talk to Him as we go

through the day.

Become familiar enough

with His Word that as

we encounter situations,

have to make decisions,

we have a good idea of

what God's will is and

we ask His help to

enable us to do His

will.

The only way we can

avoid compromising like

Solomon did is to live

in close fellowship with

God every day.

And I'm as serious as I

can be.

That applies to every

single one of us in

this room.

Your level of

commitment could be

stated this morning if

someone observed you,

knew what was in your

mind, knew what was in

your heart, knew how

you spent your time.

Every one of us, our

level of commitment to

the Lord Jesus Christ,

our faithfulness could be

pretty much explained

based on the amount of

time we spend with Him,

talking to Him,

listening to Him,

loving Him, praising Him,

desiring Him, obeying Him.

that's true about me and I

know it's true about you.

Solomon got too busy with

his kingdom.

Solomon got too concerned

about himself.

He got preoccupied by his

wealth, by his power, by his

position.

Solomon got distracted by

women and sex.

And it destroyed

his kingdom.

It destroyed his life.

The only way we can avoid

this divided heart,

Solomon's problem,

is to have a guard over our

hearts and not let it

become distracted and

divided like he did.

Let's look at one more

point quickly.

A wise fool carelessly

fails to guard his heart

because he thinks he can

handle anything.

I want you to look at

Solomon.

Chapter 11, verse 4 first.

For when Solomon was old,

his wives turned away his

heart after other gods,

and his heart was not

wholly true to the Lord

his God, as was the heart

of David, his father.

Look at verse 6.

So Solomon did what was

evil in the sight of the

Lord, and did not wholly

follow the Lord as David's

father had done.

And then verse 9.

And the Lord was angry with

Solomon because his heart

had turned away from the

Lord, the God of Israel,

who had appeared to him

twice.

Solomon allowed his heart to

become divided.

Again, he never renounced

his faith or even his love

for God.

But for all practical purposes,

he really did because when

his heart turned away from God,

his heart turned to his

wives and false gods.

Solomon became an idolater.

Solomon became one who

worshipped things that were

not even gods because his

wives captured his heart.

He desired to please them more

than he desired to please God.

Solomon's idolatry emphasizes

how important it is for us

to guard our hearts and guard

them every day.

You know, today we're expected

to accept everyone's view of

the truth as being equally

valid.

Every day, today, I mean, in

this world in which we live

today, if we're going to be

politically correct, if we're

going to get along, if we're

not going to get labeled as

some kind of extremist,

whatever anyone thinks,

whatever anyone considers to

be true, we're supposed to

say, okay.

It's okay.

You believe what you want to

believe, I believe what I

want to believe.

You believe what you do and

it's true for you.

I believe what I want to

believe and it's true for me.

That's the way the world tells

us to think.

That's the world tells us what

we've got to do in order to

get along.

That's what we've got to do in

order to please the world.

But if we try to please the

world, we're going to be just

like Solomon who tried to

please his wives and the result

will be we will compromise

God's word.

Our hearts will be pulled away

from God, from his will.

Here's what we need to be

aware of.

It's not going to happen

overnight.

It's going to happen

gradually.

It's going to happen almost

unnoticeably.

But a life made up of little

compromises here and there,

year in and year out,

will eventually result in a

heart that's turned away from

God just like Solomon's was.

We need to learn from the

mistakes of this wise fool.

Solomon was smarter than any of

us in this room.

Solomon had a gift from God

that we do not have.

But because he compromised,

because he did not guard his

heart, he became the biggest

fool from the heights he fell

from.

He became a wise fool.

Before we go, I want us to hear

from one who was wiser than

Solomon, the only one.

The Lord Jesus Christ,

along the same line.

Look at what he said.

No one can serve two masters.

For either he will hate the one

and love the other, or he will

be devoted to the one and

despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

That's what Jesus said.

You may think you can't because

Solomon thought he could.

And in light of what we see in

Solomon's life, we need to

understand not only can we not

serve God and money

simultaneously, we can't serve

God and power.

We can't serve God and sex.

We can't serve God and anything

else.

We must serve God wholeheartedly,

we're not at all.

Jesus, as the old cliche says,

Jesus must be Lord of all,

or he will not be Lord at all.

So I want to ask you, who are you

serving?

What are you serving?

There's nothing in the world wrong

with wisely using power.

Nothing in the world wrong with

wisely using wealth.

Nothing in the world wrong with

having strong sex drive and having

those needs met in the context of a

marriage, one man and one woman.

But your heart, your wholehearted commitment,

your wholehearted devotion must be,

must rest upon the Lord Jesus Christ,

your heavenly Father.

It cannot be divided between him and

anything else.

hear that word.

Don't compromise.

Guard your heart.

Your life will never end well

if you don't.

Let's pray together.

Dear God,

help us to see how we should respond

right now.

Father, if there are people in this room

who do not really have a relationship

with you, their heart is not for you.

It's for themselves or something else.

Dear God,

call them

to turn from their sin

and put their trust in Jesus

right now

for their salvation.

If there's Christians in this room,

dear God, who

have been more like Solomon

and not guarded their heart

but made compromises,

convict them

and help them

and help them to see

the importance right now

of confessing their sin,

renouncing these wrong allegiances

or wrong priorities.

Dear God,

call them back right now

to wholehearted

love,

trust,

commitment to you.

and in an attitude of prayer,

let's listen to the Lord

and respond to Him.

Do what God's calling you to do

and I'd be glad to pray with you

here at the front

if you'd like for me to pray with you

during this time.

you

to