Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 11:9

And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

9 13. Anger of the Lord at these offences (Not in Chronicles)

9. which had appeared unto him twice ] See 1Ki 3:5 for the first appearance of the Lord in Gibeon; and (1Ki 9:2) for the second when the Temple and the king’s house were finished.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 9. The Lord was angry with Solomon] Had not this man’s delinquency been strongly marked by the Divine disapprobation, it would have had a fatal effect on the morals of mankind. Vice is vice, no matter who commits it. And God is as much displeased with sin in Solomon as he can be with it in the most profligate, uneducated wretch. And although God sees the same sin in precisely the same degree of moral turpitude as to the act itself, yet there may be circumstances which greatly aggravate the offense, and subject the offender to greater punishment. Solomon was wise; he knew better; his understanding showed him the vanity as well as the wickedness of idolatry. God had appeared unto him twice, and thus given him the most direct proof of his being and of his providence. The promises of God had been fulfilled to him in the most remarkable manner, and in such a way as to prove that they came by a Divine counsel, and not by any kind of casualty. All these were aggravations of Solomon’s crimes, as to their demerit; for the same crime has, in every case, the same degree of moral turpitude in the sight of God; but circumstances may so aggravate, as to require the offender to be more grievously punished; so the punishment may be legally increased where the crime is the same. Solomon deserved more punishment for his worship of Ashtaroth than any of the Sidonians did, though they performed precisely the same acts. The Sidonians had never known the true God; Solomon had been fully acquainted with him.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

From the Lord God of Israel; from the express command and from the worship of God; not that he wholly neglected God, but because God esteems all the worship of idols (though it be not exclusive of, but conjoined with his own worship) to be a forsaking of and departing from God, and ofttimes so calls it.

Which had appeared unto him, to wit, in an extraordinary and most gracious and obliging manner.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

9-12. the Lord was angry withSolomonThe divine appearance, first at Gibeon [1Ki3:5], and then at Jerusalem [1Ki9:2], after the dedication of the temple, with the warnings givenhim on both occasions [1Ki 3:11-14;1Ki 9:3-9], had left Solomoninexcusable; and it was proper and necessary that on one who had beenso signally favored with the gifts of Heaven, but who had grosslyabused them, a terrible judgment should fall. The divine sentence wasannounced to him probably by Ahijah; but there was mercy mingled withjudgment, in the circumstance, that it should not be inflicted onSolomon personallyand that a remnant of the kingdom should bespared”for David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, which hadbeen chosen” to put God’s name there; not from a partial bias infavor of either, but that the divine promise might stand (2Sa7:12-16).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel,…. Or from the fear of him, as the Targum, which must in a great measure be cast off, or he could not have given in to idolatry in any shape as he did; for it was for that the Lord was displeased, the which nothing is more provoking to him, as may be often observed:

which had appeared unto him twice; once at Gibeon, and again after his prayer at the dedication of the temple, 1Ki 3:5, which is mentioned here as an aggravation of his sin, that he should fall into it, when the Lord had condescended to appear to him so graciously.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

God’s Displeasure against Solomon.

B. C. 983.

      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.

      Here is, I. God’s anger against Solomon for his sin. The thing he did displeased the Lord. Time was then the Lord loved Solomon (2 Sam. xii. 24) and delighted in him (ch. x. 9), but now the Lord was angry with Solomon (v. 9), for there was in his sin, 1. The most base ingratitude that could be. He turned from the Lord who had appeared unto him twice, once before he began to build the temple (ch. iii. 5) and once after he had dedicated it, ch. ix. 2. God keeps account of the gracious visits he makes us, whether we do or no, knows how often he has appeared to us and for us, and will remember it against us if we turn from him. God’s appearing to Solomon was such a sensible confirmation of his faith as should have for ever prevented his worshipping any other god; it was also such a distinguishing favour, and put such an honour upon him, as he ought never to have forgotten, especially considering what God said to him in both these appearances. 2. The most wilful disobedience. This was the very thing concerning which God had commanded him–that he should not go after other gods, yet he was not restrained by such an express admonition, v. 10. Those who have dominion over men are apt to forget God’s dominion over them; and, while they demand obedience from their inferiors, to deny it to him who is the Supreme.

      II. The message he sent him hereupon (v. 11): The Lord said unto Solomon (it is likely by a prophet) that he must expect to smart for his apostasy. And here, 1. The sentence is just, that, since he had revolted from God, part of his kingdom should revolt from his family; he had given God’s glory to the creature, and therefore God would give his crown to his servant: “I will rend the kingdom from thee, in thy posterity, and will give it to thy servant, who shall bear rule over much of that for which thou hast laboured.” This was a great mortification to Solomon, who pleased himself no doubt with the prospect of the entail of his rich kingdom upon his heirs for ever. Sin brings ruin upon families, cuts off entails, alienates estates, and lays men’s honour in the dust. 2. Yet the mitigations of it are very kind, for David’s sake (1Ki 11:12; 1Ki 11:13), that is, for the sake of the promise made to David. Thus all the favour God shows to man is for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of the covenant made with him. The kingdom shall be rent from Solomon’s house, but, (1.) Not immediately. Solomon shall not live to see it done, but it shall be rent out of the hand of his son, a son that was born to him by one of his strange wives, for his mother was an Ammonitess (1 Kings xiv. 31) and probably had been a promoter of idolatry. What comfort can a man take in leaving children and an estate behind him if he do not leave a blessing behind him? Yet, if judgments be coming, it is a favour to us if they come not in our days, as 2 Kings xx. 19. (2.) Not wholly. One tribe, that of Judah, the strongest and most numerous, shall remain to the house of David (v. 13), for Jerusalem’s sake, which David built, and for the sake of the temple there, which Solomon built; these shall not go into other hands. Solomon did not quickly nor wholly turn away from God; therefore God did not quickly nor wholly take the kingdom from him.

      Upon this message which God graciously sent to Solomon, to awaken his conscience and bring him to repentance, we have reason to hope that he humbled himself before God, confessed his sin, begged pardon, and returned to his duty, that he then published his repentance in the book of Ecclesiastes, where he bitterly laments his own folly and madness (Ecc 7:25; Ecc 7:26), and warns others to take heed of the like evil courses, and to fear God and keep his commandments, in consideration of the judgment to come, which, it is likely, had made him tremble, as it did Felix. That penitential sermon was as true an indication of a heart broken for sin and turned from it as David’s penitential psalms were, though of another nature. God’s grace in his people works variously. Thus, though Solomon fell, he was not utterly cast down; what God had said to David concerning him was fulfilled: I will chasten him with the rod of men, but my mercy shall not depart from him,2Sa 7:14; 2Sa 7:15. Though God may suffer those whom he loves to fall into sin, he will not suffer them to lie still in it. Solomon’s defection, though it was much his reproach and a great blemish to his personal character, yet did not so far break in upon the character of his reign but that it was afterwards made the pattern of a good reign, 2 Chron. xi. 17, where the kings are said to have done well, while they walked in the way of David and Solomon. But, though we have all this reason to hope he repented and found mercy, yet the Holy Ghost did not think fit expressly to record his recovery, but left it doubtful, for warning to others not to sin upon presumption of repenting, for it is but a peradventure whether God will give them repentance, or, if he do, whether he will give the evidence of it to themselves or others. Great sinners may recover themselves and have the benefit of their repentance, and yet be denied both the comfort and credit of it; the guilt may be taken away, and yet not the reproach.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

SOLOMONTHE SELF-DEGRADED MAN

1Ki 3:5; 1Ki 3:9-10, and 1Ki 11:9-10.

