Learning from the mistakes of the past...

This week we are looking at the life of a king who led the Southern Kingdom of the Jewish people named King Asa. Yesterday, we discovered that after ten years of peace and prosperity, in 899 B.C., the Kingdom of Egypt, ruled by a Pharaoh named Osorkon I and led by an Ethiopian General named Zerah, mounted an invasion of the Southern Kingdom of Judea. After ten years of peace and prosperity, which have enabled King Asa to reinforce the military defenses and rebuild the army of the Jewish people, King Asa faced an invading army that outnumbers him 2-1.

In the midst of seemingly overwhelming circumstances, King Asa called out to God in utter dependence. King Asa responded to his circumstances by running to the Lord whom he had sought to trust and follow and whom he had called the people of the Southern Kingdom to trust and follow. Today, we see Ezra record for us how the Lord responded to King Asa’s cry for help in 2 Chronicles 14:12:

 So the LORD routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that they could not recover, for they were shattered before the LORD and before His army. And they carried away very much plunder. They destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of the LORD had fallen on them; and they despoiled all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. They also struck down those who owned livestock, and they carried away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

The Lord responded to King Asa’s cry for help by leading the army of the Southern Kingdom to rout the invading army from the Kingdom of Egypt. As the terror of the Lord encompassed the army of the kingdom of Egypt, they responded by fleeing south, only to be followed and further defeated by the armies of the Southern Kingdom, who drove the invading army out of all of the cities that they had previously captured.

As a matter of fact, this defeat was so devastating to the Kingdom of Egypt that there would not be another military engagement between the Jewish people and an Egyptian army for 290 years. And as King Asa returned to Jerusalem in triumph, the King was met by a messenger from the Lord with a message from the Lord. A message the Ezra records for us in 2 Chronicles 15:1:

Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. "For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law. "But in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. "In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. "Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. "But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work."

In other words, the Lord basically said to King Asa through the prophet Azariah "King Asa, just make sure you remember that the Lord's presence and activity in your life is directly related to the extent that you trust and rely on Him. The Lord is with you when you seek Him and place your confident trust in Him. But if you leave and abandon the Lord, He will leave and abandon you. King Asa, make sure that you learn from the mistakes of your predecessors. Make sure that you remember that when your father and grandfather failed to rely and trust on Me, but instead left Me to worship other gods, I withdrew My presence and activity from their life. Make sure that you remember that I judged their selfishness and rebellion by bringing chaos and difficulty into their lives and the lives of the nation. Then when they responded to the chaos and difficulty that came into their lives by returning to the place where they sought Me and relied upon Me, I returned to them. But King Asa, regardless of what you father and grandfather did, make sure that you remain strong and do not let your guard down when it comes to trusting and relying on Me in every circumstance." We see how King Asa responded to this message from the Lord in verse 8:

 Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD.

King Asa responded to the Lord's message by continuing to remove the images and idols that portrayed false gods to instead follow the message and teachings of the Lord. In addition, King Asa turned the Jewish people to seek the Lord  and repaired the great bronze altar in the Temple, which had fallen into damage and disrepair over the years.

After repairing the altar, King Asa called the Jewish people who had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, to reaffirm the covenant promise with God that their ancestors had first made during the time of Moses. We see how the Southern Kingdom responded to King Asa's confident trust in the Lord and his leadership just a few verses later in 2 Chronicles 15:15:

All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.

The Jewish people of the Southern Kingdom responded to King Asa's leadership and his confident trust in the Lord by reaffirming their covenant commitment to follow the Lord. From the core of their beings, the Jewish people sought to follow the Lord. And, just as the prophet Azariah had promised, the Lord's presence was evident in the lives of the Jewish people, which led the Jewish people to rejoice over their willingness to trust and follow the Lord. And, just as the prophet Azariah had promised, the Lord responded to the Jewish people's desire to seek and trust Him by giving them peace and prosperity.

Now if King Asa’s story had ended there, King Asa’s story would have been the perfect story. However, King Asa’s story did not end there. Instead, King Asa’s story took a turn for the worse. A turn that we will look at Friday...

The Desperate Response of a Desperate King...

At the church where I serve we have been looking at the lives of kings who were placed in a position of leadership over the Jewish people. This week, I would like to pick up where we left off last week. As a result of King Rehoboam rejecting the wisdom of those who were further down the road from him, a series of events that occurred in the span of a single week in 930 B.C. forever changed the Jewish nation.

