Throughout the Scriptures, men are warned about the dangers of evil women. While these warnings are certainly relevant for godly women seeking to avoid evil men, today we will be specifically talking about how women can destroy men.
And there is no better person to study when it comes to this topic than King Solomon. As Nehemiah 13:26-27 states:
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”
If the wisest man on earth (1 Kings 4:30) could be torn down by evil women, how much more careful must we be? Therefore, by studying 1 Kings 11:1-10, we can learn at least seven lessons from how women destroyed King Solomon.
1. Solomon Was Destroyed By Women Because He Had a Worldly Value System
1 Kings 11:1, “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women . . .”
We will get to the dangers of not being a “one woman man.” However, before we get there, let’s first look at Solomon’s inability to value the right qualities in a wife. While Scripture does not explicitly state who he married first, it’s most reasonable to believe that his first wife was the daughter of Pharaoh, which is probably why she is highlighted in 1 Kings 11:1.
Early in the story, before Solomon asked God for wisdom to rule, 1 Kings 3:1 states, “Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter . . .” From a worldly perspective, this was a great choice. By marrying Pharaoh’s daughter, he was promoting peace with Egypt and securing his kingdom from foreign enemies.
But, from a biblical and spiritual point of view, this was a terrible choice. And it appears Solomon knew this was displeasing to God, and yet he did it anyways. 2 Chronicles 8:11 states, “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.’”
It’s as if he were playing mental gymnastics with himself. He tried to justify this unbiblical choice in a wife by pretending he could get around it by keeping her in a separate house.
How often do we do the same? We may try to keep our sexual sins in a separate house. But God sees all.
Application: Never ignore the plain reading of Scripture. God tells us to value godliness over every other trait in a woman (Proverbs 31:30, Proverbs 12:4). If a woman is not following the Lord, it doesn’t matter what other advantages she might be to you. You can’t justify it. She will bring curses into your life. 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.”
2. King Solomon Was Destroyed Because He Was Not a One-Woman Man
1 Kings 11:1, “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women . . .
While the Bible routinely records the details of the many polygamous marriages that occurred amongst God’s people, the Bible never condones a man having multiple wives. Rather, Scripture routinely states that God designed marriage to only be between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24, 1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Timothy 3:2).
Whenever we rebel against God’s original design, we always reap negative consequences. Every polygamous marriage we get details about is always negative. Think of Rachel and Leah. It was nothing but strife.
Application: While most nowadays would agree that polygamy is a sin, most still lack the mindset of being a one-woman man. Instead, they want to sleep around. They want to date many women before settling down. And then when they get married, they keep watching porn and committing adultery in their heart. Many have real affairs. This destroys a man from the inside out. God didn’t create you to pimp yourself out like a prostitute. You will only be whole and happy with a woman when you fully commit to only one woman in marriage for life.
3. King Solomon Was Destroyed Because He Did Not Heed God’s Warnings About Women
1 Kings 11:1-2, “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love.”
Like Adam and Eve, we often disobey God’s clear commands because we fall for Satan’s lies that God is withholding good from us. Instead of seeing God’s heart behind his warnings, we imagine that we are missing out on pleasure by obeying God’s law.
Ironically, the exact opposite is true. Instead of missing out on pleasure, when we obey God’s laws, we get to miss out on the pain that always ensues when we disobey God’s commandments (Galatians 6:7-8).
Application: God’s rules aren’t restricting us from having fun. They are restricting us from acting like fools. Just as God told Israel not to marry foreign women because he knew they would turn the men’s hearts from God, so too are all of God’s commands to us about relationships meant to protect us from making choices that will bring massive harm into our lives.
4. King Solomon Was Destroyed By Women Because They Could Never Give Him What He Was Searching for
1 Kings 11:3, “He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.”
Sin never satisfies. It appears that after every time Solomon acquired a new wife or concubine, he eventually always felt like he needed another one. This is always the pattern with sin. It’s never enough. It always goes from bad to worse. Notice what Deuteronomy 17:16-17 says about how the kings of Israel should behave:
Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.”
Before our passage in 1 Kings 11, 1 Kings 10:28 states, “And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt . . .” Getting horses from Egypt was expressly forbidden. And yet, it doesn’t seem as bad as marrying women from Egypt. But notice that Solomon then progressed into worse sins. Again, that’s always the pattern whenever we sin and don’t repent. It just gets worse.
Application: This is why you must never be okay with any form of sin in your life, no matter how small you think it is. I’m certainly not saying you need to be perfect to be a Christian. As Christians, we will all sin and fall many times. However, the key is to always repent. Never let any sin become acceptable. While you will sin, you must always hate your sin. You must always confess and turn to Jesus, seeking to be sanctified more and more. Otherwise, like Solomon, you will just go from bad to worse until you are completely devoured by your never-ending thirst for darkness.
5. King Solomon Was Destroyed Because He Played with Fire and Eventually Got Burned
1 Kings 11:5, “For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.”
For the first part of his life, it seems like Solomon tried to have his cake and eat it too. He chose to disobey God when it came to women while also trying to obey God in the other parts of his life. He was able to keep the charade up for a while. But eventually, he fully gave in to sin.
Notice that it states “when Solomon was old” he turned from the Lord. The sins of his youth were never repented of. They planted seeds in his heart that eventually completely separated him from God.
Application: It might feel like you are getting away with your sin for the time being. But be warned, we always reap what we sow. Galatians 6:7-8, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
6. King Solomon Was Destroyed By Women Because Lust Is More Powerful than Logic
1 Kings 11:6-8, “So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. 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.”
Logic is great. Wisdom is certainly biblical. But without love, we have nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2, “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
God was displeased with Solomon for the same reason he removed Saul, which was that they did not obey the Lord from the heart like David did. Acts 13:21-22, “Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”
Of Josiah, 2 Kings 23:25 says, “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.” Now notice what 2 Kings 23:13 states of Josiah, “And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.”
Saul and Solomon fell because they lacked the love for God needed to obey the Lord. David and Josiah were able to repent of sin and follow God because they actually loved him. Early in Solomon’s life, he pleased the Lord because he loved the Lord. 1 Kings 3:1, “Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father . . .” He disobeyed God because he stopped loving God.
Application: Solomon never lost his logic. He lost his love. Logic is not strong enough to overcome lust. Lust makes you do crazy things even when you know they are crazy. The only way you can overcome lust is by feeding your love for God. The more you love God, the more you will obey him. As Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
7. Solomon Was Destroyed By Women Because He Did Not Continue to Listen to the Lord
1 Kings 11:9-10, “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 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.”
When Solomon was younger, he heard from God. He listened. But, like many of us, it appears that Solomon started thinking he didn’t need to keep hearing from God. It seems he felt like he arrived. When he was young, I’m sure he could never have imagined turning from the Lord. But Scripture promises that we need an ongoing relationship with the Lord (1 John 1:7), not just a few experiences earlier in life.
As Revelation 2:4 states, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Application: Just because you’ve done well in the past doesn’t mean you will keep doing well in the future. Never let your guard down. Whether you are single and looking for a godly wife or you are married and have already found your godly wife, if you drop your guard, the devil will ruin your life through evil women. You have to keep walking with God for your whole life. Perseverance, not perfection, is the mark of all true Christians (Jude 1:24).
Lust isn’t something you finally overcome and then never deal with again. It will always come back as soon as you drift from the Lord.
May we learn from King Solomon. As Proverbs 31:3 states, “Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings.”