I AM to speak to you tonight on SolomonThe Self-Degraded Man. It is a long way between these two texts, and the descent from the first text where he enjoys the Divine favor, to the second where he excites the Divine wrath, is exceeding steep. Few boys ever began an important career with such bright prospects; few old men ever quit thrones with such black records behind them. When one reads the first text he is strongly reminded of Queen Victorias ascent to the throne of England. You remember how, when a mere girl, in 1837, she was wakened out of her sleep in the night with the announcement that the throne had come to her. She arose, and with the greatest humility of spirit, sought the Lord, asking her spiritual advisor to pray for her for wisdom; and with the keenest sense of the responsibilities which had come upon her, acknowledged her own inability and her utter dependence upon Divine help. But while Victoria began well, she concluded even better, and gave the world its best illustration of the blessings consequent upon a righteous reign. Alas, that Solomon should commence his career as a sovereign so similarly, and end it so sadly, both for himself and the nation over which God had set him. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him (Jas 1:12).

I want to discuss this evening Solomons career under three suggestions: SolomonThe Son of Fortune; SolomonThe Over-ambitious; and SolomonThe Flagrant Sinner.

SOLOMONTHE SON OF FORTUNE

A few evenings since I said to you that the preamble to the Constitution of the United States was sophistical and false; that all men are not born free, and no men are born equal. There are brothers, but no duplicates. In his very birth and breeding Solomon had advantages far above most of his fellows. To begin with, we can scarcely doubt that he was a beautiful boy. He was the son of David and of Bathsheba. He doubtless inherited from both. David in his youth was described as ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And of Bathsheba it was said, The woman was very beautiful to look upon. It is natural to suppose, therefore, that Solomon, their son, had such graces of person as men and women prize as among the favors of the best fortune. If it be true that the Lord looketh on the heart, it is also true that man looketh on the outward appearance.

In intellect, he was Divinely brilliant. His wisdom was the remark of his time, and has scarcely been surpassed in the centuries succeeding. The record seems to be clear that it was God-given. In answer to his request, Give me now wisdom and knowledge, God said, Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee. While afterwards, in 1Ki 4:29, it is written, God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much. And in 1Ki 4:34 it is recorded, There came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

Dr. Hillis reminds us that wealth is not in the things of iron, wood and stone. Wealth is in the brain. Pig-iron is worth $20.00 a ton; made into horseshoes, $90.00; into knife blades, $200.00; into watch springs, $10,000.00. That is, raw iron $20.00; brain power $9,980.00. Millet bought a yard of canvas for 1 franc, paid 2 more francs for a hair brush and some colors. Upon this canvas he spread his genius, giving us The Angelus. The original investment in raw material was 60 cents; his intelligence gave that raw material a value of $105,000. And yet, Solomons wisdom was better than that of the blacksmith, above that of the cutler, beyond that of the watchmaker; aye, greatly to be prized above that of the artist-painter. It was the wisdom that cometh down from above.

Charles Spurgeon insists that Solomon did not get this wisdom by his birth; it was not an inheritance from his father and mother; it was not the product of the culture of his age, nor the polish of the court circles in which he moved. It was more than knowledge; it was wisdom. And the blessed thought is, that the same Jehovah who gave Solomon that wisdom has said, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him (Jas 1:5).

It is wisdom men need. They have much of knowledge; they are getting unto themselves more and more of information; they have too little of the wisdom that is from above, and they have appreciated all too poorly that the world by wisdom knew not God. Aye, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain (1Co 3:19-20).

He was the recipient of special revelations. Our second text tells us that God twice appeared to him. Each time He came to instruct Solomons spirit, and to answer Solomons petitions. The instruction and answer alike were full of the Fathers revelation. It is one of the greatest favors of life to have God reveal His truth to us. When, on one occasion, Christ wanted to remind His twelve Apostles that they were the subjects of His special favor, He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables (Mar 4:11).

Beloved, have you ever been taught of God? Have you ever known the sweetness of hearing directly from Him, by His Holy Spirit; the joy of having a revelation made to you through the Word? Only a few days since, one who has been backslidden said, But God did speak to me. He did make some things so clear for me that I can never forget; He did grant me revelations of Himself which are a precious memory. Did it ever occur to you that such a revelation is counted so precious a gift that its very bestowment carries with it the most serious obligation concerning its treatment? Do you not recall how it is written in Heb 6:4,

It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the Heavenly gift, and were made Partakers of the Holy Ghost,

And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.

For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:

But that which beareth thorns and briers if rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned (Heb 6:4-8)?

The Apostles illustration is clear-cut. He wants us to see that when God gives us a revelation, that very revelation lays upon us unusual responsibilities, and calls for fruitful response. And to fail, after that, is to put ourselves beyond forgiveness. Count your blessings! Solomon is not the only son of fortune. There are many men and women here to-night who have been and now are the recipients of innumerable and Divine favors.

SOLOMONTHE OVER-AMBITIOUS

When one passes from the thought of Solomons good fortune, he finds himself face to face with Solomons descent. He seems to have begun his career on the mountain top. The best hour he ever knew was that hour when the boy of fifteen, having the whole world before him, and being questioned of God Himself, Ask what I shall give thee, made choice of wisdom.Alas, it must have appeared to you in reading the record that though this wisdom was Divinely given, it was selfishly used. Solomon wanted the wisdom of an earthly judge, not the wisdom of a stranger and pilgrim who was seeking another country, even a Heavenly. That prayer must be interpreted in the light of his after practices, and what were they? So far as his ambitions were concerned, they took the forms of pride, greed and oppression.

Pride was his most prominent trait. It appeared in everything that he did. When he erected the temple, he must needs exceed the plans that his father made, and make a display in the very magnificence of its appointments. When he dedicated the Temple, he is not content to offer such beasts in sacrifice as would meet at once the requirements of the Levitical Law and of the people present; but the text tells us that he sacrificed sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. When the Queen of Sheba came to visit him, he made it the occasion of such a display of table luxuries, servants, ministers, cup-bearers, silverware and jewels, that the Queen of Sheba said, Thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. And yet with Solomon it was as true as with others, Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Pro 16:18). One never thinks of his palace and all its appointments and of all its gorgeous displays without being reminded of William Beckford and his palace at Fonthill. When Beckford was eleven years of age his father died leaving him property which accumulated during his minority to an annual income of nearly $600,000, beside a million dollars in ready cash. But whether he got his idea of the greatest palace the world had ever seen from this Old Testament picture of Solomons house, or whether it came to him through an East Indian book he read, we may never know; but, at any rate, purchasing an estate at Cintra, Portugal, that glorious Eden of the South, he built there a palace worthy comparison with Solomons; surrounded himself with just such luxuries as characterized the living of this ancient King of Israel. But Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall, and when he came to write his own book, Vathek, he told in a single verse the whole sad story of such an experience, reminding one of Solomons lament, Vanity of vanities; * * all is vanity (Ecc 1:2). These are his words:

There thou, too Vathek! Englands wealthiest son,

Once formed thy paradise, as not aware

When wanton wealth her mightiest deeds hath done;

Meek peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.

Here didst thou dwell, here schemes of pleasure plan,

But now, as if a thing unblest by man,

Thy fairy dwelling is as lone as thou:

Here giant weeds a passage scarce allow

To halls deserted, portals gaping wide;

Fresh lessons to the thinking bosom, how

Vain are the pleasures on earth supplied,

Swept into wrecks anon by Times ungentle tide.

Greed of gain grew with his years. In 1Ki 10:14, we read,

The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.

His drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. And then there follows in the remaining part of the tenth chapter of I Kings, and in II Chronicles, chapter 1:9, such a picture of wealth as the world has scarce known beside. If you make a reckoning you will find that millions came into his coffers annually. But listen to his wail in Ecclesiastes, and learn that money may be only a vexation of spirit to the man consumed by its greed.

And is that what the Apostle meant when he wrote,

They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1Ti 6:9-10).

The story is told that an Italian nobleman, having been offended by a woman, caused the poor peasant to be taken and stood on a stone base, while workmen came with bricks and mortar and built a circular wall around her until it reached above her head. And then they closed up the orifice with another stone, and left her to die in this living tomb. Henry Ward Beecher says, Whether that be so, and I do not doubt it, I have seen something like it occur in Brooklyn many a time. Men have heaped about themselves gold until it has risen to the knees, to the thighs, above the head, and they have called in yet more, and closed up the orifice and left all their moral manhood to perish under a money heap, gathered in the greed of gain. It was so with Solomon!

Oppression became his common practice. You read the tenth chapter of I Kings and you will see how he made every part of the land, every trade and profession, contribute to his personal wealth. There are many men who, by holding government positions, where they can impose taxes upon the people for personal advantages, or by hiding behind the name of corporation, can compass the same, and yet console themselves in the thought that they are not criminal.

One day years ago a highwayman climbed on to the engine of a Northern Pacific train fifty miles out of Missoula, Montana, and gave his orders to the engineer. When the engineer failed to stop at the point he directed he shot him. After blowing the express car to pieces with dynamite, and enriching himself with the spoils, he expressed regret that he had to shoot this engineer, and even hoped that his wound was not fatal. But why did he have to shoot him? Solely because he wanted money! His behavior had much in common with the practice of Solomon, and all other oppressors for purposes of personal gain. My friend, the late Carlos Martyn, in his Life of Wendell Phillips, telling how, in his attempt to oppose slavery, Mr. Garrison, finding no response from Bostonians and New Englanders, finally turned to the Quakers; and Martyn says, They had been the immemorial friends of the oppressed, for had not the iron entered their own souls? But now they were become rich and respectable. They were the sharpest of traders, and their greed choked their consciences. Their ears were stuffed with cotton so that they could not hear the sighs of the bondmen.

SOLOMONTHE FLAGRANT SINNER

The late Dr. Henson used to speak of the first verse of the first Psalm, saying, Here you see the devils toboggan slide. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. One evil step always calls for another. And when you have gone a mile with Satan, he will insist that you go with him twain. We have seen Solomon, the son of fortune, become Solomon, the proud, greedy oppressor, and ere we finish we must see him become also the flagrant sinner.

Sensuality characterized his conduct. Here is a sentence that forever consigns Solomon among sinners. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. It might be said of him exactly as Dwight Hillis says of Goethe, the German libertine, So great was Goethes genius that he sometimes seems like one driving steeds of the sun. But self-indulgence took off his chariot wheels * *. During his life Goethe always kept two friends busythe one weaving laurels for his brow, the other cleaning mud from his boots.

The late Dr. Simpson spake truthfully of this Sodomic spirit, Alas, it is perhaps the strongest and most perilous social current of our own time. And, like a feted torrent from the sewers of the pit, it is sweeping through the social life of our land, with a breadth of license, and a depth of wickedness, which but too surely remind us that that fearful sign of the end, as it was in the days of Sodom, is at last upon us. The individual who follows Solomon in the folly of this awful sin, must one day know the meaning of his own bitter words, touching the place of the fallen, The dead are there; and * * her guests are in the depths of hell.

He compromised with the views of evil companions. Listen to these words from 1Ki 11:2, Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the Children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. The devil has no more effective agency for the downfall of men than sinful companionship. To company constantly with evil men is surely to compromise the truth, and involve the interests of ones character. On one occasion, when our mother country seemed failing in courage, one of her sons said, England has so fed upon the pap of compromise as to be unable any longer to conceive a muscular resolution. Whether his words had occasion or not, I know that not a few of Gods feeble followers find themselves in just such a situation. Tempted young people often come to me and say, Must I give up my evil companionship? Must I cease from the company of the infidel? Must I refuse to go to the theatre, enter the dance hall, or gather with others at the gambling table?

That all depends upon whether you propose to be Gods child at all. If you want His blessing, remember the conditions, and know; that you will either meet it, or else be counted among sinners:

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what Part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty (2Co 6:14-18).

He turned from the Great Father to false gods. We are not surprised! No man can walk with evil fellows and keep a true faith. Listen! Here is the process: 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. If you look into the record you will find out that he fell so low as to worship those foul spirits, Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and Moloch, the abomination of Ammon, the gods in whose fiery arms little children were offered in living sacrifices, while one says, Their cries were drowned by the rude songs of heathen music.

Ah, beloved, the poet paints an experience which Satan has often illustrated for us, when he writes,

Vice is a monster of such horrid mien,

That to be hated needs but to be seen,

But, seen too oft, familiar grows its face,

And first we fear, then pity, then embrace.

I dont know where your idol is, nor what it is, but if your heart has gone away from God, you know to what you have given it. If you no longer find His fellowship sweet, you know to what shrine the flesh has led you. Oh, I wish you knew. I wish I might bring you to see to-night what that shrine means for your future! What sins! What sorrows! What unanswered sobs! What utter despair!

I had a friend in New York City who was thrown into the companionship of a beautiful woman, and God put it into his heart to speak to her about her salvation, but she proved to be an utter worldling. Often she declared, I love the world, I revel in it. I delight in the dance, in the horse race, in the theatre. I have no sympathy with your narrow notions, and puritanical ideas. I just idolize the world. One day he said to her, My sister, some day you will hate the world as much as you love it now. But she laughed him to scorn. Only a few weeks and her spirit had changed; she grew depressed, bitter, cynical. One day she said, Oh, how I hate the world, and her lips were set with the bitterness of a cynic. He gently reminded her that she had once professed a love for it, and inquired what had happened. She answered in bitter invectives, declaring it had failed her, deceived her, destroyed her hopes, and brought her to despair. He tried to tell her of a better world, but, as he said, her heart was poisoned by the bane of Solomon. And when she spake, it was with wormwood and gall. Early the very next morning there was an excited rap at the door, and a pale-faced messenger cried in to my friend, Come, come quickly! He ran into the parlor and there was the white upturned face of this sorrowful society woman, and she was dead. They had just dragged her from the river into which she had plunged herself in the darkness of the night, and perished alone! As my friend stood beside that coffin and tried to perform the service of that funeral, it seemed to him that he was looking into a lost eternity, and out from it there issued one awful, solemn message, which he afterwards gave to the people, and which I now repeat for the sake of others: Children, keep yourselves from idols!

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.

1Ki. 11:11. Forasmuch as this is done of thee; or, is purposed of thee.

HOMILETICS OF 1Ki. 11:9-13

THE DIVINE ANGER AND HUMAN DISOBEDIENCE

I. That the Divine anger is a fact. And the Lord was angry with Solomon. It is the fashion with many to expatiate on the Divine benevolence while they ignore the Divine anger. But the fact of that anger is one of the plainest and most awful revelations of the Bible (Isa. 13:13; Joh. 3:36; Rom. 1:18). Divine anger is no sudden burst of passion, no low and hateful motion of revenge, as human anger often is, and with which too many are prone to associate their idea of the Divine anger. It is rather the deep, eternal antagonism of holiness to sin, of truth to error, of right to wrong. However much God may love the human soul as such, if that soul cleaves unto sin, it must of necessity place itself along with the sin in enmity towards God, and so be exposed to the Divine anger. It requires a sound judgment and a heart of tenderest love to speak with profit on the subject of the Divine anger.

