1 Kings 11

We have seen King Solomon’s slowly turning away from God, but not much about his failure until now.  In chapter 11 we see his failure described.  He married many wives, 700 royal wives and 300 concubines.  God clearly stated in Deuteronomy 17:17 that this was against what God wanted for Israel’s kings.  “He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.”

It seems Solomon desired many wives because of his lust, but it was also for power and prestige.  Maybe Solomon had become drunk with his fame through the world, because in those days a large harm was a status symbol.  He was never really satisfied.  The more he had, the more he wanted.

Solomon’s wives worshipped foreign gods and to keep them happy Solomon built places of worship for them and with time he joined them in worship.  Age didn’t make him any wiser.  He didn’t lose his faith entirely, but just added sinful things to his life.  He compromised.  His heart was not fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of David his father had been.  For the wisest man on earth, he was very foolish.  If this was the case with the wisest man who ever live, then what hope do we have apart from dependence upon Jesus?  I hope Solomon’s example drives us all to greater dependence on Jesus.

The Lord spoke to Solomon a third time.  He became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from Him.  The Lord had appeared to him twice before and warned him of the dangers of disobedience.  Now that Solomon had disobeyed, the Lord said He would tear down his kingdom and give it to one of his subordinates.  For David’s sake, this wouldn’t be done in Solomon’s lifetime.  Instead it would be torn out of the hand of Solomon’s son. 

What false gods are in your life?  Some idols today are:  famous people, our possessions, our jobs, TV, video games, power, and even our kids can be idols.  Anything or anyone you put before God is an idol.

God raised up adversaries who opposed Solomon – Hadad the Edomite, Rezon son of Eliada, and Jeroboam son of Nebat, who would eventually rule over the 10 northern tribes of Israel.  God left one tribe to the House of David.  The small tribe of Benjamin was absorbed into the tribe of Judah.

Jeroboam was one of Solomon’s officials.  He was a man of standing and was put in charge of the whole labor force.  God assured Jeroboam if he obeyed His rules and commandments, He would be with him and give Israel to him and God would humble David’s descendants, but not forever. 

Jeroboam and David were appointed by God.  David waited on the Lord to make the throne clear and God blessed his reign.  Jeroboam didn’t wait on the Lord, but make his own way to the throne and God didn’t bless his reign.  Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, which shows how wicked he had become.  Jeroboam fled to Egypt and stayed there until Solomon’s death. 

The Lord was very patient with Solomon, because his sin didn’t happen all at once.  It happened over time.  That’s the way Satan works.  You start out with a little sin and all of a sudden it turns into more sin and bigger sins.  Solomon disobeyed almost every rule that God had said kings should follow.  He increased his number of horses and chariots; he gathered great riches to himself; he married women, even foreign women.  Worst of all, he worshiped false gods.  He knew his disobedience brought judgment.

I think Solomon realized what was important and that all his power and possessions were useless when he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes.  He summed up his life in Ecclesiastes 13:8 – “Everything is meaningless”. 

Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years.  Then he rested with his fathers and was buried.  This doesn’t mean he was a saved man since this term ‘rested with his fathers’ is also used when the wicked died.  So we don’t know if he is heaven or not; however 2 Chronicles 11:17 may be a clue.  But we do know that God can forgive any sin and maybe Solomon came to his senses at the end.  His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king over Judah and Benjamin which was called Judah or the southern kingdom.

David spiritually recovered from his faults and sins, but he never worshiped false gods or built shrines to them.  Both were driven by their egos and their hormones.  David repented, but we are not told if Solomon repented.  David had a heart for God.  Solomon was puffed up and full of himself.  Solomon’s greatest accomplishment was the building of the temple where the people could look to the Lord in prayer and trust Him to hear and answer their prayers.  God punished Solomon, but He kept his promise to David.

Are you guilty of sin or overcome by difficulties and trials in life?  Jesus is our temple.  Turn to Him.  No matter how we fail; Jesus never fails.

Solomon’s life began with great purpose.  It began with his heart following God and obeying His ways, but somewhere along the way he stopped guarding his heart and was led astray.  Jesus warned us in Mark 8:36-37 – “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Principle:  Begin well and finish well.

Solomon’s life is a warning for our lives.  Solomon had it all and fell.  Watch out if you think you are doing well.  This is an opportunity for Satan to steal your heart from God.  Guard your heart against compromise.  Guard your heart against what seems to be small choices that show love for someone or something other than the Lord your God.  “Now these things happened to them as an example and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.  So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” – 1 Corn. 10:11-12

How can you live a life that stays focused on Jesus and doesn’t turn away? 

Immediately repent of sin – 1 John 1:9

Stay focused on Jesus daily – Hebrews 12:1-2

Depend upon the Holy Spirit to enable you to live the Christian life – Zechariah 4:6; John 15:5

Stay in His Word – Ephesians 6:17

Be obedient – John 14:15

Principles: 

A heart for anything other than God separates us from Him.

God lovingly uses consequences to turn us back to Him.

This is the last of our study on 1 Kings.  Hope to see you here for our next study.

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1 Kings 9-10

1 Kings 9 – Solomon’s Choice

The Lord first appeared to Solomon in 1 Kings 3 at the beginning of Solomon’s reign when he prayed for wisdom.  Solomon finished the temple and prayed and dedicated the temple to the Lord in 1 Kings 8.  When he finished the temple and his palace and achieved all he had desired to do, the Lord appeared to him a second time.  He told Solomon that He had heard his prayers and had consecrated the temple.  The Lord told him that His eyes and heart would always be there, but the Lord gave him a warning.  If Solomon walked with integrity of heart and uprightness as David did and did all the Lord commanded and observed the Lord’s laws, the Lord would establish his royal throne over Israel just as He promised David.  If Solomon did not observe the laws and commands and walk with integrity, the Lord would cut off Israel from the land and reject the temple.  Then Israel would become an object of ridicule among all peoples.  When this happens, the people would know it was because they had forsaken the Lord and served other gods.

What is keeping you from listening to God’s warnings?

What other gods are you serving?

God provided Solomon with all he needed and He provides us with all we need.  He provides us with the gift of salvation, but we have choices to make.  We can choose to serve Him or serve ourselves, but we can’t serve both.  “No one can serve two masters.” – Matt. 6:24.

Principle:  God wants our whole hearts.

It took 20 years for Solomon to build the temple and his palace.  Afterwards Solomon gave Hiram of Tyre 20 towns.  Hiram was not pleased, because he thought these towns were not important towns.  He called them “good for nothing towns”. 

Was Solomon taking advantage of him?  Is he beginning to abuse his power?  What’s going on in Solomon’s heart?  Is he getting stingy?  We can’t know what is in Solomon’s heart, but it looks like it’s shifting in the wrong direction.

Does your success come before your faithfulness to God?

How are you taking advantage of others to get what you want?

Solomon continues to build up his empower and cities to store his chariots and horses.  He built whatever he desired in Jerusalem, Lebanon and throughout the territory.  He did this by using forced labor.  The laborers were all the people left from the descendants of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites – all who were not Israelites.  The Israelites were not slaves, but supervisors.  They were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and his commanders.  There were 550 officials who supervised the working men.

Pharaoh’s daughter who was now Solomon’s wife was brought from Jerusalem to the palace that he had built for her.  Solomon offered burnt sacrifices and fellowship offerings to the Lord 3 times a year.

Solomon build ships and Hiram sent his sailors to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men.  They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold to King Solomon.

1 Kings 10 – Solomon’s Witness

Solomon’s wisdom was the topic of conversations all over the world.  Queen Sheba heard of Solomon’s wisdom, prosperity of his kingdom, and his faith of the Lord so she decided to go see for herself.  She asked Solomon many questions and was very impressed with him and his answers.  She realized it was far greater than she had heard.  She saw how happy his servants and officials were in serving Solomon.  She saw the temple, the palace, all the fine food that was provided, and all his achievements.  She gave praises to God and knew it was Him who placed Solomon on the throne to maintain justice and righteousness.  She gave Solomon 120 talents of gold, spices, and precious stones increasing his wealth even more.  Hiram’s ships brought gold and cargos of almugwood and precious stone to Solomon.  He used the wood to make supports for the temple, the palace and to make harps and lyres for the musicians.  He gave the queen more than she desired.

Where do you seek wisdom?

What impresses you about other Christians?

