2023_08_21 Insight Post- Kim Feld

This is how this week’s reading begins:

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. ² The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. ³ He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord. (1 Kings 11:1-3, NLT).

I hear ominous music playing in the background, telling us bad things are coming! To say that Solomon loved many women is a vast understatement! If you go back to Deuteronomy 17:17, you will see that God had forbidden kings from having many wives “so that his heart won’t go astray.” This is separate from our reading, but if you look back at 1 Kings 10:26-29, you will see that Solomon also collected chariots and imported horses, among other things. This also violated God’s commands (see Deuteronomy 17:16).

The reason that God gave the direction for the Israelites to not intermarry with the surrounding countries was not because He was against intermarriage. We have lots of examples in the Bible where that was the case. His warning was about the gods the other nations worshipped. He knew the people’s hearts would be pulled away from Him over time. And He was right.

Beginning in 1 Kings 11 verse 4, we see that Solomon’s heart began to be turned away, and he began following the gods of his wives, even building places of worship for them. Solomon didn’t wholly forget God but incorporated others into his belief system. This is called syncretism, and we see it today when people try to incorporate elements of other faiths into their practice of Christianity. It didn’t work then, and it doesn’t work now.

Solomon’s story is heartbreaking for many reasons, but especially because of the special favor God showed him. God had appeared to him twice, once in a dream in Gibeon (see 1 Kings 3), when God asked him what he wanted, and Solomon asked for wisdom. The second was in 1 Kings 9 after the temple was completed. God loved and blessed Solomon greatly.

This story is an excellent example of how our hearts can be torn away from God inch by inch. It’s like the analogy of a frog in a pot of water with the heat being turned up gradually. He is cooked before he even realizes what is happening. One decision, one compromise, one lie, can quickly add up and put distance between God and us before we even realize what is happening.

God asks for our obedience and that we keep our eyes fixed on Him, not because He’s a tyrant but because He knows what’s best for us and how our lives work best. Staying on track requires diligence and persistence, but what we gain in our relationship with Jesus is priceless. His word gives us direction for our lives. Let’s commit to self-reflection this week. Are we on track, or do we need to do a reset?

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach