In this episode of Add Bible, we delve into the cautionary tale of King Solomon’s downfall as narrated in 1 Kings chapter 11. Despite his wisdom and divine blessings, Solomon’s heart turns away from God as he succumbs to the temptations presented by foreign alliances and idolatry. Through the scriptures, we explore how the kingdom of Israel faces the repercussions of Solomon’s choices, highlighting the importance of steadfast faithfulness.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today brings us to 1 Kings chapter 11. It’s kind of a sad chapter as Solomon turns away from the Lord. But let’s listen in. The faith comes by hearing’s reading of 1 Kings chapter 11.
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1 Kings 11 Now King 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, 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 Ammonites. 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 Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives who made offerings and sacrificed 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.
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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.
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And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom. For Joab and all Israel remained there six months until he had cut off every male in Edom. But Hadad fled to Egypt together with certain Edomites of his father’s servants, Hadad still being a little child. They set out from Midian, and came to Paran, and took men with them from Paran, and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, and assigned him an allowance of food, and gave him land. And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tapanes the queen. And the sister of Tappanese bore him Gennubath his son, whom Tappanese weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Gennubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to my own country. But Pharaoh said to him, What have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country? And he said to him, Only let me depart. God also raised up as an adversary to him Rezan, the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his master Hadad-ezer, king of Zobah. And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band after the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus. He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat and Ephraimite of Zerudah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruiah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king. And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built the millow and closed up the breach of the city of David, his father. the man Jeroboam was very able. And when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him and tore it into twelve pieces.
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And he said to Jeroboam, Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes. But he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. Because they have forsaken me and worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the god of Moab, and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. And they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight, and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David, my servant, whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you. Ten tribes, yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David, my servant, may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you, and I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.
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Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
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In 1989, at 34 years old, I read 1 Kings chapters 10 through 14 on the same day, and I wrote, God promised the blessings of life to all who obey and believe in him. Yet person after person falls by the way of sin and disobedience in scripture. God promised both blessings for obedience and curses for sin. Lord, help me stay with you. Eight years later, I was 42 years old in 1997 when I read 1 Kings 9-11 on the same day and I wrote Solomon the builder and wise king was also sexually motivated with 700 wives and 300 concubines. So wise he left the God for false gods through women. Why with wisdom from above would he forsake you, Lord? Fourteen years later, in 2011 at 56 years old, I read 1 Kings chapters 11 and 12 on the same day, and concerning chapter 11, I wrote, Solomon’s heart is turned from the Lord by foreign wives, love for women over love for God. God was not pleased with Solomon, nor with any of us who put anything above our love for him. He takes the kingdom away from Solomon, except Judah for David’s sake. God raises up adversaries against peoples and nations who don’t follow him. And I was referring to chapter 11, verses 23 and 26. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it, after yesterday’s reading in chapter 10, the enormous blessings of God, the prosperity and the wealth, the wisdom, all the goodness that Solomon was receiving from the Lord while he walked with him. It’s hard to believe that chapter 11 can follow a chapter like chapter 10. Verse 4, 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. 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, and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods, but he did not keep what the Lord commanded. Have you been blessed in your walk with the Lord? Oh, I don’t mean great riches, great wealth. I just mean, have you been blessed? I would venture to guess that most of us have. Don’t let God’s blessings make you complacent. Don’t take God’s blessings for granted. Don’t get so comfortable in the blessings of God that you forget where the blessings came from. We’re not sure what happened to Solomon, except what’s recorded here in the scriptures. Solomon loved many foreign women, and his wives turned away his heart. Maybe that was Solomon’s weakness. What is your weakness? What can turn your heart from the Lord? I doubt if Solomon thought it could happen to him. You might say the same. That would never happen to you. But what is your weakness? What can Satan use to turn your heart away from God? From 1 Kings chapter 11, I hope we consider that. Spend a little time today thinking about where you are vulnerable. Is it sexual temptation? Is it wealth and prosperity? Is it power and influence? Is it simply spiritual laziness? What could turn your heart from God? Father, we pray that it would not happen to us. We thank you for recording 1 Kings chapter 11. It reminds us all how vulnerable we can be. Holy Spirit, put a hedge of protection around us. Keep us from falling. Keep our eyes fixed on you. And keep our feet on the path that you have designed for our lives. May we not turn aside to the left or to the right. Thank you for the blessings you have bestowed upon us. May we never take them for granted. May we never become complacent in our relationship with you. Again, Holy Spirit, be a wall of protection around us. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen. Thanks for listening to Add Bible today. Our radio programming is set for 2025. We will cover 44 of the 66 books of the Bible using the Ezra Project day by day through the Bible 11 book series. We start at January 1, 2025 with the writings of the Old Testament historical books beginning with Job. We will finish the historical books in May, then jump into the New Testament writings of Mark, Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews. Then fall, we will go back to the Old Testament writings of all 13 of the minor prophets and finish the year with all the writings of Paul. If you are listening to each episode, you will complete 44 of the 66 books of the Bible in 2025. But if you missed any, you can always go back and catch up by loading the radio station app that you’re listening to and finding the button replays. We hope you are enjoying the audio version of our AddBible radio program. But did you know you can have it all in writing? All of the radio recordings have been transcribed. It took a lot of time and effort to transcribe AddBible into written daily devotions, but we did it. You can get what you have been listening to or get what you’re going to be listening to in writing at EzraProject.net. Visit the resource page and find the day-by-day through the Bible book that coincides with the radio program. It’s usually the one on sale. There’s a section in each book for your thoughts on each passage. So as you listen, you can actually record your own notes so you will never forget what you got out of your time in God’s Word. Check it out today at EzraProject.net. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
