Is Seven Hundred Too Many?
1 Kings 11:1-10 (NASB)
1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. 4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. 8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. 9 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, 10 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.
Do we not do what Solomon did here? Do we not love many strange and alien lovers, mingling ourselves with the ungodly ideas and customs and people about us, those with whom the Lord said we should have nothing to do? Well, consider our strange other lovers: the shopping addiction, the problem with gluttony, the resentment we nurse concerning relationships, our drunkenness on useless media vanities, our neglect and slothfulness in our finances or our giftings, our jealousy and manipulation of those that threaten us, our immoderate pursuit of ease and pleasure, our excessive accumulation of possessions, our preoccupation with career success. The list goes on.
And do we not have princesses, many of them, noble things perhaps, things that the world calls highly desirable or coveted? Yet they are alien to a walk with God. (Luke 16:15 (NASB) “That which is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God”). They lure our hearts away from God instead of providing the satisfaction we seek in them.
So what is your tally? Seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines — does that seem like an outrageous number to you? Does it seem outrageous to have seven hundred things that you put ahead of God, things you are married to, things you are in bondage to? Does it seem ridiculous that you could have three hundred other things that are not quite as binding as a wife, but that you love nonetheless? You spend time with them, and give your resources to them, as if they were your mistresses. So you have all these lovers, your wives and your mistresses, that you have added on to your walk with God. They tally up quickly and turn your heart from your God. Those numbers — seven hundred, three hundred — they aren't so far-fetched, are they?
We seem to suffer no ill effects from these things for a long time, perhaps many years. But the enemy will take full advantage of these disobediences, especially when we are old. “For when Solomon was old…” (v.4). Compromise always has a payday. Now the Lord is long-suffering to us, giving us space to return to Him, but our enemy will wait long for us to be caught in the trap we have set for ourselves. The indiscretions of youth are often the monsters of old age. They will turn our hearts away after other gods (v.4). They will cause us not to follow the Lord fully (v.6).
Lord, set us free from the love of other things, things which push us into idolatry.
Mark 4:19 (NASB)19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
2 Tim 2:4 (NASB)4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.