“King Shlomo loved many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh. There were women from the Mo’avi, ‘Amoni, Edomi, Tzidoni and Hitti — nations about which Adonai had said to the people of Israel, “You are not to go among them or they among you, because they will turn your hearts away toward their gods.” But Shlomo was deeply attached to them by his love.“ – 1 Kings 11:1-2
I’m about to say something controversial that I got from Tom Bradford’s Torah Class.
But I believe it’s true.
So lemme just quote Bradford himself:
“Solomon is the perfect Old Testament example of a modern New Testament Believer who thinks (incorrectly) that salvation means that whatever love we feel replaces obedience and renders it not only obsolete but undesirable.”
I don’t think I could find a more perfect way to describe what a typical Christian is.
They flagrantly break God’s commands, and they do it in the name of “love.”
Now how exactly does this accusation connect to Solomon?
Well, just look at verse 1, man.
“King Shlomo loved many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh.”
The word for “love” there is indeed the Hebrew AHAV.
We’re told Solomon entered into multiple marriage alliances with Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, and Hittite women.
He also married women from Sidon, which was King Hiram’s country.
The bottom line is that the Torah strictly bans such marriages to foreign women.
Why?
Because these Gentile influences would turn his heart from the pure worship of Adonai to the false gods of those nations.
Yet, we’re told in verse 2 that…
“Shlomo was deeply attached to them by his love.”
There’s that word “love” or AHAV again.
I can’t mince my words here, homie.
Solomon was no dummy.
Quite the contrary, he was one of the most brilliant men in history.
On top of that, his royal court was staffed by some of the sharpest Torah scholars in all of Israel.
He knew there was no excuse for marrying those foreign women.
Yet, he did it anyway.
Why?
He let his own emotions and his own idea of “love” take priority over what the Lord had clearly outlawed in His Word.
Bradford also goes on to mention that Solomon was an “incurable romantic” who was “in love with love.”
In other words, for Solomon, love was the be-all and end-all — the ultimate solution for everything.
And that’s why he is the perfect Old Testament example of the lawless Christian.
What is a lawless Christian?
I’m talking about someone…
Who says prayers over unclean foods the Messiah himself would never have eaten…
Or a professing believer who…
Attends a congregation where gay marriages are performed in the name of their loving Jesus…
Or someone who…
Works on the Sabbath while attending a church that has the 10 commandments posted up somewhere in their worship hall.
Have they not ever read the 4th Commandment, which clearly states…
“Remember the Sabbath day,
to keep it holy.”
— Exodus 20:8 (KJV)
So what is the Christian excuse for all of this flagrant lawlessness?
“The Lord is a God of love.
So as long as I am full of love…
What else matters, homie?”
That pretty much sums up their thought processes.
As long as love is in the mix, God’s commandments can play second fiddle.
The takeaway here is as clear as day.
Love does NOT replace obedience.
In fact, they go hand in hand.
You obey God’s commands BECAUSE YOU LOVE HIM.
Your obedience IS an expression of your love for God.
Not the other way around.
Ya feel me here?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Do we, then, nullify
the law by this faith?
Not at all!
Rather, we uphold the law.”
– Romans 3:31
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one who does the will of
my Father who is in heaven.
On that day many will say to me,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,
and cast out demons in your name,
and do many mighty works in your name?’
And then will I declare to them,
‘I never knew you;
depart from me,
you workers of lawlessness.’”
-Matthew 7:21-23
“Do not think that I have come to
abolish the Law or the Prophets;
I have not come to abolish them
but to fulfill them.
For truly, I say to you,
until heaven and earth pass away,
not an iota, not a dot,
will pass from the Law
until all is accomplished.
Therefore whoever relaxes
one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,
but whoever does them and teaches them
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.“
-Matthew 5:17-19
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