HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN…

1 KINGS 11:1-3: “King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter:  Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.”  To these women Solomon was deeply attached in love. He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines,  and they turned his heart away.” CSB

OBSERVATION: How the mighty have fallen! It seems that almost daily, we hear about another high-profile leader who has fallen from grace due to personal moral failure. We wonder how something like this happens. How does someone so gifted, so used by God, succumb to temptation and turn their backs on everything they know in order to fulfill their personal needs and desires?

Then, I remember what Paul wrote.

1 Corinthians 10:12: “So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.”

As I read through the Bible each year, I am amazed at the numerous times my reading intersects with themes that shine a light on what I am reading. As I am reading through the book of First Kings, I am also in the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs devotes the first eight chapters to an introduction to wisdom and understanding, the wisdom and understanding of King Solomon.

It also warns his son, over and over again, to beware of falling into sexual immorality. The book of Proverbs is attributed to Solomon and was written during his reign. Did Solomon write these first eight chapters before his moral failures or after them? We do not know. However, it is clear. Solomon knew and understood the pitfall of his weakness. Yet, Solomon still fell. His lust for women overcame his love for God.

How did this happen? It did not happen overnight. Solomon knew God’s Word and God’s instruction not to marry foreign women. However, Solomon began his fall with one small step. He married Pharaoh’s daughter. This was at the beginning of Solomon’s reign and during the height of his building phase and peaceful rule. God’s mercy and grace were upon him, just as they were with David when he fell. The only difference between David and Solomon is that David repented and Solomon did not.

Solomon doubled down on his failure and weakness.

“King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter:  Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women…”

Solomon ended up with 700 wives and 300 concubines. This is not because of his love for them. No one can love that many women. This was because Solomon allowed lust to grow in his heart. He ignored God’s instruction, and the small flame that burned when he married Pharaoh’s daughter burst into a blazing fire as he continued to ignore God.

“You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.” 

Sin is not our friend! Like Samson with Delilah, David with Bathsheba, and Solomon with his 700 wives, we think we can manage and control sin. Yet, sin becomes the master. It manages and controls us. This is why the mighty fall. They convince themselves that they can manage their sin. They get away with it for a period of time as God’s mercy and grace call them to repentance. However, when they harden their heart, they set themselves up for a fall.

“To these women, Solomon was deeply attached in love. He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away.”

It is easy to sit in judgment against the mighty who have fallen. Yet, when tempted to do this, I need only to look at my own heart and remember – “There, but by the grace of God, go I.” I must remember that I am always one step away from falling. If I ignore God’s Word, if I ignore the still small voice of the Holy Spirit calling me to repentance, if I place my faith in my own strength rather than in Christ alone…

I, too, will fall!

Solomon’s fall began with a single step. Despite his great wisdom and understanding, he followed his desires over God’s wisdom and instruction. He ignored the very wisdom and instruction that God gave him and that he wrote for his son! Solomon was blinded by his achievements and wisdom. The great Kingdom that was built under promise would soon be divided by desire. The Bible never glosses over the moral failures of the men and women of faith who walked before us. It gives us the whole story. Why?

1 Corinthians 10:11-12: “These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages, have come. So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.” CSB

Solomon’s fall was recorded so that we would not fall. God has given us the full record of those who lived before us so that we could be careful and remain faithful. The wonderful promise of Scripture is twofold. First, we do not have to fall! God is faithful and will always give us an avenue to escape temptation.

1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.“ CSB

Secondly, when we fall, and we will fall, God is there with His provision of forgiveness and restoration in Christ Jesus!

1 John 1:8-10: “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” CSB

We must never use the second promise as an excuse to ignore the first. Grace is not given to us so that we can sin at will and then be forgiven. Grace is given to us so that we can choose the way of escape and find forgiveness when we fail. Our failure must become our misstep rather than our way of life. Solomon fell hard because he allowed his misstep to become his pathway. Each one of us will fall if we do the same.

So, what do I do? How do I avoid the pitfalls of my human frailty and the pull of sin and temptation? I run to the Cross and I cling to the grace of God through Jesus Christ, my Lord! I study the lives of those who have walked before me to identify the weak areas of my life and bring them to the Cross. I listen to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit and surrender every area in my life He warns me about to Jesus.

I take heed…lest I fall!

I look for His avenue of escape!

I lean fully on the grace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” CSB

In Jesus’ Name!