II. That the Divine anger is excited by human disobedience. Because his heart was turned from the Lord (1Ki. 11:9).

1. Disobedience is aggravated when committed against definite commands. And had commanded him concerning this thing (1Ki. 11:10; comp. 1Ki. 6:12; 1Ki. 9:6). When law is violated ignorantly it is still a sin, but is not so aggravated as when committed with the full knowledge of the prohibition. Princes who have dominion over others are apt to forget the Divine dominion over them, and while they exact obedience from their own subjects, to neglect on their part to render obedience to the Great Ruler of all. The mariner who disregards the lights and landmarks which define the path of safety is the more reprehensible when he wrecks his vessel among the treacherous shoals.

2. Disobedience it aggravated when committed notwithstanding repealed Divine manifestation. The Lord appeared unto him twice (1Ki. 11:9; comp. 1Ki. 3:5; 1Ki. 9:1-2). Good turns aggravate unkindnesses. It is a great privilege to receive the law through the lips of Gods ministers, but a greater still to hear it from the lips of God Himself. Solomon was singularly favoured with Divine blessings. His recalcitrance excited the greater displeasure, and merited the greater punishment. The Lord does not trifle with men in the declarations of His word, and He will not eventually allow men to trifle with Him.

III. That the Divine anger will manifest itself in some form of punishment (1Ki. 11:11). The threat to divide the kingdom was carried out: the subsequent repentance and restoration of Solomon did not prevent it. There are some things in which repentance comes too late. Repentance does not arrest the course of physical law. It must have been a bitter experience to Solomon to know that the magnificent empire it had been his life-work to build up must ere long be rent asunder and crumble into ruins. Solomon had let go the sincere service of God by sharing himself betwixt Him and his idols; his servant therefore shall share the kingdon with his son, and bear away the better half from him. The Divine anger is not a theological scare-crow set up to frighten timid souls, but a terrible reality, as the evil-doer will by-and-by discover to his dismay. Homer has given expression to a similar idea:

Fast by the threshold of Joves court are placed
Two casks, one stored with evil, one with good.

To whom He gives unmixed

The bitter cup, He makes that man a curse,
His name becomes a by word of reproach,
His strength is hunger-bitten, and he walks
The blessed earth unblest, go where he may.

IV. That the Divine anger is ever tempered with mercy.

1. Mercy in delaying punishment. Notwithstanding in thy day I will not do it (1Ki. 11:12). Compare a similar mitigation of punishment promised to Josiah (2Ki. 22:20). Delay affords space for repentance. If the opportunity it presents is despised, the punishment will be the heavier, and the sufferer be without excuse.

2. Mercy in moderating the severity of punishment. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom, but will give one tribe to thy son (1Ki. 11:13). Two tribes were really retained. The tribe of Benjamin seems to have been absorbed into the tribe of Judah, to which David belonged (1Ki. 12:21). This second mitigation of the sentence reveals the tender compassion of God, and His unwillingness to punish. Solomon did not at once turn from God: his defection was gradual; and Jehovah did not at once wrest the kingdom from him. This additional proof of the Divine mercy must have greatly affected Solomon; and there is room to hope that it led him to repent and retrace his wanderings. Kindness succeeds where a stern severity fails.

3. Mercy shown on account of ulterior Divine purposes. For David my servants sake, and for Jerusalems sake which I have chosen (1Ki. 11:13). The line of the Messiah must be preserved. The prevailing lion must come out of the tribe of Judah: not only the tribe must be preserved, but the regal line and the regal right. All this must be done for the true Davids sake; and this was undoubtedly, observes Dr. A. Clarke, what God had in view by thus miraculously preserving the tribe of Judah and the royal line in the midst of so general a defection. As David was a type of the Messiah, so was Jerusalem a type of the true church: therefore the old Jerusalem must be preserved in the hands of the tribe of Judah, till the true David should establish the new Jerusalem in the same land and in the same city. And what a series of providences did it require to do all these things! The prosperous career of Solomon was only part of a great scheme for the benefit of the entire race; and the failure of even so great a man as Solomon must not be allowed to frustrate the Divine intention.

LESSONS:

1. Man cannot sin with impunity.

2. The Divine anger is righteous.

3. The manifestation of the Divine anger it terrible.

4. God has more delight in showing mercy than in punishing.

5. He who most delights in mercy most resembles God.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

1Ki. 11:9. Had not this mans delinquency been strongly marked by the Divine disapprobation, it would have had a fatal effect upon the morals of mankind. Vice is vice, no matter who commits it. And God is as much displeased with sin in Solomon as He can be with it in the most profligate, uneducated wretch. And, although God sees the same sin in precisely the same degree of moral turpitude as to the act itself, yet there may be circumstances which greatly aggravate the offence, and subject the offender to greater punishment. Solomon was wise; he knew better: his understanding showed him the vanity as well as the wickedness of idolatry. God had appeared unto him twice. The promises of God had been fulfilled to him in a most remarkable manner. All these were aggravations of Solomons crimes, as to their demerit; for the same crime has, in every case, the same degree of moral turpitude in the sight of God; but circumstances may so aggravate as to require the offender to be more grievously punished: so the punishment may be legally increased where the crime is the same. Solomon deserved more punishment for his worship of Ashtoreth than any of the Sidonians did, though they performed precisely the same acts. The Sidonians had never known the true God: Solomon had been fully acquainted with Him.A. Clarke.

1Ki. 11:9-11. The sin of idolatry.

1. Is a tendency of fallen humanity.
2. Is an insult to God.
3. Is a violation of the most specific prohibitions.
4. Is the cause of national disgrace and ruin.

1Ki. 11:9-13. The punishments that fell upon Solomon show usI. The holiness and righteousness of God (Psa. 145:17; Jer. 17:10; Luk. 12:47). II. His faithfulness and mercy (1Ki. 11:12-13). He knows how to punish so that His gracious promises remain firm (2Ti. 2:13; Rom. 3:3). God makes known to us His judgments through His Word, so that we may have time to repent and to turn unto Him (Eze. 33:2). If judgment fell specially on Solomon, notwithstanding the fact that the Lord appeared unto him twice in a dream, and he was honoured with distinguished grace, what judgment must we expect, to whom He has appeared tenderly in Christ Jesus (1Co. 1:30; Heb. 2:3; Heb. 10:29). God knows how, in the proper time, to belittle him who abandons and forsakes the Lord and His cause in order to become great and distinguished in the eyes of the world (Dan. 4:34).Lange.

1Ki. 11:12-13. In the midst of the horror of this spectacle, able to affright all the sons of men, behold some glimpse of comfort. Was it of Solomon that David his father prophesiedThough he fall he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand? If sensible grace, yet final mercy, was not taken from that beloved of God. In the hardest of this winter, the sap was gone down to the root, though it showed not in the branches. Even while Solomon removed, that word stood fast: He shall be my son, and I will be his father. He that foresaw his sin, threatened and limited his correction (Psa. 89:31-33). Behold, the favour of God doth not depend upon Solomons obedience. If Solomon shall suffer his faithfulness to fail towards his God; God will not requite him with the failing of his faithfulness to Solomon: if Solomon break his covenant with God, God will not break His covenant with the father of Solomon, with the son of David. He shall smart; he shall not perish. O gracious word of the God of all mercies, able to give strength to the languishing, comfort to the despairing, to the dying, life! Whatsoever we are, thou wilt be still thyself, O Holy one of Israel, true to thy covenant. The sins of thy chosen can neither frustrate thy counsel, nor outstrip thy mercies.Bp. Hall.

