1 Kings 11 – Ignoring God
God had gifted King Solomon with
wisdom and wealth, but he was slowly turning away from God. 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 seemed Solomon desired many
wives because of his lust, but it was also for power and prestige. Maybe Solomon had become drunk with his fame
throughout the world, because in those days a large harem 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.
“So Solomon did evil in
the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his
father had done.” – 1 Kings 11:6
In what areas of your life do you
compromise?
Is your heart fully devoted to
God?
What is keeping you from being satisfied?
What idols/false gods are in your
life? Some idols today
are: famous people, possessions, jobs, TV, video games, power, and even our
kids can be idols. Anything or anyone
you put before God is an idol.
The Lord spoke to Solomon three
times warning him of the dangers of disobedience. On the third time the Lord became angry,
because Solomon’s heart had turned away from Him. Now that Solomon had disobeyed again, the
Lord said, “Since this is your attitude and you have
not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most
certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your
subordinates.” – 1 Kings 11:11
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.
How are you ignoring God?
How many times has God warned you
about a sin in your life?
What is keeping you from
listening and obeying?
Principle: Ignoring God brings judgment.
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 called Israel. God left one tribe to the House of David. The small tribe of Benjamin was absorbed into
the tribe of Judah.
The Lord was very patient with
Solomon, because his sin didn’t happen all at once. It happened over time. That’s the way sin 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 many women,
even foreign women. Worst of all, he worshiped
false gods. He knew his disobedience would
bring 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. 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.
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
warns 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?”
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 Cor. 10:11-12
We can learn a lot from
Solomon. His disobedience to God also
reveals our sins to us. He worshipped
both God and false gods. We too have placed
the things of this world in front of God.
He suffered because of his sins, but others did also. The same is true for all people. Sin affects everyone. A proper response to this lesson is to be
devoted to complete obedience to God. We
should completely surrender to His will, but unfortunately all Christians fall
short; however it’s something that we should all continually strive for.
How are you like Solomon?
What do you put before God?
Are you completely obedient to
God?
What is keeping you from fully
surrendering to God?
Jeroboam was one of Solomon’s
officials and was put in charge of the whole labor force. God told Jeroboam through the prophet Ahijah
that we would rule over a portion of a divided Israel.
David waited on the Lord to make
the throne clear and God blessed his reign.
Jeroboam didn’t wait on the Lord, but made his own way to the throne and
God didn’t bless his reign. Jeroboam
fled to Egypt because Solomon was trying to kill him. He stayed there until Solomon’s death.
Principle: God lovingly uses consequences to
turn us back to Him.
1 Kings 12-14 – Rehoboam and
Jeroboam (The Divided Kingdom)
Jeroboam’s Reign in Israel
After Solomon’s death his son, Rehoboam
became Judah’s King. His leadership was
not the best. He exercised poor
discernment and leadership by not listening to the people; he was rejected as
king over the ten northern tribes. He
didn’t seek God nor did he pray. He
sought advice of his peers. His pride
and foolishness cost him greatly. His
kingdom did however gain strength as he established military defenses. Rehoboam turned away from God and God’s law
and led the people astray. They rebelled
and made Jeroboam their king. Only the
tribe of Judah remained loyal to Rehoboam.
God’s plan was at work. This division is significant in Israel’s
history and God’s redemptive plan because God would send His Son Jesus to
redeem the world. We see this prophesied
in Genesis 49:10 and in the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1:2-16.
Jeroboam, now Israel’s king, became
fearful that the people would go back to their old allegiance so he led the
people into idolatry and built shrines and appointed priests desecrating the
purity of worship that God intended for His people. Rehoboam, Judah’s king, didn’t listen to the
people and ignored the prophets. Neither
fully surrendered to God.
When has someone older and wiser
offered you advice and you rejected it?
Did you seek God’s will?
When has
God used your poor choices for your good?
What fears do you have in your
life?
In 1 Kings 13 God persistently
called Jeroboam to Himself. God warned
Jeroboam that he was doing wrong so He sent a prophet who prophesied what would
happen in the future. Jeroboam tried to
arrest the prophet, but Jeroboam’s arm became shriveled up and the altar split
apart into ashes. God was showing
everyone that Jeroboam had no power over the prophet. The prophet had authority from God and no
king had authority greater than God.
Jeroboam asked for God to cure him, which He did. Then to reward the prophet, Jeroboam invited
the prophet to a meal and offered him gifts.
The prophet refused. He didn’t
want rewards, but for Jeroboam to change his heart. God doesn’t forgive us because of the things
we do or the gifts we bring, but He wants us to have a change of heart and
trust in Jesus.
In 1 Kings 14 Jeroboam’s
son became sick so he told his wife to disguise herself and take gifts to the
prophet Ahijah to find out if his son would recover. He prophesied the son would not live, because
he had pleased God and his death would save him from the awful coming judgment
against Jeroboam’s family. Everyone else
in the family would die because of sin. The
son’s death proved the prophecy was correct, but Jeroboam didn’t turn back to
God. He continued to rule by strength
and worship false gods. Jeroboam served
22 years before he died. His other son
Nadab succeeded him as king. His reign
wasted many opportunities and led his nation to reject God.
Do you pretend to be someone else
before God? We live our lives the way we
want but think we can fool God. We think
by going to church we have somehow tricked God.
This problem goes all the way back to the very beginning to Adam and Eve. They attempted to hide themselves from the
Lord, but no one can hide their true selves from God. He knows our actions and He knows our hearts.
We may not rule an entire nation,
but the decisions we make affect the people round us. We need to be sure of the decisions we
make. It’s important to listen and
consider the advice of others whose experience is similar, but ultimately we
should turn to God for direction. Their advice
may have good intentions, but it should match God’s will for your life. Seeking God’s will isn’t always easy. It requires much Bible study and much prayer.
Sin corrupts people’s hearts and
appetites. It makes them choose
destructive paths and ignore God’s calls to repentance and restoration. Rejecting God and choosing sin brings
consequences. God blesses those who live
obedient and faithful lives while others rebel and live with tragic
consequences.
Principle: We can’t hide from God; he knows our actions
and our hearts.
Rehoboam’s Reign in Judah
In Rehoboam’s reign as king, he
abandoned the ways of God and his people tolerated idolatry. Rehoboam was a weak leader and he rejected
God and chose sin which brought consequences.
Because he had been unfaithful, God allowed Egypt’s king, Shishak to
attack Jerusalem and carry off the treasures of the temple. In 2 Chronicles 12 we learn the
prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and told him he had abandoned the Lord so the
Lord would now abandon him to Shishak.
Rehoboam knew that God was a just God so he and the people humbled
themselves before God. Because of this God
decided He wouldn’t destroy them. Rehoboam
experienced conflicts with the northern kingdom throughout his reign. He died and his son Abijah succeeded him.
All the kings had opportunities
to serve God and lead the people to submit to Him just as we have choices to
stand with God. There was a minority
that faithfully trusted God, but the majority rejected Him. Sounds like today.
Principle: God will not let sin go unpunished.
How do you measure your devotion
to God?
What is keeping you from standing
up for what is right?
In this week’s study we learn
more about God. We learn his attribute
is He is Sovereign.
Next time we will continue our
study of Kingdom Divided with 1 Kings 15. Hope to see you here. -- I encourage you to trust in
Jesus.
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