How the Mighty Fall Fallen Heroes of the Old Testament SOLOMON

David’s Family Boaz Ruth ObedJesseDAVID Michal (Saul’s Daughter) Ahinoam Amnon Abigal (Nabal’s Widow) Chileab (Daniel) Maacah (Daughter of King of Geshur) Absalom Tamar Haggith Adonijah Abital Shephatiah Eglah Ithream Bathsheba (Uriah’s Wife) Other Wives and Concubines WIVES 7. Shammua (Shimea) 8. Shobab 9. Nathan 10. Solomon 11. Ibhar 12. Elishua (Elisama) 13. Eliphelet (Elpelet) 14. Nogah 15. Nepheg 16. Japhia 17. Elishama 18. Eliada (Beeliada) 19. Eliphelet CHILDREN Hebron Jerusalem

David’s Commission to Solomon 2 Kings 2:1-4 1 As David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2 "I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. 3 "Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 so that the Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'

1 Kings 3:1-4 A Dynasty is Launched 1 Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. 3 Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

1 Kings 3:5-9 Solomon’s Prayer 5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, "Ask what you wish me to give you." 6 Then Solomon said, "You have shown great loving kindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great loving kindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 "Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 "Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9 "So give your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?"

1 Kings 3:10-15 God’s Response It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 13 "I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 14 "IF you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, THEN I will prolong your days." 15 Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

1 Kings 3:16 Two Women

Solomon’s Wisdom Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. 30 Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was known in all the surrounding nations. 32 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1, He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

1 Kings 10:6-8 Queen of Sheba "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. "Nevertheless I did not believe the reports, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. "How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom.

1 Kings 10:23-24 Greater Than All of the Kings on Earth… So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.

Wealth Beyond Imagination “I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days.”

1 Kings 4 One Day’s Provision for Solomon’s Court 30 kors of fine flour (kor = about what a donkey could carry on its back -- about 6½ bushels) 60 kors of meal 23 fat oxen 20 pasture feed oxen 100 sheep Plus… deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl

1 Kings 10 “Some Very Nice Dinner Ware” 666 talents of gold/year All drinking and eating vessels were pure gold

1 Kings 10:1-4 The Beginning of the End 1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods. " Solomon held fast to these in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. 4 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.

Deuteronomy 7:3-4 Dire Warning Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. "For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.

1 Kings 10:1-4 The Beginning of the End 1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods. " Solomon held fast to these in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. 4 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.

Nehemiah 13:23-27 “Don’t Be Like Solomon!” 23 In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24 As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people. 25 So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin. 27 "Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?"

1 Kings 11:1 Solomon’s Wives Egyptian (Daughter of the Pharaoh Moabite -- Descendants of Lot Ammonite -- Descendants of Lot Edomite -- Descendants of Esau Sidonian (Phoenicians) Hittite (Syrian)

1 Kings 11:5-6 One Thing Leads to Another For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.

1 Kings 11:6 “Evil in the Sight of the Lord” 1 Kings 15:26, 34 1 Kings 16:19, 25, 30 1 Kings 22:52 2 Kings 3:2 2 Kings 8:18 2 Kings 13:2

1 Kings 11:4 and 6 Not Like Father, Like Son 11:4 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. 11: 6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.

1 Kings 11:7-8 One Thing Leads to Another 7 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. 8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

California MetroLink Crash September 2008

Deuteronomy 17:16-17 Rules for Kings… "When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,' 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. 16 "Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, 'You shall never again return that way.' 17 "He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. 18 "Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 "It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.

God’s Promises and Warnings

How Could This Possibly Happen? He didn’t see the warnings He felt immune, … after all, he was pretty “cool.” “We fool ourselves by the smallness of our surrenders.”

1 Kings 10:23 “I’m Above It All “King Solomon became greater than all of the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.”

How Could This Possibly Happen? He didn’t see the warnings He felt immune, … after all, he was pretty “cool.”

Proverbs 30:8-9 “Lord, Please Bless Me, … But Not Too Much” “Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the Lord?" Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.”

Oliver Goldsmith The Deserted Village “Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay…”

Psalm 20:6-7; Psalm 33:16-20 “Father Knows Best” Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God. (Psalm 20) The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His loving kindness, to deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. (Psalm 33)

How Could This Possibly Happen? He didn’t see the warnings He felt immune, … after all, he was pretty “cool.” He didn’t believe in the warnings

Sooner or Later, the Foundation Matters

1 Kings 11:4 and 6 Not Like Father, Like Son 11:4 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. 11: 6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “My Conclusions…” “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

1 Corinthians 10: Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

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