The Jewish nation became a divided nation. The ten northern tribes of the Jewish people rebelled and rejected King Rehoboam’s rule and departed back to northern Israel to set up their own kingdom, which was known as the Northern Kingdom of Israel and was led by a man named Jeroboam, who we met last week. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to King Rehoboam and became known as the Southern Kingdom of Judea. Under King Jeroboam, who built two golden calves as objects of worship in an attempt to keep the people from returning back to Jerusalem and the southern kingdom, the northern kingdom of Israel quickly turned from following the Lord to instead worship false gods.

And the southern kingdom of Judah, under King Rehoboam, did not do any better. Under King Rehoboam’s seventeen year reign, the southern kingdom also turned from following the Lord to worship the very false gods that had led the Lord to give the Jewish people the Promised Land in the first place. As a result of their rejection of the Lord, the Southern Kingdom was attacked by the nation of Egypt, who entered into Jerusalem and robbed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple of much of its gold, silver, and material wealth.

Upon his death in 913 B.C., King Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijah, who only ruled for a period of two years. During his short reign, King Abijah fought and achieved a major military victory over the Northern Kingdom of Israel that would eventually end the rule of King Jeroboam. However, in 911 B.C., King Abijah would suddenly die. And it is upon the death of King Abijah that we jump back into a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible, called the book of 2 Chronicles.

Now the books of 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles are a record of the history of the Jewish people from Adam to the Babylonian captivity and the Persian Emperor Cyrus’ decree to allow the Jewish people to return to the Jewish nation in 538 B.C. The books of Chronicles were written around 450 B.C. by a man named Ezra, who was a scribe and priest who led a group of Jewish people back to Israel in 458 B.C. With all that in mind let’s look together at this historical account of the Jewish people, beginning in 2 Chronicles 14:1:

So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and his son Asa became king in his place. The land was undisturbed for ten years during his days. Asa did good and right in the sight of the LORD his God, for he removed the foreign altars and high places, tore down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherim, and commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers and to observe the law and the commandment. He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was undisturbed under him. He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and there was no one at war with him during those years, because the LORD had given him rest. For he said to Judah, "Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered. Now Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, bearing shields and wielding bows; all of them were valiant warriors.

Ezra brings us into this account of the history of the Jewish people by introducing us to the man who would take the place of King Abijah after his death. King Abijah’s son Asa became king over the Southern Kingdom of the Jewish people in 911 B.C. After introducing us to the new king, Ezra provides us a summary of the first ten years of King Asa’s reign.  When Ezra states that King Asa did good and right in the sight of the Lord his God, he is revealing for us the reality that King Asa lived his life and led the Jewish people in a way that pleased the Lord.

We learn exactly what King Asa did that reflected a life that pleased the Lord beginning in verse 3. King Asa removed the various altars and elevated shrines where the worship of gods other than the one true God were held. King Asa removed the images and idols that portrayed these false gods and turned the Jewish people to seek the Lord and follow the message and teachings of the Lord that were recorded in the Law, which is the first five books that are recorded for us in our Bibles today.

In addition to the religious and spiritual reforms that he initiated, King Asa also oversaw the construction and fortification of cities within the southern kingdom that served to protect the kingdom from attack. And as a result of King Asa’s religious and spiritual reforms that turned the hearts of the Southern Kingdom back to the Lord, the Southern Kingdom experienced a time of peace and prosperity. The Southern Kingdom was undisturbed from attack and experienced a time of peace which enabled the kingdom to reinforce their military defenses and rebuild their army after the defeats they had experienced under King Asa’a grandfather, King Rehoboam.

As the nation placed their confident trust in the Lord and sought to follow the message and teachings of the Lord, the Lord provided the southern kingdom peace and prosperity. However, after ten years of peace and prosperity, the Southern Kingdom experienced a threat of immense proportions, a threat that Ezra records for us in 2 Chronicles 14:9:

 Now Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and he came to Mareshah. So Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up in battle formation in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

After ten years of peace and prosperity, in 899 B.C., the Kingdom of Egypt, ruled by a Pharaoh named Osorkon I and led by an Ethiopian General named Zerah, mounted an invasion of the Southern Kingdom of Judea. Ezra tells us that the Kingdom of Egypt’s army, numbering over a million men, invaded the Southern Kingdom and advanced all the way to the city of Mareshah, which was located only 25 miles southwest of the city of Jerusalem.

Now a natural objection that could arise here is “so Dave, are you telling me that you actually believe that they had an army that numbered over a million men? How can that be the case? This is just a fictitious story.” At this time in history, the Kingdom of Egypt included the regions of what are now the nations of Egypt, Libya, the Sudan, and Ethiopia. As we discovered in verse 8, King Asa had an army that totaled 580,000 men, which was consistent with the numbers of the census that occurred earlier in the Jewish nation’s history.

