“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharoah: Moabite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the son of Israel, ‘You shall not 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. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.” 1 Kings 11:1-3, NASB.
Everyone has SOME weakness. It might be food, love of money, a need to control, or a Solomon type desire for women/men. Everyone has SOME weakness. We often refer to this as the “Achilles heel,” based on mythology. It is that “thing” that causes you to get off track and it seems to exercise some powerful control over you.
God knows this. This is why God gives us instructions…to train our heart toward Him and to guard our hearts from turning away from Him. So, God instructs us in the right way to honor Him and to honor His name.
But we are weak. By nature, we think we have some insight into ourselves that God doesn’t quite have. After all…He is not us! How can God possibly know more about the inside of our hearts that we do? Yet…He dies. He made our hearts after all. He created us and gave us a purpose even before we made our entrance into the world.
Solomon just liked women. He saw no danger and only benefit in having many wives. In fact, many of these marriages and “pseudo-marriage” relationships were political in nature resulting in land acquisition or treaties between neighboring kingdoms/cities. But still, God said otherwise and Solomon had a thing for women.
Now as king of Israel, he had his pick of the Israelite women but his desires ran toward foreign women. They were exciting…a little dangerous…and OFF-LIMITS! Yet they caught his eye. Perhaps it was because they were something prohibited. Perhaps it was because Solomon liked the attention they showed him. Perhaps, they were just benefits of his business dealings… Whatever the attraction…Solomon desired them enough to ignore the commands of God.
Solomon never expected to lose the kingdom. He did not set out to divide it and to leave his son with a fraction of his possessions and responsibility. We never expect the consequences of sin…but there are consequences. Solomon figured he was bulletproof from temptation and consequences. He was not and neither are we.
What is your “Achilles heel?” Do you know what God said about it? Don’t compromise. Do not associate with it and do not allow it to associate with you. It is dangerous and evil. It will kill you and the consequences will last longer than your life and cause damage for generations to come. Trust God. Walk in His way. Save yourself by allowing God to save you.
Shalom, CA
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