“I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough!” That’s one of the most human statements there is. It’s our inner argument with our limits. We struggle mightily with what’s enough for us. For some of us “enough” has to do with material possessions and whatever they mean to us—status, security, enjoyment. For some of us, it’s addictive substances. For some of us it’s doing good deeds to feel good about ourselves. We book ourselves solid with good so we can look ourselves in the mirror. We struggle with whatever it means to have enough, to be enough, and then shout, “I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough!”
I don’t know what it’s like to like to have 700 wives and 300 concubines. I don’t want to know. I do, however, like Solomon know what it’s like to struggle with enough. It’s as if your mind—or maybe your soul—lacks the proper punction marks so you have no period telling you, “stop.” “Enough.” We, Solomon included, need to figure out enough. We are to find our “enough” in the Lord; that’s the claim of this sermon; we are to find our enough in the Lord.
We see this in two points. First: Solomon’s false loves. Second: Solomon’s real consequences. First, in verses 1-8, we consider Solomon’s false loves. Second, in verses 9-13, we consider Solomon’s real consequences.
We see Solomon’s lack of “enough” in our first point: Solomon’s false loves. We’ve been to dizzying heights with Solomon—treasure ships from the far side of the world, pleasures to satisfy anyone who could be satisfied, understanding beyond our understanding. We’ve seen the splendor and brilliance of his kingdom and now we come to the gut punch of verse 1, “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.”
As so often in the Solomon account, the artistry indicates the experience. We’ve had hints, only hints, that Solomon is going off the rails. There’s nothing subtle about today’s text, though. Today it’s as if the train that’s been a long time coming hurtles off a mountainous bridge into the valley below.
Solomon was warned; verse 2, “[these women] were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” There were more specific warnings. In Deuteronomy 17, which the king was to copy in his own hand so he would remember every word, the king was commanded not to take many wives lest he think the rules didn’t apply to him. Solomon acted like the rules didn’t apply to him. The rules about avoiding women who worship other gods didn’t apply to him. The rules about many wives didn’t apply to him. Somehow Solomon convinced himself that what God said was good but not good for him.
We have our own ways of swindling our souls into such foolishness. I have my ways of calling God’s word good but not good for me in this or that instance. You have yours. Solomon had his. We can’t fight Solomon’s justifications for sin for him. Each of us is to fight our own lest we disregard our conscience and eventually disregard God altogether. For what? A thousand women? A thousand dollars? Ten dollars? What’s your soul worth? “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Jesus asked.
We are to sense how far Solomon has fallen. The beginning of this chapter harkens back to his prayer for wisdom in chapter 3 prefaced by the words, “Solomon loved the Lord…” Now we read, “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women…” Same man. Same impulse of love. Very different direction.
This word “love” isn’t merely about affection—whether for the Lord or for these women. It’s a term of loyalty. Solomon was giving himself to these women in a way reserved only the Lord. You need to watch out for that. The world wants you to offer yourself—in honor, in adoration, in time—in a way that belongs only to the Lord. The devil wants the same. Your flesh wants the same. You are in as precarious a place as Solomon. Devote yourself to the Lord and then do it again and then do it again. Do it weekly. Do it daily. The Lord won’t undo you like the world, the flesh, and the devil. They take. He gives. You see that in the cross. You see that in His Spirit within you. Give yourself over to the One and only to the One who gives Himself for your good.
Solomon’s didn’t. He didn’t see that, though. He saw his marriages as a political move. He wasn’t so much of a slave of lust as a slave of security. He was forging alliances and smoothing troubled waters. Giving a daughter in marriage, taking a daughter in marriage was a way of building connections. Marriages have been that way throughout much of human history and in Solomon’s day there weren’t unified nation states the way we think of them today and so all sorts of rulers of regions tried to get in good with all the power blocs they could. Solomon’s thousand wives and concubines were a something of an embassy to the surrounding world. They wouldn’t be seen in terms of lust; they would be seen in terms of connections.
