1 Kings 11:1-8 – Solomon, How the Mighty Have Fallen – Bible study

1Kings 11:1-8 Solomon, How The Mighty Have Fallen! There is no question but that Solomon was to be a great king. 1. He was King Davids son, hand picked, raised, and trained to succeed him. 2. He also had the heart of his father. \#1Kings 3:5-15\ When granted one wish from God, Solomon asked God for wisdom to lead the people. 3. God then gave to Solomon more wisdom and knowledge than any man has ever had. Yet, Solomon would fail God and Israel. His spiritual legacy to Israel would be that he turned them away from worshipping God. His political legacy would be that he reared the child that lead the country into a civil war. There is an important lesson to be learned here, i.e even the mighty can fall. If the mighty can fall, how much more so should the common people be watchful. Solomon seems to have fallen for three reasons: I. Solomon spent too much time minding the fleshly. A. I dont mean this in a super critical fashion for I can think of several reasons he was that way. 1. Solomon didnt have the filling of the Holy Spirit as we. a. We take the Holy Ghost largely for granted or, even worse, we ignore Him. b. However, if we allow Him to direct us, He will make us far more spirit conscious. (1) He will remind us that we are eternal beings. (2) He will remind us that others are eternal beings. (3) He will remind us that the eternal things are the things that will last. c. Solomon didnt have the Holy Ghost like you and I have Him. 2. Rather, most of Solomon blessings were physical. a. Solomon had all that that the world could offer himfar more than the average man would ever have to deal with. b. Of course, all of his things were given to him by God. 1Kings 3:11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. 14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. c. He had wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, which are all good things to have, but he also had (1) riches (more wealth than you and I can comprehend), (2) honor (people respected and revered him), (3) .and he had power (he was the king of the greatest kingdom on earth). d. With all of those things go great temptations and I am sure he was always preoccupied with earthly things. (1) By the way, you and I may not be as wealthy as Solomon or has well known, but we are likely preoccupied with earthly things. (2) Isnt it strange how all of our worldly possession are supposed to save us time but we spend more time caring for our possessions than ever before?! B. All of Solomons blessings seemed to keep him world bound. 1. He had worldly possessions and responsibilities that were staggering. 1Kings 4:21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. 22 And Solomons provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, 23 Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl. 26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomons table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge. 2. Even the spiritual gifts that Solomon had required his physical time and energy. 1Kings 4:29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. 30 And Solomons wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. 32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. 33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. 34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom. a. He wrote songs and wrote and memorized proverbs. b. He studied trees, birds, animals, fish. c. He built great structures. d. He amassed great riches. e. He used his mind and riches to become one of the most popular and well-honored men not only of his time but in all time! 3. Certainly he should not have neglected the great gifts that God gave to him. To do so would bring a. poverty. b. label him as foolish 3. and for a king, brought woe on a scale that we might find difficult to imagine. 4. Yet, all of this is fleshly occupation. a. Materialism and mental prowess are good, but they will only carry you so far! (1) They can not give you satisfaction. (2) They can not give you peace nor power with God! b. Many, in their youth, make the mistake of hooking their cart to the mental and materialistic wagon only to achieve a level of greatest in this world accompanied by an equally great level of misery! 5. Solomon documented the misery his earthly pursuits gave him. \#Ecc 2:1-17\ Ecc 2:17 Therefore I hated life. C. While we cant neglect our earthly life, neither should we neglect the spiritual. 1. Solomons father, David, with much less knowledge and wisdom, was still able to build a great kingdom AND serve God! 2. Private (Bible reading and prayer) and public worship (church with good singing and praising) are both necessary. 3. Putting God first in life, serving Him faithfully, keeping His commandments, are all essential elements of a spiritual life. 4. It matters not who you are or what you do, if you are too busy for God, you are too busy! II. Solomon behaved as though there were two sets of standards. A. \#1Kings 11:1-8\ Herein is the truth that makes most of the mighty fall! Solomon committed sins that he would not have allowed others to get away with. 1. \#1Kings 3:1\ He married wives of other nations who worshipped other gods. a. This is expressly forbidden in the Old Testament law. b. No doubt, Solomon married the first one early and for political reasons. (Sadly, this might have been something that even Kind David did!) c. That is no excuse! d. But even so, he continued to do so! \#1Kings 11:1-3\ 2. \#1Kings 11:4\ He allowed these women to bring their gods with them! 3. \#1Kings 11:5-8\ He eventually built temples to these gods and worshipped them himself! 