Ezra tells us that King Asa and his army marched out to meet the invading army of the kingdom of Egypt that was twice its size just outside the town of Mareshah. Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves as king Asa. Place yourself in his shoes. You have experienced ten years of peace and prosperity, which have enabled you to reinforce your military defenses and rebuild your army.

Yet, in spite of all that you have done, you are now faced with an invading army that outnumbers you 2-1. You are king Asa; what would you do? How would you respond? We see King Asa’a response in verse 11:

 Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You."

In other words, King Asa cried to the Lord in desperation: “Lord there is no one besides You that I can rely on and place my trust in. I have done all that I can do to lead Your people. Only You are able to overcome these odds that are against us. Lord I am placing my trust in You to do only what You can do as I lead Your people out to defend against this attacking army. Lord, do not let this army prevail against You and Your people”.

You see, in the midst of seemingly overwhelming circumstances, King Asa called out to God in utter dependence. King Asa responded to his circumstances by running to the Lord whom he had sought to trust and follow and whom he had called the people of the Southern Kingdom to trust and follow.

Tomorrow, we will see how the Lord responded to King Asa’s cry for help…

Rejecting the wisdom of those further down the road from you can result in a rough road for you...

This week, we have been looking at the life of a king of the Jewish people named King Rehoboam. Wednesday, we looked on as King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older and wiser advisors of his father. Instead King Rehoboam chose to take the advice of younger advisors who grew up with him.

These younger leaders believed that the new king needed to exert his positional power in a way that bullied the nation to fall under his leadership. Instead of serving the people for the nations good and growth, King Rehoboam was more concerned with intimidating the nation through the positional power that he held. We see the consequences of the King Rehoboam’s decision revealed for us in 2 Kings 12:12:

 Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, saying, "Return to me on the third day." The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had given him, and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions." So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a turn of events from the LORD, that He might establish His word, which the LORD spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

As the representatives from the Jewish people returned on the third day to hear the response of the king to their request, King Rehoboam responded by communicating the counsel that he had received from his younger advisors. The king rejected the request of the representatives of the Jewish people and instead attempted to intimate them into following his leadership.

However, King Rehoboam’s foolish forsaking of the advice of his father’s advisors did not come as a surprise to the Lord. Instead it was a turn of events from the Lord, the He might establish His word, which the Lord spoke to the Prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam. But what does that mean? You see, the Lord, in His foreknowledge, was fully aware of King Rehoboam’s character. The Lord was fully aware of the decision that King Rehoboam would make. And the Lord had already promised to exercise His right and just response to the selfishness and rebellion of King Solomon through Jeroboam.

So God sovereignly worked in and through King Rehoboam’s foolishness to accomplish His right and just response to his father King Solomon’s selfishness and rebellion. You see, King Rehoboam was responsible for his foolish decision. And the Lord was sovereign over King Rehoboam’s decision. We see the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to Jeroboam fulfilled in 1 Kings 12:16:

 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, "What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; To your tents, O Israel! Now look after your own house, David!" So Israel departed to their tents. But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

The representatives of the tribes of the northern part of the Jewish nation responded to King Rehoboam’s attempts of intimidation by rejecting his rule over them. The ten northern tribes of the Jewish people rebelled and rejected King Rehoboam’s rule and departed back to northern Israel to set up their own kingdom. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to King Rehoboam.

Now, at this point, you would think that King Rehoboam would have recognized the gravity of his foolish decision. You would think that King Rehoboam would respond in a way to bring unity back to the Jewish nation. And at this point, you would be wrong, as we see in verse 18:

 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

Instead of learning from his decision, King Rehoboam followed one foolish decision with a second foolish decision. King Rehoboam chose to send a man named Adoram, who was over the forced labor, as his representative and spokesperson, to attempt to bring back northern part of the Jewish nation back under his authority. Now King Rehoboam could not have made a more foolish choice when it came to who would represent him before the ten tribes who were in rebellion against him.

After all, Adoram was the very man who was the face of the very policies that these ten tribes had hated. The representatives responded to King Rehoboam’s second foolish decision by killing his representative Adoram and placing Jeroboam, their advocate and spokesman, as king. King Rehoboam, upon hearing of the ten northern tribes decision to kill Adoram and make Jeroboam their king, responded by fleeing to the safety of Jerusalem.

