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| King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” |
| —1 Kings 11:1-13 |
In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, the Bible story talks about how King Solomon’s wives unduly and improperly influenced him, so that he was no longer “fully devoted” to God.
Have you ever observed someone who allowed another person to unduly and improperly influence him or her? It usually happens slowly over a relatively long period of time. The “influencer” exerts subtle pressure on the one he or she intends to influence. After a time, the one under the influence begins to say things or do things that he or she might not do under normal circumstances.
I observed this first hand during the last days of my career at an insurance company. A long-time Senior Vice President decided to take early retirement. A number of candidates existed within the company who could have easily stepped in to assume the duties and responsibilities of the departing Senior VP. But, this event occurred at a time when all the popular business management literature advanced the idea of corporate reorganization.
Unduly and improperly influenced by a new board chairman, who had come from outside the company and did not understand—and did not want to understand—the culture of the insurance company, a search began for a new Senior VP from outside the company. In no time at all, the search committee located an executive from a casualty insurer. This individual knew absolutely nothing whatsoever about Highly Protected Risk property insurance. He knew nothing about fire protection engineering or property loss prevention. He knew nothing about the culture that had heretofore made the insurance company successful for well over 100 years. But, this individual from outside the company represented exactly what the new board chairman wanted: a new face, free from the company culture, who would agree with everything the new board chairman did or said. The board hired the favored candidate immediately. And, we all had a new boss.
I will spare you—at least in this blog post—a recounting of the long term effect this decision to hire an outsider, who did not really understand who we were or what we did, had on the effectiveness and morale of the company. Suffice it to say, it became representative of a significant number of bad decisions that board chairman made. Within five years, following losses that occurred on September 11, 2001, the company had dissolved into a failed morass. Fortunately by then, I was long gone.
At least in concept, that’s not unlike what happened to Solomon in our Scripture passage for today. His wives exerted undue and improper influence on him. They turned him away from the one true God and directed him to worship their gods. As a result, Solomon lost the most important element of his life. No longer did Solomon obediently make himself fully devoted to God.
The key words are “fully devoted.” Now you may seldom hear words like those. But, even though the words “fully devoted” may seem somewhat unfamiliar to you, you already know what they mean. Let me explain.
Have you ever watched a baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, lacrosse, or hockey game? Well, true sports fans tend to become “fully devoted” to their favorite team. Whenever they talk about their team, you can hear the joy and excitement in their voices. From time to time, if no channel televises their team’s game, they may reluctantly watch another team play. But, they just don’t get anywhere nearly as excited about that game as they do when they watch their team play.
You can always tell when someone is “fully devoted” to something, or someone, by how excited he or she becomes when talking about that thing or that person. Of course, you have to guard yourself about becoming devoted to anyone who insists on exerting undue or improper influence on you. Solomon fell prey to his wives. The board at the insurance company fell prey to a new board chairman who insisted on having his way, no matter what. And, not so oddly enough, who would not tolerate any discussion or disagreement with his ideas.
As Solomon learned to his peril, God very much wants us to set aside any sense of being unduly or improperly influenced and, instead, to truly become and remain “fully devoted” to Him. In fact, He really wants us to become and remain “fully devoted” only to Him. As we all grow and learn more about God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we will also have the opportunity to begin to understand how important it is in life to become and remain “fully devoted” to Him.