Solomon couldn’t get enough connections. He can’t get enough security. If you asked Solomon, “how many more connections do you need for you to feel your kingdom is secure?” he’d answer, “more,” and that would remain his answer until he died and then his son Rehoboam sinks the kingdom Solomon sacrificed himself so foolishly to quote-unquote secure.
Solomon goes big with women just as he goes big with everything else. We all give ourselves away. This should give us pause when assessing Solomon because he is so very good at so much. The Bible regularly gives us examples of remarkable people acting remarkably foolishly not so that we can consider ourselves their betters because, of course, we wouldn’t disregard a commandment like Eve, give into temptation like David, fear for our lives like Peter, or try to cement security however we can like Solomon. The Bible tell us to show us otherwise. If these remarkable individuals can fall into that, I could too and I would do well to take heed, lest I fall.
Jesus is the only outlier. He’s the only one who lives up to what God expects. Let’s not put Solomon in his place. Let’s not put each other in his place. Let’s not put ourselves in his place. Let’s put Jesus in his place and thank him, revere him, and follow him. That’s church.
Perhaps Solomon had hoped that these wives would follow the Lord. Perhaps that was one of the ways he justified it to himself. Here’s how it played out, though; “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.” Solomon not only failed to oppose the idol worship of his wives in his kingdom; he joined in it.
We are so familiar with this failure that we miss the gravity of the offense so let’s come at it by way of contrast. Can you imagine David worshipping Ashtoreth? “Ashtoreth is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. She makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside quite waters”? Can you imagine Priscilla and Aquilla following Molech? “Paul, we are going to stop in Antioch and encourage the churches there. We’re also really into Molech lately—lot of good stuff there. Grace and peace.” You can’t imagine that. Idolatry is off limits ten thousand times over in the reality of the Bible.
It should have been off limits a hundred thousand times over in Solomon’s kingdom. As Paul House explains, “In the ancient world polytheists tended to worship the gods of nations who had conquered their armies or at least the gods of countries more powerful than their own. Ironically, Solomon worships the gods of people he has conquered and already controls… the whole episode makes no sense, just as idolatry itself makes no sense.” So it is with my sin and yours; it makes no sense. Don’t enter sin. Don’t stay in sin. You don’t want an eternity of defiantly justifying your own senselessness.
Solomon goes so far as to encourage this senseless idolatry. We see this in one of Solomon’s favorite verbs—“to build.” He built the temple. He built his palace. He built public works projects. Now we builds venues for idolatry; verse 7, “On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.” Chemosh, Molech, and Ashtoreth are merely representative samples here. All the gods of all his wives got a worship site. Maybe Solomon told himself that these sits weren’t as grand as the Lord’s temple site. Maybe he told himself that it was still the Lord’s land but all the earth is the Lord’s and there’s idolatry everywhere. We don’t know how justified it to himself. What we need to be concerned with is how we justify our own divided loyalties to ourselves and to stop it and commit ourselves fully to the Lord.
Solomon had prayed at the temple dedication that the people would commit themselves fully to the Lord and that the Lord would commit their hearts fully to Himself. He sent the people home saying, “Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in His statutes and keeping His commandments, as at this day.” It’s one thing to know that. It’s another thing to do it yourself. Solomon knew it. He didn’t do it here. How about you tonight?
Jesus’ words to the church in Ephesus are applicable for Solomon. Perhaps they are applicable for you this evening. “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” Let’s keep repenting of our false loves. We see consequences if we don’t in our second point: Solomon’s real consequences.
Doing wrong carries its own consequences. Solomon’s addiction to security through connections likely left him overwhelmed playing politics and certainly pushed him toward the manipulation and intimidation tactics we studied earlier. There is more to it though. Yes, doing wrong does carry is own consequences but there are consequences beyond; that’s the force of verse 9, “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.”
