“The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice” (1 Kings 11:9).

“So complete was [Solomon’s] apostasy, so hardened his heart in transgression, that his case seemed well-nigh hopeless.”—Ibid., p. 75. [Emphasis supplied.]

“I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me” (Ecclesiastes 2:4–7).

“From the joy of divine communion, Solomon turned to find satisfaction in the pleasures of sense.”—Ibid., p. 76.

We had mentioned in our previous Youth Messenger article that the first two reasons for Solomon’s downfall were

• Women (promiscuity).

• Business transactions made without the fear of God.

Now let us look into the third reason:

• Indulgence,

• pride, ambition, and

• self-confidence.

We are told in Scripture that we are to be “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:5, 6).

It must be more than ironic that it was Solomon who wrote that there is pride before a fall. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

Yet “all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon” (2 Chronicles 9:20).

“The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. . . . The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts” (Psalm 10:2, 4).

Solomon knew the theory of humility; he had written much about it in the book of Proverbs. But Solomon and pride go together. From God’s law he knew the theory of the greatness of the Almighty and humanity’s inability to please the Lord by works.

Pride was the cause of Lucifer’s downfall.

“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!” (Obadiah 1:3–6).

This problem has existed since the dawn of human history in the experience of Adam and Eve:

“When the woman saw that the tree [which was in the midst of the garden] was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:6, 7).

When our first parents sought to be like gods to know (i.e., experience) the difference between good and evil, pride blinded their hearts and eyes as they listened to the voice of Satan and ate of the forbidden fruit—and by this sin of pride and rebellion they threw the whole human race into chaos.

Again we see this pride of ambition in the lives of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram as recorded in Numbers 16. When blinded by the sin of pride, they aspired to have the office of the high priest. God destroyed them in His wrath by opening the earth and they went down alive and perished. Oh, what a sin pride is that it makes a human aspire for that which God in His sovereignty has withheld from him or her!

Do you aspire to a great place in life, motivated by the pride of your depraved heart? “Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 45:5). Cry unto God to break this pride of ambition and seek the face of God in repentance.

The Bible also speaks of the pride of position which is sin against God. In the time of the exodus, the proud king of Egypt, Pharaoh, said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2).

Pharaoh’s arrogant defiance of his Creator is revealed in his demanding question: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?”

The human race in all its pride is saying the same thing today:

a.  Who is God that I should obey His voice?

b. Why should I bow to His authority?

c.  Why should I deny myself anything?

d. Why should I ask for help?

e. I don’t need God!

Oh, what a sin pride is, that it makes you stand out against God and say you will not bow to His supreme authority.

Not only does pride lead to rejection of God—often we do not even realize that it is controlling us. Gradually pride takes over until it conquers without us even being aware of our slavery to our own ego.

“As inclination gained the ascendancy over reason, self-confidence increased, and [Solomon] sought to carry out the Lord’s purpose in his own way. He reasoned that political and commercial alliances with the surrounding nations would bring these nations to a knowledge of the true God; and he entered into unholy alliance with nation after nation. Often these alliances were sealed by marriages with heathen princesses. The commands of Jehovah were set aside for the customs of surrounding peoples.”—Ibid., p. 54.

Like their king, Judah was filled with pride and self-sufficiency, as later described.

“Thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: and the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan” (Isaiah 2:6–13).

While this passage condemns Israel for their pride, it describes the actions of Solomon as king. Let us take a warning from seeing how subtle and destructive this form of pride can be!

“Yielding to the temptations incident to his success and his honored position, [Solomon] forgot the Source of his prosperity. An ambition to excel all other nations in power and grandeur led him to pervert for selfish purposes the heavenly gifts hitherto employed for the glory of God. The money which should have been held in sacred trust for the benefit of the worthy poor and for the extension of principles of holy living throughout the world, was selfishly absorbed in ambitious projects.

“Engrossed in an overmastering desire to surpass other nations in outward display, the king overlooked the need of acquiring beauty and perfection of character.”—Prophets and Kings, p. 55.

“For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father” (1 Kings 11:4–6).

Solomon’s separation from God through communication with idolaters was his ruin. As he cast off his allegiance to God, he lost the mastery of himself. He who said: “there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12) departed from purity and law.

We cannot serve two masters, and just as God warned Solomon of his danger, so today He warns His children not to imperil their souls by affinity with the world and the snare of greed.

“By messages of reproof and by severe judgments, [God] sought to arouse the king to a realization of the sinfulness of his course. He removed His protecting care and permitted adversaries to harass and weaken the kingdom.”—Ibid., p. 77.

“Every warning, reproof, and entreaty in the word of God or through His messengers is a knock at the door of the heart. It is the voice of Jesus asking for entrance. With every knock unheeded, the disposition to open becomes weaker. The impressions of the Holy Spirit if disregarded today, will not be as strong tomorrow. The heart becomes less impressible, and lapses into a perilous unconsciousness of the shortness of life, and of the great eternity beyond. Our condemnation in the judgment will not result from the fact that we have been in error, but from the fact that we have neglected heaven-sent opportunities for learning what is truth.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 489, 490.

Finally, “the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son” (1 Kings 11:11, 12).

“In penitence [Solomon] began to retrace his steps toward the exalted plane of purity and holiness from whence he had fallen so far. He could never hope to escape the blasting results of sin, he could never free his mind from all remembrance of the self-indulgent course he had been pursuing, but he would endeavor earnestly to dissuade others from following after folly. He would humbly confess the error of his ways and lift his voice in warning lest others be lost irretrievably because of the influences for evil he had been setting in operation.”—Prophets and Kings, p. 78. 

“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 11:9–12:1).

None can be stable without watchfulness and prayer as our only safety for both young and old.

“Those who heed the warning of Solomon’s apostasy will shun the first approach of those sins that overcame him. Only obedience to the requirements of Heaven will keep man from apostasy. God has bestowed upon man great light and many blessings; but unless this light and these blessings are accepted, they are no security against disobedience and apostasy. When those whom God has exalted to positions of high trust turn from Him to human wisdom, their light becomes darkness. Their entrusted capabilities become a snare. . . .

“All who enter the City of God will enter through the strait gate—by agonizing effort; for ‘there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth’ (Revelation 21:27). . . . God hates sin, but He loves the sinner. ‘I will heal their backsliding,’ He declares;‘I will love them freely’ (Hosea 14:4).”—Ibid., pp. 83, 84.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).

“The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7).

“Shall the warnings given by Christ be passed by unheeded? Shall we not make diligent work for repentance now, while Mercy’s gracious voice is still heard?”—Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 269.