The Church Goes On: Fellowship in Love 1 John 4

The Church Goes On: Fellowship in Love 1 John 4: Fellowship in Love 1 John 4:1-21 The Foundation of Love One of the things that really speak to me in this passage is the apostle...

The Search For Significance

It all began with a birth. The newborn child saw his mother as his caregiver and wanted her to hold him, to feed him, and to love him. He wanted to be important in her eyes. As he grew, he included his father into his need to be important and any siblings, and all the while his heart was looking for significance; he sought the attention of those around him.

As time went on, he found some friends and wanted to be important in their eyes as well. Peer Pressure set in and began to control his desire for significance. Each one of us knows this search as if it were our own!

While it is not necessarily wrong to be significant in someone’s eyes, I do want to set this in context and where it started and where it could go.

To understand this in its entirety we have to understand where the search began.

God had created each one of us with a significance built in to us. As created by God, we are his, we are cared for, we are protected, and we are loved. This same care was afforded the angelic beings at the beginning of time.

As God created Mankind, Lucifer already being significant in God’s eyes, wanted yet more significance. His heart was set on being as important to those around him as God is. Going against the established setup is always rebellion and Lucifer rebelled against his Creator and God for the sake of being significant to yet more people/angels. Lucifer was an archangel in community of angels meaning that his role was actually a leader in the angelic realm. As a leader, Lucifer lead a full-fledged revolt against the Lord God of Heaven and he became the ultimate leader to one third of the angels.

I will be like God and be my own boss, he thought. No more will I have to bow before the Almighty in worship or submission was his thinking. Was he right? No! Lucifer also known as Satan still has to bow in submission to God. He does have some reign to do his own thing, but he will pay for anything that is in rebellion to God. Since he is living in rebellion with no hope for redemption, all is lost. So did Satan become like God? No! Satan is not Almighty, and his plans need to fall into submission to his Creator. Satan is not All-knowing, not Omni-present, nor is he All-powerful.

While God did create man and woman significant in His eyes, their desire to be more significant drove them to disobedience. You shall be as gods, was the motive behind their rebellion, and the opportunity to become as gods was too much to pass up they thought, and they made their choice to be their own master of their life, bringing with this choice all the corruption and vices this world knows today.

The Pharisaical Leaders of Jesus day allowed their desire to be significant to initiate some really obnoxious behavior, and while making a show of worshiping God, they demanded others to sit up and take notice of their righteousness, and piety by blowing on horns when they stopped to pray on the street corners and by clanging huge purses full of gold into the tithe box. The reality is that, though they may have been respected leaders in Israel; they were not worshiping God but were worshiping their righteousness, and the admiration of the people of Israel.

Wanting to be significant moves men and women to do strange things, and in today’s society; we find ourselves looking for ways to be known. We have the Guinness Book of Records, along with the infamy that accompanies the criminal. It is as if the world has given up on trying to be holy and no longer seeks the approval of Jehovah for the sake of being significant in the eyes of the world.

Years ago mankind would have taken a greater pleasure in dressing distinguished but now dress has become so casual that our lifestyle has followed suit.

The significance that God has placed within our being is not brought about by our works whether good or evil, but is there as a part of the creation of our being. We may choose to disregard the significance that God has placed in our heart and be the master of our own soul, but wait; there is no such thing, we will either be serving Jehovah, or the devil and which, my friends will it be?

Now that “All we like sheep have gone astray”, how do we regain the significance with God? It won’t by our own works of righteousness, but by a broken and contrite heart. So go ahead and humble yourself before the Lord, and recognize His Supremacy, His Authority, and his Life within you; and live life like never before. It may be difficult to stay the path, but worth it all, for Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our rebellion and opened the door to re-establish a relationship with you!

‪#‎significance‬ ‪#‎relationshipwithGod‬ ‪#‎infamy‬ ‪#‎brokenandcontrite‬

Trauma Doesn't Mean We Aren't Blessed

2 Kings 4

Our study today is summed up by giving personal examples of how if you want God to intervene in your life then you must ask! God knows your need you say, well so He does; but the Word of God in various places that we must ask before we receive good at the hand of God! There are some standard blessings that apply in most scenarios like life, and health and so on. This life is about trust and honor and we do live in a cursed world so circumstances arise giving birth to sorrow, and pain, maybe even hopelessness; but we must ask, and if God blesses us by turning our affliction away then we are blessed, if God blesses us by making us stronger of faith by taking us on a real journey of mountains and valleys then we are blessed. We could be blessed by God giving us wisdom where we lacked it.

