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            What was true there is also true today.  God created man and the whole world, yet He hardly gets the credit or recognition He deserves.  We know the creation better than the creator.  When the creation gets more recognition than the creator this is idolatry!  Whatever we put before God becomes an idol: money, things, happiness, family, sex, popularity, food, education, music, love, etc.  I Kings is a serious warning against this!

SOLOMON’S SUCCESS  After his sin, David went downhill fast.  Solomon replaced him as king of Israel when he was just 20.  David advised Solomon to stay close to God.  David had been very close to God and very far from God, and he certainly knew close was better!  Unfortunately, man rarely takes advice from his parents.  We don’t seem to learn from the mistakes of the previous generation.  Solomon didn’t, either.

            Solomon started off very well.  When God told Solomon he could have anything he wanted Solomon didn’t ask for money or popularity or power but wisdom to properly lead God’s people.  As a result God gave him riches and popularity along with the wisdom. 

            Solomon had the privilege of building the temple which David had designed.  This was the highpoint of Israel spiritually.  You know, it is naturally build into man to worship something or someone.  Everyone worships something.  We all have something we live for, put our trust in, turn to for satisfaction and meaning, and look to for solace and comfort.  Unfortunately most people have replaced the Creator with what he has created.  That is idolatry.

            During Solomon’s reign the nation of Israel got very rich.  Trade with many parts of the world made them strong and prosperous.  There weren’t wars to enlarge Israel, but the armies kept all the territory David had conquered.  This was a time of peace and prosperity such as Israel never had before or since.  However, the seeds of destruction were being sowed.

SOLOMON’S SEDUCTION  Instead of  trusting God to keep the peace with other nations Solomon resorted to the common treaty-making practices of the day where daughters were given as wives to others kings to assure peace.  David accumulated 700 wives and 300 mistresses.  David’s appetite for women and having more than one wife set the groundwork for Solomon to take this to the extreme.  Worst of all, these women weren’t believers in Jehovah.  They brought their foreign gods with them, continued their idolatrous worship, taught their children the same pagan practices, and slowly but surely influenced Solomon into idolatry and immorality (for that is the form their worship took). 

SOLOMON’S SORROW  By the time Solomon turned 60 (Saul, David and Solomon all ruled for 40 years) his life and kingdom was falling apart.  The man who wrote the Song of Solomon about faithfully loving one wife when he was a young man has changed.  The wisdom of Proverbs written in his mature years warned against idolatry and immorality, but he didn’t take his own advice.  Ecclesiastes, showing how empty life is without God, even if there is power and money, expressed what had happened to Solomon.  What a sad end to a fine life!  While Saul had no heart for God and David had a whole heart for God, Solomon only had a half heart.

CONSEQUENCES OF IDOLATRY  After Solomon’s death the nation of Israel split into two over greed for money and power -- idols which still destroy people today.  The northern 10 tribes, Israel,  went headlong into gross idolatry and immorality, building two golden calves to worship.  The southern 2 tribes, Judah, had the temple but weren’t much better.  Despite a revival during the time of Elijah, the nation continued its downward slide from God, all because they put the creation before the creator.

            What is first in YOUR life: the creator or some part of His creation?  God’s warning is clear, worship the Creator only, keep from idols (I John 5:21).

TITLE: After Israel’s Kings (III Kings to Jews)

AUTHOR:  Unknown (Jeremiah?)

DATE of WRITING:  Over many years

PLACE of  WRITING:  Israel - Judah

TIME COVERED:  130 years (791-841 BC)

RECIPIENTS:  Jews

KEY VERSE: I King 11:1-8 King Solomon ... had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

KEY WORD:  “King” 250 times; “Prophet” 43 times

PURPOSE:  To show the history of Israel from David through the split

THEME:  The results of turning from God to idolatry.

Spend some time reading this book this week.