1 Reis 11

1 Reis 11

1 Kings Commentaries Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission 1 Kings Chart from Charles Swindoll THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL 1 Kings 11:1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, loved: 1Ki 11:8 Ge 6:2-5 De 17:17 Ne 13:23-27 Pr 2:16 5:8-20 6:24 7:5 Pr 22:14 23:33 along with: 1Ki 3:1 Lev 18:18 Related Passages: Exodus 34:15; 16+ otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice 16 and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. Deuteronomy 7:1-4+ “When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, 2 and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. 3 “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. 4 “For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you. Deuteronomy 8:6-18+ “Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 “For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 “When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. 11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15 “He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16 “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. 17 “Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this WEALTH.’ 18 “But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make WEALTH, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 17:14-17+ “When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. 16 “Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ 17 “He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. Nehemiah 13:25-26 So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin. 1 Kings 1-10 1 Kings 11 1 Kings 12-22 SOLOMON "in all his glory" (Lk 12:27+) DECLINE AND DEMISE DISRUPTION "a kingdom divided" (Mark 3:24+) Click for full chart from Charles Swindoll As shown in the chart above chapter 11 is the "crisis" point in the history of Israel and the reign of Solomon. Israel will now go from being united and strong to being divided and weak. The 40 years of Solomon's reign will be followed by kings, a few of whom are good, but most are bad and who rule over Judah the next 80 years. Donald Wiseman: At the beginning of his reign Solomon had been promised and given wisdom, which he successfully employed in the accumulation of wealth and displayed in a massive building program, rearmament and government. However, the continuance of his ruling house was dependent not on this outward show but on his inner spiritual state. Thus the account of his reign ends with his decline and with the seeds of evident unrest which were to lead to the break-up of the united kingdom. The theological evaluation of this is found here in the description of his personal failure to keep the law forbidding intermarriage with non-believing wives (vv. 1–13), and in part attributed to his weakening internal unity in the face of external adversaries (vv. 14–24). All this culminated in the rebellion of Jeroboam, inspired by foreign foes (vv. 14–25) and fueled by internal dissent (vv. 26–40). The account is interspersed with theological comment to show that these events were divinely allowed as self-judgment brought upon Solomon for the sin of law-breaking, despite warnings (Deut. 7:1–4; Exod. 34:11–16). R. D. Patterson: When one considers the grand heights of Solomon’s spiritual fervor and the great wisdom granted him by God, it seems impossible that he could have been so foolish as to succumb to idolatry. Yet it did happen, not overnight, but by slow degrees. First it was tolerated in his household. Once he became accustomed to it and comfortable with it, he also began to participate in idolatry with his wives. Solomon never renounced the Lord, but his heart was not entirely devoted to the Lord either. The syncretism that he began to display was a curse that plagued Israel through the years and ultimately led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and to the exile of the people. Solomon’s life stands as a solemn warning against ungodly alliances and relationships that can only destroy the believer’s spiritual vitality. STRANGE WOMEN WILL STEAL YOUR HEART Over this chapter we should put the warnings of 1 Co 10:6-11+ Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. 7 Do not be idolaters (LIKE SOLOMON APPARENTLY BECAME), as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.” 8 Nor let us act immorally (AS SOLOMON DID), as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. 9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. 10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. THOUGHT - Dear Father in Heaven please grant Your Spirit to open the eyes of each of our hearts to the solemn, sad warnings in 1 Kings 11 that we might be supernaturally enabled to deny ungodliness, worldly desires (Titus 2:12+) and fleshly lusts (1Pe 2:11+, Ro 13:14+) and fight the good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12+) for Your glory and the glory of the Lamb of God. In His Name which has overcome this passing world (Jn 16:33+). Amen. Now - Time phrase. This chapter begins with as melancholy of a "NOW" as almost any we find in all the Bible. It begins with compromise. If chapters 9-10 describe the fame of Solomon, chapter 11 sets forth his shame. Solomon did not wake up one morning and decide, “I guess I’ll go worship a foreign god.” Instead Solomon’s decline was by slow degrees. He married foreign wives. He loved them. His heart drifted from love of God. He let the wives worship their gods. He built houses of worship for his wives’ gods. He became accustomed to idolatry, and eventually slipped into the practice of idolatry himself. Solomon's life reminds me of the proverbial frog in the kettle getting slowly hotter and hotter, until it is too late for the frog to escape. THOUGHT - In Star Wars there is the pivotal conflict between Light and Dark. Sadly Solomon who has been so blessed to walk in the Light in the first half of his reign begins to shift to the Dark Side in his latter years. Solomon's failure highlights the importance of exhortations like Hebrews 12:1+ which says "let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." Solomon ran outside his assigned lane and was disqualified. We need to be diligent to make sure we buffet our body and make it our slave, lest after we have preached to others we ourselves might be disqualified. (1Cor 9:27+). Enabled by the Spirit of the Living God, let us run fixing our eyes on Jesus the Author and Perfecter of the faith (Heb 12:2+). King Solomon loved (aheb/ahab; philogumaios = not in NT = fond of women) many foreign (nokriy; Lxx = allotrios) women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women - Note the 4 problematic words - "loved," "many," "foreign" and "daughter of Pharaoh." He is overtly rejecting God's plan of one man and one woman for life (Mt 19:4-6+, Ge 2:23-24+) In his youth, Solomon chose wisdom as the treasure most to be desired, but his desire shifted to women as he aged. Women are the achilles heel of many good, even godly men and Solomon would prove to be no exception! Unfortunately, his female problem was both quantitative (many) and qualitative, for many of the women were not native Israeli but were foreign ("strange" KJV) and thus pagan, Gentile women. While Solomon's marriage with the daughter of Pharaoh is not censured either here or elsewhere (1Ki 3:1), Isaiah writes “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD! ” (Isa 31:1). Crusty J