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DEADLY EXCEPTIONS. I Kings 3:1-3. 04/03/2022. #8.
1 Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall all around Jerusalem. 2 Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. 3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
1. High king and high places
a. Solomon now begins his reign after removing some troublesome men from David’s reign
b. Solomon marries a princess from Egypt
a1. No indication that pharaoh’s daughter accepted the Jewish faith
b1. The marriage sealed the treaty between Israel and Egypt
b2. Sol. married other princesses
b3. These wives turn Solomon’s heart away from the Lord
a2. Joseph had married the daughter of an Egyptian priest
c. Solomon lived in David’s palace
a1. Solomon wanted a more glorious house, so he spent 13 years constructing his palace (full of grandeur and glory)
a2. Solomon lived in the City of David on Mt. Zion until his palace was finished
d. Sol. also built the Temple and the wall around Jerusalem (would be destroyed by Babylonians)
e. Even though the priests still used the tabernacle, they sacrificed in the high places
f. Just like the pagans who sacrificed idols at designated high places, so did Israel
a1. Solomon allowed the practice to continue
a2. Leviticus precisely how and when to offer sacrifices to the Lord
2. Solomon’s foibles
a. Besides marrying foreign wives, Sol. Offered at the high places
a1. He worshiped at Gibeon
a2. Even though he worshiped the Lord, he used pagan methods to do so
b. Sol. loved the Lord and followed God’s statutes
a1. He followed his father’s David’s love for God and his allowances for self
a2. Solomon loved God + women + wealth + wonder of grandeur
3. Death by the exceptions
a. Solomon followed God except…
a1. He also loved sacrificing at high places
a2. He also loved many beautiful women
a3. He also loved opulence
b. Matthew 6:24 you cannot serve 2 masters
a1. Divided loyalties will bring one to ruin
a2. I Kings 18 one cannot serve God and something else at the same time
c. Love of the flesh will always supersede the love for God, for it is all consuming (Ecclesiastes 2)
d. I Corinthians 1:29 God will not share his glory with anyone or anything (Romans 1)
e. Many people have fallen because of divided loyalty (Samson, Balaam, Demus, Joash…)
f. James 1:12-15 Obsession must be conquered or one will fall into sin
a1. Genesis 4:7 we alone must control it
a2. I Corinthians 10:13 gluttony, coveting, lust, sloth, greed, and drunkenness are common g. Mark 12:30 love God with all being with no rivals