1 Kings 11:9 - Meaning and Application

Here is, first, God’s anger against Solomon for his sin. What Solomon did displeased the Lord. There had been a time when the Lord loved Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24) and took delight in him (1 Kings 10:9), but now the Lord was angry with him (1 Kings 11:9). There was very serious guilt in this sin. Solomon showed the worst kind of ingratitude. He turned away from the Lord who had appeared to him twice, once before he began to build the temple (1 Kings 3:5), and once after he had finished dedicating it (1 Kings 9:2).

God keeps track of the gracious visits he makes to us, whether we do or not. He knows how often he has appeared to us and acted for us, and he will hold that against us if we turn from him. God’s appearance to Solomon gave such clear proof of his faith that it should have kept him from ever worshiping another god. It was also such a special favor, and gave him such honor, that he should never have forgotten it, especially since God had told him what was right during both of those appearances.

Solomon’s sin was also plain, willful disobedience. This was the very thing God had commanded him not to do, that he should not follow other gods, yet he was not kept back by such a direct warning (1 Kings 11:10). People who rule over others often forget that God rules over them. While they demand obedience from those under them, they refuse it to the One who is above all.

Next comes the message God sent to him because of this (1 Kings 11:11). The Lord likely spoke through a prophet, telling Solomon that he must expect pain and loss because of his turning away from God. The sentence was fair. Since Solomon had rebelled against God, part of his kingdom would rebel against his family. He had given God’s glory to a creature, so God would give his crown to his servant. God said, “I will tear the kingdom from you, and give it to your servant, who will rule over much of what you have worked for.” This must have deeply humbled Solomon, who no doubt had hoped his rich kingdom would pass to his children forever.

Sin ruins families. It breaks up family lines, takes away inherited property, and brings people’s honor low. Yet even this judgment was softened kindly for David’s sake (1 Kings 11:12, 1 Kings 11:13), meaning for the sake of God’s promise to David. In this way, all the favor God shows to people is for Christ’s sake and because of the covenant made with him.

The kingdom would be torn from Solomon’s house, but not right away. Solomon himself would not live to see it happen. It would be torn from the hand of his son, a son born to him by one of his foreign wives. His mother was an Ammonite woman (1 Kings 14:31), and she had likely helped lead him toward idolatry. What comfort can a man have in leaving children and an estate behind if he does not leave a blessing behind them? Yet if judgment is coming, it is still a mercy when it does not come in our own days, as in 2 Kings 20:19.

The kingdom would also not be taken completely. One tribe, Judah, the strongest and largest, would remain with the house of David (1 Kings 11:13). This would be for Jerusalem’s sake, which David built, and for the sake of the temple there, which Solomon built. These would not pass into other hands. Solomon did not quickly or fully turn away from God, so God did not quickly or fully take the kingdom from him.

After this message, which God graciously sent to Solomon to awaken his conscience and lead him to repentance, we have reason to hope that Solomon humbled himself before God, confessed his sin, asked for pardon, and returned to his duty. It is likely that he later showed this repentance in the book of Ecclesiastes, where he bitterly mourns his own folly and madness (Ecclesiastes 7:25, Ecclesiastes 7:26). There he also warns others to avoid the same evil course, and to fear God and keep his commandments because of the coming judgment, which likely made him tremble, as it did Felix.

That penitential sermon is a true sign of a heart broken over sin and turned from it, much like David’s penitential psalms, though the form is different. God’s grace in his people works in different ways. So although Solomon fell, he was not utterly ruined. God’s word to David about him was fulfilled: “I will punish him with the rod of men, but my mercy will not leave him” (2 Samuel 7:14, 2 Samuel 7:15). Even when God lets those he loves fall into sin, he does not let them stay there.

Solomon’s turning away was a great shame and a serious stain on his personal character, yet it did not damage the record of his reign so completely that it could not later be used as an example of a good reign. In 2 Chronicles 11:17, some kings are said to have done well when they walked in the way of David and Solomon. Still, even though we have good reason to hope that Solomon repented and found mercy, the Holy Spirit did not choose to clearly record his recovery. That was left uncertain as a warning to others not to sin by assuming they can always repent later. It is only a maybe whether God will grant repentance, or, if he does, whether he will give clear proof of it to the sinner or to others.

Great sinners may be restored and receive the blessing of repentance, and yet be denied both the comfort and the public credit of that repentance. The guilt may be removed, while the shame remains.