11:101 Kings 11:10

God expressly commanded Solomon not to follow other gods, yet he failed to keep what the Lord had commanded.SG4 100.3–4+2 The command came with exceptional favor, for the Lord had appeared to him twice with counsel, warnings to stay humble and obedient, and promises of wisdom, riches, honor and an enduring throne on condition of obedience.PK 75.1+2 His heart was turned by love of idolatrous wives, uncontrolled passion, forbidden alliances, prosperity and self-trust, until almost unaware he drifted far from God and made pagan worship part of his religion.SG4 100.3–4+4 His disobedience brought God's anger, withdrawal of protecting care, harassing adversaries, and the prophetic sentence that the kingdom would be torn from him and given to his servant.SG4 100.3–4+2 Yet the Lord did not forsake him but aroused him by judgment and rebuke until in later years he awoke, learned the emptiness of earthly good, and returned to the fountain of life, warning even the wisest that only trust, obedience and watchfulness to the end can guard against falling.SG4 100.3–4+3

God expressly commanded Solomon concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods, but he kept not what the Lord commanded.SG4 100.3–4+4 His wives from idolatrous nations turned his heart from God, for his love of women and uncontrolled, lustful passion became a snare that led him into idolatry, so that he yielded his principles, lost firmness of character, and separated himself from God the source of his strength.SG4 100.3–4+2 Though he had dedicated himself to God and prayed for Israel's wholehearted loyalty, he later let pagan beliefs and worship become part of his religion and became an apostate, and the idol shrines he built for his wives remained as a lasting sign of his departure from God.RH Mar 10, 1910+1 His marriages to worshipers of false gods and his conformity to their customs led him gradually into idolatry, showing how one departure from God's standard makes further departures easier and warning believers to obey God's teachings and resist worldly influences that weaken moral strength.SG4 100.3–4+2 His disobedience brought God's anger and the loss of his prosperity and the end of his rule as Israel's universal monarch, with the loss of his kingdom and the rise of adversaries to harass him.SG4 100.3–4+1 His fall warns that even the wisest, most honored person will fail without trust in God and obedience to His commands to the end of life, requiring watchfulness and strength from God.SG4 100.3–4+2

The command came with exceptional light and favor, for the Lord had appeared to him twice with approval, counsel, plain admonitions to remain obedient and humble and to walk in His ways and statutes, and wonderful promises of wisdom, riches, honor, prosperity, and an established throne forever on condition of obedience.PK 75.1+2 He was specially honored by God as Jedidiah with remarkable divine favor and world-wide fame for wisdom and uprightness and wise counsel to others, ruling for many years uprightly in heavenly wisdom with impartiality and mercy.RH Dec 21, 1905+2 He had been favored with wisdom and also with riches and honor on condition that he walk in the ways of the Lord and keep His statutes and His judgments, yet he broke that condition.RH Feb 8, 1906+1 He chose to go to other nations to secure facilities for building the temple when he could have built it with the facilities the Lord had provided, showing what comes to God's people when they depart from Him.Ms 169, 1902, par. 8–9 The Lord ever desires to encircle His people with His protecting arm, to bless them above all other people, and to preserve them in all purity if they remain closely connected with Him.Ms 169, 1902, par. 8–9

His breach came even when his character should have been firmly established in maturity, yet temptation overcame his steadfastness and he proved unfaithful to God's clear command not to follow other gods.PK 82.1 His heart turned away from the Lord despite the clear counsel and promises given with those two appearances, and his apostasy became so complete and his heart so hardened in transgression that his case seemed nearly hopeless.PK 75.1+1

Solomon had been expressly commanded not to go after other gods, yet his wives from idolatrous nations turned his heart away from God.SG4 100.3–4+2 His love of women and uncontrolled, lustful passion became a snare to him, for his wives led him into idolatry as he yielded his principles, lost firmness of character, and separated himself from God, the source of his strength.SG4 100.3–4+2 Though beloved of God, he was overcome by corruption through indulgence of lustful passion and failed to keep the command.2T 305.3+1

His alliances and marriages with idolaters broke the protections God had set to preserve Israel's holy character.ED 48.3–4+1 His political alliances carried him across the boundary God had set, and the resulting pagan influence damaged his integrity and led him into false worship and apostasy, bringing personal and national harm.ED 48.3–4+1 He even chose to go to other nations to secure facilities for building the temple when he could have built it with the facilities the Lord had provided, showing what comes when God's people depart from Him though He desires to encircle them with His protecting arm, bless them above all others, and preserve them in purity if they remain closely connected with Him.Ms 169, 1902, par. 8–9

His departure was gradual after many years of walking uprightly in heavenly wisdom, ruling with impartiality and mercy.RH Dec 21, 1905 Almost before he knew it he had wandered far from God, losing sight of the necessity of implicit obedience to plain precepts and conforming more and more closely to surrounding customs and to the worship of their false gods.RH Dec 21, 1905+1 One departure from God's standard made further departures easier, warning believers to obey God's teachings and resist worldly influences that weaken moral strength.RH Dec 21, 1905+1

