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 11:9-13

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Have you played Two Truths and a Lie? It is a game in which players tell two truths and one lie about themselves. Then, everyone guesses which one is a lie. I have only played it once, but I stumped everyone. No one believed I had a relative who had a secret second family.

My relative’s double life came out when the other woman was killed in a car crash, leaving behind their two children. I can only imagine the shock and heartbreak my relative’s divided heart caused. However, his wife showed tremendous grace. Not only did she stay in the marriage, she accepted the children and raised them as her own.

King Solomon had a divided heart like my relative, but God wants monogamous devotion. The first commandment forbids having other gods. Instead, we must love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Let’s look at Solomon’s spiritual infidelity using two truths and a lie.

The first truth is Solomon started well. Shortly after he inherited the throne, God came to Solomon in a dream and offered to grant his heart’s desire. Solomon requested a discerning heart to govern God’s people and distinguish between right & wrong. God was pleased and granted his wish. He also promised Solomon wealth and honor unequaled by any king in his time—if Solomon obeyed His commands. The next thing Solomon did well was to fulfill one of God’s promises to Solomon’s father, David, by building the temple to house God’s presence.

Truth number two is Solomon accumulated hundreds of wives and concubines, along with unimaginable wealth and honor. As he grew old, his love for his foreign wives turned his heart away from God and toward their gods. Solomon worshiped these other gods even though God had appeared to him a second time and warned him to obey.

The lie is Solomon could lavish praise and love on other gods without harming anyone else. According to the Mosaic Covenant terms, God had the right to strip the kingdom away immediately (1 Kings 9:4-9). Yet, God showed mercy because of His love for David and the covenant He made with him. After Solomon died, the fallout from his divided heart was tremendous. The northern tribes divorced themselves from the rule of Solomon’s son. Israel split in two.

My relative and Solomon were too consumed with themselves to see that their divided hearts would wreak havoc on those near them. While God was merciful to Solomon because of David and to my relative through his wife, the impact of their divided hearts affected the next generation in significant ways. 

Next Steps

Have you ever seen a leader’s divided heart cause division? What “other gods” led the leader astray? How about you? Is your highest loyalty to God? Do you have truth-tellers in your inner circle to correct you when you go off track?