2 April | EVERYONE
«But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— […] And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.» 1 Kings 11:1, 3
Through the dark meanderings of passions, paths where light is hidden, Solomon went astray without realizing it. By the time he wanted to react, it was too late, the last rays of the sun had already been collected. The owl sang its mournful night-bird’s song, and the young king, who was no longer so young, sank deeper and deeper into the quicksand of his ravings.
Two blunders, over time, compounded his tragedy. “He loved foreign women” and “loved many women.” As God warned the people, marriage to pagan women involved the risk of being seduced by idolatry. Moreover, in establishing the family, the Creator took as its basis a man and a woman. Not one man and several women.
But the influence of the environment is treacherous. You do not notice the slow, insidious way it takes hold of you. Israel lived surrounded by cultures where idolatry and polygamy were the bread and butter. And even though he had the divine red light announcing danger, he allowed himself to be influenced by the worst customs of other nations. So it was with Solomon, who set about accumulating wives and concubines instead of following his path of wisdom.
“Solomon was never so rich or so wise or so truly great as when he confessed, ‘I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in’” (Ellen G. White, Christian Leadership, p. 13). And he put himself in the Lord’s hands.
The consequences of his separation from God were not long in coming. They appeared like charged clouds, driven by the winds of their rebelliousness. Enemies of various kinds and for several reasons arose like evil waves of destruction. Chief among them was Jeroboam, who divided the kingdom. The great nation that the enemies had not been able to destroy was demolished by the passions of a king who was unable to submit his will to God.
What can we say about you and me?
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It is not a matter of getting out of the world, much less looking down on the “worldly.” But it is worthwhile for you to cultivate a critical spirit in the face of everything you see, both among others, and in your own religious environment.