Questioning Shlomo's Downfall

This past week we've continued our introduction to Kohelet. After identifying Shlomo HaMelech as the author of Kohelet, we reviewed Shlomo's life. The main story we focused on was when G-d asked Shlomo what he wanted and Shlomo responded that he wanted a wise and understanding heart to help him judge the nation fairly and to know the difference between good and evil. G-d also gives Shlomo wealth and honor, and promises him a long life if he follows in His ways like Dovid had. At first this seems like G-d is rewarding Shlomo's modesty. After all, it seems extraordinary that a 12 year old would ask for the ability to judge the nation fairly over wealth, fame, or power. After looking deeper into this story, it is clear, though, that G-d is not rewarding Shlomo but is testing him instead. Shlomo had asked to know the difference between Ra and Tov which is something that is considered G-d-like. By asking for this, he is not recognizing the hierarchy in which humans are below G-d. G-d therefore grants Shlomo his wish and tells him that if he can succeed in staying on the Derech while knowing the difference between Ra and Tov (being like G-d) then he can have it all (long life). Obviously, this what leads to Shlomo's downfall since no human can handle this kind of gift.

This story evokes many questions which we have asked multiple times in class, the main one being, "Why would G-d set up Shlomo for failure?" If He knew that no human could remain holy and righteous with a gift like this then why did He grant Shlomo this wish? Also, why was a 12 year old taken so seriously? In davening everyday we ask G-d to help us realize what we need because He knows better than we do. Why could He not do this for Shlomo, Dovid's son? Clearly Shlomo did not know what was best for him, which is understandable for a 12 year old. Why couldn't G-d help Shlomo understand what he needed to rule the nation as best he could?

Another big question I had about Shlomo's downfall has to do with his violations of G-d's rules for kings. The three rules for kings that G-d gave to Shlomo were:
1. A king cannot have too many horses or purchase horses from Egypt
2. A king cannot have too much money
3. A king cannot have too many wives

As we all know, Shlomo manages to violate all three of these rules. I've always been able to somehow get how Shlomo could violate three parts of these rules. Maybe he didn't recognize what "too many" wives or horses meant or what "too much" money was. However, in Perek 10, Pasuk 28 in Malachim Aleph, it clearly states that with the wealth he gathered from all those who visited him to witness his incredible wisdom, he bought horses and chariots from Egypt. This made zero sense to me. G-d said explicitly that a king could NOT buy horses from Egypt, and Shlomo, the great king who built the Beit Hamikdash, and son of the great Kind Dovid who wanted nothing more in his lifetime than to have a close, spiritual relationship with G-d, went ahead and violated this direct commandment from G-d. Not only did he just violate it, he used money that he obtained from people who had come to see him because of the gift that G-d had given him. I simply cannot understand how Shlomo could violate a commandment so specific and explicit from G-d. Maybe this just proves how far off the Derech Shlomo was at the time due to the gifts that G-d had given him that no human could be capable of succeeding with. This, however, begs the same questions we've already asked: Why would G-d give a gift like this to Shlomo when it could only push him farther off the Derech?