“When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.” (1 Kings 11:4)
“If only they had such a heart to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that they and their children would prosper forever.” (Deuteronomy 5:29)
How Christians can ignore the Hebrew scriptures in favor of the New Testament scriptures is sad. Both sides of the Bible are God’s word, inspired by Himself, and given to us so that we may learn to live with God in a cooperative, obedient, and beneficial way. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
That’s why I like to read through the Bible every year. When we soak in the totality of God’s word, it soaks into us and brings incredible lessons that we need every day lest we stray from our Heavenly Father’s path.
Take King Solomon, for example. I was minding my business last week as I read through 1 Kings 11. The Holy Spirit arrested my reading and wouldn’t let me past verses 1-13 for the longest time.
I couldn’t help but marvel how the man with the “wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again” (1 Kings 3:12) could do such a stupid thing as stray from God who loved him deeply (2 Samuel 12:24-25) and gave Solomon everything because of his humility (1 Kings 3:13).
But Solomon did. 1 Kings 11 is clear. And we know why it happened.
Solomon was on fire for the Lord as a young man and just starting his reign over Israel. His father had been King David, “a man after (the Lord’s) own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). He knew by his father’s example what it took to stay faithful to the Lord. “Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below, who keeps the gracious covenant with your servants who walk before you with all their heart” (1 Kings 8:23, italics author, here and following).
There you have it. We must have a wholehearted commitment to the Lord. Day in and day out. Every. Single. Day.
Yeah, I know. It’s hard, but that’s no excuse. Keep at it, please.
As long as King Solomon’s heart was fixed on the Lord, things were cool. He was successful and prospered in all areas of his life. He was an international celebrity, too (1 Kings 10:23-24). Solomon had it all – the gold, the glitter, and the gals.
Ah, the gals. That’s where the trouble started.
Solomon’s heart wasn’t turned by fame or fortune. It was the females that did him in.
The Torah was clear about Israel’s king not dedicating himself to accumulating things like military power (horses), riches, and wives (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). To counteract such human lusts, Israel’s king was commanded to write a Torah scroll for himself under priestly supervision (so nothing is added or subtracted from the text), and he was to read it daily to keep his heart focused on the Lord and His commands in the king’s mind. Sounds like a pretty wise and straightforward command, right?
Apparently, not for Solomon.
The Lord warned Solomon to stay faithful to Him in no uncertain terms. As Solomon’s father, David, had reigned, Solomon should do to remain on the throne. Also, this wasn’t just about Solomon. His faithfulness to the Lord (or lack thereof) would profoundly affect all his subjects, for “As the king goes, so goes the people.” This saying is also true with fathers and their families, businesspeople and employees, government leaders and the populous, and pastors and congregations. It’s axiomatic that groups are heavily influenced by their leaders.
Here is the Lord’s “if/if not” promise to Solomon.
The IF: “As for you, if you walk before me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep my statutes and ordinances, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel” (1 Kings 9:4-5).
The IF NOT: “If you or your sons turn away from following me and do not keep my commands—my statutes that I have set before you—and if you go and serve other gods and bow in worship to them, I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them, and I will reject the temple I have sanctified for my name. Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples” (1 Kings 9:6-7).
The REASON: “Though this temple is now exalted, everyone who passes by will be appalled and will scoff. They will say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt. They held on to other gods and bowed in worship to them and served them. Because of this, the Lord brought all this ruin on them’” (1 Kings 9:8-9).
Okay, let’s put aside the Lord’s warning to Israel’s king. Here is the Lord’s clear command to every Israelite under the Sinai/Mosaic covenant. “Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit” (Deuteronomy 29:18).
Now, you would think all that would be enough to encourage Solomon to wave off the temptations of the flesh. Oh, silly reader. You know as well as I that we often gladly walk away from God’s commands to satisfy some itchy temptation that tingles us. Solomon had a couple of reasons for scrapping the Lord’s command about women.
