Chapter 11

from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” (1 Kings 11:2)

Every woman has in her the potential to turn the heart of her husband to worship what she worships. I don’t say that, God said that. “Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods”.

And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. (! Kings 11:3)

Solomon, throughout the course of his long reign, eventually forgot both his own counsel and the teachings of the Bible. Any person who aspired to the position of king was provided with specific directives from God, including the prohibitions against amassing horses, multiplying women, and gathering wealth and riches (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). 

These commandments were given to the king with the intention of discouraging him from putting his faith in his military abilities, worshipping gods from other cultures, and placing his confidence in his wealth rather than in God. When Solomon's life is examined, it is clear that he disobeyed all three of these holy commandments, and the evidence is overwhelming!

For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. (1 Kings 11:4)

Age did not make Solomon wiser. The immoral inclinations that were there in him when he was younger were amplified by old age, and it appeared that he was wiser when he was younger. However, although age and experience ought to make us more godly and intelligent, this does not always happen automatically.

Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. (1 Kings 11:12)

What you do has generational consequences - good or bad. What Solomon did, had a negative impact on his son (the following generation).

14 Now the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom. 15 For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, after he had killed every male in Edom 16 (because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. Hadad was still a little child. (1 Kings 11:14-17)

God would use this years later to raise an adversary against Solomon because he had departed from following the ways of the Lord. 

27 And this is what caused him to rebel against the king:....29 Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field. 30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you (1 Kings 11:27, 29-31)

Jeroboam rebelled/acted based on a prophetic word that was delivered to him by prophet Ahijah the Shilonite that he would be the next king with 10 tribes. Responding correctly to a prophetic word requires that you first be able to identify true prophets.

18–19 So Timothy, my son, I am entrusting you with this responsibility, in keeping with the very first prophecies that were spoken over your life, and are now in the process of fulfilment in this great work of ministry, in keeping with the prophecies spoken over you. With this encouragement use your prophecies as weapons as you wage spiritual warfare by faith and with a clean conscience. For there are many who reject these virtues and are now destitute of the true faith, (1 Timothy 1:18-19 TPT)

Solomon, therefore, sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. (1 Kings 11:40)

Solomon knew that Jeroboam had received a prophetic word from prophet Ahijah and so he sought to kill him. The enemy will always try to kill the prophetic word.

Also, though Solomon was officially the son-in-law of Egypt, he could not extradite Jeroboam a rebel who fled to Egypt. This shows that compromises do not work