Why was Solomon’s Godly Wisdom Not enough to prevent him from sinning by marrying “Non-Hebrew” women? And What should he probably have asked God for in addition to his request for Godly Wisdom that might have prevented him from sinning?

[bartmac123]

Quote

1 Kings 3:5-14

New American Standard Bible 1995

5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

 

Solomon’s Prayer

6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in [a]truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So give Your servant [c]an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this [d]great people of Yours?”

 

God’s Answer

10 [e]It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself [f]long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself [g]discernment to understand justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 13 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 14 If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”

 

1 Kings 11:1-13

New American Standard Bible 1995

Solomon Turns from God

11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not [a]associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. 4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not [c]wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after [d]Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is [e]east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. 8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

 

9 Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because [f]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

Why was Solomon’s Godly Wisdom Not enough to prevent him from sinning by marrying “Non-Hebrew” women? To elaborate, if Solomon had so much Godly Wisdom then he should have been Wise enough to know that marrying “Non-Hebrew” women would be disastrous. 

And What should he probably have asked God for in addition to his request for Godly Wisdom  that might have prevented him from sinning?

Edited July 20, 2023 by bartmac123

[Mr. M]

7 minutes ago, bartmac123 said:

And What should he probably have asked God for in addition to his request for Godly Wisdom  that might have prevented him from sinning?

A knowledge of his father's anointed words would have been practical! 

Should not Christians be instructed to pray the Anointed Word?

Psalm 51:

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

[AdHoc]

7 hours ago, bartmac123 said:

Why was Solomon’s Godly Wisdom Not enough to prevent him from sinning by marrying “Non-Hebrew” women? To elaborate, if Solomon had so much Godly Wisdom then he should have been Wise enough to know that marrying “Non-Hebrew” women would be disastrous. 

And What should he probably have asked God for in addition to his request for Godly Wisdom  that might have prevented him from sinning?

Romans 7 ends with men, even the most zealous, doomed. He possesses a sin-nature. Just as a dog will bark because he has a dog-nature, man will break God's laws automatically. Solomon is a perfect example of this. he is given the perfect environment for a man to serve God - and fails. The New Birth imparts the divine life into a man (Jn.3:3-6, 14-16, 2nd Pet.1:4). Once the born again man is trained how to use it, and he applies it, he is in a position to defeat sin. The only drawback is the flesh. It is un-savable. It must die and be resurrected. So man has an intrinsic enemy all his life (Gal.5:17). 

[Mr. M]

7 hours ago, bartmac123 said:

Why was Solomon’s Godly Wisdom Not enough to prevent him from sinning

He ignored the specific instructions laid out for kings of Israel.

Deuteronomy 17:

14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 

15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 

16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ 

17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 

19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 

20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

[Michael37]

7 hours ago, bartmac123 said:

Why was Solomon’s Godly Wisdom Not enough to prevent him from sinning by marrying “Non-Hebrew” women? To elaborate, if Solomon had so much Godly Wisdom then he should have been Wise enough to know that marrying “Non-Hebrew” women would be disastrous. 

And What should he probably have asked God for in addition to his request for Godly Wisdom  that might have prevented him from sinning?

Solomon was renowned for his wisdom, but that didn’t protect him from making some pretty serious mistakes. He didn't obey the Laws of Moses, particularly with respect to foreign women and false gods.

 Who Was King Solomon? The Beginner's Guide - OverviewBible

Quote:

Specifically, Solomon’s wives convinced him to follow the Sidonian goddess Ashtoreth, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god, Molek. He even built places for worship, so that his wives (and anyone else who followed these gods) could offer sacrifices to them (1 Kings 11:7). He did this for all of his wives and their gods (1 Kings 11:8).

Solomon asked God for wisdom to govern Israel and it was given to him, but he should have continually humbled himself and asked God for deliverance from evil.

This is what God promised Solomon:

2Ch 7:14  if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Did they honour those conditions? No.

[Vine Abider]

I too have wondered about this.  He built the temple, which David had envisioned - quite something, to be sure! 

Wisdom for governing the people was good . . . so perhaps if he had prayed to know and walk in God's ways?

[com7fy8]

Yes, I have thought of the same question.

I think he was given wisdom to stay on the right path. After all, his own good example would be included in ruling the people with wisdom.

And at first possibly he did rule with good example. But once the temple and other things were done, couldn't he have let up because things weren't so challenging?

And wasn't it after David was so proven and successful, that then he got slack and did what he did to Uriah and took Bathsheba?

Things could have  become so easier, and they got to be above question, maybe. And then was when they could depend less on the LORD. They needed to enjoy their opportunity to rest . . . but in the LORD.

Even once things might not have been so challenging > having done all, they should have stood.

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:13)

 

[Logostician]

Humility.

[Justin Adams]

11 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

so perhaps if he had prayed to know and walk in God's ways?

He was a renoun exorcist and knew the words/texts of Psalm 151 (+) and other places.

"Published in English.

Jiří Dvořáček examines the usage of the messianic title Son of David in Matthew's Gospel against the background of contemporary Jewish ideas, focusing especially on how the Solomon as exorcist tradition shaped Matthew's final portrait of Jesus as the healing Messiah."

 

The Son of David in Matthew's Gospel in the Light of the Solomon as Exorcist Tradition

[Der Sohn Davids im Matthäusevangelium im Lichte der Salomo-als-Exorzist-Tradition.]

2016. XII, 258 pages.

Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 415

[AnOrangeCat]

23 hours ago, bartmac123 said:

Why was Solomon’s Godly Wisdom Not enough to prevent him from sinning by marrying “Non-Hebrew” women? To elaborate, if Solomon had so much Godly Wisdom then he should have been Wise enough to know that marrying “Non-Hebrew” women would be disastrous. 

The flesh is a pretty big enemy. Being wise is only part of the picture. Without the desire to walk in Godly wisdom just being wise doesn't do much in and of itself. I kind of imagine him going through many debates with himself, entertaining thoughts like "Just this once.", "I can keep it under control", "I can do this now and make up for it later." and so on until finally he's in a place and condition far removed from where he started that sinning didn't even get a second thought.