Solomon’s hills and valleys

Solomon was the third king over Israel. He lived in the 10th century BC. There is an account of his life in 1 Kings 1-11 and 1 Chronicles 29:21 to 2 Chronicles 9:31 of the Bible. And Solomon wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. The main hills and valleys in his life are shown in the graph.

Hill: When king David was about to die, his son Solomon was anointed as king over Israel (1 Ki. 1). If Solomon and his descendants obeyed the law of Moses, they were promised a lasting dynasty (2). But they continually disobeyed. Solomon made 1,000 burnt offerings to the Lord (2 Chron. 4:4; 1:6).

Valley: Solomon made a treaty with the king of Egypt and married his daughter (3). There is no evidence that God approved this treaty or this marriage. Israelites were not to intermarry with Canaanites (Ex. 34:16; Dt. 7:1-3; Josh. 23:12-13; Ezra 9:1-2; 10:2-3; Neh. 13:23-27). By this time, Solomon would have also married Naamah the Ammonite, who was a Canaanite (1 Ki. 14:21, 31). And sacrifices were being made on pagan altars (1 Ki. 3:2-3). Even Solomon offered sacrifices on pagan altars.

Hill: When God offered Solomon whatever he desired, he was given wisdom (3). He was wiser than any other person, except Jesus Christ (5:29-34). He spoke 3,000 proverbs and created 1,005 songs (4:32). Solomon wrote three books of the Bible – Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. The Israelites were happy during this part of his reign (4:20).

Hill: In seven years he had the Israelites’ temple built according to God’s design (5-6).

Hill: The Davidic covenant was repeated to Solomon (6:11-13). But it was conditional on their obedience.

Valley: Solomon spent almost twice as long building his palace as he did building God’s temple (7).

Hill: At the dedication of the temple, Solomon prayed a long prayer and offered many sacrifices (8).

Hill: The Davidic covenant was repeated to Solomon (9:1-9). The was a promise for obedience and a warning for disobedience.

Valley: “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth” (1 Ki. 10:23NIV). Gold and silver were plentiful in the palace. And he accumulated chariots and horses (6). But The covenant contained the following prohibition for kings, he “must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them … He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.” (Dt. 17:16-17). So he was disobedient, being guilty of excessive greed. And a large accumulation of horses would tempt him to trust in his own military might, rather than in the power of God to save His people.

Valley: Solomon “had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and his wives led him astray” (1 Ki. 11:3). They were not godly women. Consequently, “he followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites” (11:5). The covenant contained the following prohibition for kings, “He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray” (Dt. 17:17). So he was disobedient, being guilty of marrying foreign women, polygamy and idolatry.

Valley: Because of Solomon’s disobedience, his wives led him astray into idolatry (11). He tolerated their idolatry and followed the idols himself as he grew old (11:4). This idolatry was prevalent during the last part Solomon’s reign and continued during the reign of his son Rehoboam (11:3-8; 14:22-24).

Valley: Because of Solomon’s disobedience, the Lord raised up the Edomites and Arameans to be hostile towards the Israelites (11).

Valley: Because of Solomon’s disobedience, Jeroboam was promised rulership over the northern kingdom of Israel (11). So Jeroboam rebelled against Solomon and fled to Egypt after Solomon tried to kill him. (13).

Valley: Because of Solomon’s disobedience, after he died Jeroboam returned from Egypt and the nation was divided into two separate kingdoms (12).

So, Solomon had plenty of hills and valleys. But the five valleys at the end of his life show that he wasn’t resilient.

Polygamy

Elsewhere I have summarized what the Old Testament says about polygamy. Because monogamy was God’s idea, it was the original form of marriage, and it was the ideal marriage assumed by the Old Testament commands and it was the model for God’s relationship with the nation of Israel.

Polygamy is reported amongst the following kings of Israel: Saul (2 Sam. 3:7), David (2 Sam. 5:13), Solomon (1 Ki. 11:1-8), Rehoboam (2 Chron. 11:18-21), Ahab (1 Ki. 20:3), Jehoiachin (2 Ki. 24:15), Jehoram (2 Chron. 21:14, 17), Abijah (2 Chron. 13:21), and Joash (2 Chron. 24:3). These kings disobeyed the command not to have many wives (Dt. 17:17).

