Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 2, No. 38
“King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter — Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.” (1Kings 11:1-2NIV)
King Solomon, without doubt, was a man that was loved and favoured by God. In fact, bible accounts show us that when he was born, God actually sent one of His prophets to name him ‘Jedidiah’, which means ‘loved by God’ (2Sam 12:24-25). So, it is clear that his becoming king over the nation of Israel was not accidental at all. God had been looking out for him and nurturing him to be His king even before he was born. And having become king, he was blessed by God with wisdom, very great insight and a breath of understanding that is as measureless as the sand on the seashore. So he became famous, rich and powerful, more than any of the kings of the earth. (Cf. 1Kings 4:29-34)
However, even though Solomon was a lover of God, he had a problem, as we are told in our opening bible text. And what was his problem? Foreign women! Yes, it is true that Solomon had many wives and concubines – a thousand of them, actually. But he was not the first of the kings of the land to have many wives. His father, David, did have many wives and concubines. Saul, who was king before David, also had many wives and concubines. And God did not crucify any of them for that, even though that was never His original intention for mankind. His original intention is that every marriage will be made up of only one man and one woman. (Cf. Mark 10:1-9)
What, then, was the problem with Solomon’s many women? The problem was that they were foreign women. And the Lord had warned His people not to intermarry with such women. Why? It was because He knew that they would turn their hearts away from Him to the worship of idols and demons (Deut 7:3-4). Unfortunately, the bible tells us Solomon could not just handle his passion for these women. So, he held fast to them in love.
Think about that. Solomon held fast in love to what God said he ought to run away from. Why was that? Were there not enough beautiful women in Israel at that time? It couldn’t be. There must have been plenty of beautiful and graceful young ladies in the land at the time. Why, then, did he not content himself with them? We are not told. But from my own sanctified imagination, I could almost hear him saying to himself, “I know there are many pretty women in my land. But there is something irresistible about these foreign women. There is something about them that turns me on. There is a way they dress, walk, make up and carry themselves that beats what any of our ladies could handle. So, I just don’t know how I can stop falling in love with them, even though I know God says this is wrong for me.”
Doesn’t that typify the way many of our young Christian brothers and sisters reason today? They have been taught severally that if they must marry, then, they must marry from the household of faith – they must marry people who are not just Christians by mouth but who are also Christians by their actions (1Cor 7:39; 2Cor 6:14-16). But instead of looking out for wives or husbands among those who meet these requirements, they find themselves continually and passionately drawn to those outside the church. And they blame everything on love. I mean that they find the very people God tells them to run away from, as far as marriage matters are concerned, irresistible and tremendously appealing to them. These are the ones that measure up to their love tastes. These are the ones that delight their hearts with their ‘packaging’, ‘swaggers’, ‘romantics’ and so forth. They are just like Solomon, and like Solomon’s end will their end be too.
As we are further told in the bible, as Solomon grew old, those foreign women, whom he had clung to in love, utterly led him astray. They literally led him away from devotion to God to idol worship. And even though God sought to restore him to Himself, appearing to him twice to warn him of the danger that lay ahead for him, he did not repent. Therefore, He changed his mind about him and decided to tear the kingdom away from him. That, of course, was the beginning of the end of all that was good and pleasant about Solomon’s reign. (Cf. 1Kings 11)
Now why do we have this account in the bible? It is to warn us of the danger of desiring or falling in love with the wrong things (1Cor 10:6). If God has said that something is wrong, then, we must take it as wrong and not think that we can cling to it in love and still continue to experience an unhindered flow of His blessings in our lives. So, you need to separate yourself from that wrong thing that you are clinging to in love and stop acting as though you could not do without it. The only person you cannot do without in all of life is God. And if He has told you that your life is better off without certain things, then, kill whatever desire you may have in you for those things. And if you need to get the help of other godly people to do this, then, do so. Otherwise, your attachment or devotion to those wrong things may just be the end of the reign of peace, love, joy and fruitfulness in your life and home.
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