The High Cost of Divided Affections: Solomon's Great Fall
Introduction: The Slow Drift from Wisdom
There are few tragedies in Scripture as profound as the decline and fall of Solomon. Here was a man who began with such astonishing promise. He was the son of David, the heir to the covenant. God appeared to him twice. God gave him a wisdom that was legendary throughout the world, a wisdom so deep that kings and queens made pilgrimages just to hear it. He built the Temple, the glorious house for God's name to dwell, a project his father David could only dream of. Under Solomon, Israel reached its zenith of peace, prosperity, and international influence. If ever there was a man who had every advantage, every blessing, every reason to finish well, it was Solomon.
And yet, this is the man whose story ends in a grotesque tableau of idolatry, with high places to pagan gods smoking on the hills outside Jerusalem. This is the man whose heart was led astray, whose kingdom was fractured, and whose legacy became a cautionary tale. The story of Solomon is the story of how a man can have the wisdom to rule the world but lose the wisdom to rule his own heart. It is a story of slow compromise, of affections that drift, of a divided heart that ultimately becomes a conquered heart.
We must not read this as the story of a sudden, shocking collapse. Avalanches do not happen all at once. They are the result of a million tiny snowflakes, accumulating one by one, until the weight becomes unbearable and the whole mountain gives way. Solomon's apostasy was not a sprint; it was a slow, leisurely stroll in the wrong direction. It began with what looked like shrewd foreign policy and ended with bowing down to the detestable idols of Moab and Ammon. This is a story about the subtle poison of syncretism, the deadly danger of unequally yoked affections, and the iron law of the universe that you will, in the end, worship what you love most.
This is not just ancient history. The temptations that undid the wisest man in the world are the same temptations that work on us. The desire for peace through compromise, the allure of forbidden affections, the rationalization of disobedience for pragmatic ends, these are perennial. And the consequences are just as certain. A divided heart cannot stand, a divided family cannot stand, and a divided kingdom cannot stand. Solomon's life is a stark warning that no amount of wisdom, wealth, or blessing can protect a man who does not guard his heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.
The Text
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which Yahweh had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not go along with them, nor shall they go along with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. And he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. Now it happened at the time that Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and did not follow Yahweh fully, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
Now Yahweh was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not walk after other gods; but he did not keep what Yahweh had commanded. So Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this has happened with you: you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, so I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
(1 Kings 11:1-13 LSB)
The Root of the Rot (vv. 1-3)
The text identifies the source of the problem with surgical precision. It was not a political miscalculation or an economic downturn. The problem was located in the king's heart, specifically in his affections.
"Now King Solomon loved many foreign women... from the nations concerning which Yahweh had said to the sons of Israel, 'You shall not go along with them... for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.' Solomon clung to these in love." (1 Kings 11:1-2)
The issue is stated plainly: Solomon loved what God had forbidden. The command was not arbitrary, and it was certainly not about ethnicity or race. God's law never prohibited marrying a foreigner who had converted to faith in Yahweh, Rahab and Ruth are celebrated examples of this. The prohibition was religious. It was about spiritual contagion. God, who knows the human heart better than we do, knew that intimate, covenantal union with idolaters would inevitably lead to spiritual compromise. The warning was explicit: "they will surely turn your heart away after their gods."
Notice the language. "Solomon clung to these in love." The Hebrew word for "clung" is the same word used in Genesis 2:24, where a man is to "cleave" to his wife. Solomon's affections were not casual; they were covenantal. He was giving the devotion and loyalty that belonged to God and to his covenant people to those who were outside the covenant. He thought he could manage the danger. He was the wisest man alive, after all. He could handle it. He could have the political alliances that these marriages secured, enjoy the women, and still maintain his devotion to Yahweh. But this is the classic folly of the wise. He underestimated the power of intimate affection and overestimated his own strength. He thought he could flirt with idolatry without being seduced by it.
The sheer scale of his disobedience is staggering: "he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines." This is not just a personal failing; it is a flagrant violation of the law for Israel's king, laid out plainly in Deuteronomy 17:17: "He shall not multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away." Solomon did not just break this law; he shattered it into a thousand pieces. Each marriage was a political treaty, a pragmatic step to secure his borders. But each treaty was also a spiritual compromise, a Trojan horse that brought a foreign god into the heart of his kingdom and, eventually, into his own heart.
The Inevitable Result (vv. 4-8)
What God warned would happen, happened. The spiritual gravity of sin always pulls downward. The process was gradual, but the outcome was certain.
