Rev. Don Campbell

1 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 8

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, June 16, 2019

“HUSBANDS AND WIVES”

In 1 Kings 9:24 we read this simple statement of fact: “But Pharaoh’s daughter went up to the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her.” The chronicler gives additional details: “Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, ‘My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.’”

Was Solomon concerned with God’s holiness or did his Egyptian wife pressure him to allow her to live apart so she could practice the religion of the Egyptians? We will never know the answer to that question. We do know that Solomon should have known the mind of God on the matter of taking foreign wives: “You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly” (Deuteronomy 7:3-4).

Did Solomon believe that he was above the law, as rulers often do? Did he think “No woman can wrap me around her little finger”? Did he think he could “convert” them? Whatever his thinking, the record says, “Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice (1 Kings 11:7-9).

CONNECTIONS

1. What instructions does Peter give wives who have unbelieving husbands? (1 Peter 3:1-4)

2. What instructions does Paul give to a Christian who has an unbelieving mate? (1 Corinthians 7:12-16)