1Ki. 11:13. One tribe remains to himthat is, of the Divine grace only a single part of the sovereignty over all Israel is left to him. This view is confirmed by the observation that even the standing distribution in the Old Testament of Israel into twelve tribes has its most proper ground, not in the fact that Jacob had exactly twelve sons, as after the recognition of Ephraim and Manasseh as separate tribes, the people properly formed thirteen tribes; but is to be sought in the import which this number had acquired in the remotest antiquity by the observation of the twelve months of the year, and the twelve signs of the zodiac.Keil.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

THE LORD’S ANGER AGAINST SOLOMON, 1Ki 11:9-13.

9. The Lord was angry Divine anger, as presented in the Bible, is no sudden burst of passion, no low and hateful motion of revenge, as human anger often is, and with which, perhaps, too many are ever prone to associate their idea of Divine anger. It is rather the deep, eternal antagonism of holiness to sin, of truth to error, of right to wrong. Our God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; and how much soever he may love a human soul as such, if that soul cleaves unto sin, it must of necessity place itself along with the sin in enmity towards God, and so become obnoxious to the Divine anger. See note on Jdg 2:14.

Appeared unto him twice At Gibeon and Jerusalem. 1Ki 3:5; 1Ki 9:2, where see notes.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

YHWH’s Verdict And Judgment On The House Of Solomon ( 1Ki 11:9-13 ).

Solomon had no doubt appeased his conscience by persuading himself that he was still honouring YHWH at the regular feasts when he took up his position as Intercessor of Israel, not realising that in fact by that very compromise he was demeaning YHWH. He was bringing Him down to the level of the other ‘gods’.

We are not told how YHWH conveyed His message to Solomon, but it was probably through a prophet (Ahijah (1Ki 11:29) may well be a contender), and in it He brought out the seriousness of what Solomon had done. In spite of his privilege of being specifically illuminated twice by God at crucial points in his life, he had broken every promise and had defied the covenant. From now on therefore his house was only to have responsibility for two of the tribes of Israel. The other ‘ten’ would be handed over to one of his ‘servants’.

As often with God’s judgments this would actually occur through historical events, and much of the blame would lie at the door of the recalcitrance of his own son. But it is a reminder that behind all history lies the controlling hand of God.

Analysis.

a And YHWH was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from YHWH, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what YHWH commanded (1Ki 11:10).

b For which reason YHWH said to Solomon, “Forasmuch as this is done by you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely rend the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant” (1Ki 11:11).

a “Notwithstanding in your days I will not do it, for David your father’s sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of your son. However that may be I will not rend away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen” (1Ki 11:12-13).

Note that in ‘a’ Solomon had turned away his heart from God, and in the parallel God will in turn rend the kingdom from Solomon’s son. Central in ‘b’ is the detailed explanation of why this will be. Note how ‘b’ is the glue that holds all together. It looks back to the breaking of the commandment in ‘a’ and forward to the rending away of the kingdom in the parallel ‘a’.

1Ki 11:9-10

‘ And YHWH was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from YHWH, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what YHWH commanded.’

The result was that YHWH was ‘angry with Solomon’. In other words He took an antipathy to him because of his sin. It was no mild antipathy for it was to affect Solomon’s children and his house from then on. And Solomon’s sin was seen as especially heinous because YHWH had twice appeared to Solomon in dreams and warned him of the consequences of turning away from Him and going after other gods (compare 1Ki 3:5-15 where it is implied in the command to walk in His ways and keep His commandment; 1Ki 9:2-9), and besides he had less excuse than later kings because, unlike them, he was not under any other kind of threat (at least later kings had the excuse that they were being pressurised politically by powerful overlords). He was thus totally inexcusable. The final verdict, like that on Adam and Eve, was that he had not kept what YHWH had commanded and would thus be thrust out of his kingdom.

The idea of the ‘anger of God’ is used regularly in the Old Testament as a way of describing God’s antipathy to sin. Compare 1Ki 8:46; Deu 1:37; Deu 4:21; Deu 9:8; Deu 9:20. > While a parallel idea of ‘the anger of God’ was also to be found in the Moabite stone (the anger of Chemosh) and in Assyrian and Hittite texts, there it was a crude polytheism that was in mind that was reflected in violence, whereas here it will be noted that God did not lash out violently but gave a merciful and considered judgment which was far more merciful than was deserved. To speak of God’s anger is an anthropomorphism indicating God’s necessary antipathy to sin.

1Ki 11:11

‘ For which reason YHWH said to Solomon, “Forasmuch as this is done by you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely rend the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant”.’

YHWH’s verdict was then declared. Because Solomon had failed to keep His covenant and His statutes which YHWH had commanded him, the kingdom that YHWH had given him was to be torn away from him and given to one of his ‘servants’. Solomon was now in total disgrace, and his name was to be humiliated. Solomon’s son, instead of inheriting an empire, would become a petty king.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

DISCOURSE: 337
SOLOMONS FALL

1Ki 11:9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice.

IF we had beheld the temple of Solomon, with all its exquisite workmanship, destroyed, as soon as it was finished, methinks we should have wept over it as a calamity never to be forgotten. But we are now called to survey a far more grievous desolation, even the destruction of the fairest edifice that ever was raised,the soul of Solomon. Most eminently had the grace of God wrought in him, as all his preceding history informs us. Since the foundation of the world there was not a grander spectacle, than that of Solomon elevated on a brasen platform in the midst of the temple, and crying unto God with bended knees and out-stretched hands in the behalf of himself and people to their latest posterity. But how is the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed! We behold in nature some clouds occasionally obscuring the brightest sky, and sometimes even the meridian sun eclipsed; but here was such an eclipse as never had been seen, since Adam fell in paradise: here was the brightest day turned suddenly into the darkest night; the most eminent of saints relapsing into a state of most aggravated and abiding transgression.
Let us turn, like Abraham surveying the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrha the morning after they were destroyed [Note: Gen 19:27-28.], and contemplate,

I.

The fall of Solomon

In order to get a just view of it, let us distinctly notice,

1.

How it began

[It began the very instant he was raised to the throne, though in a way that was not perceived by him at the time. We do not condemn him for marrying Pharaohs daughter, because we take for granted that she was a proselyte to the Jewish faith. That she was so, may be presumed from the very circumstance of his connexion with her; for we cannot conceive that he would have so grossly violated the divine law as to marry an heathen woman, at the very time that his piety was so transcendently conspicuous: and this presumption is confirmed by the circumstance, that amongst all the idolatrous temples that he built for his other wives, he never erected any for the idols of Egypt. But the evil of which he was guilty in the commencement of his reign was, the offering of sacrifice in high places, instead of confining himself to the altar which was in the tabernacle. We are decidedly of opinion that he should not have done this himself, nor should he have suffered his people to do it [Note: Compare 1Ki 3:1-3 with Deu 12:2-6.]: and we are persuaded that this error, continued as it was for eleven years at least, rendered him less averse than he would otherwise have been, to the erection of temples afterwards to heathen gods.

Other evils of his which gradually crept in, were, the multiplying of gold and silver for himself; the multiplying of horses also, and that from Egypt; and, above all, the multiplying of wives. All of these things were forbidden in as plain and express a manner as could be conceived [Note: Deu 17:16-17.]: yet, as if he had never read any such prohibition in the word of God, did he go on violating it from day to day [Note: In amassing gold, not, as David, for the Lord, but for his own aggrandizement: see 1Ki 10:21. In increasing horses; see 1Ki 4:26; 1Ki 10:26 and especially from Egypt; see 1Ki 10:28. In multiplying wives; see ver. 3.].]

2.

To what an extent it proceeded

[There was not any thing more strongly prohibited in the Law than the forming of connexions with heathen women [Note: Deu 7:3-4.]: yet it was not from among the women of his own nation that he took his wives and concubines, but from among the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. What an astonishing infatuation was here! Perhaps in the first two or three instances he might hope to convert them, as Pharaohs daughter had been converted: but after having broken down the fence of the divine law, he roved afterwards at pleasure throughout the world. Soon the consequences which might have been expected, ensued: his heart was drawn away from God; and he not only suffered them to commit idolatry in the land, but he even favoured their idolatry, and actually built temples for their gods, and that too even in Jerusalem itself, where Jehovahs temple was: nor did he do this only for one or two whom he peculiarly favoured, but for all his strange wives; yea, incredible as it may appear, he actually united with them in the worship of their idols, and alienated to them the affections due only to the God of Israel [Note: ver. 48. His wives turned away his heart after other gods he went after Ashtoreth, &c.]. Who that had seen Solomon at the dedication of the temple, would ever have conceived that he should fall at last to such a degraded state as this?]

3.

With what aggravations it was attended

[Solomon had from a child been eminently beloved of the Lord: God had even given him the name Jedidiah in token of that love [Note: 2Sa 12:24-25.]. He had been especially appointed to build the temple of the Lord [Note: 1Ch 22:9-10.]: and both before and after he had built the temple, was honoured with peculiar visits from God himself [Note: Compare 1Ki 3:5; 1Ki 9:2.]. In the latter of these visits God had strongly warned him against the very evils which he afterwards committed [Note: 1Ki 9:3-7.]: and yet did Solomon very speedily rush into the commission of them [Note: He had reigned at least twenty years before the second visit. 1Ki 9:1; 1Ki 9:10.]. Now these things God himself notices as aggravations of his guilt: he complains, that Solomon did these things after God had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not do it. Surely such ingratitude and impiety were scarcely ever combined in any other child of man!]

4.

With what consequences it was followed

[God was angry with him, as well he might be; and he declared to Solomon that the kingdom of which he had rendered himself so unworthy, should be taken from him, and given to a servant of his [Note: ver. 11.]. This judgment however should be both deferred and mitigated; yet not for his sake, but for his father Davids sake. Great as Davids crimes had been in the matter of Uriah, he had never for a moment countenanced idolatry; and therefore for his sake should two of the tribes be reserved for his descendants, whilst the other ten should be rent away from them; and for his sake should the evil be deferred, till Solomon himself should be removed into the eternal world [Note: ver. 12, 13.]. Thus was the very mitigation of the punishment as humiliating, as the denunciation of it was painful. Immediately did God stir up adversaries to Solomon, to disquiet his peaceful reign, and to embitter the remainder of his days [Note: ver. 14, 23, 2633.]. What the event of his transgression was in the eternal world, we cannot certainly declare. We hope and believe that Solomon repented, and was forgiven; (the Book of Ecclesiastes seems to have been written alter this period, and to contain the evidence of his repentance:) but there is no express mention of any such thing; so that it must remain uncertain till the day of judgment, whether he was not left to suffer the everlasting displeasure of an offended God. What a fearful thought! that so bright a sun should set at last under so dark a cloud!]

Inexpressibly awful is the account here given us. Let us now proceed to consider,

II.

The instruction to be gathered from it

Never was a history more replete with instruction than this. We may learn from it,

1.

That temporal prosperity is very unfavourable for spiritual advancement

[Doubtless the facility with which Solomon could gratify all his natural appetites, rendered him the more easy prey to his own corruptions: and as his carnal gratifications increased, his spiritual affections would decay. And do we not find it thus in all ages? Adversity has been a source of benefit to thousands; but few have ever been permanently quickened by prosperity. If we look into the Church of God, we shall find innumerable instances of persons, who have suffered loss in their souls, in proportion as their wealth or honours have been increased: The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things have choked the word, and rendered it unfruitful. The account given of Jeshurun [Note: Deu 32:15.] contains the history of many; over whose tombs it might be inscribed, The prosperity of fools destroys them [Note: Pro 1:32.].

Let us not then covet earthly gains or honours: they are but as thick clay around the feet of one that runneth in a race [Note: Hab 2:6.], or as a garment that obstructs the motion of his legs [Note: Heb 12:1. .] ]

2.

That however advanced any man may be in age or piety, he is still in danger of falling

[It is said of Solomon, that, when he was old, his wives turned away his heart [Note: ver. 4.]. Had it been in the days of his youth, we should have the less wondered at his folly; because versatility of mind is incident to that time of life: but after years of wisdom and piety, to turn in old age to such extreme folly and wickedness, what shall we say? Well may we exclaim, Lord, what is man? Can any thing speak more loudly to us than this? Can any thing more strongly enforce that warning of the Apostle, Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall? O let us not be high-minded, but fear. Let us fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into Gods rest, any of us should seem to come short of it. This is certain, that, as our wickedness shall not be remembered if we truly turn from it, so neither shall our righteousness be remembered if we turn from that. It is not he who runs well for a season, but he who endures unto the end, that shall be saved. If we turn back, at whatever period of our life it be, we turn back unto perdition. Let all of us then cry to God, to hold up our goings in his paths, that our footsteps slip not. Our motto to the last must be, Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe. To all then, whatever eminence they may have attained, I would say, as our Lord did to his disciples, not only Remember Lots wife, but, Remember the fall of Solomon.]

3.

That smaller sins, if not guarded against in time, will issue in the greatest

[Solomon might frame some excuse to himself for the sins in which his fall commenced: he worshipped on high places, because the temple was not yet built: he multiplied wives and concubines, because his father had had several before him: he procured much gold, and a multitude of horses, because they would add to the splendour of his court, and perhaps also to his security. But he found at last what a dangerous thing it is to tamper with sin, or to deviate knowingly even an hairs. breadth from the divine commandments. Sin will soon blind the eyes, and harden the heart, and sear the conscience. Sin is a downward road, whereon, if we fall, our descent may soon be accelerated beyond a possibility of recovery. A leak may appear but a small thing; yet will it sink a ship, if left without timely repair. The voice of inspiration suggests to us, Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth! Let us not then account any sin small: let us watch and pray against every deviation from the divine commands: and, from a sense of our own blindness, let us pray to God, Search thou me, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.]

4.

That every sin we commit is aggravated by the mercies we have received

[This, as has been observed, was intimated by God in the case of Solomon: and the universal voice of Scripture attests the same. If our Lord had not come and spoken to the Jews, they had been comparatively without sin: but his discourses and his miracles rendered them altogether without excuse; insomuch, that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than for that generation. In like manner we are told, that the superior information of a servant who knows his Lords will and does it not, will cause him to be beaten with more stripes, than he, whose ignorance forms some kind of plea for his neglect.
What then will be the state of us who have had such ample instruction, and such repeated warnings? If our minds have never been awakened, our misimprovement of the means of grace has involved us in the deeper guilt: but if the Lord has ever manifested himself to us as he does not unto the world, and we have turned back from following him, our guilt is proportionably increased; so that it would have been better for us never to have known the way of righteousness, than, having known it, to turn from it.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

(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.

Reader! let me beg you to make all suitable improvement of what is here contained within those verses. And may the Holy Ghost bless the reading of it to both our souls. Observe! how aggravated the sin of Solomon was, because it was in direct opposition to the former gracious manifestations the Lord had condescended to make him. And observe also how the Lord keeps account how often he visits his people. Sweet thought to the believer! Jesus marks down in his book of remembrance all his gracious love visits, though our forgetful hearts pass them by. And observe, moreover, from this passage, how very piercing the sins of believers are, above all others, to the heart of Jesus. Reader! think of this as it concerns yourself. Hath the Lord Jesus manifested himself otherwise to you than he doth to the world? hath God the Father given you Jesus? Hath the Holy Spirit set his love upon you, and opened to your view the glories of Jesus? And must not every act of unkindness after such tokens of special and distinguishing favor, be very, very cutting to the heart of so gracious a God; Hath not such a God in covenant a right to demand more from such souls than from all the unenlightened nations of the earth? May not every disobedient child of God hear that expostulating voice speaking to him after every transgression; “I awakened thee from darkness, delivered thee from Satan, gave thee redemption, and Jesus with all his mercies; for which of all these blessings is it, that thou thus rebellest against me?” But Reader! in the midst of our view of Solomon’s crying sins, and the Lord’s judgment, do observe how the name of David is introduced, as the cause for which he shall find mercy. And thus in the covenant of redemption for the sake of David’s Lord, the gracious terms are the same. Sweet thought! both from our relation to Jesus, our Spiritual Head and Surety; and from the ransom Jehovah hath received in him; believers though chastened, are saved. See that sweet scripture; Psa 89:30-37 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1Ki 11:9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

Ver. 9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon. ] Though he were his Jedidiah, his darling. His chastisements laid on his children are the fruits of love displeased. The Antinomians say – but not truly – that God is never displeased with his people, fall they never so foully; no, not with a fatherly displeasure. See to the contrary, Isa 57:17 1Co 11:30 .

Which had appeared unto him twice. ] Good turns aggravate unkindnesses. See on 1Ki 9:2 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

angry. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia. App-6. Hebrew. ‘anaph. Used only of Divine anger. Occurs fourteen times: six in the Hithpael = to force one’s self to be angry (as with one loved). See the six: Deu 1:37; Deu 4:21; Deu 9:8, Deu 9:20. Deu 11:7. 2Ki 17:18.

twice. Compare 1Ki 3:5; 1Ki 9:2.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

angry: Exo 4:14, Num 12:9, Deu 3:26, Deu 9:8, Deu 9:20, 2Sa 6:7, 2Sa 11:27, 1Ch 21:7, Psa 78:58-60, Psa 90:7, Psa 90:8

his heart: 1Ki 11:2, 1Ki 11:3, Deu 7:4, Pro 4:23, Isa 29:13, Isa 29:14, Hos 4:11, 2Ti 4:10

which had appeared: 1Ki 3:5, 1Ki 9:2

Reciprocal: 1Ki 11:33 – they have forsaken 1Ch 28:7 – if

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE DOWN GRADE

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice.

1Ki 11:9

This is a very sad chapter. It recalls at once the greatness of the opportunity that Solomon hadwhat Solomon might have been.

I. Solomons folly.Solomon recognised his own folly. Nothing is more sad than the way in which Solomon, in his Book of Ecclesiastes, said of the world, All is vanity, and yet he himself held to the influences of the world, and checked not the evil influences that surrounded him. He has handed down some wonderful writingswonderful thoughtsin the Book of Proverbs, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, and that spiritual love song, The Song of Solomon. And how often in his later years must his own words have seemed to come back to him, like heavenly voices of angels! To have known higher things and more glorious conditions, and yet to have fallen away from them! No man was ever born to greater opportunities probably than Solomon.

II. His spiritual decline.But it was not only earthly greatness that led him astray; there was a certain spirituality in his early days which he lost. For instance, he makes noble choice of proper gifts when he chose not riches and honour, but wisdom as the gift of God. The energies of the early part of his life were occupied with the building of the Temple, over which he bestowed much thought, labour, and interest; and when we read his prayer at the dedication of the Temple, full of earnestness and reality, we begin to see from what wondrous heights this man seems to have slipped back, not only in worldly greatness, but even in his spiritual position in relation to God.

III. The secret of his fall.What was the secret of his failure? It was rather the passive than the active characteristics which led to his degeneration. Unused powers, spiritual as well as physical, are lost if they are not exercised. There must be force at the back if there is to be any real result in what we do in the worldly life; and in the spiritual life if we just let things go, and fall in with the circumstances by which we are surrounded, then we soon lose that which we might have had. When the body has lost its vitality, how soon it goes to decay; how soon the influences around absorb the dust which returns to dust. And if this is so with the body, is it not true also of our spiritual life? Solomon just yielded himself to the influence of the world around him. As the head of a great court, as the king of a race that had now become great, he took all the homage that was brought. He sucked the honey from every flower; and the influences which were surrounding him in his earthly greatness were such as would actually demoralise, pull to pieces, and bring to decay all that was spiritual. So the morality which was his in the earlier days became demoralised, and was gradually lostin degeneration!

IV. The lesson for ourselves.What then does this character teach us? It teaches us that we must not put too high a premium upon our surroundings in life; because the influences of the world, the flesh, and the devil, which will surely come, will pull to pieces our higher spiritual powers. If God grant us privileges of any kind let us see what we are doing with them, because the higher spiritual nature, the higher spiritual life, will not be brought to its fulness in us unless there be effort, unless there be spiritual push and force of character, submitting to the will of God, seeking continuously guidance and power from God. Let us beware, when we read of the degeneration and the backsliding of Solomon, of yielding passively to the influences by which we are surrounded; and let us constantly exercise that spiritual life which God has granted to us, ever and continually seeking His power and help, that our life may bring forth its true harvest to glorify God.

Rev. W. P. Alford.

Illustrations

(1) No man ever gets so old that he has outgrown temptation. It is a very common thing to say that if a man starts right, he will keep right; but there is no foundation in truth for that statement. It is safe to say, that if a man starts right and keeps right, he will be right; but that is as far as we can go in prophesying confidently as to a mans outcome. It is not he that endures at the beginning, but he that endureth unto the end, who is to have the reward of endurance. It is all right to urge boys and the girls to start right and to go on right; but it is well for parents and teachers and pastors, even aged members of the church, to have a care lest their heart and their ways are turned away from God even in their old age.

(2) Progress by steps of persistent advance into deeper sin may always be expected, when one has taken a start away from the right.

Solomon began with a weakness and dullness in Jehovahs service; then he went after heathen gods; then he built high places for them; then he took his strange wives with him instead of teaching them better things; then he burnt incense openly to baser deities, and sacrificed publicly on the altars. Led, he ends by leading. Turned away by his wives at the first, he finishes his surrender by rushing his vast family into ruin.

It is just this subtle power of the adversary which overthrows the good in our world. There is nothing more to be feared than the unperceived inroad of what might be termed a little sin.

(3) Love not the world, cries St. John. A multitude of voices echo his words. The shores of time are strewn with many a wreck, each serving as a beacon to point out the rock on which they stranded. Here the merchant who worked seven days in the week, who forgot God in piling up riches, and failed at last, cries, Love not the world. Here the millionaire who inherited a fortune and doubled it every ten years, and drained every cup of pleasure, and now faces death with a tainted body and a leprous character, cries, Love not the world. Here the statesman who reached the Senate chamber and laid his hand on dishonest gold and went down in ignominy, cries, Love not the world. Here the brilliant journalist, the clever student, the gifted artist, who reached distinction at the sacrifice of strength, life, reputation, cry, Love not the world.

(4) In the doom of Solomonthe rending of his kingdom from himthere were two gleams of light across the cloud. The one was that the rending was delayed (v. 12), the other was that it was not total loss (v. 13), and both alleviations in the doom were given to Solomon for Davids sake. Now all through the Bible, from the first book to the last, that truth of vicarious mercy is inscribed. For a mothers sake, a wayward son is guarded. For a daughters sake, a father is restored. And it culminates in our Saviour Jesus Christ, for whose dear sake God shows such boundless mercy, hearing the prayers that are offered in His name, and welcoming every heart that comes through Him.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

Solomon presents himself to us in the Bible under a twofold aspect. He is an embodiment of glory and greatness, so conspicuous as to be a type of Christ, the King of Glory; and he is also a warning of the most seriousI might say, of the most tragicaldescription, pointing out the dangers which may surround all the best and greatest on this side of the grave. The lesson for this afternoon leads us to consider his fall, and it would be difficult to name an Old Testament subject which ought to be more interesting, more useful, more instructive. It is the building of the Temple, the great work of Solomons life, which throws out his later apostasy into such painful relief, which makes his fall in his later age so strange, so paradoxical. Solomon, the builder of the Temple which David might not build, raised round about the sacred city shrines to the foul idols of the neighbouring idolatersshrines to Ashtaroth, shrines to Moloch, shrines to Chemosh. Solomon, who had organised the priests and Levites, the services and sacrifices of the sacred ritual, was now encouraging, if he was not assisting at, rites which were cruel and impure as well as idolatrous. It is not merely the intrinsic magnitude of Solomons offenceit is its inconsistency with the main work of his life, its inconsistency with what were, undoubtedly, for many a year, his strongest and most enthusiastic convictionsthat mainly strikes us. In Solomon we see a man to whom religious fidelity has broughtwas still bringingevery earthly blessing, and who yet, in the fulness of his days and honours, fell away from its requirements. The spectacle is too strange, too suggestive, not to lead to an inquiry beyond.

I. What was it, we ask, that could have tempted Solomon to practise and support idolatry?The temptation came to him, we are told, chiefly through his affections. He was not, anyhow at first, intellectually convinced that the idol-worship of the neighbouring nations was right. But then he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. The current and most true proverb that a bad woman is much worse than a bad man owes its force to the fact that women, when they fall, fall deeper, as a rule, because, as a rule, they fall from a higher level than men. And therefore it is that women influence men as they do, sometimes undisguisedly, more often without its being at all suspected. And when this influence is misused the results are proportionately disastrous. Solomons wives could do what probably no one man in his empire could possibly have done: they perverted the heart of the wisest of men.

II. And closely connected with this temptation was another. Solomon was the victim of a sort of false cosmopolitanism.His wide range of interests, his immense wealth, his contact with men of all creeds and of no creeds, brought to him too a temptation which often comes to those who, from the nature of their duties, see many sides of human life. In such cases the difficulty is to be fair, just, generous, to the convictions of others, without compromising what we ourselves know to be true, to recognise what is true in creeds which yet are largely false, without shutting our eyes to their substantial falsehood. Solomons sympathy with all forms of human thought and life would probably have gone hand in hand with his anxiety to promote and to develop the commerce of his country.

III. And, thirdly, of course there must have been some subtle, some unconquered evil in Solomons nature which led him to sympathise with the wrong thus recommended to him from without.No outward influence can really overmaster the rectitude of a regenerate will. If outward attractions or terrors prevail it is because of some weakness or rottenness within. As St. James says, when he is resisting the plea that temptations can overmaster human weakness, when a man is tempted every one is led away of his own lusts and enticed. But the history of this increasing sympathy with what is wrong, of its gradual, its invisible development up to the point at which it triumphs in some outward actthis is a dread secret open only to the all-seeing eye in its completeness, although partly traceable by all of us if we even look within the chambers of our hearts.

IV. Nor was Solomon secured against failure by his previous sincerity.As it is true for all of us that while there is life there is hope, so it is not less true that while there is hope there is more or less danger. No man here can be made mechanically secure of heaven. There is no such thing on earth as indefectible grace. If St. Paul himself could be under an apprehension lest, after he had preached to others he himself should be a castaway, who shall presume that confident feeling, assurance, or anything else of the kind, shall give him an absolute certificate of eventual triumph? God, no doubt, on His side, is faithful, so far as He is concerned. None can pluck a soul out of His hand. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Certainly we may say, with the Apostle, nothing external to us; neither tribulation, nor anguish, nor persecution, nor peril, nor the sword. But, then, that which nothing outward can do, we, each one of us for himself, most assuredly may do. The grey-haired saint may fall at last. The fortress which no enemy can scale may be betrayed by its defender. God does not oblige us to serve Him by giving us His grace. His gifts, in other words, do not reduce us to the level of machines: they simply enable us to make the best of that freedom which is our manhoods noblest attribute. There is no reason for questioning Solomons sincerity in his early life because in his closing days he broke away from God into paths of his own devising.

Illustrations

(1) As the years pass and the end draws near, the course of the soul is not by any means always upwards and onwards. It is, I might almost say, as often downwards and backwards. Judas was an older man when he betrayed our Lord than when he became a disciple. Demas was older when, through love of this present world, he departed to Thessalonica than when he first joined St. Paul. Men think that as they get older they always become more far-sighted and more sensible, that they only get rid of the false enthusiasm, of the misleading hallucinations, which beset a young man, that they retain their old interest in goodness and in truth, only that it is tempered now by reflection and experience. It may be in many cases. In many cases it is not so. What really too often takes place is that conscience becomes less sensitive, the heart less tender, the sense of truth less quick and apprehensive.

(2) Keble writes:

The grey-haired saint may fail at last,

The surest guide a wanderer prove;

Death only binds us fast

To the bright shore of love.

Many who have begun well, and for a time fulfilled the promise they have given, have, ere they have finished their course, sadly declined. They have come under influences that have been very injurious, and that have taken away from them the freshness, lustre, and power of their best qualities.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

1Ki 11:9-10. The Lord was angry with Solomon Displeased with his actions, and determined to punish him for them; in which sense we are generally to understand such expressions, for we must always remember that human passions can have no place in God. Because his heart was turned from the Lord, who had appeared to him twice First at Gibeon, in the beginning of his reign, (1Ki 3:5,) and then at Jerusalem, after the building of the temple. And had commanded him concerning this thing For in both those visions, the happiness promised him was declared to depend upon his observing Gods statutes. And when he began to build the temple, he was divinely admonished that he had better desist than go on in that work, unless he purposed to walk according to all Gods commandments, 1Ki 6:12-13. But he kept not, &c. Which was the greater crime, because God had so often admonished him of his duty, and done such great things for him.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Solomon’s sentence from God 11:9-13

Solomon’s sin in going after other gods was the quintessence of covenant infidelity. David had sinned against God deliberately on occasion when tempted (2 Samuel 11), but his heart remained devoted to Yahweh. His sin was not as serious as Solomon’s was (cf. Deu 6:5).

"One of the most puzzling aspects of the life of Solomon was the fact that he, the wisest of all men, could be so foolish, particularly in the last years of his reign. What must be understood is that the very basis, in fact, the essence of biblical wisdom is to fear God (Pro 1:7). It was precisely when Solomon neglected this principle that he began the slippery slope to folly (1Ki 11:9)." [Note: Eugene H. Merrill, "1 Kings," in The Old Testament Explorer, p. 257.]

The one tribe Solomon’s heir would retain was Judah. Judah had absorbed the tribe of Simeon almost entirely by this time, though some Israelites from Simeon had moved north (2Ch 15:9; 2Ch 34:6).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)