The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Turn away” it comes from the Hebrew Word “natah” which means “to turn aside, to incline.”
The wisest man who ever lived makes a foolish, lasting mistake that costs his descendants dearly. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is 1 Kings 11.
Solomon loves many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter, from nations God had specifically warned Israel not to intermarry with, since they would surely “turn away,” “natah” in Hebrew, their hearts after other gods. Solomon accumulates seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and as he grows old, his wives turn his heart away after other gods, so that his heart is no longer perfect with the Lord as David’s had been, and he builds high places for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molech, provoking the Lord to anger.
God tells Solomon directly that because he has not kept His covenant and statutes, He will surely tear the kingdom away from him and give it to his servant, though for David’s sake, this will not happen during Solomon’s own lifetime, and for Jerusalem’s sake, one tribe will still remain for his son. God raises up adversaries against Solomon, including Hadad the Edomite, Rezon in Syria, and finally Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s own officials.
The prophet Ahijah meets Jeroboam and tears his own new garment into twelve pieces, giving Jeroboam ten of them, symbolizing that God will tear ten tribes away from Solomon’s son and give them to Jeroboam instead, though one tribe remains for David’s sake and for Jerusalem, the city God chose. Solomon, learning of this, seeks to kill Jeroboam, who flees to Egypt until Solomon’s death. Solomon reigns forty years total before dying, and his son Rehoboam succeeds him on the throne.
The very man whose wisdom drew admirers from across the known world still allowed compromised relationships to gradually pull his heart away from wholehearted devotion to God. Solomon’s story is a sobering reminder that intellectual wisdom alone never guarantees spiritual faithfulness, especially when it comes to the influences we allow closest to our hearts.
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