Even the wisest can fall!

Chapter 10 of First Kings is an exaltation of the virtues God had given to Solomon. He’s been known as the wisest man this world has ever seen. Kings and queens, like the queen of Sheba were impressed with his wisdom. She came all the way from Africa to check if everything she had heard about Solomon was true, and tested him with difficult questions (10:1). Solomon answered them all! “There was nothing the king did not explain to her”.

The queen said, “what I was told was not even the half. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the report which I heard. How blessed are your men and your servants which continually hear your wisdom.” But mainly, she said, “Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel. to do justice and righteousness.” (10:9)

Solomon became extremely rich! God gave him wealth! He had gold in abundance, horses, chariots, ships, houses, and servants.

But!!! “There is always a hair in the soup!”, states the Spanish saying. That little thing that mess it all. “There’s always something going wrong” would be the English equivalent.

“It is not the big things that destroy a relationship, but the little ones.” “It is not the big things that destroy a life or a testimony, but the little ones.”

Someone said, “Take care of the little things in your life, and you will not have to worry about the big ones.” More houses are destroyed by termites than by earthquakes!

Even the wisest man can fall! Three things that contributed to Solomon’s fall.

Solomon fell because:

He did not control his impulses.

“But (now) Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh...” 1

Seeking his pleasure in women rather than in God.

That has meant the destruction of many! For a few minutes of pleasure, they have lost their family, their credibility, their fortune, their freedom, and even their life.

I am quite sure that Solomon knew the story of Samson, but he did not learn from it.

For the love of women, Samson lost his friends, his strength, his eyes, and his life.

Knowing the heart of man, with wisdom and inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 7:2 NASB95

But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.

1 Cor 7:2

Solomon played with fire and got burned!

His actions were as those expressed by the Spaniard composer Danny Daniel in his song “For the love of a woman” (popularized by Julio Iglesias):

Por el amor de una mujer Jugué con fuego sin saber Que era yo quien me quemaba Bebí en las fuentes del placer Hasta llegar a comprender Que no era a mi a quien amaba

Por el amor de una mujer He dado todo cuanto fui Lo más bonito de mi vida Mas ese tiempo que perdí Ha de servirme alguna vez Cuando se cure bien mi herida.

Por el amor de una mujer Llegué a llorar y enloquecer Mientras que ella se reía Y en pedazos un cristal Dejé mis venas desangrar Pues no sabía lo que hacía.

If you do not want to be burned, seek your joy in God, not in people! People may abandon you, deceive you, and betray you, but God never will.

Not listening to God’s warning.

God’s warning was very clear: “they will surely turn your heart away” Away from what? From the true God, from the one who had given him all he had.

When you turn away from God, automatically to you turn closer to something else that becomes your god or gods.

Every warning God gives is for our protection. It is like the yellow and read lights of the traffic light that I mentioned last week. They to protect you from “crashing your life”.

He did not realize he was falling deeper and deeper.

“his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God.” 4

He was happy with his mediocre spiritual life.

He “did not follow the Lord fully,” 6

That’s exactly the sad reality of many believers that, at a moment in their life, were on fire for God, but now they are happy with just getting by.

Their spiritual fire has been quenched by the loves of this world: money, women, and fame. As one of my friends said, “they fell for “la lana, la dama, o la fama.””

All those things are momentary and do not give true happiness:

1 John 2:16 NASB95

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

1 John 2:16–17 NASB95

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

1 john

He did the unthinkable.

Getting away from God happens little by little, it is a slippery slope that when you realize it, you have touched the bottom.

“Solomon built high places (altars) for Chemosh and Molech, the detestable idols of the Moabites and the Ammonites.” 7

I have seen many believers that, because they did not listen to God’s warning, have touched bottom. Some have ended up in jail (some for short term, others for long term), others got drunk and did and said stupid things, others got divorced, others lost their job, others went bankrupt, and so on.

“How could that happen to me?” they ask. As Solomon, they decided not to listen the warnings.

He forgot that God was watching him.

1 Kings 11:9–10 NASB95

Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded.

1 kin 11:9-10

No one escapes from God’s eyes.

The wisest man on earth forgot that! He learned through suffering that God presence is always there. Later, he wrote: “the eyes of the Lord are in every place watching the evil ones and the good ones.” ()

If we would just live aware of God’s omnipresence, that His eyes are always upon us, we would be more careful in what we do and think.

His father, David, had painfully learned that lesson and wrote:

Psa 139:7-12

Psalm 139:7–12 NASB95

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

The pastor might not see you, your spouse might not see you, your children, your boss, your parents might not see you, but God sees you all the time.

God is just and cannot be mocked.

“The Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.” 11

Solomon thought he was above the law of God; the law that he had read and written a copy for his own use. He thought he could “get away with murder”. But God cannot be mocked...

Galatians 6:7 NASB95

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

In His justice, the Lord took away almost everything He had given to Solomon and gave ten tribes to Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s servants.

God can take everything away from you and give it to another employee.

Due to His mercy and because God wanted to keep the lamp of David in Jerusalem, the Lord left Solomon with one tribe, Benjamin, the littlest one of all.

I do not know for sure, but it seems that Solomon wrote the words of , after learning the life lesson:

Proverbs 5:3–4 NASB95

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Pro 5:3-4

Proverbs 5:8–14 NASB95

Keep your way far from her And do not go near the door of her house, Or you will give your vigor to others And your years to the cruel one; And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien; And you groan at your final end, When your flesh and your body are consumed; And you say, “How I have hated instruction! And my heart spurned reproof! “I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to my instructors! “I was almost in utter ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

Pro 5:8-14

Proverbs 5:18–21 NASB95

Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He watches all his paths.

Pro 5:18-21

We are all prone to fall! No one is exempt! The higher we are, the harder the fall!

God also give us a warning:

1 Corinthians 10:12 NASB95

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

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