HealingStrong's Around the Word

Episode 23 - The Jehoshaphat Series: Solomon's Downfall (1 Kings 11:1-13, 22:41-42 NIV)

• HealingStrong • Episode 2

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We’re learning some backstory into the cause of the kingdom of Israel being split in two, and it happened during King Solomon’s reign, a predecessor to Jehoshaphat.  So to understand the kingdom set up that Jehoshaphat ruled in, you have to hear what caused the split and that’s due to King Solomon’s bad choices.

Solomon's story reveals how even the wisest person can be led astray when their heart isn't fully devoted to God. His foreign marriages violated God's clear warning and resulted in idolatry and the eventual division of Israel, while God's grace still preserved his kingdom during his lifetime.

• King Solomon loved many foreign wives (700 wives, 300 concubines) despite God's command against intermarrying with people who worshiped other gods
• His wives turned Solomon's heart to other gods, leading him to build temples for their detestable idols
• God became angry with Solomon and declared the kingdom would be torn from his son's hand
• "Nevertheless," God showed mercy by not dividing the kingdom during Solomon's lifetime for David's sake
• Jehoshaphat later became king of Judah after the kingdom was split
• Compromise becomes dangerous when we begin giving up what we know is true


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Suggested Resources:

BIBLE PLAN - Trusting God's Plan in the Battle: Lessons from the Life of Jehoshaphat

PODCAST - Genesis to Revelation Bible Reading

TOOLS - Refresh Your Spirit through God's Word




Speaker 1:

but when you have an unhealthy compromise, you begin to give up what you know to be true, and that's where we lead ourselves into trouble.

Speaker 2:

Well, hey there, my name is Cheryl and you're listening to Healing Strong's Around the Word. We are a bunch of friends sitting around a table that love God's word and we love talking about it. So each day, you'll hear a Bible passage that I'll read and then we'll chat about and we love talking about it. So each day, you'll hear a Bible passage that I'll read and then we'll chat about what we're learning from it. Today, I'll be reading 1 Kings 11, verses 1 through 13, and 1 Kings 22, verses 41 through 42, all from the NIV version of the Bible. So join us Around the Word. 1 Kings 11, 1-13. King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter Moabites, ammonites, edomites, sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites you must not intermarry with them because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods. Nevertheless, solomon held fast to them in love. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old. His wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord, his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not follow the Lord completely, as David, his father, had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable God of Moab, and for Molech, the detestable God of the Ammonites, and for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, solomon did not keep the Lord's command. So the Lord said to Solomon since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David, your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son, yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe. For the sake of David, my servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen. And now 1 Kings 22, verses 41 through 42.

Speaker 2:

Jehoshaphat, son of Asa. Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem 25 years. His mother's name was Azuba, daughter of Shilhi. That was our Bible reading for today, so now let's listen in on the discussion that Angie, jeff, susie and yours truly had around the word. We got a lot going on in this. This is like a little backgrounder for anybody that doesn't know the history of why the nation was split in two, and that's why we're doing this, because we got to show you what Jehoshaphat walked into later on when he became king. This because we got to show you what Jehoshaphat walked into later on when he became king. I just noticed the first thing out the gate on verse one was the word however. King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter. However, means a lot. That's a pretty loaded, however.

Speaker 3:

But remember, solomon was the product of his father, david, and Bathsheba's mistake. So it just reminds us the, however, is because we're human and we make a lot of mistakes, so that's refreshing to know that, even though you can be King David and make a horrible, horrible, the biggest sin ever of having someone killed because you slept with their wife, the product of that was King Solomon, who ended up being, yeah, as you said, known as the wisest king who ever lived, or maybe even the wisest person who ever lived. And then here we go, with King Solomon making terrible mistakes.

Speaker 2:

Like what was the commandment that he was breaking here by marrying the foreign wives? What was really at the heart of what was going on?

Speaker 3:

Well, he said, don't mix with people that don't believe in the one true God. Jehovah is a jealous God. He said I should be your only God, and if you begin to marry and mix with these other women from other religions that don't believe there's just one God, it's going to be a problem. Solomon, so that's what happened?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it looks like it's a heart issue. Yeah, it was pretty clear. Yeah, jeff, what do you see in this? What kind of popped out when you were first reading.

Speaker 1:

Well how he loved many women and many women, which is a lot Over a thousand women. Yeah, that is just incomprehensible to think about. To think about. And they began because the Lord warned him and the leaders of Israel that don't even associate with these unbelievers because they will lead you astray. And we see that because when he gets older, he's made a lot of concessions along the way and eventually he's giving up and he's compromising on what he knows to be true, just to concede and um yeah, did you notice he's actually building their, their asherah poles and stuff, like he's helping make their temples for their gods.

Speaker 1:

Which the Lord talks about, that they are detestable idols which they literally would sacrifice children to.

Speaker 4:

Well, I just later on. You know, of course, he didn't keep the command of the Lord, but I love the redemption where God says so. The Lord said to Solomon since this is your attitude and you've not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of your father, david, it won't happen in your lifetime. So that stood out to me like our as as parents, carries forward to generations.

Speaker 2:

I love that.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I love the nevertheless.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, nevertheless. Yeah, me too so.

Speaker 3:

Cheryl's got the. However, yeah, and Susie says the nevertheless. I am a nevertheless, nevertheless. You know what all you've done and how stupid you can be. When I've had clear mandates in my life, they're all through the word and I violate them, I stray away and, like Jeff mentioned, it's a progression. He started with this woman and that woman and that brought in this culture and this God and this idol worship and it built and built and built until it was just a big, huge mess.

Speaker 2:

And I don't think he's saying you can't marry a foreign, you know someone from a different land or whatever. That's not it. It was a hard issue about anyone that would take him away from his devotion to the one true God. So if he had had foreign wives that had believed in the one true God, that wouldn't have been a problem. Even in the lineage of Jesus we have Ruth, who is a Moabite, you know, and we have Rahab that was in the lineage of Jesus. If God had a strict like we'll never have any foreigners in on this, he would have never allowed that, because that's his plan for everybody to come to know him, everybody. But God cares a lot about your heart and he really wants to make sure that it's fully devoted to him. That's his number one concern. That was the problem that Solomon had above everything else.

Speaker 1:

When you have a healthy compromise, you can associate and work with people with different beliefs without compromising your beliefs. But when you have an unhealthy compromise, you begin to give up what you know to be true, and that's where we lead ourselves into trouble.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and we struggle with this today. Many people are afraid of offending people or whatever because of their different beliefs and not standing on God's truth. And God wants us to love people of every faith and background, if we love them, we do share the truth with them.

Speaker 3:

I mean, how bad do we have to hate somebody to not share the love of Christ with them, you know? So we have to remember, and it's so very hard for me personally to be the influencer and not the influenced.

Speaker 2:

And back to the nevertheless, I noticed that God didn't take away the kingdom from Solomon. It was afterwards, after he passed. So, even the grace there, with all of the mistakes, there was a nevertheless even in that. So that's what Jehoshaphat is walking into now a split kingdom. Israel was split in two. We have the kingdom of the north, which is Israel, and then we have the southern kingdom, which is Judah, and that's who Jehoshaphat is going to become the king later on. He's actually a descendant of King David and Solomon.

Speaker 2:

Didn't think you were going to be having a little history lesson today, were you? But it's really important to understand the background of some of these stories so that you understand the person that we're going to be learning about more later, which is Jehoshaphat. And thank you so much for joining us for Healing Strong's Around the Word podcast. I hope you were encouraged to read and explore God's Word. Please visit us at healingstrongorg, where you can find out more about our mission and our awesome community groups. Until next time, remember, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.