1 Kings 11 (Part 1) Bible Study (Solomon Turns from the Lord) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Meet me in first Kings chapter 11, please, in your Bibles. First Kings chapter 11. We all knew that this time would come, the time when we would have to take a good hard look at the downfall of one of Israel's most influential and greatest among the rosters of their leaders. And as we approach this text, I just wanna pray briefly and ask the Lord's help for this time. Father, our prayer is simple as we now come to your word.

Give us understanding that we may keep your word and enlarge our hearts that we may run-in the way of your commandments. We pray for the help of the precious Holy Spirit to guide us through these verses, to eliminate any distraction or any obstruction to these truths settling in our hearts. Lord, help us hide these truths down deep inside that they may be with us for the rest of our pilgrimage here on earth. And we pray that the power of the spirit would be known along with the knowledge and the insights, yes, but the power to make it personal and applicable to our own lives. We know that you will guide us, and we trust as we pray in the name of the son of God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Amen. As I said, we have now come to this text that we knew was going to come eventually, where we have to face one of the greatest failures in Israel's leadership's history. And as one writer said, Solomon's fall is told in the same frank way as his wisdom and his wealth. It's sometimes unpleasant to to come to the realization of the shortcomings of someone who especially has been esteemed by many as a champion in the cause of God. But we have to also appreciate and realize that God has preserved such things in explicit detail, doesn't hide these failures for the sake of a preventative measure in our own walk with him.

This is his grace. This is his love. His love in the form of warning and caution. You know, when we look at the authenticity of the scriptures, the honesty and the transparency of the Bible, it does say something about the divine arch authorship of this book. But God's primary reason for this is, again, to supply the necessary truths in order for us to be further sanctified as we take these truths to heart and believe that they are for us.

In fact, I wanna make the case to you as before we even dissect these verses, the first eight verses of this chapter, that even within the scriptures, we have testimony of how this particular story was used in the life of a man of God. And not only in his life, but in the lives of those who served underneath his leadership. Those who were under his guidance. Can anybody think of the man that I'm speaking of who made specific reference to this very chapter when he tried to exhort the people of Israel at a particular time in its history? Very good.

Nehemiah. If you turn quickly to Nehemiah chapter 13 verse 26, you'll see what I'm speaking of, and it will solidify this point that I'm trying to make that this is intended to provide the necessary truths in order to prevent us from making the same mistakes. So Nehemiah chapter 13 and verse 26 to verse 27. Nehemiah comes back to Jerusalem from his frequent visits back and forth, and he learned that the exiles who have returned are now marrying foreign women from different nations who serve different gods. And this is his warning to them.

In verse 26, did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such woman? Among the many nations, there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his god, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign woman made even him to sin. Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign woman? In other words, here's what Nehemiah is saying to this generation.

Didn't you learn from Friday night bible study that when the story of Solomon has been preserved for us, it was meant for you to understand that you should learn from the mistakes of others, and that you should understand that you are setting yourself up for the same disastrous disasters that Solomon brought upon himself and others by entertaining the same sins that he entertained. Did you not learn? Secondly, notice his wording is very carefully. He says here in the second part of verse 26, among the many nations where there was no king like him and he was beloved by his God. Do you not understand, oh generation of rebellion rebellious Israelites that Solomon was unique in that he enjoyed a particular wisdom from God.

He had this special favor from God but even him with such stature and such influence was not impervious to this temptation. And if it's true for Solomon, how much more you? If it's true for Solomon, how much more you? How much more vulnerable are you? How much more on guard should you be?

Evidently as devastating as this chapter will be to read and to look at in great detail, it was a value in Nehemiah's day. And there should be no doubt in our minds that it carries value for the church in this hour. So let's come back to first Kings chapter 11, and let's read the first eight verses together, and we'll take our time to look at what each verse has to teach us. Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite woman, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, you shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love.

He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the lord his god as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain East of Jerusalem.

And so he did for all the his foreign wives who made offerings and sacrifice to their gods. Verse one. This verse should strike us because we learned in the previous chapter that Solomon had now entered into a phase of multiplication. We learned that he multiplied his wealth. And, yes, part of that was promised by God that he would be rich and that he would enjoy honor, but Solomon took it to another level, to an unhealthy measure.

