February 10 - 1 Kings 11:2

February 10 - 1 Kings 11:2

“from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the Israelites, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods”; Solomon clung to these in love.“

Solomon loved foreign women.  That’s what the Bible says.  He loved the daughter of Pharoah; Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian and Hittite women.  God had pretty much told the Israelites not to fall for these women because there were so many other gods out there and everyone knew that a pretty girl had a lot of influence over the man in her life.

Well, Solomon had a LOT of pretty girls.  Seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, as well as his wives.  And the scripture says that they did turn his heart away from God.  As he grew older, each of them was able to influence him and we read that he didn’t turn his heart to God as his father, David, did.

While this passage gets attention from many when a marriage might occur between religions these days, I think there is more to the story than the fact that Solomon was easily influenced by a beautiful woman.

The greatest part of this story is the God did not want him to marry those women and Solomon disobeyed.  His heart was more intent on loving women than it was on loving God.  Though it seems out of control to us, the story isn’t even about the number of women that Solomon had in his life.  I’m not at all sure how he thought that he could manage that lifestyle … but, he gave it a shot.

The Lord wants us to love Him with our entire heart.  To set Him before everything else in our lives … even our spouse and our children.  If God asked you to stay single so that you could better serve him and you chose to get married … you would be as disobedient as Solomon was.  God knows what it is that we need in our lives to stay true to him. 

If we cling to the things that we love on earth just as Solomon did, rather than allowing our hearts to be inclined to God, we miss the glorious relationship that He offers to us.