This chapter closes the curtain on Solomon’s life, not with fanfare, but with a funeral dirge. The chronicler does not mention more of his accomplishments or wisdom but records the sad reality that “his heart turned away from the Lord” toward the idols of his foreign wives. What a tragic epitaph for a man who once built the temple of God and filled it with praise. It is striking that the chapter is not about Solomon’s glory but about his enemies—Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam—each named as an instrument of divine discipline. As long as Solomon walked with God, the writer cared to record his every act, but when he turned from God, his story dimmed like a candle burned down to its wick. Dilday writes, “As soon as he forsook Yahweh, he became insignificant, an empty vessel discarded by the wayside.” The light of his wisdom faded into shadow, and the kingdom that once glittered like gold began to crack like a broken ornament after Christmas morning cleanup.
It is a sobering reminder for us who decorate, celebrate, and sometimes overindulge during the holidays. Solomon’s story is not so far removed from our own tendency to exchange substance for sparkle. His downfall came not through war or poverty, but through comfort, pleasure, and compromise—three forces that still have a way of pulling hearts from the center of devotion. The same man who once wrote Proverbs warning against the seductions of folly became her most prominent student. It is as if he hung all the tinsel of his success but forgot to keep the light plugged in. The wisest man in history finally confessed in Ecclesiastes, “It’s all worth nothing. The best thing for man is to enjoy his work and obey God.” Experience was his teacher, but the tuition was high. We can learn from his lessons without repeating his failures. Paul reminds believers, “Do not lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature… Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” (Colossians 3:9–10)
At Christmas, we celebrate the coming of a greater Son of David, whose wisdom never waned and whose heart never strayed. Jesus, born in humility, grew in wisdom and favor with God and man, and unlike Solomon, He finished His course in perfect obedience. His kingdom does not crumble with age or fade with wealth but shines eternally with grace and truth. The angel told Mary, “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:33) Solomon’s glory ended in darkness, but in Bethlehem’s stable, light broke through again—light that no silence, sorrow, or sin can ever eclipse.