Poor Solomon. We don’t read about him marrying the love of his life. His book Song of Solomon speaks of love, so perhaps he found love among one of his 700 wives. But his other marriages solidified treaties and non-aggression pacts with neighboring countries, and the most politically advantageous involved Pharaoh’s daughter.

Marrying into the Egyptian royal family undergirded Solomon’s wealth and power. Pharaoh wanted to pull Israel close, and Solomon hoped to pacify his powerful neighbor. Both got what they wanted from the deal, and even Pharaoh’s daughter got a palace, so what’s not to like?

But Pharaoh (and his successors) held more than one card. At the same time the Egyptian rulers smiled at Solomon, they welcomed in at least two men who hoped to overthrow him. These rebels found homes and resources and allies in Egypt. Destabilization featured highly in the foreign policy of Egypt.

Solomon surely understood the great game. In his wisdom he knew Pharaoh coveted the wealth of Egypt’s former slaves. Solomon did all he could to secure his nation’s borders and create strong defenses. The nods of Pharaoh hid the darkness of his schemes, which Solomon saw clearly.

Unfortunately, Solomon spurned his best and surest defense against Pharaoh and his rebels—devotion to the Lord:

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not totally devoted to the Lord his God…he followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek 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.

Solomon turned his people away from their most powerful defender. A king who had it all left a bitter legacy, along with a keen lesson for me as I attempt to live a life of consistent faith to the end of my years.

1 Kings 11 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by GR Stocks