Solomon’s “Missteps” as King

Solomon’s first missteps as king are a reminder to us that our obedience cannot be partial. When that is the case, our hearts become divided and our lives a contradiction to what exercising God’s power and wisdom truly looks like.

Wisdom In All Things Special Series

Observations from 1 Kings 1-11: Solomon’s Missteps, Misuses, and Just Plain Misses

There was no easing into his reign. Solomon was charged by his father, King David, to walk in God’s ways and to deal directly and swiftly with those that opposed his kingship. This included his own brother and others close to David; familiar faces that served his father, but ultimately would betray him by their disobedience.

His first order of business was to purge the kingdom of high-ranking, influential rebels. His brother Adonijah would seek other means of undermining Solomon’s authority and legitimacy as king by using his mother Bathsheba to get to him. Adonijah requested permission to marry King David’s former nurse, which, in the eyes of Israel passed as taking possession of a dead king’s harem, and, would allow him a claim to the throne. Sneaky, but obvious. Solomon saw it for what it was: an act of treason worthy of death.

Next came the banishment of Abiathar back to his own estate. Though Solomon condemned him to death, he was instead expelled from his role as priest in fulfillment of God’s prophecy to Eli that his line would be cut off from the priesthood.

Finally, as mentioned in the last post, Joab is executed for murder under the Mosaic Law and Shimei eventually put to death for defiance of the Lord’s anointed for not remaining in Jerusalem after his life was spared.

Solomon avoided some initial missteps, or just plain misses, by dealing with ‘the wolves’ that sought to undermine what God had established. He took decisive action against those who were opposed to God and His will in order for blessings to flow.

Further reading of how Solomon responded to these treasonous few, is a good reminder to keep perspective of what needs to be done and remain in control of our anger when responding to dramatic events that may unfold.

Though grace and mercy were shown in some cases, Solomon did not hold off on the harder decisions or actions that needed to be taken to rid his kingdom of rebels; he didn’t pass the buck to the next leader or generation. In our roles, we must exercise our power righteously and respectfully.  It is not only what we do, but how we do it.

Here we see Solomon typifying Christ: great grace is shown, but ultimately, judgement is executed.

Solomon’s first misstep: an unwise marriage alliance

Now that Solomon had addressed the internal, more immediate opposition to God’s will for Israel, he now moves on to a potential external threat. To head off a potential challenge from Egypt, Solomon forms an alliance.

“Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.”

1 Kings 3:1

Might this be the first of Solomon’s ‘missteps’ as king?

We probably see this from the side of “how could he?!?!”, but not only did he marry an Egyptian, an Egyptian married him. We need to realize that it was also pretty surprising that Pharaoh allowed his daughter to marry him.

What probably made that likely was that Israel was the stronger of the two at that time. Pharaoh’s concession was “a candid admission to the world of Egypt’s weakness and conciliation. Normally Egyptian kings took foreign princesses but did not give up their own daughters to foreign kings.”

Who we choose to marry will affect the rest of our lives, especially our service to God. We need to remain diligent in deciding who and how people will influence us.

Solomon’s second misstep: the leniency of worship

The first two verses of chapter 3 are a little like a one-two punch. Solomon begins by establishing an alliance with Egypt, and then tolerates the worship of God’s people at pagan altars.

“The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the LORD. Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statues of David his father, only he sacrificed and make offerings at the high places.”

1 Kings 3:2-3

These ‘high places’ were pagan places of worship that were elevated off the ground and dedicated to idols. In addition to an altar, sacred objects of stone or wood in the shapes of everything from animals to fertility gods usually surrounded the area.

You might argue that Solomon and God’s people are justified in their worship using pagan altars due to circumstance–God’s house was not yet built. However, verse 3 reveals it to be more of an excuse, rather than a reason: Solomon loved the LORD, but…

An exception was made–again. Marrying foreign women was forbidden (1 Kings 11:2) and though he loved the Lord, was joining the people of Israel in their manner of worship rather than leading them away from the practice of using high places.

Yet another misstep.

God is particular about the way He is worshipped. We worship God on His terms, not in ways we can justify.

Solomon’s third misstep: not addressing his divided heart

“From the very beginning his obedience was deficient. Surely with all his wisdom he knew better, but he tolerated compromise and idolatry among the people of God—and even participated in some of the idolatry himself!”

Dr. Thomas Constable

You can see it wasn’t an obvious failure at the end of Solomon’s life, but that he was gradually persuaded over time. Early on it was a marriage alliance with Egypt and his not being decisive in correctly leading God’s people in worship.

It can certainly be the case where we’re doing some things right (“Solomon loved the LORD…”), but are making exceptions that we can justify (“only he sacrificed… at the high places”). When I read that Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the statutes of his father David, I wonder if he began to think that loving God was more about “following the rules” than truly following God.

As a result, our lives are a contradiction and lack the power and wisdom necessary to “rule effectively.” In fact, we contradict what loving the Lord actually looks like, and which, ultimately brings our demise–and the demise of our kingdom. What is just one degree off course, over time, has us missing our destination by a mile.

In the next post, we see God graciously stepping in to inquire of Solomon’s heart.

Photo by Angel Luciano on Unsplash