In Ephesians 2:2 the Apostle Paul refers to Satan the devil (enemy) as “the prince of the powers of the air.”  The previous series highlighted the various works of those powers as his fallen angels tempt mankind and, when allowed to enter into them, wreak havoc in the life of their helpless, unwitting hosts.  Human beings begin life on a spiritually positive note but, due to their lack of God consciousness through Bible study, prayer, fasting, etc., the allow one of more of the “powers of the air” to move into their heart and take over their life.  No one is a better example of this phenomenon than Israelite King Solomon whose private and public lives both began in overwhelming light that, due to the work of Satan and company, evolved into overwhelming darkness.

Solomon was the son of Israel’s most cherished king, David, “a man after God’s own heart.”  It is true that David failed and failed as badly as one can fail.  However, though he failed greatly, he just as greatly repented.  His repentance and return to God was total and permanent.  DAVID KNEW HOW TO REPENT, TURN AND FOLLOW THE LORD WITHOUT VARIATION UNTIL THE END OF HIS LIFE.  Like David, we all have sinned.  Jesus tells us that all who will join David on His throne in the Kingdom of God must follow in David’s footsteps.  In David’s case, the old man did truly die and the new man did truly live until his death after a long and successful life.

Solomon began life on a personal high note.  The son of the king of the greatest nation on earth, he had everything going for him.  After David’s death Solomon built God a temple unrivaled on the face of the earth.  People came from all over just to see the majesty and grandeur of his kingdom.  The Queen of Sheba came a great distance to see what she admitted, overwhelmed her.  Nothing on earth compared to what God had provided for Israel’s king and the greatly blessed people he ruled.  His father had “set the table.”  Solomon inherited what was on it, which was magnificent.  On top of that, Solomon was also the wisest man on earth.  He had it all–wisdom, charisma, power, wealth, fame ….

King Solomon was God’s man.  He wrote beautiful songs to his Lord.  He wrote the Book of Proverbs in which are found some of the most powerful and truthful statements in the Holy Bible.  In that book are found some of the Lord’s most powerful statements of wisdom, insight and revelation.  Read 1 Kings chapter 8 and listen to the prayer King Solomon prayed when the ark of the covenant was brought into Jerusalem for the dedication of the new Temple that he had built for the Lord.  Recall that David wanted to build the Temple.  But God said no, that Solomon would build it.  That was the attitude He had toward the future king.   At this point the son of David was sold out to the Lord his God.  But then everything changed.

At some point in the life of this most blessed of men a devil found a chink in his spiritual armor and slithered into his heart (mind).  I believe that demon was the spirit of pride.  Not for nothing did God say that pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall.  Indeed He did.  And indeed that is what happened to Solomon.  When the demon of pride was not recognized and expelled by the king, it undoubtedly brought in other foul spirits, one of which was the spirit of sexual lust.  Once that spirit overtook him he was puddy in the hands of his hundreds of sex partners, all of whom were heathen worshipers of heathen gods.  Now overtaken (possessed) by that spirit, Solomon allowed the spirit of false religion to enter, thereby making the worship of other gods acceptable.  ‘

This is Satan modus operandi relative to his helpers’ activities–enter the mind, control the mind, change the mind.  This is exactly what happened to God’s church.  As a result false religion devils now control the entire Catholic/Protestant religious system falsely called “Christianity.”  Let us go step-by-step as we see how this spiritual penthouse-to-outhouse process took place in the life of King Sollomon and every human on earth today with the exception of a few thousand true saints.

Because he had embraced the spirit of pride, Solomon developed a craving for more power and grandeur than God had given him.  This resulted in his making allegiances with a number of heathen kings, thereby increasing the size and scope of his kingdom and power.  Those kings were more than happy to be under the protection and largesse of the greatest nation on earth.  To solidify their union, Solomon married their daughters as well as other women that the unions made available to him.  The spirit of sexual lust had entered and assumed control of his mind.  At one point he had over 1000 wives and concubines.  Several problems had developed in the life of the Israelite king; he was aligning himself with heathen; he was embracing heathen women and allowing them to worship their gods in the nation of Israel.  But worse, much worse was yet to come.

The Israelite king not only allowed the women to worship their gods, he made monuments upon and in which to worship them.  These monuments took the form of hills and groves.  Whatever the women needed in their worship, Solomon provided.  But the worst was yet to come as these “powers of the air” came to possess this once spiritual giant.

As Solomon’s internal demons grew greater in number and exerted ever more power over him, he himself eventually came to worship foreign gods.  And as is always the case where demons are allowed to remain within their host, their influence continued to grow.  Solomon eventually led the entire nation of Israelite to worship the gods of his wives and concubines.  At this point Israel, God’s chosen people, worshiped His enemy.  With the exception of a few saints, Solomon turned God’s chosen people into a heathen, polytheistic nation.  Some of Solomon’s wives worshiped a god which required the sacrifice of children.  Others worshiped the sun.  Some worshiped Ishtar–the goddess of fertility known today as Easter.  Many gods were being worshiped in the nation of Israel, including Baal.  Those gods are still worshiped today in “the church” by people wearing crosses and carrying Bibles as they arrive to pay homage on their main god’s day–Sunday.  Back to Solomon.

Righteous King Solomon’s spiritual downfall began with one demon making its way into the heart of this greatly blessed, chosen, anointed and gifted man.  This is what happens on a lesser scale to every human being ever born.  Today, with the exception of a few thousand people world-wide, this is the condition in which over seven billion people find themselves today.  These helpless, hapless souls have no idea what has happened to them.  Not believing the Bible, they allow Satan to convince them that sin is simply a part of the Christian walk, that Christ died so that they could sin and get with it, and that the whole mess is due to a miracle of sin gene transferal which renders every human ever born a sinner at conception.  Sin, therefore, is one’s natural state, and to even suggest that sin is a choice is the sound of lunacy.  Read Sin is a Choice.  Key word–Choice.

There is some suggestion that Solomon repented and returned to the Lord before his death.  At this point, only God knows the truth of the matter.  In spite of the damage Solomon did to the people of Israel, one good thing has come out of that entire debacle:  WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN TEMPTATION IS NOT ADDRESSED AND CONQUERED.

As I have stated before, no one, not even God’s Very Elect is immune to Satan’s wiles (Mat. 24:24).  “He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  Notice that no one is singled out as exempt from being his target (1 Pet. 5:8).  I have seen the very highest of the high in church circles die suddenly and for no medical reason because they would not believe what I told and showed them about God’s Word.  L.J.