The ‘warning’ in Chapter 5 continues with a question for the ages…

Proverbs 5:20

“Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?”

With the wisdom that Almighty God had granted him, Solomon was clearly asking the right questions for he was known worldwide…

I Kings 10:24

“The whole world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.”

So what happened?

Well, two things happened:

– “However and Nevertheless”

I Kings 11:1-2

“King Solomon, ‘however’, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.”

‘Nevertheless’, Solomon held fast to them in love.”

Two things happened next:

– “However and Nevertheless”

Solomon gave counsel to others but did not apply it to his own life. Solomon gave boundaries to others but did not hold himself to the same. “However and Nevertheless”

*Reflection: Two of the most condemning words in all of Scripture. Yet, I like Solomon, am a mortal man.  May God give me grace and protect me from myself.