Numbers 27:21 (Ask Counsel)
2 Chronicles 20:4-30 (Ask help from God) 2 Chronicles 20:4,17
Zechariah 10:1 (Ask for rain, even when there has been a season of dryness - Spiritual and physical)
Matthew 7:7-12 Luke 11:11-13 (Ask, Seek, Knock - Good gifts)
James 1:5 (Ask Wisdom)

The woman in our study today had no ulterior motives when offering Elisha the extra room she and her husband had made for him. She apparently had been moved by God to prepare first a meal for him and then a room for him to spend the night. When Elisha offered to speak well of her to the higher authorities, she indicated she was content to live among her people.

The village of Shunem was located on a piece of land that had been designated for the Tribe of Issachar. Joshua 19:17-23 It was located about three miles from Jezreel which was known as the city of the kings. It was here that the saga of Naboth’s Vineyard played out resulting in his death.

This woman for whom we have no name recorded, was barren and could have no children. Elisha, as a thank you had his servant keep his eyes on some way he could help her to thank her for her kindness. Through this a special son/child was born as a miracle for her husband was old. God honored Elisha's request to give her a son.

The Shunammite woman's son, who was promised by Elisha as a spokesman/prophet for God did on a hot morning while he was helping his father with the harvest. He had complained of a severe headache and his father had sent him home to be cared for there. He died about noon and his mother took his body up to Elisha's room and laid it on Elisha's bed. She then went to get Elisha.

There was no panic, no deep distress after the death of her child. She didn’t even tell her husband that their child was dead. He had known the son wasn’t feeling well, and had taken him home to be taken care of there.

She told her husband that she was going to the prophet and “it would be well”. She had faith that God’s servant would be able to raise her son. She uttered no angry words to the prophet of God, she didn’t say “What kind of God would do that”.

The Shunammite woman sought, and knocked physically when she went after the prophet. There are three steps to asking: just plain asking “May I have this situation reversed”, Seeking is a more intense type of asking and then there is beating on the gates of Heaven (metaphorically of course they are not shut by day nor by night).

The words she used, “It is well” is the same word used for peace and safety. The Strong’s Concordance says, “safe - for example, well, happy, friendly, also as an abstract meaning it means welfare, such as health prosperity and peace, to do or ask a favor.

The definition of Shalom is quite varied and to determine what exactly she meant could be difficult, but there are several things we can take away from this: First of all, there was peace, not panic; Secondly, she was seeking for someone’s welfare Thirdly, She was asking a favour of both her husband and Elisha.

There are a couple of questions that arise from this account. What was Elisha doing at Mt. Carmel? How great was the distance between Shunem and Mt. Carmel?

Mt. Carmel had been the site of a great spiritual victory for Elijah and there had been built a school for the prophets instructing them in the ways of God. Elisha was an itinerant prophet who made his way round to the various schools that had been set up for the prophets. The distance between Shunem and Mt. Carmel is roughly 30 Miles. That would equate to about a 9 Hour Trek on foot.

She was considered a “great woman” socially. Her standing in the community was that of respect, and wealth. People would have looked up to her, and even though she could have sent her servant to get Elisha she went humbly to plead at his feet. She actually pressed the servant she was traveling with to travel fast and not to worry about whether she can keep up. She said, “I will tell you when to slow down”.

Elisha seeing her approach him and kneeling at his feet clutching his ankles as a means of displaying the desperation she was in.

Though she wasn't panicked she wanted God to come through for her. Elisha recognized the agony in her spirit and though God hadn't revealed to him ahead of time about the family, he was ready to help.

God could have revealed this to him, but for some reason this time He didn't. We don't know the why behind God choosing to not reveal this especially when God usually did reveal things ahead of time to alert him as to what issues he was going to be facing.

What can we learn from it though? Sometimes things happen to us that make us wonder how that will work out for our good. In this case she lost her only son/child. Consider with me what would have been the end result if she had not appealed with God to intervene. She was probably praying before that her son would be healed, but now that he was dead, she was not going to give up. Sometimes our situations seem to be hopeless, but if we give up we will not see the work of God!

Matthew 7:7,8

When you have placed your life, all of your life under God’s control; whether it is the emotional part of your life, the Spiritual part of your life or the physical part of your life, then you will understand that God as your Sovereign King will work things out in your story. Romans 8:28

I do not want to leave a false impression that everything will always work out the way we want them to, but it will ultimately be up to God then to bless us in the way He sees fit. A lost job, A death in the family, A broken down vehicle, etc…, is not a blessing; but God’s blessing can come out of it whether it is for the purification of the saint, or some other blessing. Sometimes we become so materialistic that we believe that God is not blessing us unless it is a material blessing!

