King Solomon

When king David was very old, he couldn't keep warm even when they put shelter over him. His servants searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. She took care of him, but he had no sexual relationship with her. (1 Kings 1:1–4).

David's son Adonijah, who was very handsome, wanted to be king and got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run before him. David never displeased him for his misdeeds. Adonijah consulted with Joab and with Abiathar the priest, and they they supported him. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah, and Nathan the prophet didn't join Adonijah. Adonijah sacrificed and invited all his brothers, the sons of king David
and all the royal officials of Judah, but not the prophet Nathan, Benaiah, or his brother Solomon. (1 Kings 1:5–10).

When David grew old and in poor health, it created a political vacuum that his son Adonijah wanted to fill by becoming the next king. Adonijah was David's fourth born son. The first born son was Amnon, who was killed by Absalom because Amnon had violated Absalom's sister, Amnon's half-sister. Absalom was the third born son. Absalom was killed by David's men when he tried to overthrow
David as king. The second son born was Chileab who may be dead at this time.

Adonijah tried to impress the people by reinforcing his image of being an important person, while being the next person in line to become king. Although David was a great king, he was a pretty lousy dad. He never displeased Adonijah for his misdeeds, probably because he was so busy ruling his country that he had no time left for his children. Adonijah became a very selfish and handsome man, where everything revolved around him. Both Joab and Abiathar the priest stayed with David when Absalom tried to overthrow David, but this time they took stand for Adonijah.

Nathan then told Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, how she could save her own life and Solomon's life. She would go to David and ask him why Adonijah had become king.
Nathan would then come in and add his word to what she had said. So she did and Nathan confirmed what she said. Then David told Bathsheba that Solomon would become king after him. David called the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah and told them to put Solomon on his own mule and bring him down to Gihon. There the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan would anoint him king over Israel. They should blow the trumpet and shout: 'Long live King Solomon!' Then he would sit on David's throne and rule in his place. David had appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah. So they did. (1 Kings 1:11–40).

The principle when taking the throne was to establish it, which means eliminating enemies to secure the throne. Nathan understood that there was a risk that
Adonijah would eliminate Bathsheba and Solomon to strengthen his throne if he became the next king.

All of Adonijah’s guests then rose in alarm and dispersed. But Adonijah, for fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar. Then Solomon said that
if he proved worthy, not a hair of his head would fall to the ground;
but if evil were in him, he would die. (1 Kings 1:41–53).

We should trust in the Lord with all our heart and not rely on our own understanding
(Proverbs 3:5–6). Adonijah trusted in his own strength. We can do the same when we are faced with a situation that we have caused that we believe we must resolve. Instead we should seek the Lord in prayer, wait on him before we act too quickly.
David waited years for God before taking the throne after he was anointed king.

Grasping the horns of the altar was more of a pagan concept. The idea was that you could declare sanctuary by doing so. The priests would then protect you. This wasn't something that God had told them to do.

As the time drew near for David to die, David commanded Solomon to walk in obedience to the Lord and to keep his decrees and commands, as written in the Mosaic Laws. He would also deal with Joab because he killed the two commanders of Israel’s armies; Abner and Amasa, but he would show mercy to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead, because they stood by David when he fled from Absalom.
He should also deal with Shimei, who uttered bitter curses on David. When David
died, he had reigned 40 years over Israel; 7 years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem. Solomon sat on the throne of his father David and his rule was firmly established. (1 Kings 2:1–12, 1 Chron 22:12–13, 29:26–28).

Joab was loyal to David but neither an obedient man nor a godly man.

Adonijah went to Bathsheba and asked her to ask Solomon to give Abishag to wife. Bathsheba did so. Then king Solomon swore by the Lord that Adonijah would be killed that day for this request. He gave Benaiah the order to strike Adonijah, which he did and Adonijah died. (1 Kings 2:13–25).

Abishag had been David's concubine. Getting her as a wife was a way to gain power. It would increase the possibility for Adonijah to advance to become a future king of Israel. Solomon had warned him earlier about doing something like this.