From there, we learned that Solomon multiplied not just his wealth, but his horses. And that multiplication, though it may seem to be an act of wisdom, was actually an act of unbelief. God told the kings not to have multiple horses so that they could demonstrate and trust in the arm of the Lord, not the arm of the flesh. And now we read in verse one of chapter 11 that he multiplies not just his wealth, not just his horses, but his woman. Solomon multiplies his wives.

All of these things go against the specific decrees that God had instituted for the kings of Israel. But I find it interesting how the Holy Spirit in verse one explains and defines Solomon's foreign wives. Again, look at this carefully. Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh. That stood out to me.

He could have just said he multiplied his wives, but he says in the middle, along with the daughter of Pharaoh. Remember, we studied about Pharaoh's daughter. That was the crack in the beginning of his walk, right, as a king. And we're reminded we're reminded of the daughter of Pharaoh. In other words, what this is trying to say is that before Solomon had multiple, before he made this collection of foreign wives, it began with him marrying one foreign wife.

And the principle there is a reminder of the nature of sin. It is in the makeup of sin to grow in strength the more it is tolerated and justified in one's life. Sin will grow in strength unless it is cut off by repentance. The longer we remain unrepentant, the more sin in our lives will spread like cancer. And when it does spread, it can spread in one of two ways.

The first way is that it could cause you to engage in that one sin with greater intensity. And the other way is that it can encourage you to sin in other ways. Solomon started out with one foreign wife, now he has a thousand. Sin multiplies. Sin wants to take you and I further and deeper into darkness.

It rarely keeps you and I in one place. Rarely. It's not designed that way. In fact, if sin would have its way with each of us, it would take us all the way to death. We thank God for a conscience.

We thank God for the word of God. We thank God for the Holy Spirit's conviction, but unrestrained sin can destroy you, can ruin you, because that's the design of it. And we even see the sequence of sin even in the very verses that we read. Look again at verse one. Now King Solomon loved many foreign wives.

It started with love. He loved these foreign wives. Now you come down to verse five and look what you read here. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, and he names the different gods in the abominations of these foreign people. So he loved the foreign woman, then he went after their gods.

And then what do you see here down in verse seven? Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, then he listed different false gods again. It started with affection, then he began to make steps forward into action, and then now he is building temples. This man who built a temple for the Lord is now building temples for false gods. Who would have thought?

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Is the is this for real? Is this the same guy who made that elaborate and glorious prayer, the dedication of the temple onto the true and living God, and now you're making temples onto false deities? It's amazing how sin can mar and mold us into something that is hideous and almost unrecognizable. And so this is what we see in verse one.

We learn here, again, the principle of how sin multiplies in our lives if we're not careful. But then we read in verse two what? From the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people Israel, you shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love. Here's the Holy Spirit reminding us that this is Solomon disobeying a particular command that has been inscribed hundreds of years before his time.

And this wasn't just for the kings of Israel, this is for all the people of Israel. And so we have a quote here from Exodus 34 verse 16. And what I find interesting about Exodus thirty four sixteen is that, where this command is found is the same context where we have a name of God that is rarely mentioned in Christendom. I I doubt that most of us in here have heard this name that God ascribes unto himself. Perhaps because it may cause confusion or there may be misunderstanding, but it's not really difficult to understand when you just meditate on it a little bit further.

There is a name that God gives himself, and I wonder, have you ever called God this name? Have you ever heard God identified in this way? It's found in Exodus 34, not 16, but verse 14. I encourage you to turn to that passage because by comprehending this name, not only do we have greater insight into this command, but of all of God's decrees. Here's what the Lord says in the middle of these different exhortations in Exodus 34.

Verse 14, for you shall worship no other god for the Lord whose name is Jealous, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous god. Jealous is his name. Now how do we make sense of this? It's very simple. Jealousy is such an intrinsic part of the nature of god that he unashamedly uses the word as a name for himself.

Jealousy is such an intrinsic part of the nature of God that he willingly, unashamedly ascribes it to his identity. That is fascinating to me, and that might be fascinating to you because generally we understand jealousy to be a negative emotion, and that is true most cases. But evidently here for God who is perfectly good without sin, using that to identify himself means that there is a righteous expression of jealousy. There's a way of experiencing jealousy, expressing jealousy that is perfectly holy and in alignment with God's nature. Just like anger, there's a righteous anger, there's an unrighteous anger.

