Deuteronomy 17:17 –
The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the LORD. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself.
This caught my attention because we are often taught God does not dislike wealth and Solomon who was a wealthy king is used as one example. But you read this chapter and he does many things that violate scripture. Taking so many wives, even taking them from foreign lands was his turning the wrong direction. But can we only blame the women?
What about the wealth? Just as one can argue Solomon’s wealth was proof God blessed him immensely, one could argue his wealth was in direct disobedience with the Law. So does God want to bless us beyond our wildest dreams or just bless us enough to help? If we want money for a “blessing” then I believe we have a problem. I say we because that has been my focus for many years, if not all my life. Being wealthy to the point of “freedom” where I can “do what I want” has been a goal for my entire adult life. So how has that affected my life with God and my family?
Solomon had it all and because of his disconnect with God he blew apart the nation of Israel. His wisdom could not control his desires for wealth and lust. He stopped following God and his decrees because of the distractions of this world. God said “K.I.S.S” or Keep It Simple Stupid when it comes to marriage and finances! Is money bad, no but the love of money is! Jesus was very clear on that; don’t ignore God in the quest for the buck. And those who are married or in a relationship know keeping that working requires attention … imagine multiplying that by 700! No wonder Solomon’s attention drifted from God!
The key to reading the Law is seeing how it applies today. What about kings or presidents today? Look at the current round of presidents and we see where money took control and for the most part has taken the attention off the nation. And in at least one case multiple relationships affected his leadership abilities. The current mess was because money became too powerful in people’s lives and God was dismissed. I could go on for hours on this, but want to mention that the Hebraic Law we tend to dismiss because of Jesus has some wonderful things we should be following!