Solomon told Abiathar the priest to go back to his fields. Solomon removed him from the priesthood of the Lord and fulfilled the word which the Lord had spoken concerning the house of Eli (see the first part of Samuel and Saul). Joab then fled to the Tabernacle and grabbed the horns of the altar. Solomon ordered Benaiah to go and strike him, which he did. Solomon put Benaiah in charge of the army in Joab’s position and replaced Abiathar with the priest Zadok. Then Solomon sent for Shimei 
and told him to build a house in Jerusalem and live there, but not to go anywhere else. The day he did, he would die. Shimei stayed a long time in Jerusalem. But three years later, two of Shimei’s slaves escaped, and he left Jerusalem to search for his slaves. Solomon commanded Benaiah to strike Shimei, which he did. The kingdom was now established in Solomon’s hands. (1 Kings 2:26–46).

Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house, the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the people sacrificed at the high places. Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the decrees of his father 
David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 
(1 Kings 3:1–3).

It was a common practice to marry the daughter to a king of another nation to cement a pact. Solomon did that as a political move. God had already given
Solomon peace on all of his borders so he didn't have to. All these foreign women with pagan belief systems created severe problems for him. At the end of Solomon's life, he began building temples for their gods. Because of his love for these foreign wives, he even worshipped them. It greatly contributed to idolatry and paganism later on in Israel. Sacrifices on the high places were a pagan thought. They believed that you had to be geographical higher if you wanted to be close to a god. God wanted the people to sacrifice in the Tabernacle and later on in the temple in Jerusalem. David never worshipped in high places. Solomon loved the Lord but
compromised one step at a time.

Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for this place was the great high place: Solomon offered 1000 Burnt Offerings on that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night and told him to ask what the Lord would give him. Solomon said he wanted an understanding heart to judge his people, to distinguish between good and evil. Because he asked for this and didn't ask for a long life, wealth or the life of his enemies, God did according to his word. God gave him a wise and understanding heart, so that there had not been anyone like him before and would not be after him. God also gave him wealth and glory, so that there wouldn't be anyone like him among the kings throughout his time (Mat 6:33). If he walked in the ways of the Lord, kept his decrees and commandments as David did, then God would prolong his days. Then Solomon awoke; and it really had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the Ark of the Covenant, and offered Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings, and made a feast for all his servants. (1 Kings 3:4–15, 2 Chron 1:7–12).

Solomon wasn't supposed to be on a high place and and sacrifice there. The Lord came to him while he was there and blessed him. This doesn't mean that God didn't care that Solomon was on the high place, but it shows that the Lord is a God of grace and mercy. God is patient and strives for people for a long time and can bless us even when we act in a wrong way. Just because we are blessed doesn't mean that we are right with God in every way. Solomon wanted a listening heart from the Lord and he got it (Psalm 72). He also got what he he didn't ask for, wealth and glory.
Similarly, we should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Mat 6:33), see Don't be anxious in The Sermon on the Mount.

Two prostitutes came to king Solomon. The first woman said that they lived in the same house and she had a child. On the third day after her child was born, the other woman also had a child. The two women were alone in the house. During the night, the other woman’s son died because she was lying on him. So she got up in the middle of the night and took the first woman's son while she was sleeping, and gave her the dead child. The next morning the first woman saw that it wasn’t the son she had given birth to. The other woman said that the living was her son; not the dead one. Then the king asked for a sword. He gave orders to cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other. The first woman whose son was alive loved her son and told the king to give the living child to the second woman but not to kill him. But the other woman said that he could cut him in two. Then the king said that the living child should be given to the first woman, she was his mother. When all Israel heard the judgment that the king had given, they respected the king, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to do justice. (1 Kings 3:16–28).

This is an example of the wisdom Solomon received from the Lord. It's difficult to tell who is right when two people give different testimonies (Proverbs 18:17). There are often two sides of a story, although people often judge after hearing only one side. 
A matter in Israel must normally be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses (Deu 19:15, 2 Cor 13:1, Mat 18:16). In this case there were two witnesses, but with conflicting testimonies, as both wanted the living child.
Solomon solved it by returning to the laws of nature that a mother protects her child and wants it to live. Knowledge is knowing something. Wisdom is knowing what to do about it. The knowledge in this case is that a woman protects her child and wants it to live. The wisdom is to apply that knowledge to find out who the true mother is, see The word of wisdom in Spiritual Gifts.

Solomon reigned over all Israel, over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt. He ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides. During his lifetime the people of Israel lived in security. (1 Kings 4:1, 21a, 24–25, 8:65). 

This land was promised to Abraham (Gen 15:7, 13–16, 18–19). The borders were promised by God in the Mosaic covenant (Exo 23:31, Deu 1:7, Joshua 1:4).

Solomon had twelve district governors throughout Israel, who provided for the king and the royal household. Each had to provide supplies for one month of the year. They provided provisions for Solomon and all who came to his table. They made sure nothing was missing. (1 Kings 4:7, 27). 

Because Solomon was wise, he was also organised. Organisation breathes order, and order breathes peace (1 Cor 14:33a). Order is a by-product of wisdom, and peace is a by-product of order. We need order in our lives.

God gave Solomon wisdom and great insight. His wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else, and his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He wrote 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs. From all nations people came to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, sent by all the kings of the world who had heard of his wisdom.
(1 Kings 4:29–34). 

The Lord had given Solomon rest on every side, and there was no adversary or disaster. He therefore began to build the temple. The Lord had told David that his son would build the temple. He asked Hiram, the king of Tyre for cedars of Lebanon to be used for the temple. Hiram replied that he would give cedars and junipers. He wanted food for his royal household from Solomon. The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. It was peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and they both made a treaty. King Solomon called in 30,000 workers from all over Israel. He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Solomon had 70,000 carriers and 80,000 stonemasons in the hills, as well as 3,300 foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. (1 Kings 5:1–18, 2 Chron 2:1–18). 

480 years after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, Solomon began building the temple on Mount Moriah (2 Chron 3:1). He built and completed it. The foundation of the temple was laid in the 4th year. In the 11th year the temple was completed in all its details according to its specifications. 
He spent seven years building it. 
(1 Chron 22–26, 28–29, 1 Kings 6:1–38,  

2 Chron 3:1–7:11). 

Much later during the reign of Herod the Great, the Second Temple was completely renovated, see the short video Herod's Temple - Interesting Facts. 

Mount Moriah is the mountain where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Isaac
(Gen 22:2, 14). It has been identified with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. See also Temple Mount/Fort Antonia, Which One Stood on Mount Moriah? The Definitive EVIDENCE, especially time 14:55–16:46 which describes the meaning of the Jewish idiom "one stone upon another" (Luk 19:41–44, 21:5–6, Mat 24:1–2, Mark 13:1–2).

The Lord told Solomon at night that if he obeyed God's rules and kept all his commandments, then God would dwell among the children of Israel and not forsake his people Israel. (1 Kings 6:11–13, 2 Chron 7:12–22).

The temple wasn't big but it was magnificent, it's called Solomon's Temple. It was based on and replaced the Tabernacle. During the Old Covenant, God dwelt in the most holy place of the temple, a powerful image of God's presence in their lives. As Christians under the New Covenant, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in us (1 Cor 6:19). The aspect of keeping the law is a matter of the heart, see 
Listen to Jesus.

Solomon cast two bronze pillars and set them up at the entrance of the temple.
He named them Boaz and Jachin. (1 Kings 7:15–22, 2 Chron 3:15–17).

Then he made the sea out of cast metal. It stood on twelve oxen, three to the north, three to the west, three to the south, and three to the east. It held 2000 baths (about 45,000 liter). (1 Kings 7:23–26, 2 Chron 4:2–5).

He also made the ten bronze stands and the ten bronze basins. He set the stands, five on the south side of the house and five on the north side of the house. And he put the sea in the southeast corner of the house. (1 Kings 7:27–40a, 2 Chron 4:6).