And once in Jerusalem, King Rehoboam followed up his second foolish decision with another foolish plan. King Rehoboam began to plan to attack the ten northern tribes with the two tribes that were still following his leadership. Let’s see, ten tribes against your two tribes, not real bright.  It is only when the Lord intervened by sending a prophet with a command to not attack the ten northern tribes that King Rehoboam stopped his plan.

And as a result of  these events that occurred in the span of this single week in 930 B.C., the Jewish nation would never be the same. Instead of being a united nation, the Jewish people were now a divided kingdom. A divided kingdom that has never been restored. A divided kingdom that was the result of a leaders foolish decision that sent ripples throughout history.

And it is in the life of King Rehoboam that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth that has the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives today. And that timeless truth is this: Rejecting the wisdom of those further down the road from you can result in a rough road for you. Just as it was for King Rehoboam; just as it has been for humanity throughout history; rejecting the wisdom of those further down the road from you can result in a rough road for you.

You see, just like King Rehoboam, when can often find ourselves in a place in our lives where we are tempted to reject the wisdom of those around us who are further down the road from us to instead embrace the wisdom of those who are just like us. Just like King Rehoboam, when can often find ourselves in a place in our lives where we are tempted to reject those who have experience and wisdom to not be intimidated by us and instead tell us what we needed to hear, to instead embrace the advice of those who are younger and whose desire to maintain the relationship will lead them to simply tell us what we want to hear.

Just like King Rehoboam, when can often find ourselves in a place in our lives where we are tempted to reject those who know some history about the feelings that often surround a decision to instead embrace the advice of those who are younger and who have no history about the emotional impact of a potential decision. Just like King Rehoboam, when can often find ourselves in a place in our lives where we are tempted to reject those who have a full picture and more information to inform their decision to instead embrace the advice of those who are younger who do not have the full picture and more information to inform their decision.

And just like King Rehoboam, when we reject the wisdom of those further down the road in order to embrace the advice of those who are just like us, the result can be a rough road for us. A rough road filled with regret. A rough road filled with hurt, pain, and frustration. A rough road that could have been avoided by simply taking the time to listen to the advice of those who are a little further down the road from you.

Next week, we are going to see the rough road that King Rehoboam's rejection of the wisdom of those further down the road produced for the Jewish people. In the meantime, here is a question to consider: Where are you tempted to reject the wisdom of those further down the road from you? Where are you tempted to embrace the advice of those who are at the same place in the road when it comes to age, experience, or ability instead of those who are a little further down the road from you? What are you going to do to tap into the wisdom of those who are further down the road from you?

A Immature Decision of Intimidation...

This week we are looking at the life of a king of the Jewish people named Rehoboam. Yesterday, we looked on as King Rehoboam, was asked by the Jewish people that the heavy taxes and forced labor placed on them by his father King Solomon be eased by him. Upon hearing the northern tribes request from their spokesman Jeroboam, king Rehoboam requested three days to consider and respond to their request. The northern tribes, encouraged by the new kings’ willingness to consider their request, agreed to return in three days to hear his response. We see what King Rehoboam did next in 1 Kings 12:6:

  King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, "How do you counsel me to answer this people?" Then they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in this event from history as king Rehoboam. Place yourself in his shoes. You are now the new king and have been given the incredible responsibility to lead a very prosperous nation into the future. You have watched as your father, who by the way was the smartest man who ever lived, led the Jewish people to engage in several major building projects that enhanced the protection and reputation of the Jewish nation.

However, those projects were costly monetarily and in labor to the Jewish people. And now a major portion of the Jewish nation has come to you to ask for relief from the high taxes and drafted workforce that your father implemented to complete those projects. This is your first major decision as king. So, what would be your decision? Who would you turn to for advice? I mean, wouldn’t you turn to the advisors that advised the smartest man on the planet?

After all, these advisors would have been older than Rehoboam and would have gleaned a great deal of wisdom from being around King Solomon. I mean, imagine what you could learn if you consistently were around the smartest man on the planet? These advisors, as a result of their experience with King Solomon and the wisdom that they had gleaned from King Solomon, would be a valuable asset.

In addition, these advisors, because of their experience and wisdom, would not be intimidated by the king’s position and instead would be in a position to tell King Rehoboam what he needed to hear, not simply what he wanted to hear. These advisors also knew the history that led to the feelings of those tribes that were from the northern part of the nation. These advisors would have had a full picture and more information to inform their decision.

And because of that reality, King Rehoboam sought their advice. Upon asking their advice, these older and trusted advisors of King Solomon recommended that King Rehoboam grant their request, because they believed that such a response would result in the allegiance of these tribes and would solidify his rule as King of the Jewish people. Now you would think that King Rehoboam would have responded to who these advisors were and their advice by embracing their advice. And you would be wrong, as we see in verse 8:

But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him. So he said to them, "What counsel do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?" The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!' But you shall speak to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's loins! 'Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.'"

