The Sin of Accommodation

"Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy."

2 Chronicles 8:11

Solomon was a man endowed with great wisdom from God.  Unlike most men, his wisdom lessened with age.  After God granted his request for wisdom to govern God's people, the report of his great wisdom reached far and wide.  But as he grew in affluence and power in a land without war, he let his guard down.  Moral lapses gave way to abominable idolatry.  He multiplied wives and horses to himself, and ended being a great fool because he ceased to seek after God with all his heart, soul, and mind.

Most of us have heard about sins of commission (sin willfully committed) and omission (good left undone).  One of the ways we justify sin is when we grant sin accommodation.  Marrying the daughter of Pharaoh was good politics, but a transgression of God's laws.  Solomon knew this in his heart.  He justified his marriage to a foreign woman contrary to the Law by building a special house for her.  He knew his marriage with the daughter of Pharaoh was an unholy one, but he accommodated his sinful relationship by keeping that part of his life carefully compartmentalised - or so he thought!

Keeping up appearances was more important to Solomon than simple obedience to God.  He continued to multiply wives and concubines to himself while he pursued greater building projects of great beauty.  Enormous tax revenue, tribute, and unfathomable riches poured year by year into his treasury.  Nations all around sent gifts and accolades as Jerusalem entered into a time of unprecedented peace and wealth.  In the beginning of Solomon's reign he was as David, but at the end of his reign he looked more like King Saul.  1 Kings 11:4 & 6 reads, "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...⁶ Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David."  Accommodation of sin led to disloyalty and evil deeds in the sight of God.  Because of this, God stirred up adversaries against Solomon and ripped away 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel to be ruled by his servant, Jeroboam.  Instead of repenting, Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam - just like King Saul had done to his father David.

This tragic tale is repeated over and over to this day.  The scenery is different, but the hearts of men are still as deceitful and desperately wicked as ever.  Solomon did not reject God's ways in a day, but it was a slow slide during his reign of 40 years, deliberately departing from the wise truth which he received from the mouth of God.  If Solomon, the wisest of men was not able to abide in the wisdom which he knew, what hope is there for us?  The only hope man has is found in the person of Jesus Christ.  He has become wisdom and righteousness for us (1 Cor. 1:30-31).  We must be cautious that we never grant accommodation for sin.  It is imperative that we check our lives continually against God's righteous standard as revealed in scripture and heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  This is why Paul exhorted in 2 Corinthians 13:5:  "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified."  No one would expect that a physical exam undergone 20 years ago is adequate for today.  Daily we are called to examine ourselves so we might walk in the way which fully pleases God.

Beware of the slippery slope of sin accommodation.  It has cast down many wounded, and all were strong men.  Some of the most wise who ever lived are numbered among the willing victims.  Paul prays according to God's will for your life when he relates his desire in Colossians 1:10-14:  "...that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; ¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."  Let us abide in Christ, making no provision for the flesh.  In Jesus is abundant life!