David’s wives included Michal (1 Sam. 18:20-27), Abigail (1 Sam. 25), Ahinoam (1 Sam. 25:43), Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah (2 Sam. 3:2-5), Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11). He also took other wives and concubines in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 5:13). Maacah was probably a Canaanite (Josh. 13:13; 2 Sam. 3:3), but there is no evidence that any of the others were foreigners. David’s family life was by far his biggest failure. The complex family David created was the source of much sorrow and strife. His son Amnon raped his daughter Tamar, his son Absalom murdered Amnon, and eventually Absalom staged a coup d’etat.

Solomon’s many foreign wives and concubines led him into idolatry (Appendix A). He changed from loving the Lord to loving many foreign women (1 Ki. 3:3; 11:1). The foreign women he married wanted to keep worshiping their own gods, and Solomon built temples for them and even joined them in worshiping those gods. So, God punished him by taking most of the kingdom away from his dynasty.

Nehemiah mentioned Solomon when he rebuked men of Judah who had married foreign women, “Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?” (Neh. 13:26-27).

Idolatry

Early in his reign “Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places” (1 Ki. 3:3). It seems that pagan high places were being used to worship the true God. At this stage he tolerated sin in his kingdom.

Later Solomon built altars for “Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon” (2 Ki. 23:13). So tolerance of sin over many years eventually led to his ongoing involvement in idolatry. He turned away from following the Lord.

“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. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command” (1 Ki. 11:9-10).

This idolatry was continued by his son Rehoboam (14). They “engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites” (14:24).

Lessons for us

Solomon’s sins escalated during his life. Marrying foreign women led to idolatry. Tolerating one sin leads to others. And we are also tempted towards disobedience and idolatry by money, power and love. If someone with great wisdom can fail so spectacularly, we are all vulnerable to sin.

If the wisest of all men can stumble as badly a Solomon did, what hope is there for us? There is no hope for us. Regardless of our intentions, we are going to sin. The only way to avoid turning away from God is to follow David’s example and confess and repent of our sins and accept the forgiveness that is found in Christ Jesus.

Solomon’s backsliding began with an act of disobedience which led to a life of sinful behavior. Sin is dangerous. It grows. He didn’t confess his sins and repent like David (Appendix B). Let’s respond to sin like David and practice conviction, confession and repentance. If we have wandered from the Lord, it’s good to know there is a way back. We can always turn around to follow the Lord once again. We can be restored like the prodigal son.

As Solomon and his descendants continually disobeyed the law of Moses by practising idolatry, there was no lasting dynasty. Ongoing disobedience to God’s instructions and commands in the Old Testament prohibited resilience. Likewise, ongoing disobedience to God’s instructions and commands in the New Testament will prohibit resilience today.

Appendix A: 1 Kings 11:1-11

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² 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. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. ⁴ 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. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

⁷ 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. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ 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. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. ¹¹ So 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.

Appendix B: Did Solomon repent?

The Bible doesn’t say whether Solomon repented before he died or not. But some have inferred that he did repent.

If Solomon died as a wicked apostate who never repented, Jesus would not have compared Himself to Solomon (Mt. 12:42; Lk. 11:31).

The Jews would not have called part of their temple Solomon’s Colonnade (or Portico) if he died as an apostate (Jn. 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12). According to the NET Bible, this “was a covered walkway formed by rows of columns supporting a roof and open on the inner side facing the center of the temple complex”.

If Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes near the end of his life, then chapter 12:8-10, 13-14 could indicate his repentance. He concluded that the most important thing is to fear God and to keep His commandments. And he advised to remember our Creator in the days of our youth (12:1). Maybe he wrote Ecclesiastes to warn others not to repeat his mistakes.

Written, August 2023

Also see: The dangers of backsliding
What does the Old Testament say about polygamy?