April 6, 2025 – 1 Kings 11

Lesson Date: April 6, 2025

Focal Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 11:1-14, 23, 26, 29-38, 42-43

AIM: To lead students to discover the cause and results of Solomon’s heart being turned away from the Lord, and to examine themselves to determine if they are allowing their heart to be turned away from God.

 

Before class: Read the notes on 1 Kings 11 found in the Sunday School Teacher Book.  Write the word “Heart” on the board or screen.  Get enough copies of the “How’s Your Heart?” handout for your anticipated attendance.

 

INTRODUCTION (Create Learning Readiness): Direct everyone’s attention to the word “Heart” written on the board or screen.  Tell them that we hear a lot today about heart health and the importance of avoiding things that are bad for our hearts.  Ask: “Why is heart health so important?” (because we cannot live without our heart, and if our heart is damaged we cannot be active and carry on our normal activities).

Tell the class that every time we go to the doctor, he or she will listen to our heart.  Ask: “What are some other tests doctors use to check our heart health?” (they always check our blood pressure, plus they can do an EKG, stress test, or even heart catheterization).

Ask: “What are some habits or lifestyles that doctors warn us are bad for our hearts?” (smoking, eating an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, stress, lack of sleep, etc.).  Ask: “What might happen if we ignore those warnings?” (we might have heart disease, suffer a heart attack, or die).  Stress the fact that since our heart is essential to life, we must heed the warnings to protect our heart health.

Tell the students the title of today’s lesson is How’s Your Heart?  Tell them we will discover that even though Solomon was the richest and wisest king who ever lived, he foolishly ignored God’s warnings about protecting his heart, and suffered terribly for it.

 

HEART OF THE LESSON (Bible Study):

