Of all the commands of God, which ones do you think are the least likely to be obeyed and most likely to be justified?

If your answer is sexual immorality, you guessed correctly.  And there’s nothing new under the sun.

Solomon’s weakness was women and he loved to them by the hundreds.  Not only did he intermarry with them but he married outside of the Israelite community.  It was actually the first thing he did–marry the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh.  And many, many others.

As an act of “kindness” he put altars up for these women so they could worship in their own way.  And they did.  But eventually these things led Solomon’s heart astray.  And he too joined in their despicable worship.

“Solomon did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh” (1 Kings 11:6).

Because of this the Lord said that the kingdom of Israel would be ripped apart.  Ten tribes would go to Jeroboam and one would remain in the house of David, because of the Lord’s promise to David.  But the ripping would not occur in Solomon’s lifetime, again because of David.  But it would occur in the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam.

And there it ended.  Solomon, the most wise man of all the earth, was not wise with handling his lust.  He didn’t repent.  Because of it, history would forever be changed.

It is a lesson that often seems not to be learned.