Instead of embracing the advice of the wiser and older advisors of his father, King Rehoboam rejected their advice. King Rehoboam chose to take the advice of younger advisors who grew up with him. Unlike his father’s advisors, these younger advisors were the same age as the new king. Unlike his father’s advisors, these younger advisors would not have been around King Solomon to glean wisdom from the smartest man on the planet.

Unlike his father’s advisors, these younger advisors did not know the history that led to the feelings of those who were from the northern part of the nation. Unlike his father’s advisors, these younger advisors would not have had a full picture and all the information to inform their decision. Unlike his father’s advisors, these younger advisors, because of their lack of experience, were just happy to be in the same room with the new king.

Unlike his father’s advisors, these younger advisors grew up with King Rehoboam and desired to maintain the relationship that they had while growing up together. And as a result, unlike his father’s advisors, these younger advisors would only tell King Rehoboam what he wanted to hear, not what he needed to hear. 

And unlike his father’s advisors, these younger advisors viewed themselves as positional leaders instead of servant leaders. We see this reality reveal itself in two specific ways. First, did you notice how these younger advisors referred to the Jewish people as “this people” in v. 9? Second, did you notice the advice that these younger advisors gave King Rehoboam when it came to what he was to say: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's loins!’

Now this phrase was a well known proverb of that day that basically said “my power will be greater than my father’s power”. When these advisors refer to scorpions here, they were referring to a particularly cruel kind of whip that was used in that day, which had sharp pieces of metal attached to the ends of the whip.

You see, these younger leaders believed that the new king needed to exert his positional power in a way that bullied the nation to fall under his leadership. Instead of serving the people for the nations good and growth, King Rehoboam was more concerned with intimidating the nation through the positional power that he held.

Friday, we will see the consequences of the King Rehoboam’s decision...

A Request to One Who was Following a Legend...

At the church where I serve, we are spending our time together looking at the lives of kings who were placed in a position of leadership over the Jewish people. And as we look at the lives of these kings, we are going to discover several timeless truths that have the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives today.

This week, I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week. We ended last week looking on as the Lord responded to the erosion of King Solomon’s commitment to Him by fulfilling the promise that He had made earlier in his life. As a result of King Solomon’s ungodly commitments that eroded his commitment to the Lord, the Lord responded by raising up adversaries that revolted against the Jewish nation.

As a result of the ungodly commitments that eroded his commitment to God, King Solomon no longer had peace. Instead, the nation of Edom began to revolt against the Jewish people. In addition, the Lord raised up a man named Jeroboam to oppose King Solomon. Jeroboam was from the northern region of the Jewish nation and had helped King Solomon supervise the laborers who worked on many of the building projects that occurred during King Solomon’s reign.

The Lord sent the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam to proclaim to him that he would become king of the ten northern tribes of the Jewish people. In addition, the Lord promised Jeroboam that if he lived out his life in a way that placed His confident trust in and follow the Lord, the Lord would bless Jeroboam and his descendants just as he had promised to bless King Solomon and his descendants.

However, upon hearing all that the Prophet Ahijah had proclaimed to Jeroboam, King Solomon attempting to put Jeroboam to death. Jeroboam then fled for his life to Egypt, where he remained until the death of King Solomon in 931 B.C. And it is in this context that, as the son of King Solomon, a man named Rehoboam, prepared to become the king of the Jewish nation, that we jump back into the next section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 Kings. So let’s do that together, beginning in 1 Kings 12:1:

Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. Now when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, "Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you." Then he said to them, "Depart for three days, then return to me." So the people departed.

Now Solomon’s son Rehoboam became king in 931 B.C. at forty one years of age. We are brought into this event from the history of the Jewish people on the day that Rehoboam was to be appointed king of the Jewish nation. Representatives from the twelve tribes of the Jewish people had come to Shechem in order that Rehoboam be recognized and officially installed as king.

Shechem was located in the northern part of the Jewish nation and held a special significance when it came to the history of the Jewish people. Shechem was the place where the Lord had first appeared to Abraham, who was considered the father of the Jewish nation. Shechem was the place where Jacob, who was the father of the sons who would become the twelve tribes that formed the Jewish people, had settled. And Shechem was where the grave of Joseph was located. So Shechem was a natural place for the Jewish people to gather in order to anoint and appoint their next king.

