Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Spiritual Red Flags | Historical Books | 1 Kings 11:1-8

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

Are you ignoring the little red flags? What is ruling your life? What's shaping your heart? In today's episode, Tanya shares how 1 Kings 11:1-8 encourages us to let God's wisdom lead us to eternal life. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Kings 11:1-8

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. So I've been driving to St. Louis a lot for work lately, and almost every week I get on I-70 for the two-hour drive from my house into the city. I-70 runs straight across Missouri, and it connects St. Louis and Kansas City, and it's pretty much packed with traffic. The good news is they're expanding it to three lanes in both directions. The bad news is the construction. for about 10 miles at a time the highway narrows to just one lane. This is where human reasoning seems to break down.

There are signs for miles warning drivers to merge early. And what do we do? Well, we ignore them, assuming somehow this time will be different. We wait until the last second, squeezing in with barely enough room and causing traffic jams for everyone. We ignore the little red flags. When Eric and I were talking about getting married, our pastor gave us some great advice. Don't ignore the little. red flags. They don't go away. If anything, red flags just turn into full-blown collisions

unless you do something about them. They have to be dealt with eventually. Well, that's exactly what we see in the life of King Solomon. The author of First Kings is masterful at showing us the red flags in Solomon's life. The subtle warnings that something bigger is unraveling beneath the surface. Today, we're in Chapter 11, which begins with a telling verse. But this isn't the first sign of trouble. The author has been preparing us for this moment. First King's 11-1 begins. King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women. That, however, should make us pause. It signals a shift, a contrast between what came before and what's coming next, and in this case, it's ominous. The Lord had given Solomon wisdom. Solomon built the temple. He strengthened Israel's army,

and he led the nation in worship. He loved God. However, he also loved many foreign women. That, however, marked the turning point. But we shouldn't be surprised. The author has already pointed out warning signs. In chapter 3, verses 1 through 3, Solomon makes an alliance with Pharaoh by marrying his daughter,

directly violating God's command not to return to Egypt or intermarry with foreign nations. His marriage and his worship were already misaligned with God's law. In Chapter 4, verses 26 to 28, Solomon accumulates 12,000 horses and builds 4,000 stalls for his chariots, despite Deuteronomy's clear instruction that Israelite kings should not amass horses or return to Egypt to get them. Solomon does both. He's gathering resources God never intended him to have, and on a massive scale. It makes you wonder, what would be?

be enough for Solomon. Was his idea of enough a moving target that always demanded more? Then, in chapter 6, verse 38, we learned it took Solomon seven years and thousands of laborers to build God's temple. That's a long time, right? The very next sentence tells us it took 13 years to complete his own palace. I love how the author uses conjunctions to reveal character. I love how the author shows us instead of telling us what's going on in Solomon's heart. However, but, and yet, quietly signal that something is off long before it comes fully into view. By Chapter 11, the mask comes off. Solomon's heart is divided. In his old age, his many wives lead him to worship other gods. God gave Solomon wisdom, the ability to discern when laws or precedents

didn't cover a situation, but Solomon stopped listening to God's wisdom and started rewriting his own rules. So here's the question. Who or what was truly ruling Solomon's life when he married hundreds of women and built temples for them on the Mount of Olives? The truth is, whatever we allow to rule our lives becomes our source of wisdom. If we love work most, work will dictate how we spend our evenings and help us decide what to do with our weekends. If we love appearances, we'll make choices based on how things look from the outside, even if those decisions leave us feeling empty on the inside. If we love parenthood, we may make decisions that project our desires onto our kids,

pushing them toward our version of what they should be rather than theirs. God is the only true source of wisdom. Everything else leads us down a road that eventually sounds a lot like Solomon's. She loved God. However, she worked so much she didn't have time for meaningful friendships. He loved God, but he parented in a way that pushed his children away. They wanted to be admired, so they bought things they couldn't afford, and with it they lost the margin to be rested and generous.

We don't always love these things for their sake. Often, we love how they make us feel. Do you think Solomon felt more secure with thousands of horses, more fulfilled with hundreds of wives, or did he feel more anxious and more restless? His love for these things didn't just distract him. It eventually unraveled him. He built temples for other gods that rivaled the one he built for the one true God.

So let me ask you, what are your little red flags? What are the attitudes, habits, relationships, or desires that may seem manageable now, but could eventually take over? What would it look like to trust Jesus with those things? Jesus shows us what real wisdom looks like. It's not about acquiring more. It's about surrender, about dying to self and receiving his grace.

In 2 Corinthians 12, we learned that Christ's grace is sufficient and his power is made perfect in our weakness. In 2 Corinthians 3, we're told that when we turn to the Lord, he removes the veil that keeps us blind to our real needs. And the spirit brings freedom, not the kind the world offers, but freedom from everything we once thought we had to chase. Solomon's story reminds us that wisdom is more than intelligence or insight. It's about allegiance. The question isn't just, what do I know, but who is ruling my heart? The Lord gave Solomon everything he needed to lead well, but he drifted slowly by small compromises and unchecked desires. We face the same danger.

So ask yourself, what rules your heart right now? What red flags have you been ignoring? What would it look like to let Jesus be your king, not just in word, but in how you live? Whatever rules your heart shapes your wisdom, and only God's wisdom leads to life.