‪#‎blessing‬ ‪#‎shunammitewoman‬ ‪#‎askseekknock‬ ‪#‎2Kings4‬ ‪#‎2Kings‬

Dueling Prophets

1 Kings 18

“And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said The Lord He is the God; The Lord He is the God.” 1 Kings 18:39

Elijah, having just raised the widow’s son back to life, and having fulfilled his mission with her; The Word of The Lord came again to him. This time however, Elijah was to inform the wicked king Ahab of the rain that was headed for Israel. Again, the whole reason there was this drought in the first place was Ahab had initiated a kingdom of tolerance for heathen religions, and where Baal worshiped reigned supreme. Baal, the god of storms had failed his followers miserably these last three years and it was time for a showdown of the gods. Israel had not repented yet, and it was time to force a battle between the powers of evil and the righteous power of God.

Jezebel, the queen of Israel, had succeeded in killing many of the followers of Yahweh in an effort to create this tolerant society toward her favored religion, and to appease her own god (the god Baal).

We now have an interesting character come into the story, and his name is Obadiah. Obadiah is a fervent worshipper of Yahweh, and has used his connections as king’s steward to hide 100 of the prophets of God by 50’s in caves. The study today takes him out across the land looking for water as the drought had dried up all available resources for quite a ways. It is on this venture that Obadiah meets Elijah as he comes out of hiding for the first time since the drought began.

Elijah tells Obadiah to let Ahab know that he is in the area and would like to see him. Obadiah trembled at the thought of delivering that message, (1) because Elijah was a prophet of God and Jezebel wanted his head, (and 2) because Elijah had a knack for disappearing into nowhere only to be found when the time was right.

Obadiah’s words were, “I will tell Ahab that you are here and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and carry you away to a place that I know not of”.

Only when Elijah promised that he would see Ahab, did Obadiah consent to giving Ahab the message.

Ahab couldn’t stand Elijah’s presence due to the righteousness of Elijah condemning the unrighteousness of Ahab. Also look at 1 John 3:12 1 Peter 3:16 2 Timothy 3:12 Cain was infuriated by Abel’s righteousness.

Ahab knew Elijah was a prophet of God, yet he blamed him for the trouble that had befallen Israel. Ahab’s kingdom was built around tolerance of the Zidonian god Baal and goddess Ashteroth and he assumed that as god/goddess they would take care of him, yet these last three years they had failed him as this “trouble” had fallen upon Israel. He assumed this “trouble” was brought on by Elijah’s insistence in worshipping the One True God, and his own gods had removed their blessing. We could say that Ahab was a spiritual man, even that Jezebel was a spiritual woman; but their spirituality resulted in idolatry, which is rebellion of God’s ways, which is witchcraft. Behind every idol is a demon receiving the worship that is given it.

Our children are those in our little domain, just like Ahab as king of Israel had his kingdom of people who were looking to him for guidance. If we as parents are not an example of serving God, whether it’s by losing our temper, disrespect of our leaders, or fellow church members, or whether we are halting between two religions; these could all give rise to a generation of people who are disillusioned having a tainted view of who God is. If we as parents are super concerned with things pertaining to us, be it our hurts, our gifts, or how we expect that men should treat us; then we are selfishly expecting to have our rights upheld. The Bible says offences will come and “Woe to whoever shall give them”. Our children will see who we respond to situations that are less than ideal, and we will make or break their view of God and His ways! Their blood will surely be on our hands if they lose out spiritually due to our lack of spiritual discernment. Matthew 18:6

During the reign of Ahab, many Israelites tried to worship both God and Baal in order to please the prophets and the rulers. This is a compromise of faith and it is clear through the Word of God that compromise of faith will always be sin and will be judged. Revelation 2:14 - Joshua 24:15

So, who really was troubling Israel? When God said in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.”; He made it clear that certain requirements need to be met or they would be judged along with their land being cursed for their sake. God was not just “troubling” Israel, but was wanting them to see the futility of their worship in an inanimate god. This trouble was self-inflicted because of their rebellious heart.

Today, Do you feel like God is inflicting you? Before you blame God for it, take a look at your life. Are you in whole obedience to God and what he has revealed to you? Also understand that if you are walking in complete obedience to God, Satan would love to sift you as wheat. Further still, Recognize that this may not be a personal struggle, rather this earth is cursed generally, not to make it hard for you, but because of the sin of the world that men and women may realize their need of surrendering to God.

When we forsake the commandments of the Lord, it is clear we will bring “trouble” on ourselves.

What does it mean, “Thou hast followed Baalim”? Is this just a variant of the name Baal? Baalim, according to the Strong’s Concordance is the plural form of Baal.

As Elijah meets with Ahab, he gives this call to worship. It is a contest of worship to see which (G)god is going to come through for their prophets(s). It is time for the showdown. Israel had not repented from following Baal, but they were going to be forced to see that God/Jehovah is the True God and that Elijah is His messenger.

