Deception is a sneaky thing. It can be behind a beautiful smiling face, or in the voice of a clever salesman who just ‘knows’ what is the right product for you. It was behind the words of that talking snake in the garden of Eden, convincing the first woman God put on this earth that the forbidden fruit will make her as knowledgeable as the Almighty Creator.
“I think I’m a good judge of character” some may say. “I can tell when someone’s lying!” That can be true but it’s just as true that some people become very clever at fooling others. The devil is clever at studying human’s potential weaknesses and adept at deceiving. Read Genesis 3 in the Bible.
Being able to guard ourselves from deception is important. I wrote about growing in discernment in a previous post what is the fruit of the Christian life
Now I urge us to consider the reality of deception.
Solomon was the son of God’s chosen king David and he succeeded him on the throne. Almighty God had visited Solomon one night and asked him what he wanted. Solomon took this special opportunity to ask, not for many riches, not for fame all over the earth, but for understanding to govern the people. Now that’s a wise request! God granted Solomon’s humble request, and he did indeed rule wisely… for a time.
Enter deception…
Deception came to Solomon in the form of women. God’s commandments were known, yet Solomon was enticed and fell from grace. He had received a gracious warning ahead of time:-
The LORD said to him: I have heard your prayer and petition you have made before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built, to put My name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there at all times. As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel. If you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep My commands — My statutes that I have set before you — and if you go and serve other gods and worship them, I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them, and I will reject the temple I have sanctified for My name. Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.
1 Kings 9:3-7 The Bible HCSB
God had told His people not to marry those from other nation groups, because of their idolatry that would draw them away. But the more famous and rich Solomon became, he failed to keep the worship of the true God – Yahweh – at the centre of it all.
When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been.
1 Kings 11:4 The Bible
The result was moral failure and his son losing the majority of the kingdom.
You may say “it was sexual lust that enticed Solomon, not deception”. Yes but Solomon had been visited by Almighty God – twice. He was given more wisdom than anyone known. He was a successful ruler, so why would Solomon want to ruin that? He put himself in a vulnerable position. Perhaps he thought he could handle one or two more wives, but he became weaker and weaker, and the women increased more and more in his life.
When the desires of the flesh are fed, the spirit weakens.
Solomon’s devotion to God waned. He was deceived because he knew the true God but accepted the false gods of his pagan wives.
Know your weaknesses. Know your potential to fail. Guard against it. Pray more. Delve into God’s word the Bible and feast on truth as your nourishment. Starve the soulish lusts. Feed your spirit. Be filled with the Spirit of Christ. Be in accountable, supportive friendships with those who will lovingly warn you.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Ephesians 6:10-11, the Bible
May we each grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Truth Prevails 
Thank you for this blog Susanne. A good reminder of the subtlety of deception. It is also encouraging to see God’s love in the Old and new testaments, that he is the same God. I notice the term you used was ‘ Fall from grace’ Can you you help me trace where the term comes from and what it means?
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Galatians 5:4 in the Bible refers to falling from grace, in the context of trying to justify one’s ways through the law instead of in Christ. In the context that I have used the phrase, Solomon had sought his satisfaction in his many women, rather than in the LORD, therefore a result is that he had slipped away from the grace given to him. When we think of God’s grace towards us in Christ, it is unearned… yet we should keep sight of the fact that God can still pass judgement on rebellion. He will permit the consequences of deliberate sinning to be felt.
Could Solomon have repented and rejected the false gods of his many women? Possibly, but who knows at what point a heart may harden against our Creator? So the point in this topic is to guard against deception.
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