The Bible says God blessed King Solomon greatly because he asked for wisdom instead of wealth and power when God asked what he wanted (1 Kings 3:3-15). When Solomon built the Temple, he made sacrifices and honored God. In response, God promised to bless Solomon according to the promises he made to David (his father). However, he warned him that these blessings are conditional and based on his faithfulness to keeping God’s commands in the Torah (1 Kings 9:1-9). Solomon did not keep God’s instructions and eventually turned the nation away from God by endorsing idolatry and committing other sins. Let’s examine the laws Solomon broke.
1 Kings 11:9 (NLT) The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command. 11 So now the Lord said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. 12 But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son. 13 And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city.”
King Solomon broke all of the restrictions on monarchs in Deuteronomy 17:16-17. The Kings of Israel were not supposed to buy horses from Egypt, accumulate a bunch of wives (especially pagan Gentile women), or accumulate vast amounts of personal wealth for themselves.
Deuteronomy 17:16 (NLT) “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt.’ 17 The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself.
Solomon bought 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses from Egypt and Cilicia (1 Kings 10:26-29). It is likely that he already had a business contract with Egypt, as the first wife of Solomon, who is mentioned, is the Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings 9:16). Speaking of wives, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Since they were mostly foreign women who worshipped idols, this was not good because they convinced Solomon to build shrines for false gods, turning him away from his covenant with God (1 Kings 11:1-8).
Lastly, he amassed a substantial wealth in gold, silver, and cedarwood (1 Kings 10:14-29). A significant portion of that wealth came from selling goods to merchants, traders, and kings in Arabia, charging wealthy individuals to attend his lectures (v25), or reselling chariots from Egypt to the Hittites (v29). He also made money from heavy taxation and conscripting slave labor from various foreigners (2 Chronicles 2:17-18 and 2 Chronicles 8:7-10). When Solomon died, the people went to his son Rehoboam to seek relief from the heavy taxes, but Rehoboam refused to budge, which led to Jeroboam’s rebellion (1 Kings 12:1-20 and 2 Chronicles 10). This led to the kingdom splitting into two parts: the north (Israel) and the south (Judah).
Not only did he break the laws in Deuteronomy 17:16-17, but the following verses reveal why he should have known better.
Deuteronomy 17:18 “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. 20 This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.