Jeroboam, who had been in exile in Egypt for fear of his life, returned to Shechem for the appointing of Rehoboam as king at the request of those who lived in the northern part of the Jewish nation. You see, those in the northern part of the Jewish nation wanted someone to be an advocate on their behalf. We then see exactly what the representatives from the Northern tribes wanted Jeroboam to do when it came to advocating on their behalf. 

Jeroboam, as their spokesperson, made the following request to the new king Rehoboam: “Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."   Now a natural question that arises here is “well Dave, what are they talking about when they refer to a yoke?” The word yoke here refers to a burden of servitude that is carried by someone, in this case, the Jewish people.

You see, during the reign of King Solomon, the Jewish nation undertook several major building projects that involved a great deal of money and a great deal of labor.  During King Solomon’s reign, the Temple in Jerusalem, which was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was constructed. In addition, 1 Kings 7 details the construction of Solomon’s royal palace, which took twice as long to build as the Temple.  So you can imagine that the royal palace was even more costly when it came to labor and materials than the Temple.

Then, in 1 Kings 9, we discover that besides the Temple and the royal palace, the Jewish people, under the direction of King Solomon, were involved in construction projects designed to strengthen the defenses of the cities of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. In addition, there were various storage facilities that were built to contain the wealth of King Solomon.

In order to facilitate such extensive projects, King Solomon did two things. First, King Solomon imposed heavy taxes of the Jewish people in order to finance these construction projects. Second, King Solomon imposed an involuntary work force to provide the labor necessary in order to complete these construction projects. This involuntary work force came from two different sources. The first source of involuntary workers came from the enemies of the Jewish people, who were called the Canaanites.

However, the second source of these involuntary workers consisted of 30,000 Jewish people that spend up to four months a year working. These involuntary workers were “drafted” into the workforce to work one month on location working with two months off to be home. This shift work went on for years. And most of the 30,000 Jewish people that were “drafted” into this workforce came from the northern region of the Jewish nation. And after year after year of increased taxes and a drafted workforce to complete these immense construction projects under King Solomon, many who lived in the northern region of the Jewish nation were incredibly frustrated.

But now King Solomon was dead and there was a new king. And with a new king came an opportunity for the Jewish people to request that the heavy taxes and forced labor be eased by the new king. So the tribes of the northern part of the Jewish nation wanted someone to be an advocate on their behalf to request relief from the high taxes and drafted labor.

Upon hearing the northern tribes request from their spokesman Jeroboam, king Rehoboam requested three days to consider and respond to their request. The northern tribes, encouraged by the new kings’ willingness to consider their request, agreed to return in three days to hear his response. Tomorrow, we will see what King Rehoboam did next…

Ungodly commitments will erode our commitment to God....

This week, we are looking at the life of a king of the Jewish people named Solomon. Wednesday, we looked on as King Solomon responded to the Lord’s appearance and promises by continuing to live his life in a way that placed His confident trust in and followed the Lord. And as King Solomon continued to live a life that was wholly devoted to the Lord, the Lord continued to bless King Solomon and the Jewish people. The Lord used King Solomon and the Jewish people as the vehicle to reveal Himself to the world and enhance His reputation in the world.

And if King Solomon’s story had ended there, King Solomon’s story would have been the perfect story. However, King Solomon’s story did not end there. Instead, King Solomon’s story took a turn that would impact the Jewish people in a profound and powerful way. We see King Solomon’s story turn in 1 Kings 11:1. Let’s look at it together:

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

You see, it was not that King Solomon did not know the Lord. After all, the Lord had appeared to King Solomon on two separate occasions. And it is not that King Solomon did not understand what the Lord had commanded the Jewish people concerning marriage that was recorded in the Law, which are the first five books of our Bibles today. After all, King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived.

The issue was not in the head. Instead, the issue was with the heart. Notice what these verses tell us about King Solomon’s heart. King Solomon loved many foreign women. King Solomon held fast to these foreign women in love. What is significant is that the phrase “held fast” is the same phrase that is used in Genesis 2:24 as to “be joined” and conveys the sense of clinging to another.

King Solomon revealed the timeless reality that our will, or intellect, is held captive by our desires, or our hearts. And it was King Solomon’s heart and desires that led him to violate God’s design for marriage in three specific ways. First, King Solomon disobeyed God’s design for marriage by marrying more than one woman. Second, King Solomon disobeyed God’s design for marriage by marrying women who worshipped other god’s than the one true God. The Lord repeatedly warned the Jewish people not to marry or develop close intimate relationships with those who worshipped false gods instead of the one true god.