And clearly here, there is a jealousy that is holy. There's a jealousy that is holy. How do we distinguish between unholy jealousy and holy jealousy? I'll give you a couple of seconds here to to answer it if you have a brief definition between the two or difference between the two. Any idea the difference between unholy jealousy and holy jealousy?

It feels very much the same, but it's not. Go ahead. There's jealousy Okay. There's a jealousy that's filled with love. I think that's a key ingredient.

Sure. Yes. The motive of the heart. Why am I jealous? Sure.

A healthy possessiveness. Every answer is giving us a closer reach to the true meaning of a true and holy jealousy. I have every right to be jealous about something that exclusively belongs to me. I have no right to feel jealousy about something or someone that does not belong to me, whether that be a skill, whether that be an object, whether that be a person. If it doesn't belong to me, if it's not exclusively my own, I have no right to feel that burning sensation in my chest.

If that does belong to me and exclusively belongs to me and righteously belongs to me, I have every right to feel that complex set of emotions, anger and grief when it is being threatened to be violated or seized by someone else. And the most positive example of this righteous jealousy is when a man learns that some other man is pursuing his wife, is flirting with his wife, is trying to get the attention, the affection of his wife, that man has every single right to feel that emotion of jealousy. Why? Because she belongs to him by righteous relational covenant. You're mine and you're mine alone, I cannot share you and you have no right to share yourself with any other.

And that positive example is precisely the example that God uses in the context of introducing himself as a jealous god. Notice the language in the following verses where he says that he is jealous. Scroll down to verse fifteen and sixteen of the same chapter of Exodus 34. Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land And when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and you are invited, you eat of a sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods, and make your sons whore after their gods. Notice that after the Lord reveals himself as jealous, he employs promiscuous and adulterous language in explaining the nature of the sin of idolatry.

He wants to open the eyes of his people to understand that to be with another God, to follow another God, to share this right of worship that exclusively belongs to God is spiritual adultery. So again, how does this work? Well, what belongs to God alone? Worship, adoration, obedience. And to give that to another deity is to say in some great sense that a wife giving her submission or her affection or a body to another man is unthinkable.

It's in case inconceivable. It's wrong. And the Lord wants us to feel it that way. The Lord wants us to see it that way. You can give this to other deities that belongs to me.

You can't give this to other idols, any object, any person because those things belong to me. So it's spiritual adultery, and I have every right to feel jealous when I see you being pursued and being entertaining to other things that threaten your devotion to me. And I I think understanding, I believe with all my heart, and I encourage you to do the same. To see God as a jealous God is one of the most comforting and encouraging truths about him. Why?

Because it helps me understand that behind every command that this understanding of obedience is firmly fixed with the realization that this is a relationship with a person. This isn't just a set of rules issued from a cosmic judge that has no interest in me, but is ready to lay down the law if I cross the line. That's not who we're dealing with here. He is a judge, but he's also the bridegroom. He he is justice, but he's also jealous.

And so I am to feel obedience. I am to realize that this is about a person that I love and who loves me. I have to see that these are boundaries to protect the purity and the joy of this relationship between me and my God, my creator, my savior. You remove the aspect of God's jealousy, you are very much threatening the understanding of the relationship of this whole thing. He's a jealous god, meaning he's a person, and he's a person who loves.

He's a bridegroom who wants the purity and the chastity and the faithfulness of his bride, which I am a part of. And so I'm to see every command in that way. That fuels the joy of holiness, and that also gives me the taste of the severity of sinfulness. So he is a jealous god. And this verse is quoted with that context in mind.

That's the beauty of bible study. When you see a quote like this, go to that verse, look at the context of that verse, and this is where revelation comes. This is where revelation comes. And then we read this last sentence of this verse, of verse two. Solomon clung to these in love.

And when I read the word clung, something triggered in me because I told myself reading this the other day, I've seen this word before. I've seen this word clung before. And when you look for where this word has been mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, it's been mentioned in many places, but in one particular place, it will make Solomon's sin that much more heartbreaking. We're told here that Solomon clung to these in love. Right?