Yielding to the temptations of prosperity and honored position, he forgot God and the conditions of success.RH Dec 21, 1905 Covetousness, luxury, extravagance, and corruption were principal causes of his apostasy, and these influences spread through the kingdom and weakened self-sacrifice in God's service.RH Dec 21, 1905+3 He turned from earnest prayer and dependence on God, through which his wisdom had come, to reliance on himself.GC 509.3+2 Human praise and exaltation fed self-esteem, so that he trusted his own wisdom instead of God, rejected counsel, followed his own way, and became corrupted and ensnared and vulnerable to temptation.GC 509.3+3

His God-given wisdom and remarkable abilities were thus corrupted and made him a more effective agent of evil and of the adversary.GC 509.3+2 Though he had dedicated himself to God and prayed for Israel's wholehearted loyalty, he later let pagan beliefs and worship become part of his religion, sought wisdom from other sources, and became an apostate.RH Mar 10, 1910 The idol shrines he built for his wives remained as a lasting sign and consequence of his departure from God.RH Mar 10, 1910+1 His indulgence of appetite and passion led him to incur God's displeasure.2RED 32.2+1 His history warns that cherishing worldly error and mingling it with truth can weaken faith, damage the precious landmarks of faith, and lead people away from right principles by attractive errors.RH Mar 10, 1910+1

Disobedience brought God's anger and the loss of prosperity and rule as Israel's universal monarch.SG4 100.3–4+1 The Lord removed His protecting care and permitted adversaries to harass and weaken him, leading to the rise of adversaries against him.1SP 397.1+1 By a prophet He sent the message that the kingdom would surely be rent from him and given to his servant and taken out of the hand of his son.RH Feb 8, 1906

His apostasy became so complete and his heart so hardened in transgression that his case seemed nearly hopeless, indeed well-nigh hopeless.PK 75.1+1 Yet in infinite mercy the Lord did not forsake him but sought to arouse him to the sinfulness of sin by terrible judgments and stern rebuke.RH Feb 8, 1906 When Solomon heard the denunciation he awoke as from a dream.RH Feb 8, 1906 He learned by bitter experience the emptiness of a life that seeks its highest good in earthly things, and how vain is the promise of rest to the soul from altars erected to heathen gods, and in his later years he returned to drink at the fountain of life as the discipline of suffering accomplished its work.RH Feb 8, 1906

His fall teaches that even the wisest, most honored, and beloved person will fail without trust in God and obedience to His commands to the end of life.SG4 100.3–4+1 Purity of heart is necessary to remain in God's presence, for even the wise can be overcome by corruption.2T 305.3+1 Only obedience to God's requirements guards against turning away from Him, for great light, blessings, and trusted abilities do not protect those who reject God's guidance.PK 83.2 Turning to human wisdom can make light dark and abilities a snare, so watchfulness and strength from God are needed to the end of life.2T 305.3+1

Turning aside to work contrary to God's designs forfeits God's cooperation.Ms 58, 1904, par. 6+1 Blessing and presence upon work He has assigned continue only while those entrusted look steadfastly to Him and to Christ as Teacher and Example and take every step in accordance with given light.Ms 58, 1904, par. 6+1 But if they turn aside as Solomon did, God will not be with them and the Lord cannot cooperate with them.Ms 58, 1904, par. 6+1

The same departure beginning to gain something takes place when brethren link up with unbelievers and declare institutional work undenominational.Ms 169, 1902, par. 15–16+1 It is a beginning to depart from the Lord instead of remaining forever a peculiar people true to the principles of the message.Ms 169, 1902, par. 15–16+1 God's people are to hold the beginning of confidence steadfast unto the end and stand as representatives of His special message of truth in the last days.19MR 41.3–42.2 Solomon followed a course God had forbidden and would not receive the testimonies God sent him, showing that truth will triumph only in the soul that gives it the right of way.Ms 135, 1906, par. 27–30+1

His failure by a man favored of God and entrusted with great responsibility is told with simple, naked truth and stern fact, not glossed over or suppressed, because justice requires faithful narration for the benefit of all who read the Sacred Record.ST May 31, 1910 It is recorded to warn God's people to obey God's law and avoid unbelief, idolatry, ingratitude, and disobedience.ST May 31, 1910 It shows the definite penalty annexed to transgression, that the wages of sin is death, that God's retributive justice never fails, and that He exacts strict regard for His commandments.ST May 31, 1910 Like the sins that overcame Noah, Lot, Moses, Abraham, David, Elijah, Jonah, Israel, Peter, and Paul and Barnabas, it lies open with all fault and folly to teach that even greatly favored men strive, waver, and fall into error.ST May 31, 1910 Yet through God's grace they can gain fresh vigor to rise above evil nature, take heart again, conquer, and be blessed, so desponding hearts are encouraged to renew the conflict, avoid the evils recorded, imitate only righteousness, and trust God's pardoning mercy and power to save from sin today as in the days of the patriarchs, David, prophets, and apostles.ST May 31, 1910