God warned the Israelites what would happen if he cooperated with their demand to have a king like all the other nations. (1 Samuel 8) They only succeeded in having three kings over the whole nation; Saul, David, Solomon. When Solomon became king, he asked the Lord to have wisdom to know how to rule over his people. God granted his request adding wealth and other blessings. However, no matter how capable Solomon was as the king, he lacked the ability to be smart about being faithful to God.
He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. His wives turned him away from worshiping God to their goddesses. Verse six says that Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord. As a result, the kingdom was torn away from the heritage of his sons. Israel became the northern kingdom with 10 tribes. The newly formed kingdom that was left had only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Afterwards, all of the kings of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. Half of the kings of Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. The righteous half sought to guide the people back toward the Mosaic law.
There is much to learn over this prolonged period. Had they listened to God in the first place, there would’ve been no division and no loss of loyalty to God. Each of the three Kings first mentioned allowed themselves to fall into sin. Saul fell so deeply that he and his descendants were rejected permanently from carrying the banner of the Lord. David’s adultery and murder of Uriah was not one that he sought forgiveness. It took the prophet Nathan to rebuke him before he would acknowledge his sins. The consequence for him was turmoil in the family and the loss of a beloved son. Solomon turned from God in his old age worshiping idols which meant his descendants would also not enjoy the prestige they originally thought was theirs.
The lessons for us to learn are simple and obvious. When God dictates his warnings, we have no alternative but to obey and there is no do over for disobedience. Each of the three kings were placed in positions of authority and responsibility which they polluted. When God gives us an opportunity as part of serving him, he expects us to be true to the stipulations of his blessings. In each case of the kings, sexual sin as well as other types of sin are obvious. The Bible warns us to keep our carnal selves under control. We cannot be so presumptuous as to think God will understand when we seek an alternate path causing us to fail serving him. In every case, there were severe consequences for the waywardness of these leaders. It is arrogant on our part to assume we can commit sin without a divine rebuke.
Descendents of Solomon divided the nation and actually caused them to be at war with each other from time to time. The sins we commit will affect others. There is no way to measure beforehand how far that affect will reach. And in our case, the answer is clear. Seek the leading of the Holy Spirit. Conform to the Word of God. Do everything possible so that we are true to the positions God has placed us in as part of our service to him and mankind. All three of these kings thought it was acceptable to gamble on their behavior thinking nothing bad would happen as a result. They were wrong. We must learn from their example and not be wrong ourselves.