Elijah called them to this contest on Mt. Carmel. Now Mt. Carmel was a beautiful Mountain that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. It was believed to have been the home of the god Baal. Baal was in a sense challenged to a duel on his “home turf”. Elijah was outnumbered 850/1 by the prophets of Baal, plus if you would count the rest of the worshippers of Baal, that number would have risen tremendously.

Israel has been trying to have a tolerant stance toward this false religion, and as anybody can guess true tolerance of anything whether it is a false god or an ideology always end up biting you in the end. There is no such thing as true complete tolerance.

Elijah built the altar with 12 stones to remind the Israelites they were part of the 12 tribes of Israel and that God has chosen them as His people. This symbolized a return to the worship of the true God as the altar had been in disrepair until now.

The Israelites needed to acknowledge that Jehovah is God (the only God) before the drought could end. Leviticus 26:40-45 by the same token, our spiritual drought can be reversed by recognizing that God alone is God and by following in obedience.

The Prophet and the Widow

Rehoboam (Solomon’s Son) and Jeroboam (one of the Head Craftsmen), faced off about the high taxes that the Israelites had to pay the to the Order of the Kingdom of Israel. This resulted in a disintegration of the kingdom of Israel, and 10 of the Tribes or family groups went with Jeroboam to form a splinter, a big splinter of the kingdom.

As we saw before Jeroboam was concerned more about his power than his people and set up idol worship as a means of controlling whether they should see what true worship is like in Jerusalem. After The Northern Kingdom went with Jeroboam, they had a series of bad kings with one rising up and taking the previous one down, or by inheritance.

Today, we go into the study of the kingship of Ahab and the Prophet of God during his reign, pulling out some key elements to display God’s Message.

1 Kings 17:1-12

Prior to 1 Kings 17 we know nothing about Elijah. Many people have speculated as to who he was and have come up with theories which cannot be proved or could be disputed. Some people believe that he was either God pre-incarnate or an angel in human form, but James 5:17 lays to rest either of those theories. Elijah is an example of faithfulness during a time of nationwide rejection of the truth.

We open up this study with a man appearing on the scene that we have no previous knowledge of, save that he was a Tishbite.

Now the name Tishbite, when broken down means sojourner, but could also refer to a location. Josephus refers to Elijah as being from Teshbon (a Country or Province in Gilead). The name Elijah means Jehovah is God and as the story ensues, Elijah’s life remains fairly close to the meaning of his name.

Ahab, was the son of a wicked king, who had done evil as had Jeroboam. The account we have before us says that Ahab was more evil than all who were before him. Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, who was a king of Sidon, and together they built an altar to Baal the Zidonian god, and Asherah the Zidonian goddess. Ethbaal was a priest-king of Baal, and his daughter Jezebel had picked up that spiritual power and transferred it into the worship in Israel. The name Jezebel itself means “where is the “Prince”? This is believed to be a direct reference to Baal who was a god of the underworld and their search for Spring and New Life! They believed that when Baal showed his face the crops and life itself flourished.

There is a few key points in verse 1 that we must not miss.

Elijah was addressing Ahab, that wicked king whose wife was a priestess of Baal, a god whose appearance was believed by them to bring New Life.

Elijah though facing a king who could have had his head, spoke the Word of The Lord.

Elijah stood before God, whose Message he brought to Ahab and Jezebel.

This drought that Elijah prophesied to the Israelites about had a previously issued warning in Deuteronomy 11:16,17 that when their hearts became deceived and they worshipped other gods, the wrath of God would fall on them and the heavens would issue no rain.

After meeting king Ahab in Samaria and giving him the warning about there being a drought, Elijah, under the command and provision of the Lord was told to escape Eastward and hide by the brook Cherith. Now Cherith was on the East side of the Jordan River, whereas Samaria was on the western side. God was preparing Elijah for a profound and miraculous ministry that required his complete trust in Jehovah. As Elijah lived by the brook, every morning and evening, ravens brought him bread and meat for his sustenance. “With God all things are possible.”

So where did these ravens get these tidbits of food the for the prophet to eat? I sincerely doubt these were leftover crumbs that some caravan discarded. Why do I feel this was not an option? Food was scarce, so if you had it; you didn’t waste it.

I figure that this was probably bread and meat from heaven that was specifically sent for the nourishment of God’s Prophet.

Now when there is a drought in a place, eventually the rivers and the creeks dry up and the avenue that God had provided for Elijah had left as the last drop of rain water evaporated into the air.

Elijah’s time of preparation was over and God wanted him to move onto the next phase of his ministry. Elijah was sent to Zarephath, a city in Sidon near the place where Jezebel, that wicked queen hailed from. This was a Gentile city, that was in the heart of idol worship, yet here is where the call of God sent Elijah.

We don’t know for sure if she was a believer before Elijah met up with her or even if she had ever heard of the True God, but it would seem likely that she had heard about God from someone. When Solomon built God’s Temple in Jerusalem, and through the wisdom that God had given him, one would sure think that news like that along with the glory of the kingdom of Israel would have made it that far North (about 100 Miles or so). We do know that news had reached into the Land of Sheba, either known as Ethiopia or South Africa.

There was a widow in the city of Zarephath that God had prepared for this occasion and Elijah was sent to her, not so much for his benefit, but for hers. This widow, a citizen of that Gentile city was preparing to make her last meal and then she and her son would starve.

God’s people were forsaking him, yet among the Gentiles, there was a heart that was ripe for the Gospel Message, So God was moving in her heart and Elijah’s heart as they both were prepared for the meeting that was God ordained.

How far widespread was this drought? The rejection that Israel chose to send God’s way created a traumatic situation, not only for them but the neighboring countries around them. We notice that as far away as Sidon, their food supply was running out. The widow in our lesson shows us just how desperate things were for them as well as the Israelites.

Over and over again, God has displayed His mercy to a person who has humbled themselves before Him, no matter what background they come from. It had seemed clear, that the Israelites were God’s Chosen people, but once again, the popular belief was pushed aside so yet another soul could enter into God’s Kingdom. This was made available through the rejection of God’s Chosen People refusing to acknowledge Him as their Lord.

This widow’s obedience is amazing! She had no reason to trust Elijah and his God, but then what did she have to lose. Her whole life had been predicated on the lie that her god and goddess would bring the fruit from the ground, but when the time had come for a harvest these last 3 years; but alas, there was none.

As Elijah instructed her to bring him a cake first, she makes an interesting statement. She said, “As the Lord thy God Liveth”. First off, She is recognizing, There is a Living God. Secondly, she is recognizing Elijah as his Prophet. Thirdly, that she doesn’t know Him.

Elijah’s prophecy about her barrel of meal and cruse of oil came true and she began to warm up to the prophet and his God, the Living God who could create meal and oil from nothing. No matter how she scraped her barrel and cruse out, there was always some there the next time she needed it.

God’s provision for her, had brought her to the place of believing in Him.

The next step in this plan that God had for her and Elijah was one that had never been done before. Though it hadn’t been done before, Abraham had believed that God could do it for his son Isaac after he had sacrificed him. Hebrews 11:17-19

This widow, having lost her husband beforehand, now had he only child, a son, become sick and die. She immediately assumed that the grace of God was no longer on her head due to the entrenched ideologies that were ingrained into her belief system.

God understands the fears and confusions of our hearts. This woman was grief-stricken, and out of her grief, she spoke hastily. We, to speak hastily to the Lord at times when we don’t understand what is going on in our lives. We say things like “Why me Lord?”

We so easily forget the blessings of the Lord as soon as hardship comes. The Children of Israel forget the blessings of the Lord whether things were going good or badly for them. God is a Patient God and He was displaying His longsuffering nature to her so that she would understand more in depth who He is.

We may criticize this lady for accusing Elijah of bringing her son’s death upon her, but she was outside God’s chosen people. True she was serving the Lord now, and serving His Prophet, but how could she know that at some point her sins wouldn’t come back to haunt her? This was a legitimate fear for her. As a Gentile, she did not have the same rights before God as a born Jew would have, and any proselytized Gentile would have felt that. Today, through Jesus, all Gentiles have an open relationship with God, even to a greater degree than what the Old Testament Jews would have been able to have.

Sometimes when we experience traumatic incidents, we immediately assume that God has left us because of our unrighteousness. While that may be the case on occasion, God may actually be closer than we think. In the story we have before us, God had prepared this situation, not that He wanted her to experience her son dying, but that He wanted her to experience her son becoming alive again!

The purpose of this was to prove that He alone is God and that He creates Life!

The widow’s last testimony we read of is “I know that thou art a man of God, and the Word of the Lord in your mouth is truth”. She no longer is calling God Elijah’s God, but the grammatical sense is denoting ownership of God. In other words, she now was a personal believer in God.

‪#‎Godcreateslife‬ ‪#‎believerinGod‬ ‪#‎widowinZarephath‬ ‪#‎testimonyoflife‬

The Strategies of Two Kings

Shechem played a pivotal role in the history of the Jews that is often overlooked by Bible Commentaries.  Shechem was a city where Abraham was living nearby when he received one of God’s promises. Genesis 12:6,7  By the time Jacob came on the scene 200 years later had become a thriving city.  Now the word city in Hebrew means that this settlement was a walled settlement, and Genesis 34:20, 24 report that it had a gate.  

