God's first guideline for Israel's king forbids multiplying horses for himself or sending the people back to Egypt to get them, since the LORD has said they shall not return that way again (Deuteronomy 17:16). Horses were prime war materiel, especially for pulling chariots, so multiplying them can indicate territorial aggression and a warlike spirit. Most importantly, it shows a lack of faith in God and too great a faith in armies. Solomon needed transportation and trade for his large empire, yet he violated this command by importing thousands of horses from Egypt, along with chariots, and then selling horses and chariots to other nations (I Kings 10:26-29). The result was a tenth-century BC arms race. He armed the Hittites and Syria, giving them the means to attack Israel and Judah in later years. This was one of the smaller precepts of God's law, and Solomon knew it, since Israel's kings were to write out and continually read the law. He apparently judged the infraction too minor to restrain him. Because no immediate penalty followed, it opened the way to further compromise: many wives, idolatry, and even complicity in child sacrifice. Small compromises weaken character and lead to major sins.

God forbade Israel's kings to multiply horses or send the people back to Egypt to get them (Deuteronomy 17:16). Armored warhorses and chariots were the ancient equivalent of tanks, and a nation possessing them is tempted to rely on visible military might instead of an invisible God. God wanted His people to depend on Him, as Solomon himself wrote: "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord" (Proverbs 21:31). Solomon knew this command, since David would have taught it to him, yet he stocked four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, kept twelve thousand horsemen, and imported horses from Egypt and other lands (II Chronicles 9:22-28). Secure in wealth and power, he judged the infraction too small to matter. It was not small to God. This compromise began Solomon's slow separation from God. When no immediate consequences followed, he went on to multiply wives, who in his old age turned his heart to idolatry, and his example influenced later kings. Small compromises over seemingly minor commands weaken character and lead to major sins. By contrast, righteous Josiah removed the horses the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun and burned the chariots (II Kings 23:11). Believers must therefore resist compromising even in what seem the smaller matters of God's law.

God commanded Israel's kings not to multiply horses or send the people back to Egypt to get them (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). Solomon knew this command, since he was to copy the law, yet he amassed four thousand stalls for horses and chariots and imported horses from Egypt. Because of his great wealth and might, he judged the infraction too minor to matter. God forbade warhorses because the armored horse and chariot were like tanks, devastating against foot soldiers, and a nation possessing them would rely on them instead of God. As Proverbs 21:31 says, the horse is prepared for battle, but deliverance is of the LORD. What seemed small to Solomon was important to God and began his separation from Him. Having suffered no immediate consequences, he went on to multiply wives for political reasons, and those wives turned his heart to idolatry, even to sanctioning child sacrifice. Sin's results are not seen immediately, but they are always there. The lesson is that small compromises in what seem like grey areas weaken character and lead to major sins. By contrast, righteous Josiah, on finding the book of the law, immediately removed the horses dedicated to the sun and burned the chariots. Satan makes his greatest inroads in the seemingly smaller points of God's word, so they must not be dismissed by human reasoning.