And third, King Solomon disobeyed God’s command for kings in marriage by marrying multiple wives from foreign nations. By marrying wives from foreign nations so as to develop alliances and mutual protection, King Solomon was placing his trust in these nations who worshipped false god instead of placing his confident trust in the Lord. As a result, King Solomon violated God’s command by worshipping false gods.

And over the passage of time, as Solomon loved and clung to these foreign women, these wives began to turn his heart away after other gods, and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. Now, it wasn’t that King Solomon abandoned the Lord. Instead, King Solomon added to the worship of the Lord the worship of false gods. The phrase, turned away, in the language that this letter was originally written in, is a word picture of stretching out or inclining towards something.

And what King Solomon was stretching out toward was the worship of the very false gods that led God to use the Jewish people as the instrument to deal with the wrongdoing and injustice that the worship of these false gods produced in the land that God had given to the Jewish people.  Ashtoreth was a goddess of sex and fertility, whose worship involved sexual activity and the worship of the stars. Milcom, or Molech, was a false god whose worship involved human sacrifices, especially of children. Chemosh was also a false god that involved worship of the stars. And it wasn’t that King Solomon worshipped these false gods in private. King Solomon built altars and shrines just outside of the city of Jerusalem that were used for the public worship of these false gods.

Now a natural question that arises here is “what happened? How could Solomon do such a thing? How could a man who had encountered the Lord not once but twice worship other gods than the one true God? How could a man who lived his life in a way that was wholly devoted to the Lord and that trusted the Lord turn so radically from the Lord? How could a man who had been blessed by the Lord do such a thing to the Lord?"

And it is the answer to these questions from the life of King Solomon that provides us a timeless truth that has the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives today. And that timeless truth is that ungodly commitments will erode our commitment to God. Just as it was for King Solomon; just as it has been for humanity throughout history; entering into ungodly commitments will eventually erode your commitment to God. And here is why this timeless truth is so important. The reason that this timeless truth is so important is because erosion does not happen overnight. Instead erosion destroys by small degrees over time. Erosion is not obvious and does not draw attention to its activity. Instead erosion is a slow and silent destroyer.

Think of it this way: do you think King Solomon woke up one morning and said “I am going to stop being wholly devoted to the Lord today. Today I am going to add to the worship of the one true God the worship of false gods and build public altars where people can also worship false gods.” No, that is not what happened with Solomon. And if you would have told Solomon to do that, Solomon, as the smartest man on the planet would have said you were a fool.

However, as King Solomon loved many foreign women; as King Solomon held fast to these foreign women in love; as King Solomon entered into marriage commitments with these foreign women who worshipped false gods, something began to slowly change within the heart of King Solomon. King Solomon’s heart was influenced by his foreign wives to begin to turn his heart away from the Lord and to stretch out and incline his heart to false gods. Because, as we discovered in the identity series, the timeless reality is that we are influenced by what influences us.

And the influence of his foreign wives on the heart of King Solomon began to subtly, slowly and steadily erode King Solomon’s commitment to God. And the subtle, slow, and steady effects of erosion eventually led King Solomon to the place where he was worshipping and participating in the very activities that led the Lord to give the Jewish people the Promised Land in the first place. We see how the Lord responded to the erosion of King Solomon’s commitment to Him in verse 9:

 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded. So the LORD said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. "Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. "However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."

The Lord responded to the erosion of King Solomon’s commitment to Him by fulfilling the promise that He had made earlier in his life. As a result of King Solomon’s ungodly commitments that eroded his commitment to the Lord, the Jewish nation would never be the same. Events were soon to transpire that would rip the nation in two, never to be restored.

Yet, in the midst of the Lord’s right and just response to King Solomon’s selfishness and rebellion, we see the Lord extend grace. You see, in spite of the reality that King Solomon’s ungodly commitments had eroded his commitment to God, God was not done with the descendants of King David. Instead God was going to fulfill His promises to King David in spite of King Solomon's performance, not because of King Solomon’s performance.

You see, while King Solomon started so well, King Solomon failed to finish well because his love and commitment to ungodly women eroded His commitment to God. Next week, we are going to see the ripples of King Solomon’s selfishness and rebellion that led him to fail to finish well impact the Jewish people.

In the meantime, here is a question to consider: Where are you tempted to enter into ungodly commitments? Where are you facing the possibility of failing to finish well as a follower of Jesus because of the ungodly commitments that you are making? What are you going to do to make sure that ungodly commitments do not erode your commitment to God?

A Life That Is Blessed By The Lord....