"Now it happened at the time that Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father had been." (1 Kings 11:4)
The apostasy ripened in his old age. This is a terrifying thought. We like to think that we grow more stable and wise as we age, but sin, if left untended, can metastasize over a lifetime. A small compromise in youth can become a full-blown idolatrous high place in old age. His heart was no longer "wholly devoted," or "shalom" with God. It was fractured, divided. And a divided heart is an unfaithful heart. The text contrasts him with his father David. David was a manifest sinner, an adulterer and a murderer, but when confronted, his heart broke in repentance. David's heart, for all its failings, was fundamentally loyal to Yahweh. Solomon's heart, for all its wisdom, drifted into a polite, tolerant, pluralism that God calls abomination.
And so the list of his spiritual adulteries is given. "Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites." Then it got worse. He did not just tolerate their worship; he facilitated it. He became a sponsor of idolatry. "Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon."
This is breathtaking. On the Mount of Olives, in full view of the Temple he had built for Yahweh, Solomon constructed pagan shrines. Molech was a god to whom people sacrificed their children in the fire. This is where "wise" pluralism always ends. It does not lead to a beautiful tapestry of diverse beliefs. It leads to the public endorsement of evil. The man who started by asking for wisdom to discern good and evil ended by building an altar to a baby-eating demon. This is what happens when you stop believing that God's commands are absolute. You do not drift into harmless secularism; you drift into active, state-sponsored paganism. He did this "for all his foreign wives." He was being accommodating. He was being sensitive to their religious needs. He was being a modern, multicultural king. And in the process, he became an apostate.
The Divine Response (vv. 9-13)
God is not a passive observer of covenant rebellion. His anger is not a petty tantrum; it is the holy, righteous, and just reaction of a spurned covenant Lord.
"Now Yahweh was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing..." (1 Kings 11:9-10)
God's anger is directly proportional to the light that was rejected. Solomon's sin was particularly heinous because of the grace he had received. God had "appeared to him twice." He had a direct, personal relationship with the living God. He was not sinning in ignorance. He was sinning against a mountain of grace. He knew the command, and he willfully disobeyed. This is high-handed sin.
The judgment fits the crime precisely. "So Yahweh said to Solomon, 'Because this has happened with you: you have not kept My covenant and My statutes... I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.'" Solomon's sin was dividing his heart, so God's judgment would be to divide his kingdom. The political unity he tried to secure through sinful compromise would be shattered by divine decree. Sin is not just wrong; it is stupid. It is counter-productive. The very thing Solomon sought, a secure and unified kingdom, was the very thing his sin would destroy.
But even in judgment, God remembers mercy. He remembers His covenant.
"Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen." (1 Kings 11:12-13)
The judgment is delayed and mitigated. Why? Not because of any merit in Solomon, but "for the sake of your father David." This is the principle of covenantal grace. God had made an unconditional promise to David, and God keeps His promises, even when David's descendants are faithless. The tearing of the kingdom is delayed a generation, and a remnant of the kingdom, one tribe, will be preserved for David's line. This is a profound picture of the gospel. Our salvation does not depend on our faithfulness, which, like Solomon's, is fickle and prone to wander. It depends entirely on the faithfulness of another, the greater Son of David, Jesus Christ. God's promises are not grounded in our performance but in His character and His covenant oath.
Conclusion: The Greater Solomon is Here
The story of Solomon is a tragedy, but it is a necessary tragedy. It shows us the absolute failure of the very best of men. If the wisest man who ever lived could not keep his heart pure, if he could not maintain the kingdom through his own efforts, then what hope is there for any of us? The story is meant to leave us desperate for a better king, a better Son of David.
And a better King has come. Jesus Christ is the greater Solomon. Solomon was the son of David who built the temple of stone; Jesus is the Son of David who is building the true temple of living stones, the Church. Solomon's wisdom brought the Queen of Sheba from afar; Jesus' wisdom brings sinners from every tribe and nation. Solomon asked for wisdom and was given riches and honor; Jesus is wisdom itself, and He forsook riches and honor to become poor for our sakes.
Most importantly, where Solomon's heart was divided by the love of many foreign women, Jesus' heart was wholly devoted to one bride, the Church. Solomon clung to pagan princesses in love; Christ "loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Eph. 5:25). Solomon's compromises led to a divided kingdom; Christ's perfect obedience secured an eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken. Solomon built high places for demons on the Mount of Olives; Jesus, on a hill outside Jerusalem, cast down every idol by His own sacrifice, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
The warning for us is clear. Do not love the world. Do not think you can make peace with God's enemies and not be corrupted. Do not believe you are wise enough to manage a little idolatry on the side. Your heart will follow your deepest affections. But the comfort is greater. Our standing before God does not depend on the purity of our hearts, but on the perfect heart of our King. Our hope is not in our ability to finish well, but in the fact that He has finished the work for us. We are preserved, not for our own sake, but for the sake of the true David, our Lord Jesus. And because of His faithfulness, His kingdom will have no end.