Cutting Room Floor - Solomon's Fall
We don’t need a wise king to rule us, we need a perfect king to save us
In his request for wisdom, Solomon teaches us what it looks like to make a right request of God.
Unfortunately, Solomon’s story does not end with his right request and God’s gracious reply.
He, like all the other prominent old testament figures before Him, proves that he is not the promised son of Genesis 3.
He is not the one who would save God’s people from their sin and crush the satanic serpent.
In fact, Solomon’s story shows us that he couldn’t even save himself from sin.
1 Kings 11:1–13 (ESV)
1Now 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.” Solomon clung to these in love.
3He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
4For 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.
5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.
7Then 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.
8And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
9And 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
10and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.
11Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.
12Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”
Whereas the beginning of his account notes Solomon loved the Lord, here in chapter 11 it is pointed out that he loved many foreign wives.
He had a harem of 1,000 women.
When we hear that, we might immediately assume that his problem was lust. And that’s no doubt a part of the issue here.
But having a thousand wives wasn’t just about lust, it’s also about trust.
These marriages were connected to political alliances. They involved treaties of peace with other nations.
Although God had promised to protect His people from foreign armies if they were faithful, Solomon wasn’t trusting that promise, but was instead taking matters into his own hands.
Rather than using wisdom to serve the Lord, he was crafting devious plans that would lead his heart away from the very God who graciously granted him that wisdom.
The marriages weren’t just about a lack of trust, but the presence of pride.
These marriages would have shown the people and the surrounding nations just how powerful Solomon was.
He had moved on from the heart posture of chapter three, in which He referred to himself as a little child who didn’t know how to go out or come in.
Now he’s proud, self-sufficient, and wants to show the world just how strong he is.
He was wise. But that wisdom could not restrain his sinful heart. He ran after prestige, women, and idols.
He was wise. But it wasn’t enough.
He exploited his royal position at the expense of God’s people, and thus He lost the kingdom.
Because of his sin, his reign comes to an end, this prosperous season in the life of Israel comes to a close, and the kingdom is torn in two.
This again brings into clear focus what I keep saying week after week: The Bible is not a disconnected group of moral tales full of heroes to emulate.
It is one big story about one big hero, the promised serpent crushing son of Genesis 3, the Messiah Jesus Christ, who crushes the serpent, cancels our sin, gets us back to God, and has an eternal reign of peace that will never end.
We need more than a wise king to rule us, we need a perfect king to save us.
We don’t just need to be governed, we need to be saved.
When Jesus is debating with the pharisees, He says to them: behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Jesus is everything Solomon was not.
Solomon exploits his position as God’s chosen king at the expense of God’s people.
But Jesus does the opposite.
Though he was seated at the right hand of God in heaven’s royal court, He humbled Himself to a human life in this broken world.
He took on human nature, and got tired, and hot, and cold, and hungry.
In his earthly life, the high king of heaven knelt down to wash the dirty feet of his disciples.
He reached out his holy hands to touch the untouchable.
Ultimately, our heavenly king, King Jesus, gave up His heavenly crown to bear a crown of thorns.
He left His royal throne to hang on a criminal's cross in our place.
Paul lays out this mix of divine dignity and humble humanity in Philippians.
Philippians 2:6–11 (ESV)
…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Because of Solomon’s sin, the kingdom was torn in two.
But because of our sin, the very body of Jesus was torn.
Solomon exploited his position of power to take for himself one thousand brides.
Jesus gave up His position of power to take for Himself one bride, the church.
Through his sin, Solomon’s reign came to an end. But by the power of His indestructible life, Jesus Christ reigns now and forever.
Solomon had wisdom from God, but the Bible says Jesus is wisdom from God.
Solomon’s words governed a nation for a season, but Jesus’ words uphold the universe for all time.
Yes indeed, something greater than Solomon is here.
And when we bow before this king today, in humble adoration, we will get to enjoy His perfect, peaceful, prosperous reign for all eternity.
In his request for wisdom, Solomon teaches us what it looks like to make a right request of God.
Unfortunately, Solomon’s story does not end with his right request and God’s gracious reply.
He, like all the other prominent old testament figures before Him, proves that he is not the promised son of Genesis 3.
He is not the one who would save God’s people from their sin and crush the satanic serpent.
In fact, Solomon’s story shows us that he couldn’t even save himself from sin.
1 Kings 11:1–13 (ESV)
1Now 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.” Solomon clung to these in love.
3He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
4For 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.
5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.
7Then 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.
8And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
9And 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
10and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.
11Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.
12Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”
Whereas the beginning of his account notes Solomon loved the Lord, here in chapter 11 it is pointed out that he loved many foreign wives.
He had a harem of 1,000 women.
When we hear that, we might immediately assume that his problem was lust. And that’s no doubt a part of the issue here.
But having a thousand wives wasn’t just about lust, it’s also about trust.
These marriages were connected to political alliances. They involved treaties of peace with other nations.
Although God had promised to protect His people from foreign armies if they were faithful, Solomon wasn’t trusting that promise, but was instead taking matters into his own hands.
Rather than using wisdom to serve the Lord, he was crafting devious plans that would lead his heart away from the very God who graciously granted him that wisdom.
The marriages weren’t just about a lack of trust, but the presence of pride.
These marriages would have shown the people and the surrounding nations just how powerful Solomon was.
He had moved on from the heart posture of chapter three, in which He referred to himself as a little child who didn’t know how to go out or come in.
Now he’s proud, self-sufficient, and wants to show the world just how strong he is.
He was wise. But that wisdom could not restrain his sinful heart. He ran after prestige, women, and idols.
He was wise. But it wasn’t enough.
He exploited his royal position at the expense of God’s people, and thus He lost the kingdom.
Because of his sin, his reign comes to an end, this prosperous season in the life of Israel comes to a close, and the kingdom is torn in two.
This again brings into clear focus what I keep saying week after week: The Bible is not a disconnected group of moral tales full of heroes to emulate.
It is one big story about one big hero, the promised serpent crushing son of Genesis 3, the Messiah Jesus Christ, who crushes the serpent, cancels our sin, gets us back to God, and has an eternal reign of peace that will never end.
We need more than a wise king to rule us, we need a perfect king to save us.
We don’t just need to be governed, we need to be saved.
When Jesus is debating with the pharisees, He says to them: behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Jesus is everything Solomon was not.
Solomon exploits his position as God’s chosen king at the expense of God’s people.
But Jesus does the opposite.
Though he was seated at the right hand of God in heaven’s royal court, He humbled Himself to a human life in this broken world.
He took on human nature, and got tired, and hot, and cold, and hungry.
In his earthly life, the high king of heaven knelt down to wash the dirty feet of his disciples.
He reached out his holy hands to touch the untouchable.
Ultimately, our heavenly king, King Jesus, gave up His heavenly crown to bear a crown of thorns.
He left His royal throne to hang on a criminal's cross in our place.
Paul lays out this mix of divine dignity and humble humanity in Philippians.
Philippians 2:6–11 (ESV)
…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Because of Solomon’s sin, the kingdom was torn in two.
But because of our sin, the very body of Jesus was torn.
Solomon exploited his position of power to take for himself one thousand brides.
Jesus gave up His position of power to take for Himself one bride, the church.
Through his sin, Solomon’s reign came to an end. But by the power of His indestructible life, Jesus Christ reigns now and forever.
Solomon had wisdom from God, but the Bible says Jesus is wisdom from God.
Solomon’s words governed a nation for a season, but Jesus’ words uphold the universe for all time.
Yes indeed, something greater than Solomon is here.
And when we bow before this king today, in humble adoration, we will get to enjoy His perfect, peaceful, prosperous reign for all eternity.
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