What impresses you about God?

Are you joyful in serving Jesus?

Sheba came a great distance to seek Solomon.  She came with gifts.  She took her questions to an imperfect king.  She saw the riches of the king.  She told what was in her heart.  If she sought Solomon so diligently, shouldn’t we seek Jesus and the glory of His Kingdom even more?  The perfect King invites your questions.  His perfect Word can stand up to your doubts and questions.

Do you take your questions and concerns to King Jesus?

Principle:  God’s wants us to seek Him.

Solomon had gold of 666 talents, which is the same as $281,318,400.  He received much more gold yearly.  He made shields of gold and gathered chariots and horsemen.  He did all this which was a direct contradiction to God’s instructions.  In Deuteronomy 17:14-20 God gave warnings to kings of Israel – they must not acquire a great number of horses, not take many wives, and not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.  God blessed Solomon with riches, but Solomon allowed it to turn into a danger.  He disobediently multiplies gold and horses for himself.

He made silver as common as stones and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees.  He imported horses and chariots from Egypt.  He also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.

All of Solomon’s wealth reminds us of our human desires and sins.  God’s law contained rules for kings of Israel.  Solomon didn’t obey these rules.  He was still serving God, but had begun to care more about his own wealth than he cared about God’s law.  Partial obedience is disobedience.

How are you tempted by wealth and possessions?

Are you partially obedient?  We may not see anything wrong, but if it’s against God’s rules it’s wrong.  Do you do what’s right by the world’s standards? 

Do you tell yourself that it’s okay to:  have sex outside marriage, have a live-in boyfriend, not tithe because you have too many bills this month, tell a little lie, gossip, tell off-color jokes because it’s all in good fun, or call it prayer when it’s really gossip?

Principle:  Obedience results from a heart surrendered to God.

Next time we will continue with our last study of 1 Kings.  We will end with the death of Solomon.  Hope to see you here.

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The Death and Resurrection of Jesus

At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to the death penalty.  At the time crucifixion was the "worst" death.  Only the worst criminals condemned to be crucified.  Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus, for unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion, Jesus was nailed to the cross by His hands and feet, rather than tied...

Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long.  The nails were driven into His wrist.  not into His palms as is commonly portrayed.  There's a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder.

The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the wrist, that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support himself, so that He could breathe.

Both of His feet were nailed together.  Thus He was forced to support Himself on the single nail that

impaled His feet to the cross.

Jesus could not support himself with His legs for long because of the pain, so He was forced to alternate between arching His back and using his legs just to continue to breath.

Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, and the courage.  Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours.

Yes, over 3 hours!

Can you imagine this kind of suffering?  A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding.

 He was simply pouring water from his wounds.  From common images we see wounds to His hands

and feet and even the spear wound to His side...

But do we remember the many wounds made to his body.  A hammer driving large nails through the wrists, the feet overlapped and a nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear.  And... before the nails and the spear, Jesus was whipped and beaten. The whipping was so severe that it tore the Flesh from His body. The beating was so horrific that His Face was torn and his beard ripped from His face.

The Crown of thorns (two to three inch thorns) cut deeply into His scalp.  Most men would not have survived this torture.  He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His Wounds.

The human adult body contains about 3.5 liters (just less than a gallon) of blood.  Jesus poured all 3.5 liters of his blood; He had three nails hammered into His members; a crown of thorns on His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His Chest.

All these without mentioning the humiliation He passed after carrying His own Cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd spat in his Face and threw stones (the cross beam was almost 30 kg of weight, to which His hands were nailed).

Jesus had to endure this experience, so that you may have free access to God and that your sins can be "washed" away.

All of them, with no exception!

BUT WAIT!  There is Good News!  On the 3^rd day just as He predicted, Jesus arose from the dead.  We celebrate His resurrection by calling it Easter.  Jesus walked on the earth which was witnessed by skeptics, the disciples and more than 500 people over a period of 40 days.  Then He ascended into heaven, but He sent His Spirit to live in us and empower us to live an abundant life.  For Him to be your Savior, you must believe in Him and ask Him into your life to be your Lord and Savior.

Accept the reality, the truth, that JESUS IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR THE WORLD.  

God has special plans for YOU !

Hope to see you here for our next study.

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