Shechem was home to Abraham, Jacob, it is where Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, Joshua was to read the law from the side of one of the mountains nearby once they had made the conquest into that region Joshua 7,8. and Jesus talked to the woman at the well there.  The city of Shechem was situated between two mountains and had a natural acoustic effect so one could be speaking on the mountain and be heard in the valley.  The source I got this information from also indicated that he had been on top of one of the mountains and could hear the children playing in the city, so the acoustic nature worked both ways.

You remember from our last study that Solomon had started out well as a leader, but then his heart wandered,and he became a self-serving king.  In other words, it was more of a tyranny as he pressed his very own people into slavery to him and his family.  Toward the end of Solomon’s reign the heart of the people had already started to shift, and when he died, Jeroboam, one of his well respected men had fled to Egypt after have to seek asylum there.

Now Rehoboam, who was Solomon’s son that should take on the kingdom, went to Shechem for his coronation.  The story that goes on from here expands yet again the history of the city of Shechem as this event takes on another pivotal role in the history of the Israelites.

We start out our Lesson with one of Israel’s well respected men in exile.

1 Samuel 8:11-18

11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

13 And he will take your daughters to be confectioneries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

We do not know that Solomon knew of the interchange between Ahijah, the prophet of God and Jeroboam, but he certainly must have suspected something. Jeroboam was an industrious individual who was a natural born leader. The Bible calls him a valiant warrior.  As Solomon was losing his grip on his people it seemed natural that someone as powerful militarily as Jeroboam would be a threat to Solomon's throne, and he moved to get him out of the way. Jeroboam sought asylum in Egypt.

1 Timothy 6:6-11

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

The presence of Jeroboam, a returned exile, by the invitation of the people should have been threat enough to this new king, and then to have him as the spokesman for the entire camp of Israel who was offering bargaining chips to the king really should have left no question in Rehoboam’s mind as to the danger of not hearing their request.

Any leader who is self-serving is headed for disaster.  The old men advised Rehoboam to be compassionate to the people of Israel and they would serve him forever.  A good leader would have heard his followers and would have consulted his advisors, not from a selfish standpoint, but one that would seek to serve his own people.  This was the downfall of Solomon and Rehoboam.

When there is a group of people who either won’t hear the advice of the older generation or isn’t surrounded with the wisdom of the older generation, where will that take them.  In Rehoboam’s case, he consulted with his peers, who were self-serving just like himself.  

Today as individuals, families, and the church we do have access to the Holy Spirit speaking directly into our lives so in one sense it is different, but should we be seeking advice for our lives corporately and/or individually?

God had given Jeroboam the greater portion of the kingdom of Israel and protected him from being killed from Solomon.  He had forgotten that God could preserve the kingdom as well as give it to him.

Jeroboam, as well as Solomon and Rehoboam, had proved that their heart cared more for their positions than the people.  You remember in our last study we talked about Israel worshipping God in high places, and it was in such a place that Solomon met God and got the promise of wisdom.  Though these high places were forbidden through the Law that was given by God,  it was something He winked at as they were still giving him lip service.  These same high places caused Israel to compromise their beliefs in God, because they weren’t entirely following His directives.

When Jeroboam lead the revolt against Rehoboam, only Judah remained with Rehoboam.  So now that Jeroboam had eleven tribes with him he didn’t wish to lose that power that all those people gave him.  This why he set up the golden calves in the high places of Dan and Bethel.  

Do we as leaders become so power hungry that we set up some kind of idolatry so we do not lose the power, the authority that we have gotten?  This could be true of us as fathers, or as leaders in the church.

Jeroboam’s quest for power began with hearing the voice of God and being appointed by God to lead the 10 tribes of Israel.  Jeroboam got the lowest of the people to be his new priests at the high places in the worship of the golden calves.  He tried to brainwash the people that these calves that he made were representations of God who led them out of Egypt.  He was playing on their need to worship something physical and trying to keep them out of Jerusalem.  He knew that Jerusalem was the place God had set up through David and Solomon as the place where His presence would be felt and where the voice of God would be heard, but he chose to withhold any real experience of worship from them so he could maintain his own kingdom.

There were a total of eleven tribes that went with him, but when the tribe of Levi discovered they weren’t needed for worship, they went back and joined up with Rehoboam and Judah.  

Solomon’s wives lead him astray as they became more important to him than God. 1 Kings 11:3,4

Rehoboam’s friends lead him astray by giving him poor advice.

