In many ways, Solomon is different from the people he rules over. Solomon was chosen by God to be king. They weren’t. Solomon has great wealth and power. They don’t. Solomon has divinely granted wisdom, making him uniquely qualified to rule. The regular people don’t have that. But there’s something Solomon does have in common with the regular people. He’s a sinner with a fallen nature that will always seek his corruption, which means he still needs to flee from the things God’s word tells him to flee from.
God had warned His people not to take foreign spouses. In the Law of Moses, God had essentially told His people that if they welcomed their pagan neighbors into their households, they would end up welcoming their gods as well. To please their wives, they would embrace the worship of demons and bring corruption into the land. But Solomon surrenders to his pride, convinced that this commandment couldn’t possibly apply to the noble and glorious, those who need to make alliances with their neighbors. Surely the danger of being corrupted by a foreign wife didn’t apply to someone with his prominence, his majesty, his piety, and his other-worldly wisdom.
Ah, well, as Solomon himself said, “pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
The Law is not just for the little people. It’s for all men. When God forbids you from devouring forbidden fruit, there is no man who has the luxury of telling himself, “that fruit is not a danger to me.” Even if you are special in a thousand ways, you are not special with regard to your sinful nature. The more you feed it, the more it will corrupt and destroy you, same as everyone else.
But thanks be to God that Solomon’s son, David’s Son, God’s Only Begotten Son, had no sinful nature. Thanks be to God that the virgin born Savior came into this world, knew no sin, and then became sin for us upon the cross. At Calvary, your Lord forgave the pride of Solomon, won salvation for the mighty one who fell. And with that same blood, Jesus forgave your pride, your foolishness, your sinful self-sabotage. These He destroyed forever at the cross and made you His own forever.
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