God did not make Solomon a wise man once and for all. He gave him wisdom as he depended on God and asked God for it. When Solomon did not depend on God, he made some very foolish decisions.

When Solomon became king he had peace on all sides round about him (1Kings 4:24). God had surrounded His people with peaceful neighbors, and Israel had no fear of invasion.

Nevertheless, Solomon failed to appreciate this blessing God had given him, and instead followed the custom of the heathen nations by taking in marriage daughters of the surrounding kings, assuming that the kings would not attack him if he had their daughter in his household. First he took to wife the daughter of the king of Egypt, and then followed by taking the daughters of others of the surrounding kings. He made houses for them and places of worship where they could continue their pagan practices. Jerusalem became filled with places of heathen worship because Solomon followed the path of human wisdom and did not trust God to continue to give him peaceful neighbors.

Solomon also built up his military power with horses and chariots, trusting in armies rather than trusting in God. Furthermore, Solomon became greedy, and imposed heavy taxes on the people (1Kings 12:18), rather than being content with the riches that God gave him. God had specifically commanded that the kings of Israel not multiply to themselves horses, nor wives, nor silver and gold (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). Solomon broke all three of these prohibitions that God had clearly warned about.

Solomon's plan backfired on him when he chose Rehoboam, son of a Moab wife, to be his successor rather than choosing the son of the Egyptian wife who would have been first in line to be king (1Kings 14:25). Shishak, king of Egypt, felt betrayed. Seeking vengeance, he led his armies up to Jerusalem, broke into the city and carried away much of the riches found in the temple. He felt it all belonged to him because of Solomon's failure to make his grandson ruler over Israel.

Jerusalem was an easy prey for Shishak because he had formed a close friendship with Jeroboam, a recognized leader of the ten northern tribes of Israel. Jeroboam had fled for his life to Egypt because Solomon was seeking to kill him for challenging Solomon's control over the northern tribes of Israel. Shishak knew that his friend, Jeroboam, would not help Rehoboam, therefore taking and looting Jerusalem would not be a difficult task. All of Solomon's attempts to protect his kingdom by taking heathen wives, and building up a huge military force were all in vain. The wisdom of man is foolishness with God and God Himself raised up enemies against the nation of Israel.

We see then that Solomon was only wise as long as he obeyed the Lord, and asked God for the needed wisdom day by day. God tells us to ask Him for wisdom (James 1:5). He delights in our coming to Him with our requests. He does not make us wise in ourselves, for then we would not need to come to Him. Satan lied to Eve when he said that by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil she would become wise like God. Instead, after they ate the fruit, they foolishly tried to hide from God rather than desiring their daily walk with Him in the garden.

God made us for the purpose of having fellowship with Him. He made a day of rest for the specific purpose of having a time set aside for fellowship with us. God does not make us wise. God gives us wisdom as we request it and obey Him. The wisest thing we can do is go to God for wisdom. The wisest man is the one who goes to God most often.