First, in ancient biblical days, marrying a particular woman was meant to forge alliances between kings. “Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter” (1 Kings 3:1). But it didn’t stop at one wife and one alliance. Here, we dive into 1 Kings 11.
Second, as all of us men know, women can be powerfully influential, whether for good or evil. Don’t worry women. I’m not bashing you. I’m just recognizing your exceptional, God-given super-power. Wives have the potential to make or break their husbands via their influence.
Solomon not only married to forge alliances, but he also married multiple women because he really liked women and seemed to have had quite an appetite for intimacy. For all Israelites, including their kings, foreign wives were a no-no because they would assuredly lead their Israelite husbands away from God and toward demonic god-wannabes. This foreign influence started Solomon’s steep decline.
“King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.” To these women Solomon was deeply attached in love” (1 Kings 11:1-3). The Hebrew for attached is cling or adhere; figuratively, to catch by pursuit (Key Dictionary of the Hebrew Bible), and to cling, cleave, keep close (NAS Hebrew Dictionary).
And what happened? “When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been” (1 Kings 11:4). His zeal for the Lord and commitment to Him flagged. Solomon succumbed to his wives’ influences. The spiritual contamination in his life spread. The “wisest” man jumped into the most stupid, abominable idol worship on the planet.
“Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not remain loyal to the Lord. At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods” (1 Kings 11:5-8).
Abhorrent: Heb. shiqqutz (shee-koots’); disgusting, as in filthy, vile. What was so disgusting, filthy, and vile about Milcom and Chemosh worship? Orgies and human sacrifice. Milcom worship (aka Moloch/Molech/Molek) involved stoking a fire in the open belly of a bronze idol and placing a baby or child onto the idol’s outstretched metallic, blistering hands to be incinerated alive with the remains falling into the idol’s belly to be consumed.
A person would have to be spiritually zombified and stone-hearted toward God to indulge in filthy orgies and destroy human lives in such horrendous, disgusting, and vile ways as a form of worship.
But that kind of abhorrent worship is all around us today. Why is abortion so prevalent? Because people regard themselves as gods who are in control of their own destiny. Many view their lives of greater worth than their unborn child’s life. Let me be clear about where I stand. Abortion is a human sacrifice to whatever god a person serves. A person can veneer it for whatever reason that makes them feel better. But unless it endangers the mother’s life (yes, a real medical emergency), abortion clinics are defacto demonic worship centers, where the doctors are the high priests, their assistants are priests, and those who promote abortion are evangelists.
Pardon the vulgarity, but what the hell happened to Solomon? His heart turned toward demons-who-would-be-gods because of his wives’ evil influences.
The human heart has always been the issue. In Genesis 3, under Satan’s influence and led by their desires, the human heart turned from allegiance and commitment to God to seek its own way. Love for us replaced love for God.
That’s the Unholy Love Story.
Jeremiah prophesied succinctly about the human heart, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). The Lord gives us the answer in the next verse, “I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve” (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
As Christians, I fear we too often kid ourselves as to our current spiritual state. We’re called to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). But do we? Do we understand the incredibly high bar of loving the Lord with all we are and have continually? Of course not, because we’re too busy chasing the “love of our lives,” i.e., anything that captures our desires.
As intense as our desires can be, it’s no surprise that people will do extreme things to remain bound to the object of their desire. Again, “King Solomon loved many foreign women… When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God… Solomon followed… Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight… Solomon built a high place.” Outside influences captured Solomon. They corrupted his heart, and he facilitated Israel’s downward spiral into apostasy from God.
Solomon’s uncontrolled and misdirected love, initiated Israel’s descent into the abyss of destruction and exile by the Assyrians (about 186 years later) and the Babylonians (about 200 years after that). Think about that. Once idolatry took Solomon’s heart, Israel’s fall took about 390 years. All three branches of the U.S. government on the federal and state levels have embraced, celebrated, and codified sexual immorality, idolatry, and spilling innocent blood to varying degrees. No wonder why we’re in decline as a nation. God won’t bless sin.
