His Wives Turned Away His Heart

⏱️ 5 minutes.

For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
— 1 Kings 11:4

Here we see another dimension of the great and wise King Solomon. Earlier we saw his love for God, introduced to us back in 1 Kings 3:3. But now that love has drifted toward his foreign wives — and in our text we see those wives doing exactly what the law had warned against. They turned his heart away from the true God and toward other gods.

Too Wise for His Own Good

In Deuteronomy 17:17 we read a clear prohibition against kings taking on many wives:

He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away.
— Deuteronomy 17:17

And this is precisely what happens when we think ourselves too strong for our own good. Even when the law of God clearly instructs us not to go down a specific path, we sometimes convince ourselves that we are stronger than we actually are.

The warning Paul gives to the Corinthians rings painfully true in this case:

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
— 1 Corinthians 10:12

After Solomon began taking on many wives, his heart and priorities gradually shifted — from love for the true God to love for these foreign women, who led him away to other gods.

The Danger of Being Unequally Yoked

This passage stands as a clear and sobering warning against being unequally yoked with unbelievers — and we see it here specifically in the context of marriage. For a believer to marry someone who does not share their faith is an extremely dangerous thing. The kind of thinking that leads one down that path is often the assumption that they are strong enough to bring their spouse to faith. But more often than not, history — and Scripture — show us that the opposite tends to occur.

Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 7 is that if one is to marry, they should marry only within the faith. This is not Paul being dismissive of genuine human feelings and attraction. This is a serious pastoral warning. When one marries outside the faith, it reveals a measure of pride — a belief that one is strong enough to resist being drawn after other gods. But it also reveals a very real weakness, because in doing so one ends up obeying the desires of the flesh rather than the Word of God.

This is a very dangerous thing. And consider this — Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. During his reign, Israel reached the height of its power and wealth. Archaeologists have unearthed precious metals used in the construction of his great buildings. If the wisest man in the world fell into the trap of sin, who are we to think we can meddle with sin and escape its consequences?

We read in the verses that follow exactly where Solomon’s drift led him:

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
— 1 Kings 11:5

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.
— 1 Kings 11:7

The warning was clear. The fall is evident.

Beyond Marriage — All Our Relationships

This warning, however, is not confined to the context of marriage alone. It extends to the broader landscape of our relationships, partnerships, friendships, and associations. In 2 Corinthians 6, Paul warns believers against entering into fellowship with unbelievers:

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
— 2 Corinthians 6:14

We must be very careful about the kinds of relationships we allow ourselves to enter into, because every relationship and partnership we pursue will affect us — either positively or negatively. Paul states it plainly:

Bad company corrupts good morals.
— 1 Corinthians 15:33

Let us not for a moment think that we will be the ones to pull others toward righteousness by immersing ourselves in ungodly company. It has been rightly said that it is disease that is contagious, not wellness. We find this principle even in the prophecy of Haggai, where the priests are asked whether an unclean thing can be made clean by contact with something holy — and the answer is no. It is always the unclean that affects the clean, never the other way around.

Keeping Ourselves Unstained

In any and every case, when a clean thing is placed alongside an unclean thing, it is the unclean that influences the clean — not the other way around.

May the Lord grant us discernment and wisdom in choosing who we partner with and associate ourselves with — for we live in a world that is all too capable of leaving its stain upon us. As James rightly puts it:

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
— James 1:27

Amen.