THE COST OF COMPROMISE

11 KING SOLOMON, HOWEVER, LOVED MANY FOREIGN WOMEN BESIDES PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER—MOABITES, AMMONITES, EDOMITES, SIDONIANS AND HITTITES. 2 THEY WERE FROM NATIONS ABOUT WHICH THE LORD HAD TOLD THE ISRAELITES, “YOU MUST NOT INTERMARRY WITH THEM, BECAUSE THEY WILL SURELY TURN YOUR HEARTS AFTER THEIR GODS.” NEVERTHELESS, SOLOMON HELD FAST TO THEM IN LOVE. 3 HE HAD SEVEN HUNDRED WIVES OF ROYAL BIRTH AND THREE HUNDRED CONCUBINES, AND HIS WIVES LED HIM ASTRAY. 4 AS SOLOMON GREW OLD, HIS WIVES TURNED HIS HEART AFTER OTHER GODS, AND HIS HEART WAS NOT FULLY DEVOTED TO THE LORD HIS GOD, AS THE HEART OF DAVID HIS FATHER HAD BEEN. 5 HE FOLLOWED ASHTORETH THE GODDESS OF THE SIDONIANS, AND MOLEK THE DETESTABLE GOD OF THE AMMONITES. 6 SO SOLOMON DID EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD; HE DID NOT FOLLOW THE LORD COMPLETELY, AS DAVID HIS FATHER HAD DONE.

7 ON A HILL EAST OF JERUSALEM, SOLOMON BUILT A HIGH PLACE FOR CHEMOSH THE DETESTABLE GOD OF MOAB, AND FOR MOLEK THE DETESTABLE GOD OF THE AMMONITES. 8 HE DID THE SAME FOR ALL HIS FOREIGN WIVES, WHO BURNED INCENSE AND OFFERED SACRIFICES TO THEIR GODS.

1 KINGS 11:1-8 (NIV – NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION)

Our society nurtures a popular misconception that tolerance is the only reasonable worldview to have. But when it comes to the law of God, King Solomon’s life shows that compromise is a destructive choice.

In the early years of Solomon’s reign, he was committed to doing right. But later, when he saw the opportunity to promote himself politically, he ignored Scripture’s command forbidding marriage to pagans (Deut. 7:1-3; 1 Kings 3:1). Though he may have viewed the union as an insignificant deviation, Satan’s strategy is to convince us to compromise small portions of God’s Word, one at a time.

Solomon admired beautiful women of other nationalities, but instead of finding ways to avoid temptation, he permitted himself one relationship and then sought more and more. Surrounded by foreigners, he inevitably became involved in their religions. Eventually he was ensnared by sin, and his heart turned from God.

Solomon’s temptations may differ from ours, but accepting compromise can trap us as well. Unchecked admiration for something beyond God’s will for our life can convince us to pursue it. Though we intellectually know this choice is wrong, it’s easy to harden our heart against the Spirit’s warnings. A preoccupation can deepen until the desired object, person, or activity holds a place of greater priority than our Father. If we allow that to happen, we lose our freedom in Jesus Christ and become caught in a prison of sin. In other words, the cost of compromise is the corruption of our soul.