Jeroboam wanted to keep the hearts of the people, and though there was no immediate threat to losing them, he took counsel and built idols so the Israelites would not go back to Jerusalem to worship. 1 Kings 12:28

Defining Moments of a King!

Defining Moments of A King!
1 Kings 3

King Solomon was a young king over a people group that was without number. The background for this study begins in the first chapter of 1 Kings.

Solomon’s father David has had declining health and will eventually turn the kingdom over to his successor. Meanwhile David’s fourth son, Adonijah, has seized the moment and gained notoriety among David’s former colleagues and has set himself up as king. God had promised before hand that Solomon would be taking on that role and so right from the start Solomon walks right into a conflict that is left over from his father’s mistakes/sins. As David found out that Adonijah had set himself up as his father’s successor, David moved quickly then with the Prophet of God to instate Solomon as a God-ordained King. The reality of this situation is there is two coronation ceremonies going on within the same family to rule over the same people.

As Adonijah understood that he had a rival that was ordained by God and his father, he ran to the tabernacle and grabbed onto the horns of the altar in desperation begging for his life. Solomon left him live under the order that he was to show himself a worthy man. Adonijah bowed himself before his brother indicating his allegiance to him.

Eventually Solomon has Adonijah put to death because he asked a favor of Solomon regarding the woman that had been David’s servant to keep him warm as he aged. That was too much for Solomon and he ordered Adonijah killed.

For the sake of national security Solomon was ordered by David to carry out the judgment for various offenders of David’s that he hadn’t dealt with.

The Quest for Wisdom

To begin with, I would like to look at the Laws that were given by Moses for when Israel would receive a king. Deuteronomy 17:14-20
Now as we come to the text of our study 1 Kings 3, we see Solomon as an established, though young king. From the start of his reign he gets mixed up with foreign women, largely due to the various affinities he made with various kings.

It is here that he begins to go wrong. In order to see what was controlling his heart, let’s dissect this account together and see where Solomon’s heart was.

First of all, what is an affinity? According to the Strong’s Concordance, affinity is to give a daughter away in marriage, to contract affinity by marriage. So then what is an affinity? It is a relationship that is bonded through a marriage. The modern definition of this is forming a treaty through a marriage.

Solomon began his reign by creating a relationship with the king of Egypt through the marriage of Pharaoh’s daughter. What did this affinity mean for the kingdom of Israel? Egypt and Israel were both powerful nations at this point and basically this maneuver was creating an alliance between them similar to the alliance between Great Britain and the U.S.. 2 Corinthians 6:15 This type of alliance between Egypt and Israel was different though in the sense that Israel was designated a nation of God’s People, who were holy. Egypt, however was on a cultural path of destruction, through their idolatry, and ignorance of God. So as this plays out, we have a people set aside to be holy; whose king makes an alliance with a people who is unholy. Can this end anywhere but in a mess? 1 Corinthians 15:33

I see this episode, as a lack of trust on Solomon’s part. As an ally, they were bound to each other to stand in for each other in battle.

What do you have an affinity with? In Genesis 6 this gets played out in the spiritual realm as the sons of God saw the daughters of men and married them and through that alliance, giants were born. Today, if we allow the alliance between ourselves as holy children of God and the spirits of this world, the inevitable will happen and giants will be born within our soul.

The worship experience of Israel in those days was to worship in high places. The tabernacle was the original designated place of worship and at this point it was located in Gibeon. Even though the Tabernacle was in Gibeon, the ark of the Covenant (which represented God’s Presence) was in Jerusalem. For some reason God blessed Solomon’s worship in the high place at Gibeon even though it was still set up as a high place. This worship in high places was more than just building an altar such as Abraham, Samuel, and David had done; but was a complete worship center with groves, and whatever else was common in those types of settings. This was not true worship for it was forbidden by God, and was a form of idolatry.

What are our high places? Can we set up a spiritual high place, where by appearance we are worshipping God, but we are doing so in disobedience, and have set up our place of worship whether physical or spiritual as an idol before the Lord. Isaiah 29:13/Matthew 15:8 Are we following the practices of the heathen around us when we worship the Lord?

Now, after all this, Solomon goes to worship the Lord in Gibeon where the tabernacle is residing. This is the official place to meet the Lord for the Israelites. It is here in Gibeon, that God meets Solomon and offers him; no strings attached, whatever he wants.

Note that though Solomon loved the Lord, his devotion to the Lord was not his full devotion. He was distracted from giving the Lord his full devotion.