These false gods by way of these foreign wives. Joshua warned the generation that was entering into the promised land. In Joshua 23 verse six and eight, notice what he tells them. Joshua twenty three six and eight. Therefore, be very strong to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand or to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them.

Here it is in verse eight. But you shall cling. You shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. That was the standard of faithfulness and obedience that all of the Israelites were to have to Lord. Clinging to the Lord.

When you cling to something, you know what that implies? Desperation. Dependency. And Joshua says, cling to the Lord. Grip on the Lord.

Hold this book tightly to your heart, and don't you ever let go. And then you come to first Kings 11. What do you read? Solomon clung to these in love. For you to cling to these means that you let go of something else.

You let go of the Lord at some point for you to cling to these things. That's exactly what he did. He clung to these in love. And then we read this, something that most people know. It's something that's pretty common in bible trivias that most people get right.

He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. Yeah. To the carnal man, they might praise this kind of an achievement. Wow. You're able to secure a thousand women in your harem?

And as much as these marriages here in part are motivated by politics, you and I should understand that Solomon, by doing this, is also trying to reach a gratification by way of companionship. He actually makes that known. So these are not just political alliances. There's lust involved here. There is a pursuit to satisfy something of the soul.

So these additions of woman says something about a vacuum in his own life. And it's not until, again, you faithfully read your Bible through and through, and you come to first Kings 11 and you learn, wow. Solomon had a a thousand women in his home? How did that work out? Maybe you meditate on that a little bit.

How do you how do you take them out on dates? How does that work? How? And then you remove that thought, but you still remember a thousand women. And then you come to the book of Ecclesiastes, and then you read this in Ecclesiastes seven where Solomon gives commentary about this season of his life.

This very verse three, seven hundred princesses and 300 concubines, he speaks about his experience, and it is insightful. Here's what he says in Ecclesiastes chapter seven beginning in verse 27. Behold, this is what I found, says the preacher while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things, which my soul, verse 28, which my soul has sought repeatedly. My soul was searching for something. I'm investigating something.

I'm longing for something. I'm trying to find answers to something. And here now at this point, he is trying to discover something in the area of relationships. This is what he says, but I have not found. One man among a thousand, a thousand.

Does that sound familiar? One man among a thousand, I found, but a woman among all these, I have not found. But a woman among all these, I have not found. So he's not just speaking by inspiration here. He's speaking by experience.

Listen to this, men. A thousand woman at your disposal who can grant you anything that you desire clearly will not bring gratification to you. I'm looking for something. And among a thousand women, a companion who is righteous, a companion who shows excellence in character, a companion who can bring something to what my soul is looking for. Among a thousand, I have not found.

And you know why having a thousand women in your life, whether they're there consecutively or they're there sequentially, however you experience them, whether you jump from relationship to relationship or from marriage to marriage, God didn't design you to know fulfillment in that area in this way. You know how God designed it for you? One woman who fears the Lord, one wife for life. That's what it is. And Solomon builds on that thought in the next verse.

Look at verse 29. This is an excellent verse to speak on the depravity of man. See, this alone I found that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. God made man upright and evidently through the fall of Adam, now man lives to scheme their way through life and try to figure out, try to create these recipes and ideas that go contrary to God's design and end up falling into sin. These are sinful schemes.

What psalmist is essentially saying in part is, it's difficult to find those who are righteous. It's difficult to find those who are God fearing because man's nature stimulates and coaxes us to search out sinful schemes. But if you connect it with what we've just been saying, here's what we can see. Connecting with the previous verses, such schemes never quench even Solomon's own schemes. Never mind the schemes of people in terms of general idea of humanity and their pursuits, but I myself, even in my own schemes, I cannot find fulfillment.

My soul is still searching, repeatedly experimenting, and dipping my toe here and dipping my toe there. Any scheme that you have in life, any plan, any idea, any pursuit that's not in alignment or is supported by the word of God is bound to fail you. It will fail you. And that's why you're here tonight. I'm sure that's why you can sing.

That's why you can rejoice. That's why you enjoy bible study because at some point in your life, you realize my schemes have failed me. And so forget my schemes. I repent for my schemes and I surrender to the savior. And not just his saving work, but his lordship over my life.

