While Solomon exalted the law of heaven, God was
with him, and wisdom was given him to rule over
Israel with impartiality and mercy. At first, as wealth and
worldly honor came to him, he remained humble, and great
was the extent of his influence. "Solomon reigned over all
kingdoms from the river [Euphrates] unto the land of the
Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt." "He . . . had
peace on all sides round about him. And Judah and Israel
dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig
tree, . . . all the days of Solomon." I Kings 4:21, 24, 25.
But after a morning of great promise his life was
darkened by apostasy. History records the melancholy fact that
he who had been called Jedidiah,--"Beloved of the Lord"
(2 Samuel 12:25, margin),--he who had been honored
by God with tokens of divine favor so remarkable that
his wisdom and uprightness gained for him world-wide
fame, he who had led others to ascribe honor to the God of
Israel, turned from the worship of Jehovah to bow before
the idols of the heathen.
Hundreds of years before Solomon came to the throne,
the Lord, foreseeing the perils that would beset those who
might be chosen as rulers of Israel, gave Moses instruction
for their guidance. Directions were given that he who
should sit on the throne of Israel should "write him a copy"
of the statutes of Jehovah "in a book out of that which is
before the priests the Levites." "It shall be with him," the
Lord said, "and he shall read therein all the days of his life:
that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the
words of this law and these statutes, to do them: that his
heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn
not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to
the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his
kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel."
Deuteronomy 17:18-20.
In connection with this instruction the Lord particularly
cautioned the one who might be anointed king not to
"multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away:
neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold."
Verse 17.
With these warnings Solomon was familiar, and for a
time he heeded them. His greatest desire was to live and
rule in accordance with the statutes given at Sinai. His manner
of conducting the affairs of the kingdom was in striking
contrast with the customs of the nations of his time--nations
who feared not God and whose rulers trampled
underfoot His holy law.
In seeking to strengthen his relations with the powerful
kingdom lying to the southward of Israel, Solomon ventured
upon forbidden ground. Satan knew the results that would
attend obedience; and during the earlier years of Solomon's
reign--years glorious because of the wisdom, the beneficence,
and the uprightness of the king--he sought to bring in
influences that would insidiously undermine Solomon's loyalty
to principle and cause him to separate from God. That the
enemy was successful in this effort, we know from the
record: "Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into
the City of David." I Kings 3:I.
From a human point of view, this marriage, though
contrary to the teachings of God's law, seemed to prove a
blessing; for Solomon's heathen wife was converted and
united with him in the worship of the true God. Furthermore,
Pharaoh rendered signal service to Israel by taking
Gezer, slaying "the Canaanites that dwelt in the city," and
giving it "for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife."
I Kings 9:16. This city Solomon rebuilt and thus apparently
greatly strengthened his kingdom along the Mediterranean
seacoast. But in forming an alliance with a heathen nation,
and sealing the compact by marriage with an idolatrous
princess, Solomon rashly disregarded the wise provision
that God had made for maintaining the purity of His
people. The hope that his Egyptian wife might be converted
was but a feeble excuse for the sin.
For a time God in His compassionate mercy overruled
this terrible mistake; and the king, by a wise course, could
have checked at least in a large measure the evil forces that
his imprudence had set in operation. But Solomon had
begun to lose sight of the Source of his power and glory.
As inclination gained the ascendancy over reason,
self-confidence increased, and he sought to carry out the Lord's
purpose in his own way. He reasoned that political and
commercial alliances with the surrounding nations would
bring these nations to a knowledge of the true God; and
he entered into unholy alliance with nation after nation.
Often these alliances were sealed by marriages with heathen
princesses. The commands of Jehovah were set aside for
the customs of surrounding peoples.
Solomon flattered himself that his wisdom and the power
of his example would lead his wives from idolatry to the
worship of the true God, and also that the alliances thus
formed would draw the nations round about into close
touch with Israel. Vain hope! Solomon's mistake in regarding
himself as strong enough to resist the influence of heathen
associates was fatal. And fatal, too, the deception that led
him to hope that notwithstanding a disregard of God's
law on his part, others might be led to revere and obey its
sacred precepts.
