Chapter 65—Lessons from the Life of Solomon
“Be Ye Separate”
Placed at the head of a nation that had been set as a light to the
surrounding nations, Solomon might have brought great glory to the
Lord of the universe by a life of obedience. He might have encouraged
God’s people to shun the evils that were practiced in the surrounding
nations. He might have used his God-given wisdom and power of
influence in organizing and directing a great missionary movement for
the enlightenment of those who were ignorant of God and of His truth.
Thus multitudes might have been won to an allegiance to the King of
kings.
Satan well knew the results that would attend obedience, and dur-
ing the earlier years of Solomon’s reign,—years glorious because
of the wisdom, the beneficence, and the uprightness of the king,—
he sought to bring in influences that would insidiously undermine
Solomon’s loyalty to principle, and cause him to separate from God.
And that the enemy was successful in this effort, we know from the
record: “Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took
Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David.”
In forming an alliance with a heathen nation, and sealing the
compact by marriage with an idolatrous princess, Solomon rashly
disregarded the wise provisions that God had made for maintaining
the purity of His people. The hope that this Egyptian wife might be
converted, was but a feeble excuse for the sin. In violation of a direct
command to remain separate from other nations, the king united his
strength with the arm of flesh.
For a time, God in His compassionate mercy overruled this terri-
ble mistake. Solomon’s wife was converted; and the king, by a wise
course, might have done much to check the evil forces that his im-
prudence had set in operation. But Solomon began to lose sight of
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the Source of his power and glory. Inclination gained the ascendency
over reason. As his self-confidence increased, he sought to carry out
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