He is the great shepherd who will lead me home, and he will lead me and make me lie down by green pastures. And he will let me sip on living water and keep me satisfied until the end to the point where you never have to consider another man made scheme again. So 700 wives who are princesses and 300 concubines. And then later on, Ecclesiastes goes, that was a headache. I didn't find what I thought I would find.

Praise God for his will. So pure, so clean, so direct, and holds so much promise. Now we come back to our text, and we read in verse four. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the lord his god as was the heart of David his father. What stands out to you about that verse?

I mean, there are many things. We'll mention a few things, but there's something in the beginning of this verse that really struck me. I wonder if it caught your attention. We're told about his backsliding. We're told about his apostasy.

We're told about his unfaithfulness, but there's something about Solomon's description that's really sobering. Old. Did you catch it? When Solomon was old, I thought age was supposed to make was on one wiser. Not necessarily.

Not automatically. It can, but not in this case clearly. You see, it wasn't when Solomon was young that he fell into idolatry. It was when he was old. Life lesson, write it down.

If you don't need to write it down and you're able to retain these things in your mind, God bless your mind. Life lesson. Temptation awaits us in every season of life. Temptation awaits us in every season of life. Until you give your final breath, sin is crouching at that door, the door of your heart.

And this is especially necessary for people like Solomon. Solomon was just wasn't just a nobody. Solomon had done great things for the Lord. Solomon had a history. He had a resume of remarkable testimonies that he had performed for the glory of God.

And it's often the case that even in our own lifetime, we have seen great falls from men and people in Christendom even after they have made great feats in the name of Christ. Is that not true? There's some kind of intoxication that takes place. I don't know what it is, but I know that I've seen enough where it is a common pattern and something to be weary of. That when people do great things for God and and they build something for the Lord and they do some great things and many people are influenced by their gift, they let their guard down.

They let their guard down. They they're not as vigilant, they're not as careful, and then they get sucked into something. And this is what we see with this man here. He did great things for the Lord, but after these great things, there was a great fall. Listen to this.

Please listen to this. Please. I love you. This is why I'm saying this. Past victories and past testimonies will not prepare you for tomorrow's temptations.

They won't. No matter what you say to yourself about the days of old, or what you've done, or who knows you, and how many people are blessed by you, those things will not keep you protected from the attacks that await you. Do you know what will keep you from the temptations that await you, from the things that are there lurking, ready to try to snatch you away from the will of God? It's not what you've done in the past. It's not who knows your name.

It's not what kind of position you have. Daily devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it's gonna do. That's what's gonna cut it. You need daily dependence upon the Lord.

I've talked to some people. Many people have said, brother, sometimes I think about, you know, I'm young in the Lord. I still have many years if God keeps me on this on this earth. How will I know if I will remain fervent? How will I know if I will remain obedient down the years after I became a father become a father, grandfather?

How will I know? And I just tell him this. Take it one day at a time, will you? One day at a time. Just make it your ambition.

The moment you wake up, I must spend time with the master. I must sit at his feet. I must let the hammer of the word, the fire of the word, the sword of the word, the water of the word do its work in me. Because all it takes is a little bit of negligence here, a little bit of negligence there, and then what seemed to disturb you now doesn't bother you as much. And then all it takes is a few months and then years, and then things get really scary.

You think this happened overnight with Solomon? It never happens overnight. It always takes time. And that is the case with this man. Notice that the word heart is mentioned three times in verse four.

Did you catch that? For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart, one, after other gods, and his heart, too, was not wholly true to the lord his god as was the heart of David his father. The word heart three times in one verse. That's where it all starts. The heart, it's internal.

It's hidden. It's only between you and God. It doesn't manifest right away. It's not observable by by others. It doesn't start with you not coming to church.

That happened. You not coming to the house of God regularly for unjustifiable reasons, you not serving the Lord, you not reading your word. Where did it all start? That started in your heart. So this man's heart was not in check.

