The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Kings 11:1-6,
"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 seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred 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 Molek 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."
Solomon loved his women! I don't have a clue as to how he could keep up with all their names. A thousand of them! He must have had to check his contacts listing to see which of the women he was married to when he ran into females in the palace!
We are told God is love in 1 John 4. Twice. Verses 8 and 16. I do note there that we are not told love is God, but that God is love. (There is a difference.) In this letter of John, he points to one of the two chief character traits of our Creator, as revealed to us in Exodus 34:6-7. I'll let you do the research to identify the other wondrous character trait God himself speaks of there as he revealed himself to Moses.
In that God is love, John tells us in 1 John 4:11-12, "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
Perhaps this is overly obvious, but to understand that the love Solomon had for his women led to his problems with the Lord, the admonition by John for us to love one another needs to be understood in its proper context.
None did it better than Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, where he defines the kind of love that should be manifested in our lives, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
The love (or the kind of love) Solomon had for his women led to his own failure. He was busy loving those the Lord had warned against.
"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 seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred 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 Molek 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."
Solomon loved his women! I don't have a clue as to how he could keep up with all their names. A thousand of them! He must have had to check his contacts listing to see which of the women he was married to when he ran into females in the palace!
We are told God is love in 1 John 4. Twice. Verses 8 and 16. I do note there that we are not told love is God, but that God is love. (There is a difference.) In this letter of John, he points to one of the two chief character traits of our Creator, as revealed to us in Exodus 34:6-7. I'll let you do the research to identify the other wondrous character trait God himself speaks of there as he revealed himself to Moses.
In that God is love, John tells us in 1 John 4:11-12, "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
Perhaps this is overly obvious, but to understand that the love Solomon had for his women led to his problems with the Lord, the admonition by John for us to love one another needs to be understood in its proper context.
None did it better than Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, where he defines the kind of love that should be manifested in our lives, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
The love (or the kind of love) Solomon had for his women led to his own failure. He was busy loving those the Lord had warned against.
If we follow what the Scriptures tell us about love, we will never fail, but rather find God's own acknowledgment that we lived our lives well.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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