At Mount Sinai, about 475 years before Solomon, God knew that their soon-to-be neighbors’ idolatry would easily capture the Israelite’s love if they dabbled in it, and they would turn from Him. The Lord lamented through Moses, “If only they had such a heart to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that they and their children would prosper forever” (Deuteronomy 5:29).
It’s all about the heart.
But our loving Lord already knows all about us as we read in Jeremiah 17:10. He examines our minds and probes our hearts. Nothing is ever hidden from Him (Psalm 139).
The great news is the key element of the New Covenant is a heart transplant (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26). Before a person is saved, their heart’s orientation is turned from God. After salvation, the remade believer’s heart is quickened and turned back toward God. Hooray!
Except.
Except, we’re now responsible for keeping our hearts fixed on God, and there are waaaay too many “lovely distractions” out there, things that catch our eye and capture our hearts.
Like Solomon, we’re willing to make unholy alliances with ungodly people, jobs, political parties, cultural norms, philosophies, and the like for whatever benefit we think we’ll gain. We want such alliances as insurance against being attacked.
Also, like Solomon, we’re willing to compromise our commitment to God to bind ourselves to whatever satisfies our desires the way we want to.
To be blunt, what you bind yourself to will capture your heart. Years ago, I heard a worship leader say, “We become what we worship.” In other words, we emulate the idols in our lives. Solomon is a gross example. On the other hand, committed Christians are continually being shaped into Jesus’ image by the Holy Spirit working within them.
The bottom line is it’s either Jesus or the world. The Book of Revelation declares the world system as a vile prostitute, looking to seduce all who find her attractive. Once bound to her, the world system prostitute draws people’s hearts away from God and to herself as the object of their affection, i.e., an idol.
Doubt me? Forget the lost world as an example. Look at the sad examples of Christians who’ve sold out their music ministry, their testimony, and yes, even their pulpits to have what they lust for in this world. Like Solomon’s example, their influence has infected the Body of Christ with idolatry and drawn witless and careless believers away from God and into disgusting, filthy, and vile practices. Need proof? Do I have to mention the churches and denominations that promote abortion, the LGBTQ agenda, Chrislam (the Christianity merged with Islam movement), and the materialism-focused prosperity gospel?
Before he died, Solomon returned to God, at least as I read it in Ecclesiastes. He realized too late that setting one’s heart on the transitory things in life is futile. Perhaps Solomon was referring to his foray into the wild world of foreign wanton women when he wrote, “And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap: her heart a net and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her” (Ecclesiastes 7:26). Settle down, women. Yes, this also applies to women regarding ungodly men.
The point is it’s all about the heart. With Jesus, we’ve been given a new heart under the New Covenant. Let’s be careful about who or what we offer our hearts.
I’ll tell on myself now. There’s a powerful difference between starting my day with scripture versus reading the latest Twitter/X entries. Yes, I stay away from the disgusting, filthy, and vile stuff that Elon lets through in the name of freedom of speech. But even just reading the lies, accusations, arguments, and often slimy, ungodly rants that overwhelm Twitter/X is enough to send my day off the rails. Social media platforms display and highlight the metaphorical foreign women that capture Christians and non-Christians into the Unholy Love Story.
The Holy Love Story, though, is this. Our Heavenly Father loves you and lovingly sent His Son, Jesus, to set the stage for a genuine heart transplant for everyone who asks for it. “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
The great news is that someday, the whole world will have that same heart, every person will divorce whatever “foreign women” to which they’ve bound themselves, and God will have captured all human hearts for Himself. “At that time Jerusalem will be called The Lord’s Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord in Jerusalem. They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.” (Jeremiah 3:7)
A new heart follows God with clarity and purity.
So, what Love Story are you writing right now?
Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead
Pastor Jay Christianson
The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts