Imagine attending an all-women conference in a very distinguished conference room. Seated in the auditorium were a thousand women of different nations. Majority of these women were of royal birth (princesses), some were beauty pageants, others were brand ambassadors, few others were business owners and yet others were well-known media influencers. As you stand before these different classes and shades of women, you see the glamor, the fashion sense, the exquisite appearances and their outward display of wealth. These women are from different cultures with different belief systems, different family systems, different ways of dressing, different gods, different types of foods, different languages, different experiences and different understanding of worship. However, there is a commonality between all these women: they are all women of one man. In other words, these thousand women are wives and concubines to just one human being. Like me, you might be shocked. How can one person manage so many women and still go by? How does he keep a thousand women? Does he remember their names? Is he able to spend time with them? Just how? Even if the women look happy, you might be confused about how just one man is keeping a thousand women for himself.
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. (1 Kings 11:3)
King Solomon, the heir of David is well-known for his wealth and wisdom. However he is also famous for his ability to keep a thousand women as wives and concubines. According to 1 Kings 11:1-2, Solomon "loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love." When the average man is still learning how to manage one woman, Solomon was managing a thousand! His women were of these categories: seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines (1 King 11:3). How can you keep your spiritual fervency in the midst of such a chaotic spiritual environment? No wonder the wives of Solomon led him astray to worship other gods (1 Kings 11:3). The different wives all came with their own gods and "as Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been" (1 Kings 11:4).
Solomon's wisdom and wealth attracted people of all caliber. Many nations sealed their alliances with him through royal marriages. But, if Solomon had considered the laws of God, he might have saved himself from being led away. In Deuteronomy 17:17, God told Moses to tell the Israelites that the king they choose to rule over them should not do the following: he must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray; he must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. Solomon failed in these two, he accumulated so much wealth that he became the richest man in his generation. With the wealth came royal and business alliances that resulted in a thousand women. Ultimately, the heart of Solomon was led astray. Imagine living with an Egyptian Princess, a Moabite Princess, an Ammonite Princess, an Edomite Princess, a Sidonian Princess and a Hittite Princess among other hundreds of princesses.
The consequences of these different marriages were these:
1 Kings 11:5, 7-8 state that Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
In 1 Kings 11:6, we are told that Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
1 Kings 11:9 states that the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
1 Kings 11:10 states that although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.
As a result of Solomon's disobedient and apostasy (abandoning God), the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates." (1 Kings 11:11).
After the death of Solomon his successor (Rehoboam) foolishly caused the division of the kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 12). Rehoboam's action was in fulfillment of the prophecy against his father.
You might not have a thousand women but there are many things that could trigger disobedience and apostasy. Never allow the things you possess to draw your heart away from God. If it is not leading you to a better relationship with God, it is potentially leading you away from God. Check the state of your heart and be sure that in all things, God is glorified.
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