1. Review.
   • Remind everyone that we are studying the Old Testament book of 1 Kings.
   • Ask: “What was last week’s lesson about?” (What Do Others See In Me?; we learned that Solomon’s life and kingdom gave evidence of the abundant blessings of God, and we thought about what others see when they look at us).
   • Ask if any volunteer would recite last week’s memory verses (Galatians 6:7-8).
2. Solomon’s Heart Turned Away From God.
   • Read 1 Kings 11:1-2.
   • Ask: “According to verse 1, what did Solomon do?” (loved many foreign women).
   • Tell the class that the nations named in verse 1 were known for their wicked paganism and idol worship.
   • Ask: “According to the first part of verse 2, what warning had God given the Israelites?” (do not intermarry with the people of those nations).
   • Ask: “What did God say would happen if they intermarried with idol worshipers?” (they would turn their hearts away to follow false gods instead of the one true God).
   • Explain the following:
     • Before God brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, He told them to destroy or drive out all the pagan nations that lived there.
     • God also warned the Israelites not to intermarry with the people of those nations because He knew such marriages would lead the Israelites into idolatry.
     • In Exodus 34:16, God warned, “And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.”
   • Ask: “What does the last phrase of verse 2 say that Solomon did?” (he clung to these pagan women in love).
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 11:3-4.
   • Ask: “What does verse 3 tell us?” (Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines).
   • Ask: “What did these foreign wives do?” (turned away his heart from following God).
   • Explain the following:
     • In Deuteronomy 17, God gave warnings and instructions for the kings of Israel.
     • Deuteronomy 17:17 says, “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”
   • Ask: “According to verse 4, when did Solomon’s foreign wives turn his heart away to follow other so-called gods?” (when he was old).
   • Explain the following:
     • Solomon was right with God and abundantly blessed by God for most of his life, but as he grew older he let down his guard.
     • Solomon’s testimony was great until he got old.
     • A lapse of judgment in old age can ruin a lifelong testimony of faithfulness to God.
     • We must never let down our guard and always strive to be faithful to the Lord.
   • Ask: “What does the end of verse 4 say happened to Solomon’s heart?” (it was not perfect; in other words, it was fully devoted or faithful to the Lord like that of his father David).
   • Summarize: Solomon ignored God’s warning and took many foreign, idol-worshiping wives, who turned his heart away from the Lord. If we ignore God’s warnings, then we can let our hearts be turned away to other things.
3. Solomon’s Heart Led Him to Do Evil.
   • Read 1 Kings 11:5-8.
   • Ask: “What does verse 5 say Solomon did?” (followed and worshiped the false gods Ashtoreth and Milcom).
   • Tell the class that Ashtoreth was a goddess of sex and fertility whose worship involved immoral behavior, and the worship of Milcom included human sacrifice of children.
   • Ask: “How does verse 6 describe Solomon’s behavior?” (he did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not fully follow God like his father David had).
   • Ask: “What does verse 7 say Solomon did?” (built high places to worship false gods on the Mount of Olives just east of Jerusalem).
   • Ask: “What does verse 8 say he did?” (built places of worship for all the false gods of all his foreign wives).
   • Explain the following:
     • In chapters 5 – 7, Solomon spared no expense to build a magnificent Temple for the worship of Almighty God.
     • In chapter 8, he led all Israel to dedicate the Temple so “That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else” (1 Kings 8:60).
     • In chapters 9 – 10, God warned Solomon to always stay faithful to Him, “And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart” (1 Kings 10:24).
     • Now in the very next chapter, Solomon let his many pagan wives turn his heart away from the Lord and started worshiping wicked idols!
   • Summarize: After Solomon’s heart turned away from the one true God, he turned to the evil worship of many false gods. If we let our heart be turned away from the Lord Jesus, we can get involved in all kinds of evil.
4. The High Cost of Solomon’s Evil.
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 11:9-10.
   • Ask: “How did the Lord feel about Solomon letting his heart be turned away?” (He was angry with him).
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 11:11-13.
   • Ask: “According to verse 11, what did God say He was going to do because Solomon turned his heart away?” (tear the kingdom away from him and give it to one of his servants).
   • Ask: “According to verse 12, when would God take the kingdom away?” (not during Solomon’s life, but after his son assumed the throne).
   • Tell the class that the Lord promised to delay His judgment out of respect for David.
   • Ask: “What did God say in verse 13?” (He would not take away the entire kingdom, but would leave one tribe for Solomon’s son to rule from Jerusalem, God’s chosen city).
   • Read 1 Kings 11:14, 23, 26.
   • Ask: “What did the Lord do next?” (He stirred up or raised up adversaries to oppose and trouble Solomon).
   • Summarize: The cost of Solomon turning his heart away from the Lord to worship wicked idols was very high: God would take most of the kingdom away from Solomon’s son. If we turn our heart away from God, we and our children will pay a high price.
5. Solomon’s Sad Legacy.
   • Read 1 Kings 11:29-36.
   • Tell the class that God used one of His prophets to tell Solomon’s servant Jeroboam that He was going to tear the kingdom away from Solomon’s son and give Jeroboam ten tribes to rule).
   • Ask: “According to verse 33, why was God going to do that?” (because Solomon turned away from God to worship false gods).
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 11:37-38.
   • Ask: “What did God promise Jeroboam?” (if he would walk in God’s ways and keep God’s commandments like David did, then God would be with him, establish his kingdom, and give Israel to him).
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 11:42-43.
   • Ask: “What happened?” (after reigning over Israel for forty years, Solomon died and his son Rehoboam became king).
   • Summarize: Because Solomon let his heart be turned away from God, he left his son a kingdom that God promised to divide. If we turn away from God, our children will suffer.

 

PERSONAL APPLICATION: Tell the class that King Solomon led Israel to its greatest height of size, power, and glory.  Remind them that he built the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem, which stood for almost 400 years.  Tell them that Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, and God preserved some of his wisdom for us in the book of Proverbs.  Stress the fact that Solomon started out great, but he ended badly.

Ask: “What made the difference?  What messed Solomon up?” (he ignored God’s clear warnings against marrying foreign women and taking many wives; his idol-worshiping wives turned his heart away from following the Lord and led him into wicked idolatry).

Tell the class that Solomon’s life may have looked great from the outside because he had wealth, power, wives, and wisdom; but inside, his life was a wreck because he didn’t guard his heart.

Remind the students that the title of today’s lesson is How’s Your Heart?  Remind them that when we go to the doctor, he or she listens to our heart.  Ask: “If the Great Physician were to examine your heart today, what would He find?  Is your heart right with the Lord, or have you allowed other things to turn your heart away?”

Ask everyone to bow their head and close their eyes.  Ask them to examine their heart right now.  Tell them if they have allowed anything to turn their heart away from the Lord Jesus, to confess that as sin and turn their heart back to Him.  Urge them to commit to the Lord to give up any relationship or habit that draws their heart away from Him.  Allow a moment for silent prayer, and then voice a prayer of repentance and commitment.

 

CONCLUSION: Give everyone a copy of the “How’s Your Heart?” handout.  Tell them to put it somewhere they will see it every day, such as their bathroom mirror, nightstand, or car dashboard.  Suggest that they memorize Matthew 22:37 (that memory verse is not listed in the Sunday School Member Quarterly).