It it was not regularly brought before the refiner who looks at the spots and looks at the mud that splashed on your heart as you went through that weekend work and as you fell maybe into this temptation, and that temptation was ready to clean you as he so eagerly to wash your feet that was not brought before him. And it eventually becomes calloused and hard, and it becomes crystalized. And you begin to start doing things like this, building temples to idols when you once built one temple unto the true God. What a different picture of someone in their old age than what the Bible aspires and commands men to be in their old age. The Bible has a whole different picture than what we see here with Solomon for men.

Men and women, but spells it out for men specifically. And when you read this verse, you're going to learn that this is something that is not just for men. Again, what this verse is gonna show is that there's a standard that God has in mind that as we grow in years, we also grow in these characteristics. We should grow in these things as as we spend more time with the Lord, as we continue to serve the Lord. And they are six qualities that I believe summarize beautifully what a true biblical man looks like.

It's found in the book of Titus chapter two verse two, and I'm not going to expound on these things just to give you an idea, and you could take this home. Men especially and reflect on these things. In Titus two two, you're told what older men should demonstrate and display in the local church. And this is not just for older men as though younger men should not pursue these things. I argue this is what older men should exemplify, and this is what younger men should pursue passionately as they see these things modeled by those who are older in the church.

Here's what we're told in Titus two two. When Solomon was old, his heart turned from the Lord. That's not you in Christ. That's not your destination in Christ. That's not what the Holy Spirit is ready to empower you to.

Here's what we read, Titus two two. Older men are to be sober minded, one. Dignified, two. Self controlled, three. Sound in faith, four.

In love, sound in love, five. And sound in steadfastness. Sound simply means healthy. And these are not characteristics of elders. This is not for pastors in the church.

This is for those in the pews, those in the congregation, seasoned men, men who have known the Lord for years. You should operate in these things, and younger men should see it and and pursue it with their passion. And the thing that stands out to me out of all these six is the first one, sober minded. Let me just give you a sample of what biblical masculinity looks like. I'm not gonna touch on all these things, and there's so much to touch on.

But let me give you just a sample. Yeah? Just something to taste on and chew on. Sober minded. You know what that means in the original?

Not drunken. Now don't limit the application of that to intoxication with actual substance. Paul's application here is much broader than that. What Paul means by saying older men should be sober minded is that they should be clear headed. They should be vigilant.

They should be aware. Aware of what? They should be aware of the principle of moderation in every area of their lives. And they should not be given over to excess as those are who are not ruled by divine principles. So what Paul is saying here is men should live in moderation, and there should be no pursuit in their lives that puts the greatest emphasis of your life as a man of God, the kingdom of God, the gospel of God.

There should be no excess in your life that pushes that into the shadows. There should be no other emphasis in your life that eliminates or that dilutes that which you should be preoccupied by as a man of God. Sober minded. You're not given over to excess as a man of God. Excess of what?

Excess of sleep, excess of entertainment, excess of anything, anything even that might be neutral morally, anything that would overtake you or discourage you or derail you from your calling as a man of God, your responsibilities, your ministry. You should be clear headed, aware. You know, Paul said it this way in first Corinthians six twelve, all things are permissible, but not all things are helpful. All things are legal in a sense, but not all things are beneficial. And then he goes on to say this, I will not be mastered by anything.

How do I know if I'm mastered by anything? How do I know if I'm being dominated by anything? Very easy. Very easy. Can you say no to it?

That's all you have to ask. Can I say no to this? When it's when it's asking of me more than it deserves, can I look at it as a man of God filled with the Holy Spirit, ruled by the truth, understanding my responsibilities as a man of God to my wife, my wife to be, to the local church, to my friendships, to my work? Can I look at that and say, no? Not today.

I had enough of you. That's a sober minded man of God. Solomon in his old age, he gonna do that. Any pretty princess that walked by that he saw on his Instagram, she's mine. Hey.

You have 999 too many, Solomon. You're not sober minded. Oh, we can make the rest of this about biblical masculinity. We won't, because we have four more verses in first Kings 11. Verse five.

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord as David his father had done. Twice in the set of verses that we are examining tonight, Solomon's devotion, his unfaithfulness is compared to the wholehearted devotion of his father. So go back to verse four again, and and notice at the end of verse four, as was the heart of David his father. Then you come to verse six, as David his father had done.

I find that interesting. I find that interesting for one main reason. Was David really wholehearted to the lord himself? If we're being honest, what's the answer? No.

