This week we will look into King Solomon’s legacy. What is he know for as far as God is concerned? We think about his wealth and his wisdom, but what does God think? What happened to Solomon before he died? How did he finish his assignment to lead the people of Israel? You see, when it comes to how you are remembered, it’s not how you start the race that matters. It’s also not how you are doing during the race the matters. It only matters how you finish the race, when it comes to how you are remembered. Did you win or lose? That is what people will remember. 1 Kings 11 is the end of Solomon’s story and it records how God felt toward Solomon at the end of his reign over Israel.
1 Kings 11:9-10 “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 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.” God was angry with Solomon. After everything God had given him, Solomon turned away from the Lord. But why? What could possibly cause the wisest, and richest man who ever lived to turn away from the One who did that for him? It says he actually went after other gods. He didn’t abandon the idea that there was a God. He knowingly went after other gods. But again, why would he do this? Solomon had a problem. And it was the same problem his father David had before him. It was women. Remember how we talked about David’s behavior with Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother? King David wanted a woman that he was not supposed to have. King Solomon then follows in his dad’s footsteps. And it does not end well. When you continue in the same ungodly family tradition that you father participated in and his father before him, you can expect the same results and the same miserable cycle of family problems to continue. I had a friend growing up who’s dad was an alcoholic. Before my friend graduated high school, he was drinking heavily. I remember thinking how crazy that seemed after he had watched what it did to his dad and family. We are influenced by those we are close to. That’s why, who you spend your time with matters. The people in your circle will affect your life decisions. That’s a kingdom spiritual principal.
1 Corinthians 15:33 “33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” If you hang around 4 drug addicts, you will be the fifth. Sometimes you have to cut people off from your life. Even family members, if they are pulling you in the wrong direction, away from God. I didn’t say to stop loving them and praying for them. I’m saying you cannot allow them to be close enough to have an influence over your life. Solomon was not willing to do this, so he indulged his desire for women and allowed his flesh to override his desire to follow after what God commanded. You have to understand that walking away from what God has said in His word, will result in problems arising in your life. Maybe not today or tomorrow...or even this year, but your continued refusal to follow God’s word will have consequences. 1 Kings 11:1-2 “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 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.” These two verses are the beginning of the end for Solomon. He wanted the women that God told him he was not supposed to have. And why was it that God said not to marry them? Because they would pull his heart away from God. 1 Kings 11:3-5 “Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 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, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.” David knew that chasing his desire for women could have devastating affects on a king. It cost Solomon the kingdom and kept his son from being king. Did you catch how many wives he had? 700 in addition to 300 concubines. Initially, you men probably think how lucky Solomon was...but men and women don’t think alike, and that can cause issues. Can you imaging what it would be like to have 1,000 women in the house? Men, how are you doing with the one you are living with now? Now multiply whatever issues you might have by 1,000. We get a little insight to what it was like for Solomon living in the palace with 1,000 women in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 21:9 “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.” Seems like there may have been some arguments going on. He would rather live on the roof in a corner than deal with that. Proverbs 21:19 “It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.” In addition to arguments there was the tendency for women to worry about things. He would rather live in a desert than deal with that. Proverbs 27:15-16 “A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; 16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one's right hand.”
Perhaps he was being continually reminded by his wives to do things more often than was necessary. We have a word for that, but I’m not gonna say it. His efforts to stop this from happening were as effective as trying to hold oil in one hand. He compares it to a continually dripping water. What does water do to solid rock over time if it continually drips on it? It erodes it and makes it surrender to the shape the water wants. This is what happened to Solomon. He got worn down. He sums up this experience in the book of Ecclesiastes with this. Ecclesiastes 7:25-26 “25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.” He says it’s more bitter than death. It seems that despite all women Solomon had, they didn’t satisfy him. They only made his life miserable. If these were the type of women Solomon married, it’s obvious why he turned from honoring God and built multiple temples to their gods. Women, do you ever wonder if you have an affect on your husband? Let me clear that up for you. You have so much influence, that it’s actually possible for you to turn him away from serving God, just to keep you happy. 1 Kings 11:6-8 “6 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. 7 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. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.” Solomon built temples for other gods to please his foreign wives. When he married them, he didn’t require them to abandon their god and serve the One, true God. His bad company corrupted his good morals. Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes and in it we find his thoughts about his life and what he experienced. Let’s look at a couple of verses, starting with the very first ones. Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” As you read Ecclesiastes you will see this word over and over. Vanity. But here in this book it does not mean what we think about as vanity today. We think of vanity as being conceited or prideful, but the Hebrew word translated vanity means “vapor.” So every time you read the word vanity, think vapor. Meaning, not substantial and passing quickly. Solomon is saying everything passes quickly and does not amount to anything that really matters. All of your effort to make more money, build a better career, buy a bigger house and make a name for yourself is worthless in the end. There was a little plaque that used to hang in my grandmother’s home. It said this: “Only one life, will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” It basically sums up the book of Ecclesiastes. Let’s continue.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” This principal is true, but on the surface is seems to not be. You have to look at the big picture, not the small seemingly “new” advancements. For instance, mankind used to have to walk if he wanted to go somewhere. Then later, he decided to ride a horse. This seems like a new thing. Then later, he decided to connect a buggy to that horse and ride in comfort...another new thing. Of course. Later man builds a train and goes faster and farther than the horse could ever take him. This is certainly new. Now we have cars. They can go way faster than necessary, and can take us anywhere we want anytime we want. Is this not a new thing? No, it is not. The base desire to travel somewhere other than where you currently are has not changed. It is the same wether you walk, ride a horse, take a train or drive a car. There is nothing new under the sun when it comes to man’s desires, thoughts, wickedness and ability to lead others astray. There are no new things, only new ways of doing old things. Are there any new sins, or are there just new ways of committing the same old sins? Do you think our current social climate in America is any different than it was back in Rome before it fell? Or was it different in Greece when they were the world’s super power? Was Egypt or Babylon any different? The pattern of the world is unchanging and it will continue to be unchanging. There is nothing new under the sun.
I want to mention a verse from Ecclesiastes that I’ve mentioned before, but while we’re in this book, I’ll mention it again. Ecclesiastes 11:1 “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” This saying is confusing to us as modern people, but it comes from the ancient practice of casting seed (potential bread) into the flooded waters of a river. The children of Israel would have learned this practice learned this from Egyptians, who did this every year when the Nile flooded. As the flood waters receded they would deposit the seeds down river and then later in the year when Israel was traveling, their bread came back to them in the form of grain that had grown along the riverbanks. The spiritual principle is that when you sow your resources into the water that will plant it where it needs to go, you haven’t thrown it away, you’ve thrown it into your future. In the last chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon begins to sum up all his wisdom and life experience. Ecclesiastes 12:1-2 “1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, Here, Solomon is saying remember what you were taught about God when you were young and don’t fall away from it when you get old. He then goes on to describe what happens as you get older. It’s a difficult, but accurate picture of the aging process, that Solomon himself was experiencing.
Despite his vast wisdom, Solomon went down some very bad paths, and then paid the price for them. Our time with Solomon will end by looking at the last verses in the book of Ecclesiastes. It contains his final judgment concerning everything he experienced as the wisest and richest king to ever live. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Solomon is saying, you can do whatever you want, but it is a meaningless vapor...and in the end you will be judged for all of it. That’s something to be seriously thinking about when you are deciding how you will live your life. Only one life, will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.
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