Then Solomon gathered the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes. The priests brought up the Ark of the Covenant and all the holy vessels that were in the
Tabernacle; the priests and the Levites brought them up. The priests brought the ark to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place. There was nothing in the ark except of the two tablets of stone. Previously there was also a pot of manna and Aaron's rod (Heb 9:4, Exo 16:33, Numbers 17:10). When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests couldn't stand and minister because of the cloud. 
(1 Kings 8:1–11, 2 Chron 5:2–14). 

Solomon said that it was in David's heart to build the house for the Lord's name.
But God told David that he wouldn't build the house, but his son would. Solomon had now built the house for the Lord's name. And there he had appointed a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with their fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. (1 Kings 8:12–21, 2 Chron 6:7–11). 

Then Solomon said that there is no God like him, in Heaven above or on Earth beneath, who keeps covenant and shows steadfast love to his servants who walk before him with all their hearts. Solomon asked God to keep his promise to David
that he doesn't lack a man who can sit before him on the throne of Israel, if only his sons walked before him as he had walked before God. Solomon said that Heaven couldn't contain God; how much less the house that he had built. He asked God to forgive the people when they sinned, but to do so when they turned back to God, acknowledged his name, repented, and asked for forgiveness. That they may fear God as long as they live in the land which God had given to their fathers.
He besought the Lord not to leave them or forsake them, that he may incline their hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his decrees, and his ordinances, which he commanded their fathers. He wanted all the peoples of the Earth to know that the Lord is God; there is no other. They must be faithful to the Lord, walk in his decrees, and keep his commandments. 
(1 Kings 8:22–61, 2 Chron 6:14–42).

When Solomon asked God to keep his promises, he was actually declaring God's promises, that he stood on them in faith. Solomon believed them. God always keep his promises. In the same way, we can stand on God's promises.

God would dwell in the Most Holy Place in the temple, but wasn't limited to the temple, something Solomon understood. So did David (Psalm 139:7–10), see
Psalm 139: The Lord knows me. God is everywhere (Acts 7:44–50, Isaiah 66:1).

The greatest need that we have from God is to be forgiven. It was accomplished by Jesus on the cross, see The Crucifixion of Jesus. We should ask God to forgive us,
in the same way that we also forgive others (Mat 6:12, Luk 11:4a), see
Forgive and You will Be Forgiven.

Then the king offered sacrifices before the Lord. Solomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep as Peace Offerings. He offered Burnt Offering, Grain Offering, and Peace Offerings. (1 Kings 8:62–66, 2 Chron 7:4–10).

It took Solomon thirteen years, to complete the construction of his own palace. (That's twice as long as it took to build the temple). He built the throne room, the Hall of Justice, where he would judge. Solomon also built a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. 
(1 Kings 7:1–12, 2 Chron 8:1, 11).

When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace had achieved all that he had wanted to do, the Lord appeared to him a second time. The Lord told him that if he walked before him faithfully with uprightness of heart and sincerity as David had done, did all that God commanded and kept his ordinances and laws, God would establish his royal throne over Israel forever as he promised David. But if he or his descendants turned away from him and didn't keep the commandments and ordinances that God had given them and served other gods and worshiped them, then he would cut off Israel from the land he had given them and reject this temple he had dedicated for his name. Israel would then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all nations, and the temple would then become a heap of stones. 
(1 Kings 9:1–9, 2 Chron 7:12–22). 

At the end of the 20 years during which Solomon built these two buildings, the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, Solomon gave 20 cities in Galilee to
Hiram king of Tyre, because he had supplied him with all the cedar, juniper, and
gold he wanted. But Hiram wasn't satisfied with them. Hiram had sent to Solomon 120 talents of gold. (1 Kings 9:10–14, 2 Chron 8:1).

The gold talents were probably payment for the cities. Solomon had a love of things (the lust of the eyes), an unwillingness to let go of anything of value to him. He gave Hiram cities of no value to him. This was an ungodly attitude that began his downfall.

