How did Solomon set the stage for the fall of God's covenant people?
Though Solomon began as a godly king and led Israel to a pinnacle of greatness, he ended with 900 pagan wives and set up altars throughout Israel. This idolatrous compromise set the stage for the fall and demise of God’s covenant people.
Les explains that under David and Solomon, Israel reached a pinnacle of greatness. The Queen of Sheba said even half the glory of Solomon’s kingdom had not been told. Solomon had copper mines, chariots, horsemen, and a great world trade. Yet though he started as a godly king, he ended with 900 pagan wives and set up altars all over Israel. Les says this was setting the stage again for the fall and demise of God’s covenant people. After Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became heir apparent, and the elders told him Solomon’s glorious kingdom had been built at the expense of the ordinary taxpayer.