The king's alliances and commercial relations with
heathen nations brought him renown, honor, and the riches
of this world. He was enabled to bring gold from Ophir
and silver from Tarshish in great abundance. "The king
made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones,
and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in
the vale for abundance." 2 Chronicles 1:15. Wealth, with
all its attendant temptations, came in Solomon's day to an
increasingly large number of people; but the fine gold of
character was dimmed and marred.
So gradual was Solomon's apostasy that before he was
aware of it; he had wandered far from God. Almost imperceptibly
he began to trust less and less in divine guidance
and blessing, and to put confidence in his own strength.
Little by little he withheld from God that unswerving
obedience which was to make Israel a peculiar people, and
he conformed more and more closely to the customs of
the surrounding nations. Yielding to the temptations incident
to his success and his honored position, he forgot the
Source of his prosperity. An ambition to excel all other
nations in power and grandeur led him to pervert for selfish
purposes the heavenly gifts hitherto employed for the glory
of God. The money which should have been held in sacred
trust for the benefit of the worthy poor and for the
extension of principles of holy living throughout the world, was
selfishly absorbed in ambitious projects.
Engrossed in an overmastering desire to surpass other
nations in outward display, the king overlooked the need
of acquiring beauty and perfection of character. In seeking
to glorify himself before the world, he sold his honor and
integrity. The enormous revenues acquired through commerce
with many lands were supplemented by heavy taxes.
Thus pride, ambition, prodigality, and indulgence bore fruit
in cruelty and exaction. The conscientious, considerate spirit
that had marked his dealings with the people during the
early part of his reign, was now changed. From the wisest
and most merciful of rulers, he degenerated into a tyrant.
Once the compassionate, God-fearing guardian of the people,
he became oppressive and despotic. Tax after tax was
levied upon the people, that means might be forthcoming
to support the luxurious court.
The people began to complain. The respect and admiration
they had once cherished for their king was changed
into disaffection and abhorrence.
As a safeguard against dependence on the arm of flesh,
the Lord had warned those who should rule over Israel not
to multiply horses to themselves. But in utter disregard
of this command, "Solomon had horses brought out of
Egypt." "And they brought unto Solomon horses out of
Egypt, and out of all lands." "Solomon gathered together
chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four
hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom
he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king
at Jerusalem." 2 Chronicles I:16; 9:28; I Kings 10:26.
More and more the king came to regard luxury,
self-indulgence, and the favor of the world as indications of
greatness. Beautiful and attractive women were brought
from Egypt, Phoenicia, Edom, and Moab, and from many other
places. These women were numbered by hundreds. Their
religion was idol worship, and they had been taught to
practice cruel and degrading rites. Infatuated with their
beauty, the king neglected his duties to God and to his
kingdom.
His wives exerted a strong influence over him and
gradually prevailed on him to unite with them in their
worship. Solomon had disregarded the instruction that
God had given to serve as a barrier against apostasy, and
now he gave himself up to the worship of the false gods. "It
came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned
away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not
perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his
father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of
the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the
Ammonites." I Kings II:4,5.
On the southern eminence of the Mount of Olives, opposite
Mount Moriah, where stood the beautiful temple of
Jehovah, Solomon erected an imposing pile of buildings
to be used as idolatrous shrines. To please his wives, he
placed huge idols, unshapely images of wood and stone,
amidst the groves of myrtle and olive. There, before the
altars of heathen deities, "Chemosh, the abomination of
Moab," and "Molech, the abomination of the children of
Ammon," were practiced the most degrading rites of
heathenism. Verse 7.
