Reading in I Kings 10-11
So here is Solomon. The wisest man in the world. The king of Israel. Blessed by God.
Here is the Queen of Sheba. They meet.
The queen comes to meet Solomon because she is curious AND she wants to learn. She wanted to know if what she had heard about him was true and she wanted to test him with some hard questions. And Solomon takes his time with her, answering all her questions for "there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her". She was amazed. All his people were happy. He was such a wise man. She tells him " Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed
be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the
throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made
you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness."
In Solomon's wisdom, the Queen saw the hand of the Lord at work.
Makes me wonder. Do you see the hand of the Lord at work when you see someone who has been blessed of God?
Solomon was a man who loved God. God blessed him and through him, blessed Israel mightily. It was a rich country! Kings and people came from all over the place bringing tribute, doing trade, and listening to the wisdom of Solomon. Solomon had it made! People saw the hand of the Lord blessing him.
And then.....Solomon got distracted. He had all these wives. "He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines." First of all, I can't imagine having that many people involved in my life that I need to be involved with. He needed to keep them happy. He let them distract him away from God. God no longer, was the first love of Solomon's life. He allowed these women to lead him to other forms of worship. He built worship places for abominations!
"So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD". God was NOT PLEASED!!! He told Solomon not to do this thing. Solomon decided that he didn't have to obey God. So God's response to Solomon was ""Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant
and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the
kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, 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 David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem
that I have chosen."
David, the man who loved God with his whole heart, was Solomon's father. For the sake of David, God showed some mercy to Solomon. But Solomon was duly warned that disobeying God has consequences. But Solomon decided that keeping his wives happy was the better course of action.
Ah Solomon, to be so wise, and to fall away from God. You lost your blessing!
I read this and I just felt so sad. This man was so wise and so blessed by God and yet he turned away from God. He failed to hold on to what he had from God. He pleased himself in pleasing his wives. It also fills me with repentance because there are times when I just want to please myself too. I do, it's part of me. So I can understand Solomon, but that willfulness in staying turned from God.... When God calls me to account, I listen. I so wish that Solomon had listened. It would have saved the people of Israel so much grief.
I look at the denomination that I am part of now. I wonder sometimes, what kind of grief are we letting ourselves in for? This past synod, Sunday was not taken as a day of rest. It was a work day like all the rest. God is not pleased by this. Other things happened at this synod that really served to NOT advance the gospel. God is not pleased by this. What type of grief are we letting ourselves in for? Turning from God to do what we think is best is no better than what Solomon did. Sin has consequences. I just fear sometimes for what is ahead in this denomination. What consequences will God mete out to bring us back to him?
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