Solomon’s heart is toward the Lord at this point, and he knew that the job he had been called to do was bigger than he was. He was young, and inexperienced needing God’s wisdom for this undaunting task of leading God’s people on the right way. James 1:5

What is the difference between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God? The wisdom of this world is often viewed as philosophy including a wide spectrum of circumstances, and scientific theories; while the wisdom of God is having the understanding of life from God’s perspective. The only true way to understand life is through the wisdom of God, for God gives life, and He gives life meaning. If you try to understand life with a worldly wisdom, there are many areas in life when answers will fail you and life will cease to have meaning, judgments will be narrow sighted, and the future will be bleak.

Proverbs 3:7-26

John 15:16 We do have the same opportunity to ask God for whatever we will, but with one stipulation though. We need to ask in Jesus name. What does that mean? When Jesus abides in us, and the spirit of God moves through us, our request is not selfish, but for the good of the Kingdom of God. As a child of God, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, our greatest goal is to want God’s for ourselves and others what God has designed for us.

Solomon’s heart was distracted from giving God his full devotion. What about us? Are we distracted in our devotion to the Lord. Is our Faith radical? Have we given our complete trust to the Lord?

We have been given the position to lead in one way or another. Are we asking humbly God for wisdom to lead in the area we have been called?

Solomon’s request to God was also for an understanding heart. An understanding heart is one that hears, not just in passing or as one who is distracted when someone else is talking but one who really hears. Solomon wanted a heart that would really hear God when He was talking. A comparison to this spiritually would be in Ephesians 1:18.

The Gift of Wisdom

The speech pleased the Lord! What about Solomon’s speech pleased the Lord? Solomon had humbled his heart before the Lord, and a broken or humble spirit God will not turn away. God promised Solomon that he would be given wisdom and an understanding heart. 1 Corinthians 13:2 says that if a man understand all mysteries and doesn’t have love, he is nothing.

While on one hand Solomon had humbled himself and God had promised him wisdom and an understanding heart, Solomon was still living in disobedience to the Lord through his allegiance to Egypt through his marriage, and his continued worship in the various high places. The wisdom and understanding had proved to be disregarded in his personal life while at the same time he enabled others to benefit from it.

As part of Solomon’s blessing for choosing wisdom and understanding, God also blessed him with riches and honor. The Old Covenant was a physical covenant in which many times the faithful were rewarded physically as well. Many of the faithful under the Old Covenant received riches and honor as a blessing from God for their faithfulness. Under the New Covenant, however, which is spiritual, the blessing may not necessarily be physical. The faithful under the New Covenant will be rewarded with spiritual riches and when the day arrives when God calls his servants home, their reward will be so much greater than anything physical could possibly be.

After Solomon awake from his vision, and realized all that God had promised him, he went and stood before the Ark of the Covenant and offered up burnt offerings, worshiping God, and offering Peace offerings. Solomon was, as it were, standing in the throneroom of God before the mercy seat of the Almighty in humble submission.

The Results of Wisdom

I have often wondered what woman would be so hard as to say to cut a child to pieces. I mean you could see the child, yet that is what happened in this account. Solomon was able to see through her pretentious fascade and chose to use the method of threatening to do this as a means of determining who the real mother was. I can’t go on from here without saying that many of today’s mothers are doing exactly that. They are taking the place of that second woman and are having their unborn child torn apart or drugged so they die. Many real mothers and fathers are MIA (missing in action) when it comes to being there for their children.

In this case, though, the real mother’s heart yearned for her child and she couldn’t bear to see it destroyed. Isaiah 49:15.

Solomon’s wisdom that he showed in this case further solidified his place as a worthy ruler and his subjects were slow to disobey him because of his discernment. In the same way, when we trust the Lord, and do righteously, many people will respect us for it.

The contrast that came before Solomon was selfishness and compassion. This is what Solomon was choosing between.

The original plan for Israel was to be a nation of priests which would draw the world to God. Israel was located strategically between two major civilizations and would be right on the trade route. If Israel could maintain their spirituality, God would continue to bless them physically and nations would be in awe of them. Today as people of the New Covenant, God has blessed us not necessarily with physical things, but spiritual; and if we continue to live in faith the people of the world will be drawn to God through us. This will not be an automatic wave of people coming to God, but nevertheless, people will come.

Solomon used God’s wisdom well when applying it to the lives and needs of others, but when it came to applying it to his personal life, he was severely lacking. Truly applying wisdom will affect your personal life. Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10

Wisdom:
Delivers us from the ways of evil men Proverbs 2:10-13
Delivers us from immorality 5:1-3
It gives us the right words to say 10:31,32; Luke 21:15

Delivers us from evil and brings us to humility 16:16-18
It builds up and brings us strength and safety 24:3-6
Disciplining brings wisdom to children and to all whom God disciplines 29:15
Prepares men for Leadership Acts 6:3
Enables us to determine God’s will Colossians 1:9
True wisdom is gentle, pure, and merciful James 3:1

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