A Divided Heart

June 13

I Kings 11-12

Psalm 71:17-24

Proverbs 15:27-28

Acts 9

A Divided Heart

“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharoah: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which Yahweh had said to the sons of Israel, ‘You shall not go along with them, nor shall they go along with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.’  Solomon clung to these in love.  And he had 700 wives—princesses—and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.  Now it happened at the time that Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father had been.”  I Kings 11:1-4 LSB  

God gave the children of Israel specific instructions when they entered the promised land not to make covenants with foreign nations.  Deuteronomy 7:3-4 says, “You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, and they will serve other gods.” LSB   Solomon started out well and God blessed him with wealth, power, wisdom and peace in his kingdom.  Unfortunately, he did not obey God’s instructions about foreign women.  He was the most powerful man in the world at the time.  Perhaps he thought he was strong and would be able to remain faithful to God, but he was wrong.  The fact that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines was his first problem.  Even if these women had all been Jewish and were faithful to God, that many women in one house is not going to create a happy home life.  He couldn’t possibly have had a close relationship with any of them.  The fact that they were foreign women who worshipped many different gods was bound to cause conflict between them and eventually result in problems for Solomon.  To appease them, he began to compromise.  At first he was probably just going along with them to keep them happy but then “he went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites,…Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.  Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.” I Kings 11:5, 7-8 LSB   Just as God warned, Solomon turned away from God and served the gods of his wives. 

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 repeats this warning, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?  Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” LSB   In this passage Paul emphasized the importance of being in relationships with people who have similar values and beliefs.  This certainly applies to marriage relationships but also is wise in business partnerships and close friendships.  Relationships are difficult in the best of circumstances but when you have different priorities and goals, conflict is inevitable. It is difficult to remain faithful to God when those you are the closest to don’t share your belief in Him.