CROWNED | 1 Kings Chapter 11

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Week 2 / Day 11

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Happy Monday!  And welcome back for week 3 of our Crowned devotional series.  If you haven’t done so already, go ahead and read 1 Kings 11 and then come back here for a time of reflection and response together.

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REFLECT

After so many chapters and verses highlighting the way the Lord has blessed Solomon’s life and kingdom so abundantly, the storyline at the beginning of chapter 11 can feel somewhat abrupt in nature.  If your Bible has section titles as mine does, then even the title itself would be reason enough to pause and wonder, “What in the world happened?”  Because surely there had to have been some catastrophic event that took place between 1 Kings 10:23, which declared:

“Thus King Solomon excelled all the Kings of the Earth in riches and wisdom.” (ESV)

And then the opening section title of chapter 11says:

“Solomon Turns from the Lord”

However, no matter how deep you study into the historical record, you will never find a big “I’m turning from the Lord and rejecting Him” moment, because it simply doesn’t exist!  This seemingly sudden falling away in Solomon’s life is actually something that has been slowly taking place ever since he took the throne as king, some of those moments of compromise being so subtle you likely didn’t even notice them as you read them over the past two weeks.  So let’s revisit them together.

Compromise #1 is found all of the way back in 1 Kings 3:1, which stated:

“Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt.” (ESV)

At first glance, this line seems innocent enough!  After all, weren’t marriage alliances a pretty common thing back then?   The short answer, yes!  They were common within the culture; however, God had explicitly instructed His people not to intermarry with the surrounding pagan nations (Deuteronomy 7:3 & 17:17), as they would draw them away from the Lord.  

And yet, despite the mass amounts of wisdom Solomon had been given, right out of the gate, he begins forming political alliances by way of marriage with many nations, including Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and the Hittites - these being the exact nations the Lord has warned Israel of previously!

Compromise #2 is set into motion as Solomon amassed an incredibly large military, which, as 1 Kings 4:26 tells us, included 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses, as well as chariots and cities detailed in 1 Kings 10:26.

Again, this amassing of military power appears to be Solomon’s God-given wisdom shining bright.  So why is it, in reality, a moment of compromise?  Because in Deuteronomy 17:16, God commanded the people of  Israel, saying:

“The king must not build up large stables of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, 'You must never return to Egypt.”  (NLT)

And compromise #3 comes as Solomon, having completed the temple for the Lord, continues to use his position, title, and authority to amass great and excessive wealth.  

1 Kings 10:14-15 tells us that Solomon accumulated 666 talents of Gold each year.  That 666 talents is not equivalent to a measly $666 but rather 25 TONS of Gold being amassed EACH YEAR!  There was so much excess, in fact, that Solomon doesn’t know what to do with it all and begins using it to build quite the “Real Housewives of Israel” type lifestyle, including crafting 500 gold shields, and a massive, ivory throne overlaid with pure gold (1 Kings 10:16-20) just because he could!  

Again, the Lord had previously instructed His people to avoid such behavior in Deuteronomy 8:11-14, which states:

“Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey His commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.  For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large, and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!  Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.” (NLT)

When looked at from a distance, none of these “issues” appear to be issues at all!  After all, these “moments of compromise” look a whole lot like wise leadership decisions and, as we saw with the awed response from the Queen of Sheba, are bringing glory to God, not just fame to Solomon!  So how is it that these “good things” are the very things to lead Solomon to turn away from the Lord?

The answer to that is simple: because they were each things the Lord had explicitly instructed not just Solomon but all of the Israelites to NOT do, which we find written plainly in the book of Deuteronomy!   Now, before you cry foul and start to think that it’s unfair to expect Solomon to have known these words of the Lord spoken so long ago, let’s not forget two important things:

1. As a king, Solomon would have been required to not only know the Law of the Lord but would have been required to personally have written out his own copy of the Law alongside the Levitical priests, keep it with him, and read it DAILY!  On top of that, the entire nation - including the king - was required to gather and listen to public readings of the law.  So the contents of the law were nothing new to Solomon!

2. The Lord appeared to Solomon not once, but TWICE, amidst his reign, giving a clear warning to “remember the Law of the Lord”.  The Law, which he had previously written out by hand and carried with Him daily, giving Him easy access to check the record and either affirm or realign his actions.  Something Solomon never did.

So Solomon would have known these Laws clearly and would have been keenly aware of the importance of leaning on the security of the Lord’s supernatural provision and not his own earthly kingdom.  The decisions he was making weren’t just “Oops!  I didn’t know” learning moments.  They were, in fact, acts made in direct defiance of the Lord.

So why, if Solomon was walking in direct defiance of the Word of the Lord, did he continue to prosper?  There are a few ways we can answer that question.

First, the Lord was giving Solomon time and space to “course correct” and repent.  You see, despite what many of us have come to believe, the Lord is not sitting in heaven, looking down on us and waiting for us to mess up so we can rain down punishment.  Instead, He is walking with us, offering incredible patience and grace-filled guidance in the hope that we will turn away from our own destructive paths and back to Him.  And the Lord is so serious about His patient mercy for us that He followed it all the way to the cross.  For as Romans 5:8 tells us:

“But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (NLT)

Second, the promise the Lord made to Solomon had two parts: one unconditional, the other conditional.  The unconditional promise included great wisdom and wealth, a promise which the Lord upheld for the entirety of Solomon’s life.  So what was the conditional promise?  Let’s reread it together.  1 Kings 3:14 states:

“And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

So why did Solomon continue to "excel" despite disobedience?  Because God is a God of grace, giving us time to self-correct before we get hit by the repercussions full force, and He is also a God who keeps His promises.  But we must remember that God is also a God of justice, and that means when we don’t fulfill our end of things, the consequences start to roll in.  

If you remember, Solomon’s father, David, was also guilty of compromising at times.  However, when approached with his neglect of God’s law, David’s heart response was deep repentance (2 Samuel 12).  On the other hand, Solomon’s response to each of the Lord’s clear and direct warnings was, “Don’t worry, God, I’ve got this!  And it is from those differing responses to the Lord’s correction that Solomon has gone down in history known as wealthy and wise, but David has gone down known as the man after God’s own heart.  One man's struggle leading him, through a heart of continual surrender, closer to the Lord.  And another man's arrogance and pride leading him farther from Him.  

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RESPOND

1. Like Solomon, are there areas in your life where you have normalized compromise because it appears wise, successful, or beneficial on the surface?  Take a moment to ask God to reveal any decisions, habits, or priorities that look good outwardly but may be pulling your heart away from full obedience.

2. When God’s Word conflicts with what seems practical, advantageous, or culturally accepted, which voice do you tend to trust (and ultimately obey) most?  Reflect on whether your obedience is shaped more by Scripture and wisdom gained by prayer or by what appears to “work” in the moment?

3. How do you typically respond when the Lord brings conviction or correction into your life?  Do you respond more like David, with humility and repentance?  More like Solomon, with self-confidence and justification?  Or do you actively try to avoid the issue altogether, thinking that if you just ignore it it will all work out in the end?

4. Where might God’s patience and blessing in your life be creating a false sense that everything is spiritually healthy?  Are there areas where God’s grace may be mistaken for His approval of an attitude, action, or pattern that He is actually calling you to surrender?  

5. What is one area of compromise that the Holy Spirit has repeatedly brought to my attention, and what would genuine repentance look like today?  Don’t simply identify the issue; prayerfully identify a specific step of obedience you can take this week.