Ask your children what these are. Why do you think there are seven of them? Listen to the story and listen for when you hear the number seven.
1 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 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. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 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. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 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. 7 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. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman. However, people have disobeyed God by breaking his rules because of sin. One of God’s rules that King Solomon disobeyed was God’s rule for marriage.
King Solomon had more than one wife. Remember, the Bible teaches us that God said a man would have one wife. Yet, King Solomon had 700 wives! Wow! That is definitely more than one wife. You have one sticker for every 100 wives of Solomon.
Maybe Solomon thought that because he was the King of Israel, he could do whatever he wanted and did not have to obey God’s rules. But the Bible tells us that Solomon broke God’s heart because all of Solomon’s wives turned his heart away from Him. Solomon was worshiping their gods instead of the Lord.
When you turn your heart away from God, that’s sin. If we sin and confess to God that we are sorry, God will forgive our sins because God is faithful to his promises.
How is God faithful?
Because Solomon was King David’s son, with whom God made a promise, God would accomplish his promise to David. God sent Jesus Christ, King David’s greater son so that we might become children of God and heirs to His kingdom with Jesus.
Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. He prayed and asked God for wisdom, and God gave it to him. But Solomon was still a sinner. Would you expect someone like him to be in Jesus’ family? No! He made a lot of bad choices, and he needed a Savior, just like us. Jesus is coming!