4. Solomon not only set himself above the law in matters of women, he also tried to have Jeroboam killed. a. Jeroboam was the man God appointed to take the ten tribes of Israel away from the line of Solomon. 1 Kings 11:40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. b. There is not do doubt that Solomon would have punished another for doing what he did! B. There are no double standards. 1. What is right is right for all. a. politicians and citizens d. husbands and wives b. rich and poor e. bosses and employees c. older and younger f. pastors and members d. parents and children 2. If something is wrong, it is wrong for everyone all the time. C. I hate to say it, but Solomon became a hypocrite! 1. What is a hypocrite? Some one with one set of standards for himself and another set for others. 2. One cant help but to wonder did Solomon, the king of Israel and Israels highest judge, ever condemn someone else for one of these actions? 3. If so, he fulfilled the very image of the hypocrite that Jesus warned against. Luke 6:42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brothers eye. 4. Hypocrisy will do several things for you. a. It will eliminate the respect people have for you. b. It will ruin any testimony you have for Christ. Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. c. It will bring the judgment of God down on you. D. You might also note how sins works it way in. It starts small and slow but before long it is a raging storm! 1. The Grand Canyon wasnt carved in a day. 2. Neither do homes crumble, children become delinquent, or Christians backslide in a day. III. Solomon had no accountability. A. This is a common mistake that people make. 1. I am seeing the danger of this more and more. 2. We condemn most politicians, even if we dont know them. a. Why? b. Because they have power without accountability. c. Even if we dont know them, we assume they are abusing power because we do know there is no one watching them. 3. We should also understand the danger of adulthood without accountability. a. When a child becomes 18, all the ropes of accountability seem to be loosed. b. Maybe a child doesnt have unlimited power, wealth, or even time, but it doesnt take a lot of power, wealth, and time to dig a hole so big that you fall into it. B. Everybody must have somebody to which to be accountable, even a king. 1. Saul had Samuel. 2. David had his Nathan. \#2Sam 12:7\ 3. No prophet is recorded as speaking to Solomon! a. Apparently, when Nathan died, Solomon sought no voice from God to stand before him. b. There is no mention of a prophet from 1Kings 2, just after Solomons anointing to be king, and 1Kings 11, when God issues the judgment against Solomon for his evil behavior. 4. That means there was no political power, no parental power, and no religious power looking over Solomons actions! No wonder he got himself into so much trouble! C. What kind of authorities should we willingly have in our lives? 1. Your parents a. No matter how old you get, keep your parents watchful eye over you. b. Just because the law no longer says they can tell you what to do, doesnt mean they suddenly grew stupid. c. If they have given you good advice and counsel for 16, 18, 20 years, dont suppose they suddenly ran out. 2. Your mate a. When you got married, supposedly, it was to a person you respected. b. Learn to listen to each other. c. More often than not, it is the man who will not listen to his wife. (1) That is a deadly and proud mistake. (2) Men like to say, "God gave me the authority." (3) Fine. You have the authority, but He gave her the sense. (4) You better listen to her. d. God does speak to women. (1) In fact, God gives to women discernment men dont have. (2) Remember, women are helpmates given to us to make up for areas that we arent programmed to handle. (3) It is a foolish person who does not listen to his or her mate about finances, time, disciplining the children, investments, jobs, and even leisure activities. 3. The law a. The Bible makes no bones about it. God gave us law to help us to do right. Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. b. I know there are a few bad apples in the legal profession like there are in all profession, but most of us arent going to get so deep in the barrel that it will matter. 4. Good friends a. Not just friends, but good friends. b. Everybody needs to select folk that bring out the best in them for friends, those who inspire them to be their bestnot their worst. 5. Your church and pastor a. Listen to your pastor and watch the behavior of your church. b. If you have the right kind of pastor and church, they will help keep you living straight in a crooked world. Solomon started out well but somewhere in life, he changed horses. He got off the SERVE GOD horse and got on the SERVE ME horse. Thinking that life was about pleasure, fame, and worldly pursuits, he ended up judged by God. Let us make certain that we mount, ride, and finish on the SERVE GOD horse.