Solomon’s worst consequence had to do with the Lord. Sin’s worst consequence always has to do with the Lord and there is no worse consequences that can come than those that come from the Lord. The Lord was angry. The form of this Hebrew verb expresses intensity. The Lord was furious, enraged—He was incensed—with Solomon because Solomon’s heart had turned away and then we have that interesting addition that the Lord who was furious with Solomon “had appeared to him twice.” When the Lord first appeared to Solomon, He offered the young king whatever he wanted and then gave him far more than that. When the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, He warned not to fall in love with all the goodness and so forget about God. The message is that Solomon had more than anyone could ask for and was told what to do and what not to do and then did wrong. That’s what enraged the Lord.
Great blessing isn’t a blessing if you turn it into a curse. That’s what Solomon did with his wealth, with the peace his father earned, and even with his own wisdom. He turned these blessings into curses—hoarding the wealth, trying to secure future peace his own way rather than the Lord’s way, and turning his wisdom toward selfish ends. I can do that with my blessings and you can with yours. We have it in us to turn what God has given us into our own brand of defiance to Him. We have our self-justifications but in the end it will prove as cut and dry as verse 10, “Although He had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command” and so it will be for each of us if we turn God’s blessings into a curse.
So now the Lord speaks to Solomon again. We aren’t told that He appeared to him again, though. Now He just spoke—perhaps through a prophet but however it was it is at a distance from the earlier intimacy. “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.” That first clause is heartbreaking. “Since this is your attitude…” There is nothing Solomon could say in his defense. Idolatry was his attitude. Leaning on his own understanding was his attitude. Foolishly grasping to secure what only God could give was his attitude. What is your attitude? What is your posture toward the Lord—your frame of heart?
Solomon was told, “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.” The Lord will take what Solomon was trying to secure and so it will happen to everyone who tries to secure any grace of God on their own terms. It will all be taken away. We need to learn to graciously receive grace and then trust the Lord for whatever He’ll choose to give next. The alternative is to lose everything.
The author has dealt quite shrewdly with the Solomon stories. He’s reported just the facts with almost no commentary of approval or correction. He’s reported. We decide. Now we see the Lord’s decision, “I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you…” Solomon’s manipulations of Hiram have consequences. Solomon’s acts of intimidation have consequences. Solomons striving to secure his kingdom his way has consequences.
As wise as Solomon was—and he was exceedingly wise—he forgot something. He forgot that everything hinges on one’s relationship with the Lord—“you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you.” No one can spend, flatter, work, impress, wiggle, or think their way out of that elemental reality of existence—you live before the face of the Lord. How goes it with your soul? How is it between you and God?
The Lord takes everything into account and so we are to seek to be wise in everything by remembering Him in everything. That’s wisdom—the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Lord remembers too. We see here that with David. “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.” What a mystery. What a warning to parents. Our children enjoy and suffer the fruit of our choices. David walked so that Solomon could run. Solomon ran so that Rehoboam could crash. What a sobering word. What a comforting word, though. Yes, Solomon inherits peace and a kingdom from David and, yes, he does ruin it by seeming success. David’s way doesn’t get the last word; Solomon capsizes it, but neither Solomon’s nor Rehoboam’s way get the last word. The Lord will right the ship; “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.”
That’s the road to what’s enough—this remnant out of which the Messiah will come. There is still a way of grace—the grace of God’s, not Solomon’s, choices. There is nothing deeper than God’s choice. Solomon’s choices, David’s choices, my choices, yours—these are consequential, but they are not determinative. Solomon, for all his glory, could not become the Messiah, but neither for all his shame could he prevent the Messiah. The best any of us can do is embrace the Messiah—embrace God’s way; that’s just part of the call to embrace Jesus. He secures the enough Solomon sought to secure. Do you have him? Do you have enough? Amen.
“1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.
7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
9 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. 10 Although He had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command. 11 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. 12 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. 13 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.””