The Other Shoe Drops

1 Kings 11

            The end of Solomon’s story narrates three sources of trouble: many, many foreign wives; foreign powers not completely subdued; and a threat from within Solomon’s own administration. Let’s take them in reverse order.

            Jeroboam is introduced as a talented young man, whom Solomon promoted rapidly. Unfortunately for Jeroboam, the Lord singled him out as the man who would tear a large part of the kingdom from David’s house. Solomon must have heard about the Lord’s promise and he tried to kill Jeroboam, who escaped to Egypt. In a small way, Solomon’s reaction is similar to Saul’s, when the Lord announced that the latter would no longer be king. I suppose it’s easy to be on the Lord’s side when things are going your way, but when the Lord’s word speaks against you, it’s tough to accept it humbly…

            Then, there are enemies that were never fully conquered. David defeated the Edomites in 2 Samuel 8, but we read here that an heir to the throne escaped and found refuge in Egypt. (Considering that Solomon had struck an alliance with Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter, an awful lot of Solomon’s enemies seem to have refuge there!) Likewise, Rezon of Damascus represents the remnant from David’s conquests in Aram, also narrated in 2 Samuel 8. If I could spin for a second, the enemies of the kingdom remind me of sin, they have long deep roots. It’s a lifetime’s work to root them out.

            Finally, there is the main source of Solomon’s troubles, at least as far as the author of Kings is concerned: Solomon’s many foreign wives who lead him into idolatry. That it’s the main source of trouble is seen in the fact that Solomon’s idolatry is mentioned at the end of the chapter as the reason that the Lord is removing a large portion of the kingdom from Solomon.

            I’ve pondered over the years a tension in our faith. On the one hand, separation from the world seems the best way to avoid being led astray into the world’s false beliefs. On the other hand, how can we spread the faith if we don’t engage with those who don’t know the good news? In one place, St. Paul writes that we shouldn’t be unevenly yoked to an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14), a passage many take as a warning against mixed marriages (although marriage is not mentioned). Yet in another place he says that an unbelieving spouse may become a believer through a believing husband or wife (1 Corinthians 7:14). Solomon certainly should not have married so many pagan wives; that was a condition of the Sinai covenant. But, in my mind, it remains an open and difficult question to what extent New Testament believers should engage the world. We need to guard our faith, but we also need to be in mission…