Three times a year Solomon offered Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord and burned incense before the Lord with them, thus fulfilling the obligations of the temple. Solomon built ships on the shores of the Red Sea. Hiram sent his men to serve in the navy alongside Solomon’s men. They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold, which they gave to Solomon. (1 Kings 9:25–28, 2 Chron 8:12–18).

There is always a problem when God's blessing is poured out. There is then the opportunity for backsliding and become so delighted with myself that I begin to
slack off in my walk with the Lord. Unfortunately, we see that in the life of Solomon.
He would choose to go beyond what he knew was right, that is transgression. It's a choice to walk out wisdom. As Christians we can choose too follow God or choose to compromise, see Sanctification.

All these sacrifices gave him a sense of doing something that was acceptable to God. What he really needed was to repent and get his heart right with God. But instead he sacrificed. It became a religious activity. The heart was no longer there. Running after all this gold was a warning sign that everything wasn't right. Solomon, who was one of the richest men in the world, wrote most of the proverbs warning about the danger of money, but didn't heed these warnings himself, see The Love of Money. Sacrificial giving means a lot to God. We don't see that with Solomon. His treasure was in something other than his walk with God. 

God had given the following rules for a king of Israel to avoid, each of them representing something that draws him away from the Lord.

1. He must not get a large number of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them (Deu 17:16, Isaiah 31:1).
   Egypt is an image of slavery to sin, see Typology. We shouldn't allow ourselves to go back into slavery under sin (Gal 5:1). Solomon had 4,000 stalls for chariot horses and 12,000 horses (1 Kings 4:26, 10:26, 2 Chron 1:14, 9:25). The horses were imported from Egypt (1 Kings 10:28, 2 Chron 1:16, 9:28). Many horses created military power and made a king believe he was invincible. He would then trust in his own strength instead of trusting in God. 
2. He must not take many wives, or his heart would be led astray 
   (Deu 17:17a). Solomon had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines.
   His wives led Solomon's heart away from the Lord. (1 Kings 11:3).
3. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold (Deu 17:17b), see The Love of Money. Although God promised him wealth (1 Kings 3:13),
   he had a responsibility for how he used it. Hoarding large amounts of silver and gold wasn't right (2 Chron 1:15). The weight of the gold that Solomon received annually was 666 talents (1 Kings 10:14–15, 2 Chron 9:13).

We have the lust of the flesh (makes us sin), the lust of the eyes
(things that attract us visually and that we want), and the pride of life
(our desire to be liked by people, to have people think highly about us,
to obtain a high position among men), see The Book of John. 
It's in these areas where we find all sin. This is where we are attacked as Christians. Solomon would encompass all these areas.

Solomon thought that 'Everything is meaningless', see The Book of Ecclesiastes,
but he still ran after all these things. For all his wisdom, Solomon broke all these rules. The reason was that his desire for these things was very strong in his life and overpowered the wisdom he had about them. It's easier to teach than to live by it. He broke them because of disobedience to the Lord. 

God didn't take away any of Solomon's wisdom because of that. God doesn't remove his gifts to us, he doesn't take them back (Rom 11:29). When we see spiritual gifts
from the Lord working through an individual, we can believe that everything in that individual is OK because his gifts are flowing. It need not be the case, see 
Balaam and Balak. We can walk in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and at the same time live an ongoing sinful life without repenting. This is against God's will. See 
Beware of false prophets in The Sermon on the Mount.

When the queen of Sheba heard Solomon's fame and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with difficult questions. When she arrived at Jerusalem with a very large caravan, with camels carrying spices, great quantities of gold and precious stones, she came to Solomon and spoke to him of all that was on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for him to explain to her. She said that in wisdom and wealth he had far surpassed the report she heard. She gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Hiram’s ships also brought gold from Ophir. Solomon gave her all she desired and asked for, except what he had given her of his royal bounty.
Then she left and returned to her own country. Even Jesus would later refer to her (Mat 12:42). (1 Kings 10:1–13, 2 Chron 9:1–12).

