There’s a story of an ancient nation who had a certain king whose reign began with glorious optimism, but ended in despicable shame. To make matters worse, this old king’s son continued the legacy of disgrace and further sent this kingdom into irreversible ruin.
Nevertheless, God’s guiding hand was upon them and the kingdom they represented. God’s ultimate promise to this ancient king and his sons to follow were not contingent upon their righteousness, but on God’s alone. God had earlier promised certain things to this nation, and God would faithfully deliver.
However, God didn’t turn his head from their actions or look away from their sinful failures. Instead, he disciplined them. He had to. His character depended upon Him acting in such a way. Previously, He had made another covenant with them that would bring objective blessing for obedience and objective cursing for disobedience. Thus, this particular covenant required that He correct their disobedience through punishment. As a result, should this nation act against God and His ways, God would then stir up other nations to aid Him in carrying out corrective discipline upon His people.
It was into this world that a new king was born. It was inside this nation that an ancient king rose to power and influence. It was through him that God continued His promises…
The king I’m referring to is Solomon, the 3rd king in the ancient Israel nation, and his son, Rehoboam.
Solomon was commissioned by his father, king David, to “…keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn…”
Solomon even prayed, “…Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in…So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil…”
God had extended to him power and wisdom, “…Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life…Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was known in all the surrounding nations.“
Solomon had finally built God’s temple and had also witnessed God’s glory fill its holiest place, “…So Solomon built the house and finished it. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim…It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.”
Nevertheless, God had given him a warning, “…if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness…then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever…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…then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them…So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins…”
But then, Solomon did the unthinkable, “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 Lordfully, 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.”
Therefore, Solomon forced God’s hand. He had to respond, and respond He did, “…Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel…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…”
What happened?
What led to the descent of so great a king?
How could he stoop to such levels?
Could anything have prevented this disgrace?
How did these decisions affect his children after him?
Furthermore, HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO US TODAY?
Stay tuned…
We’ll answer these questions HERE in our Plastic Sword Christianity series.
— August 16, 2019