Unless wholeheartedness to us means perfection. Here's what's even more fascinating. There's a there's a comparison here. Right? Solomon was not like his father David.

And what's the sin that we're dealing with here? Multiple wives. Hello? Who had multiple wives? David had multiple wives.

How do we make sense of this? I think the best way to make sense of this is that though David struggled in the same area as his son here, he never allowed it to totally sabotage his faith. He struggled. There's no doubt. He stumbled.

Absolutely. He paid the price for it. Yes. But in the area of worship, David never wavered. And understanding that this is a true and living God, This is the one whom I pledge my allegiance to.

There is no other God but this God. David was firm, and when he did sin, you know what he did. He lived a repentant life. That's what the lord is after. You've heard this before from this bible study.

That's what makes David a man after god's heart. Not necessarily whether or not this the sin in his life was present, but it was his attitude toward that sin. Yes. We should strive onto perfection. This is not licensed for us to justify sin, but what's the the thing that the lord is after is your attitude towards sin.

That's what defines us as being wholehearted to the lord. Do we turn back to the lord when we do fall, if we do fall? There's no indication from the narrative of first Kings that Solomon ever turned back to the Lord. So he struggled in the same area as as David. Maybe not to the same extent, but it was to his ruin.

It ruined him. And I find David writing many Psalms expressing his woes and his laments of what his sin has done, not just in his life, but primarily to to you, Lord. And before you have I sinned. David repented. Solomon remained.

Big difference. Verse seven. Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites on the mountain East of Jerusalem, and so he did for all his foreign wives who made offerings and sacrifice to their gods. And partly why this is an abomination, I wanna turn you there to Psalm one zero six. Psalm one zero six verse 37.

We read, they sacrificed their sons in Psalm one zero six verse 37. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to who? Demons. And their daughters to the demons, they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. You know this very well that in great part, the practice of false worship to these false deities were very cruel cruel things.

The giving up of the lives of infants and little children, sexual orgies and drunkenness and arriving to a state of ecstasy as a form of trying to tap into the divine. It was horrible. But Psalm one zero six indicates that behind these isles are demons, spiritual entities that deceive the masses in believing something to be untrue. And so let me say this bluntly and boldly. No matter how innocent, no matter how pure, no matter how civil some of these different beliefs are, rest assured and believe that behind these things are demons, demonic ideas.

We we kinda equate demons to erratic behavior and self harm. Sure. But demons are very sophisticated. They come up with doctrines. They come up with false theologies.

So if they don't physically destroy, they'll deceive you and allow you to destroy yourself for all of eternity. And I think that's very important in our understanding of spiritual warfare, that demons are at work whether you realize it or not. And the more you understand this word, the more you realize that what we're seeing before us is energized by demons. Now this is what's so interesting. Come back to verse seven in first Corinthians or excuse me, first Kings 11.

Solomon built a high place for these different gods. Notice where they were built. Tell me where they were built. On the Mountain East Of Jerusalem. That's very specific.

On the Mountain East Of Jerusalem. The consensus, this mountain East Of Jerusalem, guess which mountain it is? No. Good guess, though. Mount Of Olives.

This mountain where these high places were built was actually to this day is the Mount Of Olives. The Mount Of Olives is mentioned a couple of times in the Hebrew scriptures, is mentioned plenty more times in the New Testament, but this is where Solomon decided to erect these false things. And what's so interesting is that over time, in the book of Kings and the record of Kings, this very mountain developed a reputation and actually developed a new name. Do you wanna know what that name is? Actually, let me ask you.

Do you know what the name is? It's it's called the Mount Of Something, and it's found in second Kings. This mountain is referred to in a derogatory way. You'll have the chance to say it if you're the quickest to the reference. In second Kings 23 verse 13, you have the answer of what this mountain was referred to as, and it's not a pleasant name.

If you're there, you have the right to blurt it out. Mount of corruption. Did you see it? Well, let's read it in second Kings twenty three thirteen. This is in the context of Josiah's reforms where he's bringing revival to the land, to the people of Judah, and this is what we're told here at this point of his efforts.

