“But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, (I Kings 3:5; 9:2), And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I WILL SURELY REND THE KINGDOM FROM THEE, AND WILL GIVE IT TO THY SERVANT...AND THE LORD STIRRED UP AN ADVERSARY UNTO SOLOMON, HADAD THE EDOMITE; HE WAS OF THE KING’S SEED IN EDOM.” I Kings 11:1-11,14. (Emphasis added.)

Here we see that God Himself raised up an adversary against Solomon. But, God did not stop with just one adversary! He raised up two more enemies to attack and tear down Solomon’s kingdom.

“And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah: And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria. And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.” I Kings 11:23-26.

Why did God raise up adversaries against King Solomon to tear his kingdom apart?

The answer is found in Deuteronomy 17:15-20: “Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you,Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.”

The Lord God of Israel, which is manifested in Jesus Christ, gave the kings specific commandments to obey lest they fall into judgment. God’s laws apply to all leaders of nations, whether they acknowledge and obey them or not. King Solomon broke the laws of God for governing Israel, so God kept His promise and raised up adversaries against him to rend his kingdom from him.

We have already read in I Kings 11:1-11 how Solomon was guilty of immorality, taking to himself seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. His wives, as warned by God, turned his heart toward disobedience, and he accepted their religions and assisted them in serving their gods. HERE SOLOMON WAS GUILTY OF IDOLATRY and IMMORALITY; TWO SINS WHICH BRING JUDGMENT ON A PERSON AND ON A NATION.

Now, let’s examine the other sins. I Kings 10:13-25 reads: “And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold. Besides that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffic of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country. And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom. And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.”

Solomon was not only guilty of IMMORALITY and IDOLATRY, but he was also guilty of breaking the laws of God concerning leaders and SELFISHLY ACQUIRING or HOARDING WEALTH. Solomon’s selfishness can be seen in I Kings 6:38 and I Kings 7:l where it testifies that Solomon spent only seven years building the house of the Lord, but he spent thirteen years building his own house! Solomon was guilty of EXTREME GREED, and he was also guilty of MAKING ALLIANCES WITH NATIONS IN IDOLATRY AND SIN, WHICH GOD HAD ALREADY WARNED AGAINST AND CONDEMNED.

I Kings 10:26-29 tells us that Solomon continued to defy God by ACQUIRING AND TRUSTING IN HIS HORSES AND CHARIOTS (Army), rather than relying on God: “And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the vale, for abundance. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt (God told Israel to have nothing to do with Egypt), and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.”

Beloved, we see that King Solomon was guilty of IDOLATRY, IMMORALITY, GREED, TRUSTING IN HIS ARMY AND NAVY and MAKING ALLIANCES WITH NATIONS WHICH WERE ENEMIES OF GOD/JESUS. He was commanded to read and know the Word of God daily and to enforce it. Instead, HE FORGOT IT and RELIED ON HIS OWN STRENGTH!

Deuteronomy 11:1, 12-28 and Deuteronomy 12:1-3, 30-32 warns a nation what their responsibilities are concerning obeying the laws of the Lord and the consequences of disobeying them: “Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, always...A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. FOR IF YE SHALL DILIGENTLY KEEP ALL THESE COMMANDMENTS WHICH I COMMAND YOU, TO DO THEM, TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, TO WALK IN ALL HIS WAYS, AND TO CLEAVE UNTO HIM; THEN WILL THE LORD DRIVE OUT ALL THESE NATIONS FROM BEFORE YOU, AND YE SHALL POSSESS GREATER NATIONS AND MIGHTIER NATIONS THAN YOURSELVES. Every place wheron the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. THERE SHALL NO MAN BE ABLE TO STAND BEFORE YOU; FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD SHALL LAY THE FEAR OF YOU AND THE DREAD OF YOU, UPON ALL THE LAND THAT YE SHALL TREAD UPON, AS HE HATH SAID UNTO YOU. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I commanded you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known...These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place...Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods: for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” (Emphasis added.)

Romans 1:18-32 warns us against idolatry, sodomy, lesbianism, immorality, greed and gluttony: “...being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

Galatians 5:19-22 tells us: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Beloved, we in the United States of America are guilty of the same sins that brought judgment upon King Solomon’s kingdom. President Bush cannot win this war against terrorism and evil while he is guilty of making alliances with nations in idolatry and trusting in these very nations and America’s military, instead of putting his trust in Jesus Christ. Many of these very nations that he is forming alliances with are guilty of conspiring against America. Some of them not only conspire, but worship the idolatrous god called Allah. The leaders of America are deceived by their enemies who are plotting against the United States of America to defeat her in war.

The President of the United States of America, and the nation itself, are both guilty of the same sins that caused God to raise up adversaries against King Solomon to tear his kingdom apart. IDOLATRY (Joshua 24:19-20; Ex. 20:2-7; Lev. 19:2-4), IMMORALITY (sodomy, adultery, fornication, etc. Jude 7; Lev. 18:20-25), KILLING OF THE INNOCENTS (abortion/burning their sons and daughters in the fire of their gods for prosperity; Ps. 106:34-42; 127:3; 139:13-16; Lev. 20:4-7; Ex. 23:6-7), MAKING ALLIANCES WITH ENEMY NATIONS, SINNING AGAINST THE NATION OF ISRAEL (Gen. 12:3; Zech. 2:8; 12:2-3, 9; Joel 3:1-2), NOT OBEYING THE LAWS OF GOD (Prov. 14:34; James 1:15; I Cor. 6:9-11; Lev. 18:1-30), and EXCESSIVE LUSTFUL PLEASURES AND INDULGEANCES (Hosea 8:4), etc.

God is raising up adversaries around the world, as well as within the United States, to attack her and bring judgment upon her as she is arrogantly making prayers of blasphemy to false gods and making alliances with idolatrous nations instead of repenting of her sins and calling upon Jesus for her salvation.

To Be Continued Next Issue

WMI is now focusing on the following 42 nations: The United States, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Philippines, India, Jamaica, Honduras, Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda, Burundi, The Congo, Iran, Sweden, Norway, England, Russia, Germany, Finland, Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Yugoslavia, Romania, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Turkey. In these countries we are trying to saturate the nation with the prophetic warning through articles, newspapers, radio, television, etc. We encourage you to study the prophecies on many of these nations on our web site at www.worldministries.org. They will help you know how to pray for each nation. We need intercessors in and for these countries.

© 2001 World Ministries International