The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 40, The Lord's Response To Solomon's Idolatry

Yesterday we learned that Solomon's overwhelming interest in accumulating pagan wives caused him to begin dabbling in idolatry. He built altars to please his foreign wives and then he took part in heathen rituals with them. He did not forsake the Lord altogether but, as the author of 1 Kings told us yesterday, his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God like David's heart had been. We talked about how that even though David had several wives and concubines, he never engaged in any idolatrous practices. Most or all of David's wives who are named in the Bible appear to have Hebrew names, leading us to believe they were probably of the same faith as David. Concubines were typically foreign women but, since I cannot imagine David allowing idol worship in his household, I think there's a good chance that all of his concubines converted to the God of Israel. 

Solomon not only refused to forbid idol worship in his harem but actually aided and abetted it by doing the things we were told about in yesterday's study. The Lord lets him know how displeased He is with this behavior. "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.'" (1 Kings 11:9-13)

No other god ever appeared to Solomon, yet he was unfaithful to the God who appeared to him twice. The God who appeared to him twice was the God of his father David, the God who promised David to place Solomon on the throne, the God who kept His word and placed Solomon on the throne and made his kingdom the most splendorous on earth. None of the gods to whom Solomon built altars ever appeared to him, spoke to him in any manner, or did anything for him at all. They couldn't since they didn't exist. Yet Solomon's heart did not stay true to the one true God.

The Lord promised David that He would place Solomon on the throne and establish his kingdom. The Lord doesn't intend to break His promise to David. He will allow Solomon to remain on the throne of a united Israel for the rest of his life. But the kingdom will split up during the reign of Solomon's successor, Rehoboam. The ten northern tribes will rebel against Rehoboam for his egregious taxation practices and forced labor practices, leaving him king only over Judah (comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin combined). 

Solomon's outward idolatry was brought about by inward idolatry of the heart: he gave his wives first place in his heart instead of the Lord. Putting anything or anyone ahead of the Lord is a form of idolatry. Everything about our lives is meant to revolve around Him because when we put Him first, everything else takes its proper place. This keeps our lives in balance so we don't veer sharply off course like Solomon did.

In yesterday's text we found the Lord referring to the gods of Solomon's pagan lives as "detestable". The fact that anyone would forsake the living God for idolatry is detestable in itself but the sinful practices involved in the worship of these gods were also detestable. For example, we were told Solomon participated in religious rituals serving the goddess Ashtoreth who was a fertility goddess. The festivals held for fertility goddesses typically involved sex acts and the use of pagan temple prostitutes. These prostitutes were often referred to as priestesses. It was believed, in the cultures who worshiped fertility goddesses, that relations with the priestesses would result in the worshiper being rewarded by many offspring in their home. We don't know whether Solomon ever indulged in such a thing since the Bible never mentions him having relations outside of his many marriages, but in pagan cultures it wasn't considered adultery to engage in a physical act with one of these priestesses because this act symbolized communing with the goddess herself. 

I have my doubts that Solomon had anything sexual to do with pagan priestesses but a clue as to why he might have allowed the worship of Ashtoreth and why he participated somehow in this worship may lie in the fact that the Bible never names but three offspring for Solomon. Many scholars have taken this to mean that, in spite of having 1,000 wives and concubines, Solomon only fathered one son and two daughters. He may have had some issues with fertility that contributed to his taking of many wives and that contributed to his participation in the worship of a fertility goddess. He would have been very concerned about having only one son because he lived in a time when infant mortality rates were quite high. If his son Rehoboam had not survived to adulthood then there would have been no clear line of succession for the throne. However, this is no excuse for Solomon having anything to do with the worship of a fertility goddess. He should have placed his trust in the Lord instead. The Lord was able to ensure the survival of a son and successor for Solomon.

The other gods to whom Solomon built altars were detestable for even worse reasons than Ashtoreth was detestable. In our text yesterday we were told that he built altars for the Ammonite god Molek and the Moabite god Chemosh. These were gods to whom the Ammonites and Moabites made human sacrifices! While there's no evidence whatsoever that Solomon allowed such things to take place during his reign, the fact that he'd erect altars to these gods or allow them to be openly worshiped in Israel is shocking and reprehensible. Solomon's wife Naamah, who was the mother of his son Rehoboam, was an Ammonite and I wonder if Solomon built an altar to Molek for her because she produced an heir for him. We don't know who was the mother of Solomon's two daughters who are named in the Bible but she may have been a Moabite and this could be why Solomon built an altar for Chemosh for her. We really know very little about Solomon's wives or his children or whether he fathered only three or whether he fathered hundreds. But no matter what, there's no excuse for allowing idolatry in his household or for participating in it himself. 

Solomon is in a position to influence the whole nation by his actions. If he had remained steadfast in his worship of the Lord, he could have helped all his family members and his entire nation to remain true to the Lord. But by openly engaging in idolatrous practices, he exposed his people to temptation. He caused a situation in which people could say, "Well, if the king does it, it must be okay. We can worship the Lord at His temple and we can worship other gods at their altars."

Solomon has not handled his power and his prosperity responsibly. We've talked before about there being more danger of drifting from the Lord during in times of prosperity than in times of hardship. In times of ease and comfort it's vital to stay on track with our prayer life, Bible study, and worship so we don't veer off course. The Lord is going to send some hardships into Solomon's life as a corrective measure to get him back on track.