Today I read 1 Kings 11, in which Solomon takes foreign wives that turn his heart from God; God stirs up Solomon’s adversaries and gives most of the kingdom to Jeroboam. Today I considered how a spouse impacts your heart toward God and that God can give peace and blessing but He can also take both away.
Spouses Turn Hearts
Solomon took many strange women as wives and turned from God (1 Kings 11:1-13). Solomon loved strange women. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hitties. When Solomon got old, his wives turned his heart to their gods. Solomon build them places to worship and worshiped some of their gods. God was angry because he told Solomon not to worship other gods. The Lord told Solomon that He would take all of the kingdom except one tribe from Solomon’s son. God would leave that one tribe because of Solomon’s father David. We should be careful of who our spouses are so that they do not turn our hearts from God.
Solomon’s Adversaries Stirred Up
God can keep our enemies calm or allow them to cause trouble (1 Kings 11:14-25). God was angry at Solomon worshiping other gods. God stirred up Hadad and Rezon to cause trouble for Solomon all his days. Hadad was a child that fled Edom so as not to be killed by Joab and ended up married to Pharaoh’s wife’s sister in Egypt. Hadad heard David and Joab were dead and went back to Edom. While Rezon had to flee from the Hadadezer, king of Zobah, and his band of men in Zobah were killed by David. Rezon then went to Damascus to reign. While God can give us peace, He can also take it away.
Jeroboam Given the Kingdom
God gave away 10 of the 12 tribes to Jeroboam because of Solomon’s actions (1 Kings 11:26-43). Solomon made his servant Jeroboam, a might man of valor, ruler over the house of Joseph. While Jeroboam was traveling from Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah told Jeroboam that God would have him rule 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel. God promised to be with Jeroboam if he followed after God. Solomon then wanted to kill Jeroboam so he fled to Egypt. Solomon reigned 40 years and when he died his son Rehoboam became king. God can give away our blessings and our children’s blessings to others when we turn from Him.
Questions and Thoughts for Today
How important do you consider your marriage partner in affecting your relationship with God?