This week we are looking at the life of one of the kings of the Jewish people, a man named Solomon. Yesterday we looked on as King Solomon, upon becoming king, recognized that he was in desperate need of the Lord. Solomon recognized the incredible role and responsibility that he had been given as king. Solomon recognized that he was inexperienced and lacked the leadership skills to lead the Jewish people. Solomon recognized that he was in desperate need of the Lord’s wisdom, guidance, and direction to lead the Jewish people.

So Solomon asked for the Lord to provide him with the wisdom, discernment and understanding to hear and follow the Lord so that He could listen and lead the Jewish people. We see the Lord’s response to Solomon’s request in 1 Kings 12:10:

 It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. "I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. "If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days."

The Lord responded to Solomon’s request by granting his request. The Lord gave Solomon a wise and discerning heart, which equipped Solomon with a developed skill for living life that would produce positive results in his life and the life of the Jewish nation. The Lord gave Solomon the wisdom and leadership skills that would result in him being remembered throughout history. Solomon would become known as the wisest human being who ever lived.

And, in an amazing expression of grace and generosity, the Lord gave Solomon what he could of asked for but did not ask for.  The Lord would bless Solomon materially. Solomon would become the wealthiest man on the planet. And the Lord would bless Solomon when it came to his reputation. The Lord would give Solomon a life of distinction, fame, and respect by others that would be unparalleled. All that Solomon had to do was to continue to live out his life in a way that continued to place His confident trust in and follow the Lord.

And that is what King Solomon did. King Solomon placed his confident trust in the Lord and followed the Lord as he administered justice for the Jewish people. King Solomon placed his confident trust in the Lord and followed the Lord as he led the Jewish people to complete the Temple. King Solomon placed his confident trust in the Lord and followed the Lord as he built the temple according to God’s design.  

King Solomon placed his confident trust in the Lord and followed the Lord as he led the Jewish people to seek and worship the Lord at the dedication of the temple. King Solomon then dedicated the Temple by offering acts of worship that were so numerous that they could not be counted. King Solomon prayed and asked the Lord to be continually present with the Jewish people and to protect the Jewish people. King Solomon also asked the Lord to continue to demonstrate His character and His forgiveness to the Jewish people as they strived to follow Him. King Solomon asked the Lord would continue to use the Jewish people as the vehicle to reveal Himself to the world.

And as King Solomon placed his confident trust in the Lord and followed the Lord, the Lord blessed King Solomon and the Jewish people materially and relationally. We see that reality revealed for us a few chapters later in 1 Kings 9:1:

Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all that Solomon desired to do, that the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. The LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. "As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, 'You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.' "But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. "And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?'  "And they will say, 'Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the LORD has brought all this adversity on them.'"

The Lord responded to King Solomon’s faithfulness in building the Temple and his prayerful desire for the Lord’s presence and protection by appearing to him a second time. The Lord reaffirmed His promise to be present and to watch over and protect the Jewish people. And the Lord reaffirmed His promise to establish the rule of King Solomon and his descendants if he and his descendants continued to walk in integrity of heart and uprightness.

In other words, the Lord promised King Solomon that He would fulfill His promises to him if he continued to live his life in a way that was wholly devoted to the Lord and did not turn from following the Lord. However, if King Solomon or his sons failed to remain wholly devoted to the Lord; if King Solomon or his sons turned from following the way of the Lord; then the Lord would reject the Jewish people as He had been rejected. The Lord promised Solomon that He would remove the Jewish people from the Promised Land and would abandon and destroy the Temple if the Jewish people abandoned Him so as to follow false gods.

And in the rest of 1 Kings nine and ten, we see King Solomon respond to the Lord’s appearance and promises by continuing to live his life in a way that placed His confident trust in and followed the Lord. And as King Solomon continued to live a life that was wholly devoted to the Lord, the Lord continued to bless King Solomon and the Jewish people.

The Lord used King Solomon and the Jewish people as the vehicle to reveal Himself to the world and enhance His reputation in the world. People from throughout the world were traveling to seek out King Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had placed within him. The Lord blessed Solomon when it came to his reputation.

And the Lord blessed Solomon materially. King Solomon’s temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. During King Solomon’s reign the Jewish people collected 25 tons of gold annually. During King Solomon’s reign, the Jewish military had ceremonial shields that contained 15 pounds of gold each. The Lord had kept His promise as King Solomon lived a life that was wholly devoted to the Lord and that trusted upon the Lord.

And if King Solomon’s story had ended there, King Solomon’s story would have been the perfect story. However, King Solomon’s story did not end there. Instead, King Solomon’s story took a turn that would impact the Jewish people in a profound and powerful way. Friday, we see King Solomon’s story turn...