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When Wisdom Fails: Solomon's Heart Turned Away
September 25, 2026 · 14 min
Solomon's disobedience and many foreign wives led his heart from the Lord—a solemn warning and call to faithful obedience.
Series Stand on the Word - Audio On Demand September 25, 2026 · 14 min · Stand on the Word - Audio On Demand
Solomon's disobedience and many foreign wives led his heart from the Lord—a solemn warning and call to faithful obedience. ...more Show the full description Show less Solomon's disobedience and many foreign wives led his heart from the Lord—a solemn warning and call to faithful obedience.
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Solomon's Disobedience Through Foreign Wives 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning. An amazing chapter today, 1st Kings chapter 11 verse 9. So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord0:21 God of Israel who had appeared to him twice. So how did his heart turn? So we're gonna look at this morning. This chapter has so much insight and truth that we could literally spend0:33 a week on this 1 chapter, so I encourage you to to read it and meditate upon it. Verse 1, but King Solomon loved many foreign wives. But when it begins with but, you know it's0:45 not gonna end well. This is where the lug nuts start coming off of Solomon's presidential chariot. He loved many foreign wives, which was in direct disobedience to God. This was not a gray area. This was0:57 not up for question, not up for debate. God told the rulers not to multiply wives. Go back to Deuteronomy chapter 17 verse 17. Neither shall he, that is future kings,1:09 multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. Alright. Back to verse 1, the daughter of Pharaoh,1:21 women of the Moabites, Ammonites, the Edomites, and Sidonians, and Hittites from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, you shall not1:32 intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely, they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love.1:44 Wisdom is not a replacement for obedience. Solomon not only multiplied wives, but they're they were also from the nations that God specifically warned against marrying.1:57 Why? Because these wives would turn his heart away from god. This is also why Paul, by the way, warns believers not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers in marriage. The common2:08 denominator between a believer and an unbeliever isn't a sanctified nature. It's a fallen 1. You see, without a personal encounter with god, the unbelieving spouse2:20 doesn't uplift the the godly 1. Right? Instead, they often pull the godly spouse down. Alright. Verse 3. And he had2:32 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. I don't know how we'd have time to even think about god with all those wives. For it was so, when Solomon was old,2:44 that his wives turned his heart away after other gods, and his heart was not loyal to the lord his god, as was the heart of his father David. I'm gonna talk a little bit more about that in a moment. So2:56 here it is. The wisest man who ever lived became a fool when he turned from following God. Solomon is now sowing the seeds of destruction for the nation that3:07 would be nearly 400 years in the gestation. Alright. Verse 5. For Solomon went after Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after3:19 Milcom, the abominations of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. Now this is an indictment. Solomon did3:31 evil. Right? Judgment's coming. Verse 7. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the people of3:43 Ammon. Now we need the pause here. Alright? Molech, Milcom probably considered the same deity, more accurately, a demon. Child3:54 sacrifice was a part of the worship of Molech, as we will read later in 2nd Kings. The Bible does not record that child sacrifice occurred during Solomon's time, but4:06 he at least figuratively built the altar for that child's sacrifice and literally, as a result, put the nation on a 1 way road to judgment. Verse 9. So the lord became angry with4:18 Solomon because his heart had turned from the lord god of Israel who had appeared to him twice, no excuse, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods, but4:30 he did not keep what the lord had commanded him. Why was god angry with Solomon? Because Solomon's actions were inexcusable. He could not plead ignorance. God had told Solomon twice4:42 what to do and what not to do. Now think about that for a moment. I mean, it's easy to look back here in the bible and see what these guys did and say, wow. They should never have done that.4:54 Where does that leave us who have god's revealed written word with specific instruction. Verse 11. Therefore, the lord said to Solomon, because you have done5:06 this and have not kept my covenant in my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. The result of Solomon's disobedience was a divided nation.5:19 Now isn't that interesting? While we constantly are hearing that religion, that's the world's term for Christianity, divides, The truth is that following god and yielding to his ways5:31 unifies a nation. It unifies a church. It unifies a family. Division is the product of turning our backs on the truth and embracing a lie. Could that be why5:43 America is so divided today? Verse 12. Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days. For the sake of your father David, I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Now notice that subsequent5:54 generations suffer when we turn from the lord. We may not see it in totality in our day, but this is what we're leaving as a legacy for our children and grandchildren. Now,6:06 also, I find this very insightful. God honors David here. He said, I'm not gonna tear it away for the sake of your father, David. God honors David who committed6:18 adultery and murder while judging Solomon who traded godly wisdom for ungodly wives. Why? Well, despite the seriousness of David's sin,6:30 David repented. The and the fundamental direction of his heart was to follow and to serve and serve god. He was a man after god's own heart. Even when he fell short,Consequences of Turning from God 6:42 he returned to god. Now Solomon, however, allowed his wives to turn his heart away from the lord, and there's no biblical record of him repenting of that departure from god's instruction and seeking his6:54 forgiveness. Now keep reading. In verses 14 to 28, we see adversaries rise against Solomon, shattering the peace that he had inherited from his father. The lord's removing his hand of7:05 protection. 