How King Solomon cursed himself

[Christian40]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJD4Dc7D7BY&feature=share

1 Kings 2 thoughts

[Kilika]

Hmm, not sure I agree with that explanation. Admittedly I have not spent alot of time on this topic, but as I understand it, was not Solomon's sin in not his many wives, but him building alters to the "other gods" of his wives? Basically, it was his promotion of other gods...

1   But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, [and] Hittites; 
2   Of the nations [concerning] which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: [for] surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. 
3   And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 
4   For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as [was] the heart of David his father. 
5   For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 
6   And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as [did] David his father. 
7   Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that [is] before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 
8   And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. 
9 ¶ And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, 
10   And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. 
11   Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. 
12   Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: [but] I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. 
13   Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; [but] will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen. 
1 King's 11:1-13 (KJB)

Also, I've seen mention by some that Solomon was "cursed" and as a result went to hell, or rather lost his "salvation" as a result of his worship of other gods. I don't see where scripture says that. As the posted verses say, God said as a punishment, he would take the kingdom from him and give it to another, but not in his lifetime, for David's sake (verse 12). And God even said He wouldn't take all of it.

As a result...

"So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day." 1 Kings 12:19 (KJB)

[Mark]

ye Solomon built those altars based on the works of his many strange wives.

and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

he sacrificed children. 

Solomon never repented for what he did, and is not mentioned in Heb 11. He was given the right to build the Temple and blew it. He started out right but went bad, due to the strange beliefs of his many wives.

Deu 7:1  When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgash.ites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Deu 7:2  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deu 7:3  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
Deu 7:4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
Deu 7:5  But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deu 7:7  The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

Solomon is one i do not expect to see. He was an evil king and worshiped demons openly rejecting the Lord.

[Mark]

as to the vid, i dont read it that way.

[Psalm 51:17]

Well, this should prove right here that God is NOT a respecter of persons.

For example, in my last church in my previous city, that pastor was perceived as a very godly man who ferociously preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. HOWEVER, toward the end or so before we left, he was doing some questionable things...subtlely asking the pews to give money every chance he got(and he got got a couple of the deacons to go around the Sun schools to do the same) being one of them(my mom commented to me how he seemed a bit money greedy, and how he tried to intellectualize his sermons). But en yet, everything just seemed to be OK. The Baptist Seminary President had nothing but praise for him, and all his so-called "flaws" were really no big deal as he was doing so much good anyways.

Over the long run, I found out more things about him that really floored me(which makes me think now he's a mason). But I'll discuss this in its proper thread.

Anyhow, this is what's wrong in today's "church" - b/c some are perceived as "God's anointed", somehow this means they're infallible and even their few "flaws" are nothing(ie-Rick Warren and Billy Graham). But then they forget how David and Jonah fell from grace and suffered consequences, as did Peter when he denied Jesus Christ before his death and resurrection.

[Kilika]

Solomon's sins are without question no doubt, but then so are the sins of many others. So it really boils down to making an assumption based on what is not said in scripture it seems, as I don't see scripture saying he is condemned to hell. Yes, he suffered punishement for his idol worship, but it doesn't say anything else, so all we can do is assume what his salvation status is.

Quite frankly we are guilty of what he did, and all the other sins to boot. But thank you Jesus we are forgiven. Is Solomon?Dont' know, but what scripture does say, it doesn't look good for him, but we are not to judge that, so only God knows about Solomon.

It doesn't sound like Solomon was viewed in a bad light, as evidenced by the following...

"So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon." 2 Chronicles 11:17 (KJB)

I mean he's got a whole book of the bible with his name on it! And people say he went to hell forever because of what he did? That's not the punishment I'm seeing in scripture, and on the contrary, it seems he remained in God's graces. His father David wasn't allowed to build a house for God because of his own evil deeds, but that didn't change his salvation. David murdered a man for his wife, and was punished for it. Many times God would give a punishment to a specific sin, but it wouldn't mean the person is condemned to hell.

If God rejected Solomon, I don't see how we could have a bible book named after him, and many scripitures written by his hand.

[Mark]

where did Solomon repent of his sins?

You know ive thought on this a long time, before todays discussion, mostly because of all these ancient books and beliefs around Solomon. I mean he did these things, worshipping demons and building altars and stuff. I fully believe a lot of this stuff that Christians dismiss out of hand could very well be true.

It doesn't end well for Solomon, God keeps sending adversaries against him. God tells him about Jeroboam and Solomon tries to kill him. I dont know but i think an assumption can be drawn here. Solomon married a bunch of strange woman, went after their false gods, and did evil in Gods sight and not once did he repent of it, for if he did its not recorded as with David and the other kings of Israel and Judah, the few good ones they had.

And Heb 11 is a run down of the great past people, and well Solomon doesn't even get a nod.

[Kilika]

I hear what your saying Dok, his record isn't good, obviously. And like I said, I haven't searched this much, so I'm not totally up to speed on what all is said in scripture directly or indirectly about Solomon, but I just don't remember him being condemned like some others were.

Hebrews 11 may not mention him, but he is mentioned after his death in other places, like the verse I posted where it's obvious that people still "walked in the way of David and Solomon". I just wonder if he was so evil, then why is his name mentioned that way? It appears to me that he was still respected and looked up to. How many other leaders of Israel or Judah have their own book in the bible? You see my point? It just doesn't make sense that if Solomon was condemned, why so much respect that his writings became scripture, literally God's Word?

Not recorded? That may be, I just don't know at this point. Not everything is written as we know, so...I have to stop short of agreeing Solomon was condemned to the lake of fire. There is even scripture that talks about a person doing evil in the sight of the Lord, and it says that they "repented not", but I don't see any verse where it says Solomon "repented not", though it does say that "he kept not that which the Lord commanded". One can make a case that's the same as "repented not" I guess.

Solomon being such a prominent figure, maybe God is showing me I need to search the scriptures again on this topic.

And by the way, Solomon had over 700 wives and princeses and 300 concubines!

This verse here seems to be the argument that Solomon was condemned, though it doesn't say it outright. What it does is say how God punished him, but no mention of his eternal status with God.

9 ¶ And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, 
10   And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.
1 Kings 11:9,10 (KJB)