1 Kings 9:3-9. God appears to Solomon a second time, this time when the Temple is completed. He tells Solomon that he has put his name, his eyes, and his heart inside the Temple for all of time. He also says that if Solomon will walk before God, keeping his statutes and ordinances as David his father did, then God will establish Solomon's throne forever, but if Solomon turns away from God and goes and serves other gods, then God will cut Israel off from the land He has given him and the Temple will be cast from his sight. "And Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins... " People passing by will ask why the Lord has done this to this land and this house, and then they will answer "Because they forsook the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt.... "

We know that while Solomon walked with the Lord he and the kingdom were greatly blessed with all things - peace, riches, glory, wisdom. But we also know that Solomon turned from this path, he let himself be seduced by all of these gifts and eventually he turned to other gods. Because of this, eventually, everything God says will come to pass does come to pass - the Temple is destroyed, the people are cut off from the land and taken into exile. But all of that doesn't happen for many, many years after Solomon's reign. Neither Solomon, nor any of the people living in his time, are still alive to see it.

God sees all that happens and God never speaks wrongly, he does not make idle threats. It's just that we, in our short lifespans, are not around to see the whole plan play out. Solomon turned from God, and eventually the Temple was destroyed and the people went into exile. But we should not think of this as punishment (an unfair one at that - why should people many generations removed from Solomon suffer for his misdeeds?). It sounds like God is threatening punishment when he says these words to Solomon, but in fact God is just describing reality. Solomon, who has been given everything without having to fight for it like his father did; Solomon, who knows who gave him everything - who has spoken directly with God twice; that Solomon still manages to be seduced by the ways of the world and turn away from God.

So when Solomon turns away, he is a "type" for us, and for all people. Solomon shows us that we all do this. When God gives us the gifts that he wants to give to us, we will eventually be seduced by them and turn away from him. And there will always come a time when the turning away has caused so much sin and damage that we (individually, or as a group or a nation) must fall.

God foresaw this happening to Israel, so his words were true, and they weren't necessarily a punishment for Solomon's behavior, but just an acknowledgment of the fact that this will happen. Although, remember, Solomon still has free will, he could make a different decision. So God tried, to no avail, to warn him of what would happen. He does that with us, too, either directly or through his prophets. We should take heed, and not think this can't happen to us.