The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Kings 11:1-12, “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, ‘You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.’ Solomon held fast to these in love.
3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded.
11 So the LORD said to Solomon, ‘Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 ‘Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.’”

There is no question but that the vast number of women that Solomon collected was an
affront to the LORD! The LORD knew (and He told Solomon) that foreign women would ultimately turn his head and heart away from the LORD Himself. Solomon ignored the warning!

The LORD was right. In time, the foreign women moved Solomon’s heart away from the LORD, and he commenced worshipping the foreign gods, and, as the LORD’s warning had said, it all ultimately cost Solomon his kingdom.

Neither you nor I, my dear reader, can ultimately escape the solemn warnings of the LORD. Almighty God is no respecter of persons. We simply cannot do wrong and get by! The man responsible for the death of my uncle was himself a nobody; yet, he paid the penalty for what he had done. How equally you and I are to the “nobodies” of this world; yet, the all-seeing Eye of the LORD is ever and always upon us.

Moving beyond this account into the New Testament, we learn of Christ Jesus’ love for us. At the same time, He expects and deserves our love above that for any other. Do you love the LORD? Do you know that He gave His own Life on the Cross for you? He is, therefore, deserving of the fullness of your love? Don’t ever turn away from Him for any other!

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and
sent His Son to be the propitiation (appeasement) for our sin (1 Jn. 4:10).

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom