Sophomoric Solomon

But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. – 1 Kings 11.1-4

In American high schools and universities where there are four levels of students indicating their year of study there are normally four categories. First year students are called freshman, second year are sophomores, third year are juniors, and fourth year seniors.

It's that second year that interests me – the sophomore year. That's a great word. It comes from two Greek words that literally mean ‘wise moron.’ I can’t think of a better way to describe Solomon here. We have an adjective today that fits here – sophomoric.

Solomon’s decision here was sophomoric. He had all the wisdom God gave him but he still chose to ignore God and take on this foreign wives and concubines and their pagan religions. God had warned him that that would turn his heart away from God, but he didn’t care. His folly overcame his wisdom. His heart was turned away from God (more anon).

Pretty dumb for a smart guy? Ya think?

But don’t you and I do the exact same thing every time we turn aside from the wisdom found in the word of God to do things our own way? Aren’t we just as sophomoric as Solomon? Sin will turn us all into wise morons if we allow it.