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So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. (1 Kings 11:6)

Expanded Passage: 1 Kings 11:4-8

During the summer of 2023, The Sound of Freedom hit theaters. It told the story of a US federal agent and man of faith on a crusade to rescue girls and boys who’d been sold into sexual slavery. Human trafficking and pornography are multibillion-dollar global industries with a horrific cost in children’s lives.

Those same vile values entered Solomon’s kingdom through the international deities his wives followed. Ashtoreth (v. 5) was a goddess of sex and violence. The worship of Chemosh and Molek (v. 7) involved child sacrifice (2 Kings 3:27; Jer. 32:35). These false gods promised prosperity, but the price was the destruction of innocence.

Marrying neighboring nations’ princesses and importing their religions no doubt seemed like a smart foreign policy to Solomon. It opened the doors to treaties and trade. But his decision also exposed his homeland to perverse practices that harmed generations of Israelites. The prophets who wrote 1 Kings recorded Solomon’s failure as a warning to God’s people to resist such idolatry and immorality.

In our own day, films like The Sound of Freedom echo those prophets’ call to arms and organizations like World Hope (www.worldhope.org) fight human trafficking in Jesus’ name. On this Fourth of July, as Americans celebrate their freedom, let us each do our part to bring freedom to children and other vulnerable persons worldwide.

Consider supporting anti-trafficking efforts through praying, donating, and volunteering.

Jerome Van Kuiken is a professor of Christian thought at Oklahoma Wesleyan University and the author of The Judas We Never Knew (Seedbed, 2023).

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.