Solomon's course brought its sure penalty. His separation
from God through communication with idolaters was
his ruin. As he cast off his allegiance to God, he lost the
mastery of himself. His moral efficiency was gone. His
fine sensibilities became blunted, his conscience seared. He
who in his early reign had displayed so much wisdom and
sympathy in restoring a helpless babe to its unfortunate
mother (see I Kings 3:16-28), fell so low as to consent to
the erection of an idol to whom living children were offered
as sacrifices. He who in his youth was endowed with discretion
and understanding, and who in his strong manhood
had been inspired to write, "There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death" (Proverbs 14:12), in later years departed so far
from purity as to countenance licentious, revolting rites
connected with the worship of Chemosh and Ashtoreth.
He who at the dedication of the temple had said to his
people, "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our
God" (I Kings 8:61), became himself an offender, in heart
and life denying his own words. He mistook license for
liberty. He tried--but at what cost!--to unite light with
darkness, good with evil, purity with impurity, Christ with
Belial.
From being one of the greatest kings that ever wielded
a scepter, Solomon became a profligate, the tool and slave
of others. His character, once noble and manly, became
enervated and effeminate. His faith in the living God was
supplanted by atheistic doubts. Unbelief marred his happiness,
weakened his principles, and degraded his life. The
justice and magnanimity of his early reign were changed
to despotism and tyranny. Poor, frail human nature! God
can do little for men who lose their sense of dependence
upon Him.
During these years of apostasy, the spiritual decline of
Israel progressed steadily. How could it be otherwise when
their king had united his interests with satanic agencies?
Through these agencies the enemy worked to confuse the
minds of the Israelites in regard to true and false worship,
and they became an easy prey. Commerce with other nations
brought them into intimate contact with those who had
no love for God, and their own love for Him was greatly
lessened. Their keen sense of the high, holy character of
God was deadened. Refusing to follow in the path of
obedience, they transferred their allegiance to the enemy of
righteousness. It came to be a common practice to
intermarry with idolaters, and the Israelites rapidly lost their
abhorrence of idol worship. Polygamy was countenanced.
Idolatrous mothers brought their children up to observe
heathen rites. In the lives of some, the pure religious service
instituted by God was replaced by idolatry of the darkest hue.
Christians are to keep themselves distinct and separate
from the world, its spirit, and its influences. God is fully
able to keep us in the world, but we are not to be of the
world. His love is not uncertain and fluctuating. Ever He
watches over His children with a care that is measureless.
But He requires undivided allegiance. "No man can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24.
Solomon was endued with wonderful wisdom, but the
world drew him away from God. Men today are no
stronger than he; they are as prone to yield to the influences
that caused his downfall. As God warned Solomon of his
danger, so today He warns His children not to imperil their
souls by affinity with the world. "Come out from among
them," He pleads, "and be ye separate, . . . and touch not
the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a
Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18.
In the midst of prosperity lurks danger. Throughout
the ages, riches and honor have ever been attended with
peril to humility and spirituality. It is not the empty cup
that we have difficulty in carrying; it is the cup full to the
brim that must be carefully balanced. Affliction and adversity
may cause sorrow, but it is prosperity that is most dangerous
to spiritual life. Unless the human subject is in constant
submission to the will of God, unless he is sanctified by the
truth, prosperity will surely arouse the natural inclination
to presumption.
In the valley of humiliation, where men depend on God
to teach them and to guide their every step, there is comparative
safety. But the men who stand, as it were, on a lofty
pinnacle, and who, because of their position, are supposed
to possess great wisdom--these are in gravest peril. Unless
such men make God their dependence, they will surely fall.
Whenever pride and ambition are indulged, the life is
marred, for pride, feeling no need, closes the heart against
the infinite blessings of Heaven. He who makes self-glorification
his aim will find himself destitute of the grace of
God, through whose efficiency the truest riches and the most
satisfying joys are won. But he who gives all and does all
for Christ will know the fulfillment of the promise, "The
blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no
sorrow with it." Proverbs 10:22. With the gentle touch of
grace the Saviour banishes from the soul unrest and unholy
ambition, changing enmity to love and unbelief to confidence.
When He speaks to the soul, saying, "Follow Me,"
the spell of the world's enchantment is broken. At the
sound of His voice the spirit of greed and ambition flees
from the heart, and men arise, emancipated, to follow Him.