1st, there's Hadad. Verse 14. Now the Lord raised up an adversary. The Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was a descendant of the king of Edom. I mean, I just, again,7:17 think this is interesting. The Lord raised up. Did the Lord cause Hadad to do this, or was the Lord's restraining hand of protection removed? I don't know for certain.7:33 The or he allows these adversaries to come against us and disturb the peace. And and there's another verse 23, and god raised up another7:44 adversary against him, Rezin, the son of Elida, who had fled from his lord, Hadazer king of Zobah, and another, this 1 from inside the7:56 kingdom. Then Solomon's servant Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite, from Ida, whose mother's name was8:08 Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king. And this is what caused him to rebel against the king. Verse 29. Now what happened at the time when Jeroboam8:20 went out of Jerusalem that the prophet Ahijah, the Shilohite, met him on the way, and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the 2 were alone in the8:32 field. Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him and tore it into 12 pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, take for yourself 10 pieces, for thus says the8:44 Lord, the God of Israel, behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give 10 tribes to you. The Lord states why through the prophet. Listen to this in verse 33.8:56 Because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, Milcom, the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in my9:08 ways to do what is right in my eyes and keep my statutes and my judgments as did his father David. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and give it to you9:20 10 tribes, and to his sons I will give 1 tribe that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there. So I will take you9:32 and you shall reign over all your heart's desires, and you shall be king over Israel. Then it shall be, if you heed all the commands9:44 all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight to keep my statutes and my commandments as my servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an9:56 enduring house as I built for David and will give Israel to you. And the word to Jeroboam, the same promise that had been given to Solomon,10:09 follow me in my ways, and I will be with you. Isn't that what Jesus tells us today? Verse 40, Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. Didn't like the10:20 competition. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to the king of Egypt and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. Now this was a different Egyptian dynasty than, Solomon's father-in-law, but it speaks10:32 to how, you know, the political marriages or treaties with, you know, the the these alliances that we make with the passing earthly kingdoms are of little value. You know,10:44 where had he kept the alliance with the 1 eternal god, he would have been fine. Disobedience to god by a nation's leaders will take the nation from the10:56 pinnacle of peace and prosperity to a divided and dangerous country in 1 generation. That's what happened here. I mean, they were at the pinnacle, the zenith of the nation,11:08 and they immediately began to to spiral downward. That is why as Christians here in America, we need to be praying for our leaders as Paul wrote to Timothy in in 1st11:20 Timothy chapter 2. Therefore, I exhort 1st of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who who are in authority, that we11:32 may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and reverence. You know, we as Americans also have the privilege of selecting our leaders, not only praying for them, but11:44 selecting them. As John j, the 1st chief justice of the Supreme Court, said, providence has given to our people the choice of their ruler, and it is the duty as well as the privilege11:56 and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians, yes, Christians for their rulers. That means we need to be involved. We need12:08 to pray, we need to vote, and we need to stand for biblical truth. And I invite you to join us as going on this weekend, our pray, vote, stand summit happening right now. You can join us12:19 on the Stand Firm app. If you can't be with us in person, you can join us on the Stand Firm app. Father, thank you. Lord, thank you for the warning that we have in scripture. We see this through the lives of the people12:31 that are recorded. And, Lord, it's not glossed over, and we thank you for that because we can learn from the mistakes of others. And I pray that we would. I pray that we would apply wisdom just as SolomonThe Kingdom Divided and the Message to Jeroboam 12:43 and the Proverbs wrote and and gave us the instruction to look at the lives of those who aren't just messed up and the result of the choices they made. Lord, we see that with Solomon.12:55 Of course, we're gonna read as he returns to you or at least he recognizes in Ecclesiastes the failure of the choices. Lord, I pray that you would help us13:07 to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and to your word. And, Lord, we would obey it and we would walk in your ways. And I pray that, Lord, not only for us individually, but13:19 collectively as a nation. Lord, give us leaders whose hearts are for you, but that means, Lord, 1st, our hearts have to be for you because we select these leaders. Lord, may weLessons for America and the Call to Action 13:30 pray with all diligence, with all hope and expectation of your hand moving in our midst. May we vote biblical truths and righteousness, lord.13:42 Maybe that means we even become candidates. And, lord, may we stand for biblical truth in our day. For we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And until next13:54 time, keep standing on the word.13:57 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan, available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:09 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Solomon's Disobedience Through Foreign Wives6:40 Consequences of Turning from God12:40 The Kingdom Divided and the Message to Jeroboam13:30 Lessons for America and the Call to Action
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