9
God was furious with Solomon for abandoning the God of Israel, the God who had twice appeared to him
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and had so clearly commanded him not to fool around with other gods. Solomon faithlessly disobeyed God's orders.
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God said to Solomon, "Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I'm going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else.
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But out of respect for your father David I won't do it in your lifetime. It's your son who will pay - I'll rip it right out of his grasp.
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Even then I won't take it all; I'll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem."
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God incited Hadad, a descendant of the king of Edom, into hostile actions against Solomon.
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Years earlier, when David devastated Edom, Joab, commander of the army, on his way to bury the dead, massacred all the men of Edom.
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Joab and his army stayed there for six months, making sure they had killed every man in Edom.
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Hadad, just a boy at the time, had escaped with some of the Edomites who had worked for his father.
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Their escape route took them through Midian to Paran. They picked up some men in Paran and went on to Egypt and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house, food, and even land.
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Pharaoh liked him so well that he gave him the sister of his wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage.