4. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
5. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
7. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
10. And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.
11. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
12. Notwithstanding, in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake; but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
13. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom, but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
Golden Text: "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. 10: 12.
N O T E.—Having contemplated Solomon's greatness, we now turn to the picture of his sin and decline. His day, which grew to such unexampled splendor, became overcast, and ended in clouds and gloom, a striking object lesson for all time. There is no record that Solomon repented, nor is there anywhere a statement that he died in his sins. But the inference is plausible that before his death he turned to the Lord in repentance. This appears from the experiences related in the book of Ecclesiastes, which are plainly those of one who has passed through them. After all is over, the conclusion is summed up in the wise counsel: "Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12: 13. This is the language of one who fears God. Solomon died at the age of sixty. Read the whole lesson chapter.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) What came to pass when Solomon was old? Verse 4. Note 1. (2) What relation did he sustain to the Lord? Ib. Note 2. (3) What gods did Solomon go after? Verse 5. Note 3. (4) What was his general course of life? Verse 6. (5) What did he build? Verse 7. Note 4. (6) How far did he carry his work of honoring other gods? Verse 8. (7) How did the Lord look upon Solomon? Verse 9. (8) Was there any excuse for Solomon's evil conduct? Verse 10. Note 5. (9) What punishment did the Lord pronounce upon him? Verse 11. Note 6. (10) What consideration was shown by the Lord? Verse 12. (11) Was any of the kingdom to remain to Solomon? Why? Verse 13.
NOTES.
1. His wives.—The beginnings of Solomon's fall were his many loves,—women of adjoining kingdoms. Of these there were 700, princesses, besides 300 concubines (verse 3), tho the record does not necessarily indicate that he had that many all at one time. Against this very evil the Lord had given warning hundreds of years before (Deut. 17: 17), as Israel was about to enter Canaan. There it was said that the king who would be raised up should not multiply to himself wives, lest his heart14be turned away from the Lord. This was precisely the result in Solomon's case. Besides the sensuality characterizing eastern monarchs, and manifested in the practice of polygamy, the number of wives a king was able to support came to be one token of his greatness. This custom may have influenced Solomon also as his heart became alienated from the Lord.
2. His heart was not perfect.—David's course of life was not entirely perfect. He made many mistakes, but he never departed from the Lord to worship or honor other gods. When he sinned and repented, his repentance was sincere. In the sense of always acknowledging the Lord as supreme, David's heart is said to have been perfect. But it was not so with Solomon. The expression in verse 6, that Solomon "went not fully after the Lord," conveys the idea, together with the context, that he did not completely deny the Lord, but that his going after other gods was the setting up of altars to them and recognizing their worship to please his wives. Still, the evil was just as abhorrent in the eyes of the Lord, for there were other gods beside him, even tho Solomon himself may not have worshiped them.
3. Other gods.—Ashtoreth was the female divinity corresponding to Baal, the emblem of the sun, and originally typified the moon. She was worshiped by the Zidonians, inhabitants of Zidon, or Sidon. Milcom, of Ammon, was the same as Molech of verse 7, the fire god, and was worshiped with human sacrifices. Both Molech and Chemosh were representatives of Baal, the sun-god. The worship of these gods was accompanied always by the most revolting and licentious practices.
4. An high place.—The shrines or temples were built on eminences, and the "hill that is before Jerusalem" evidently refers to the Mount of Olives, the northern peak of which was afterwards called the "Mount of offense," and the "Mount of Corruption."
5. Had commanded him.—Not only had the Lord commanded Solomon through visions, but the instruction left in the sacred writings of the time were before him. "There are in Scripture two warning sketches of everything which a good king should not be and should not do, and these sketches exactly describe the very things which Solomon was and did. The first of these pictures of selfish autocrats is found in 1 Sam. 8: 10-18."—Farrar. The other is in Deut. 17: 14-20, and serves as a warning for all time. God gave Solomon wisdom to foresee the trend of every course of life. He loaded him with blessings, and there was consequently no excuse for his conduct. Still we have the same experiences; and the goodness and mercy of God are shown in his forgiveness when one realizes fully his dangerous condition, and turns again to him. Sin is terribly deceptive, and while it may be true in a sense that one sometimes goes into it with his eyes open, yet it is as certainly true that a keen realization of the evil is not present. The hold on God is lost. But it is dangerous work, for the Spirit is grieved away, and the time will surely come, if the evil is persisted in, when there will be no more desire to do right. The very thought and appearance of evil must be shunned in order for one to be safe.
6. The kingdom taken away.—Ten of the twelve tribes were given to Jeroboam, an industrious young man whom Solomon had set over the affairs of the northern tribes, but the division did not take place until after Solomon's death. One tribe only was to remain to the house of Solomon, and that only for David's sake, to preserve intact the genealogy of Christ, who was to come of his seed according to the promise. 2 Sam. 7: 13-16. This was the tribe of Judah, which absorbed the tribe of Benjamin. The manner in which the kingdom became disrupted is told in the remainder of the chapter, and in following chapters.
