Interesting that immediately after that marriage masterpiece of Song of Songs we have the entry for today of 1 Kings 11 which relates how far Solomon strayed for the commands of the Lord. His heart was not fully devoted to God because of his foreign wives. He built high places for three major gods. When in Jerusalem in the summer of 2005 we saw the place east of the city where Solomon built those high places – not too very far from the Mount of Olives.

There are three major gods listed in the 1 Kings 11 passage, Molech, Chemosh, and Ashtoreth. The worship of Molech was accompanied by the burning of children offered as sacrifice by their own parents. It's referred to in Scripture as "passing children through the fire."

Chemosh was thought to be a pagan god associated with the heavenly bodies and also was worshiped by the sacrifice of children as burnt offerings.

Ashtoreth was the ancient Syrian and Phoenician goddess of the moon, sexuality, sensual love, and fertility. In the Old Testament Ashtoreth is often associated with the worship of Baal.

No wonder “the LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel,”
And so God raised up adversaries against Solomon.

How is it with all of us? Are our hearts fully devoted to God?