I Will Give Him One Tribe
(1 Kings 11:1ampsim13)
Pastor Yang Jae Kim
The queen of Shebas exclaimed 'How blessed' after meeting Solomon. However, in reality, Solomon himself was not so blessed. Indulging in his splendid appearance, Solomon began to leave God. So it is with us. Through pride, we also can leave our blessed life. Lets see why and how Solomon left from God in his prosperous life.
1. A life of affluence brought him a crisis. Solomon was known to be superior to any Oriental or Egyptian in his wisdom. As a result, many gentile leaders from wealthy countries, like the queen of Sheba, brought a lot of treasure to Solomon in order to set up good diplomatic relations with him. From this point on, Solomons blessed life began to crack. Unlike David, who helped out his people from their plunderers, Solomon put his people into back-breaking work for his luxurious life. As in Deuteronomy 17:14-17, a king must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt. He also must not have many wives or accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. However, Solomon accumulated fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He even imported horses from Egypt and exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans. It was a great speculation rather than an investment. There seem to be many ways on earth to enjoy a prosperous life by feigning ignorance of the Word, which made Solomons life fall. He was attacked by the chariots of the Aramites, to whom he had exported his horses. Thus his material affluence devoured his wisdom after the climax of his life.
2. Non-faith marriage made him leave God. Behind Solomons crisis was the daughter of Pharaoh. Despite the law against the intermarriage with gentiles and non-faith marriage, Solomon had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines. The stronger his political position became and the wealthier his kingdom became, the more wives he had. Even though he knew Gods law better than anyone else, he didnt inquire of God, the giver of the law. He knew well that God allowed us only monogamy. Yet he was not satisfied with his one wife and couldnt stand being the second to anybody in whatever he did. He didnt take a new wife for the sake of his kingdom or its trade. Actually, he was fond of women by nature, a philogynist. Our life isnt long enough to love our one spouse, so how could a thousand women? It would be hellish. Solomons choice not only destroyed himself and his kingdom but also became the cause of the Babylon Captivity, which occurred hundreds of years later.
3. Non-faith marriage led to idolatry. How often did Solomons wives have the opportunity to sleep with him with a thousand rivals? They all must have been lonely. In order to pacify their loneliness, they worshiped their gods in their shrines, on which Solomon turned a blind eye because he couldnt care for them all and he needed to keep good relationships with his wives countries. The king of Israel is both a political leader and a protector of Gods worshipers. Nevertheless, Solomon gave tacit permission to idolatry and high places. As a result, the practice of worshipping Baal, Asherah, Ashtoreth, and Molech spread among his people. Unlike David, who made his watershed repentance after Nathans warning, Solomon didnt leave any record of his repentance, indulging in his a-thousand women. Thats why we dont know much about his sins. He could have done almost everything with his power except achieve salvation, which belongs to God only. He enjoyed sex with the property that God gave him, became arrogant with the wisdom that God gave him, and made his people suffer through forced labor with the power that God gave him. He is the model of the one who doesnt mourn over his sins and demonstrates how affluence and power lead us to sins.
4, Solomon didnt listen to Gods instruction. Solomon didnt keep the law of the Lord and his commandment even though God had appeared to him twice. God was enraged because Solomon left him. Yet Gods rage is also a sign of his love. His rage and the suffering he gives us are his last resort to protect us from sin. Neither Davids trials nor Solomons prosperity itself is Gods blessing. Real blessing is having the Lord dwell in our heart. Trial doesnt necessarily lead us to know more of the Lord. Therefore, regardless of our trials, we need to accept Jesus as our Lord and walk the same road of faith that David took. The best way to do this is meditate on the Word and listen to it in our community. No matter how trivial our community might look, it is an earthly model of Gods kingdom. Theres no peace that lasts on earth. The purpose of Christian life is the beatitudes, walking on the narrow road. The great wealth that Solomon gained effortlessly led him to leave the Lord. The quality of our life depends on the object we trust and believe in. Theres nothing like faith on earth to give us a true quality life. Faith is our choice. Both Absalom and Rehoboam chose the world instead of faith in their last moment. Thus we bring everything on ourselves according to our choice.
5. Nevertheless, God spared a tribe for him. Despite Solomons arrogance, God remembered David. Thats why God spared a tribe for Solomon, grieving over his weakness. The one tribe was to embrace all suffering. It is to be harassed by the ten tribes constant rebellions. So it has no other choice but to pray to God in order to stand against the majority. However, Jesus was to come through this channel of trial. What a wonderful story of Gods grief and love. So it is with us. Despite our scarlet sins, God spares a tribe within us, the last stump in us, through which Jesus comes to us. God gives us our one last tribe, watching our daily repentance.
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. (1kgs 11:13)