And the king defiled the high places that were East of Jerusalem, we just read that in first Kings eleven seven, to the South of the Mount Of Corruption. Mount Of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel have built for Asherath, the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Achimosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. The same deities that we read of in first Kings 11. It became known as the mount of scandal. The mount of corruption, vile, putrid, evil.

And Josiah, I love that king, my nephew's name too, he defiles that. He defiles that which Solomon honored, and he brings it down. The mount of corruption. I find that fascinating. If this is, in fact, the Mount Of Olives, what a glorious picture at the same time.

Because Jesus comes on the scene, and he declares himself to be greater than he of Solomon. One who is greater than Solomon is here. How is he greater? In so many ways. And even in this way, that he reverses what Solomon did on this mountain.

Jesus goes to the Mount Of Olives, This place that was known as the Mount Of Corruption. And what does he do on that night? The night that he would be betrayed. He intercedes for you, for me. He sweats drops of blood.

He patiently endures the lack of faithfulness of the three closest of his disciples. He has one of his disciples come with an army to betray him with a kiss. And one of his own and their zeal in the flesh strikes one of those men, and his ear is cut off. And one of the final acts of Jesus before he is nailed upon a tree is to heal a man. He recreates the ear of that man.

And here is Jesus on that night, the night that would begin the passion, And the one greater than Solomon on the mount of corruption was ready to pay for humanity's corruption. The time of Solomon, not just time of Solomon, all the way back to the beginning, and not just in the beginning, before the generations ahead. He who is greater than Solomon came to the mount of corruption, and with his blood can make the most corrupt, evil, dark, vile, perverted of them all and make them pure, white, and holy in the sight of a holy god. This is why he is greater than Solomon. And this is why we study bible study because Christ is there.

Christ is there. Christ is here. Let's pray. Oh, Lord. We, like those two disciples on the road to Emmaus, testify that our hearts burned within us as we open the scriptures.

What a book this is. What revelation is this? Forgive us for our unbelief, for ever thinking that such text have no value to us in the new covenant. Lord, many of these truths were heavy, sobering, challenging, convicting, and we say yes to them. Lord, we thank you for the final note of redemption.

That on that mount of corruption, there was the Christ who spoke to the father and accepted the will of the father to die for the sins and the corruption of all humanity. Thank you for dying for our corruption. Thank you, Lord, that despite our failures, we have been made righteous. And that, Lord, the Holy Spirit in us is a seal, as a guarantee until the day of redemption. Thank you, Lord, that even in the temptation that we experience, even when we are feeling the urge to flirt with that which we should not flirt with, your Holy Spirit will not let us go so easily.

You will convict us. You will warn us. You'll send things in our way. You are a gracious God, a jealous God. You are jealous, and we praise you for being jealous.

Lord, tonight we sit here basking in the glory of your attributes and your character, the practical truths that Solomon's downfall provides for us, and we pray that they would be indeed so embedded in our hearts that as we grow old, we would be sober minded unlike him. We would be vigilant and clear headed. We would not be given over to excess in anything. And when we feel ourselves drifting in one way, we would, with holy ambition, say, no. This is not to be true in a man of God.

So we pray for the men of this church that older men and younger men would pursue these attributes. Oh, Lord. There's so many things that we can pray and ask for. We just ask that in this time of meditation, you would receive the aroma of personalized prayer. You would receive, lord, our true sincere supplication.

We need you, lord. It's so easy to begin, so hard to finish well. Number us among those who finish well. We wanna finish well. And thank you that we are considered wholehearted when we know how to live repentedly.

We repent. We repent, and we gladly repent. We thank you for the gift of repentance. In your name, amen. Don't lift your head too quickly.

I encourage you to just the next few moments as the praise team will come quietly to prepare to sing a final song. This was a weighty bible study, and I love when god's weighty conviction settles in because it's so necessary for us to reflect on these truths, and conviction is what alarms us. I just wanna encourage you. Just speak to your god. Just you're in the house of the Lord.

Speak to the Lord and just give him your desires, your needs, your prayers. Offer him praise. Just before we sing and we wrap up, we're all gonna make it home by God's grace. But now in this moment, as we've heard from the Lord, speak to the Lord now. And don't distract your neighbor.

Just speak to the Lord, your God, your king, your shepherd, with the truths that you heard and translate them in your own way to him, and then we will sing together. Okay?