1 Kings 11

So, God had given Solomon incredible wisdom, massive amounts of wealth, and great fame. What He hadn’t given Solomon was a thousand marriage licenses. In fact, In Deuteronomy 17, God (in prophesying the fact that Israel would, in the future, demand a king to rule over them) specifically commanded that the king was not to take multiple wives. If he did, God said, his heart would be led astray.

And wouldn’t you know it? That’s exactly what happened to Solomon. In marrying multiple wives, and heathen wives at that (another direct violation of God’s command), the very thing God said would happen to Solomon’s heart happened: "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites... The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command." (vs 4-5, 9-10)

How sad. Solomon even ended up building a place of worship for Molek—the god to whom people sacrificed their own children. How could Solomon—the wisest man who ever lived—have gone so far astray? Simple. He neglected to follow the counsel God had given him, and it ended up ruining him and destroying his kingdom.

God knows what He’s talking about. He doesn’t ask us to do things or not do things for no reason. He has a very good reason for everything He requires. Everything He "commands" is for our best good, to keep us from ruining ourselves and others. Had Solomon followed God in this area of his life as well, who knows what might have happened? If only he had heeded the counsel of God given decades before he was even born!

It’s dangerous to disregard God’s counsel. Not because God is going to "get us" if we don’t obey Him, but because His counsel is designed to keep us from doing things that will be detrimental to us. Solomon may have thought it would be great to have a thousand wives (although my husband says he can’t imagine trying to keep more than one woman happy!), but in the end, it was his undoing. Just as God had prophesied it would be.

So, what has God been saying to you lately? Listen to Him. He knows what He’s talking about!