Solomon was greater in wealth and wisdom than all the other kings on Earth
(2 Chron 9:22). But in spite of all this he was just a sinful man who had been blessed by God. The words of the queen of Sheba must have taken hold of his pride in life. He embraced all flattery and thought that he was truly better than everyone else (Gal 6:3), see The Pharisee and the Tax Collector. David on the other hand had never forgot who he really is. And apostle Paul who was taken up to the third (God's) Heaven said that he was the worst sinner (2 Cor 12:2–6, 1 Tim 1:15).
Paul saw himself as a product of God's mercy and was a man of incredible humility.

Solomon made 200 great shields of hammered gold; 600 shekels of gold went into each shield. He also made 300 small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. He put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. Then Solomon made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On either side of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at each end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. All king Solomon’s cups were gold, and all the utensils of the the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, as silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. He had a fleet of merchant ships at sea along with Hiram's ships. Once every three years the ships returned with gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and baboons. Solomon was greater in wealth and wisdom than all the other kings on Earth. The whole world sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had placed in his heart. Year after year, all who came brought a gift, objects of silver and gold, clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. Solomon gathered chariots and horses; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, which he kept in the chariot cities but also in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 10:16–29, 2 Chron 9:13–28, Isaiah 2:6–8).

You find out what is in a man when he receives praise (Proverbs 27:21). Whoever believes that he stands must take care that he doesn't fall (1 Cor 10:11–12).
Solomon is an example of a man whose heart has fallen away from God, given as a warning to us.

Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter: Moabites,
Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. They came from people of whom the Lord had said to the Israelites: "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon clung to those in love. When Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart wasn't fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of David had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord; he didn't follow the Lord completely as David had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Moab's detestable god Chemosh, and for the Ammonites' detestable god Molek. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from God, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon didn't obey the Lord’s command. The Lord said to Solomon:

"Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen." (1 Kings 11:1–13).

Our God is a jealous God (in a positive sense), see God is jealous in 
God's Attributes, and doesn't accept that we worship other gods whoever they are.

If Solomon really loved these women and really loved the Lord, he should have tried to convert them to follow the Lord, not built high places for their gods, and not followed their gods. Solomon chose to reject the wisdom from the Lord not to marry foreign women and the obedience that comes with it. These women gave him emotional pleasure that tempted him to do what he knew was wrong.

Then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal family of Edom. Earlier, when David was fighting against Edom, Joab the army commander had struck down all the men of Edom. But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt. While in Egypt, Hadad heard that David was resting with his ancestors and that Joab was also dead. He then returned to his own country. God raised up another adversary against Solomon; Rezon. He had gathered a company of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the problems Hadad caused. Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile to Israel. 
(1 Kings 11:14–25).

God raised up these enemies against Solomon because of the following:

• Solomon didn't obey the Lord and didn't keep the Mosaic Laws.
• To remind Solomon that he had went astray from the Lord, to give him the opportunity to repent. Something he didn't do as far as we know.

We don't know for sure whether Solomon had time to repent before he died, 

if he even understood that he had forsaken God or if he had hardened his heart. 
We don't know whether he made it to God's Paradise when he died:
 "And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and
understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you,
but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever." (1 Chron 28:9).

Also Jeroboam rebelled against him. He was one of Solomon’s officials. Solomon had put him in charge of a work force. As Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem,
Ahijah the Shilonite met him. The two of them were alone out in the country, and Ahijah grabbed the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he told Jeroboam that he would take ten pieces for himself. The Lord would tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give him ten tribes. But for the sake of his servant David and the city of Jerusalem, the house of David would have one tribe (the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon essentially lived as one tribe).
The Lord would do this because they had forsaken him and worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, Molek, the god of the Ammonites, and they haven't walked in obedience to him and haven't done what was right in his eyes, nor kept his decrees and laws like David. If Jeroboam did what he commanded him, walked in obedience to him, and did what was right in his eyes by obeying his decrees and commands as David did, God would be with him. God would then build him a dynasty as long as the one he built for David and would give him Israel. God would humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to king Shishak in Egypt (see the
New Egyptian Chronology), and stayed there until Solomon’s death. Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.
(1 Kings 11:26–43, 2 Chron 9:30–31).

See also The Old Testament of the Bible.