King After King After King

As I read through the book of 1 Kings I can really get a clear picture of what the Lord meant when he had Samuel warn the people about wanting a king. We see king after king sin more than ever against the Lord taking Israel farther away from God. Their hearts were not for the Lord God. Of course we will always remember David. The mighty man of God who had a heart like God’s own heart. I found 1 Kings 15:5 very interesting. This reads as if David only sinned one time in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. David’s heart was as pure as a human heart can be. David was like the standard which all the other kings were measured.

Beginning in chapter 15 we meet Abijam, king of Judah, whose reign was only three years. His heart was not fully devoted to the Lord but, as the Word says, “for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong.

Then we meet Asa. How refreshing. “Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done.” Asa’s reign is known by his removal of idols and having a heart fully devoted to the Lord. During Asa’s reign over Judah, there were seven kings of Israel to come and go. In the second year of Asa’s reign Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel. Jeroboam is like the opposite of David because all the evil kings are measured up to him. Jeroboam will be remembered as the king “who caused Israel to sin.” Fifteen kings after him were described as being evil “like Jeroboam.” After Nadab came Baasha who killed Jeroboam’s whole family in accordance with the word of God given to Ahijah. After Nadab were the reigns of Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab described. Baasha’s whole family was wiped out by Zimri which began with the king Elah son of Baasha, Omri caused Zimri to commit suicide, and Ahab did more evil than any other before him. If the name Jezebel sounds familiar this is where she comes on the scene as Ahab’s wife.

In chapter 17 we are introduced to Elijah. He first gives Ahab a word from the Lord that there would be no rain or dew for the next few years and then he goes to hide -all at the command of the Lord God. I love the part about the ravens bringing him bread in the morning and meat in the evening. He had to drink from a brook but when it dried up the Lord told him to go see a widow who would provide for him. Because our God is creative He doesn’t just have a widow waiting to hand out food for Elijah. He wants to show himself to this widow by having a miracle performed. I wonder if she was praying for food when God told Elijah to go find her. She and her son were almost out of food and would soon starve had the Lord not provided for her. He provided for her and His prophet Elijah through causing the flour and oil not to be used up. During his stay there the widow’s son dies. Elijah takes him to his room and prays to the Lord. The Lord heard his cry and the boy’s life returned to him. The widow said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.” This just reminds me of the purpose of God’s word. He wants to make himself known to us. He wants to have fellowship with us. He wants us to know Him intimately. So He has given us His word to show us who He is. Thank you Lord.

A Kingdom Divided

I'm sure most of us know of a family who has been divided because of internal strife, selfishness, or sibling rivalry. These events are extremely painful and emotional for those involved and even for those involved on the fringes. Feelings are hurt, relationships are broken , and family ties are weakened and sometimes lost forever.

We see a similar story (with MUCH more significant consequences) in these chapters of I Kings. King Solomon has just died. We know in his later years, "his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his god." (11:4) God had to punish this behavior, which included splitting Israel into two nations. Through the prophet Ahijah, God told Jeroboam (one of Solomon's officials) that the the 10 northern tribes (referred to as "Israel") would be removed from Solomon's kingdom.

Solomon's son, Rehoboam, was to be the next king of Israel. All of the Israelite tribes requested relief from the oppressive taxation, labor, and ongoing military influence in their lives. But, "the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken..." (12:15) The Northern tribes were not interested in living under the oppression of King Rehoboam. "So the Israelites went home." (12:16) Instead, they chose Jeroboam to be their king.

"If a kingdom is divided against itself,
that kingdom cannot stand.
If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand."
- Mark 3:24-25

When these two new kings take their positions, they make some pretty astounding mistakes right out of the gate. I believe we can learn from these mistakes:

• Rehoboam rejected the advice of senior, seasoned men, which was to serve the people.


• Instead, he sought the advice of those that were young and inexperienced and obviously not seeing God.


• Rehoboam intended to lead by oppression telling all of Israel that his rule would be harsher than that of King Solomon.


• Jeroboam built two golden calves (sound familiar?) so the Israelites would not have to go to the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices.


• Jeroboam presented these to calves to the people as their gods and the people worshipped them.


• Jeroboam established priests "from all sorts of people" and established his own festival.

And things did not get better from there. I know hind-sight is 20/20, but I want to ask these men, "What are you doing?!?!?!?" Who and what were these two men seeking? We don't read any mention of them seeking "a personal encounter with their King" and it appears to me that they are making up their own rules, acting out of selfish ambition and impulses, and are clearly not following God's law.

And the people... the people... they followed right along with the kings. They worshipped the idol calves. They were blindly trusting their leaders and not seeking God. I wonder if the Israel nations were relieved that they did not have to make the trek to the temple in Jerusalem. That might have made life easier and more convenient for them. I wonder if some of the Israelites (maybe a few?) who were questioning the direction of the new kings, but went along with it anyway because that was easier than "bucking the system."

Unfortunately, because of our human nature, I believe we are much like the Israelites or at least are tempted like they were to take the easy road. As many of us have stated before, I'm reminded that God's ways are not my ways. God has a very specific plan and orchestrates events to bless those who seek Him and to punish those who oppose Him.

We see that God continues to deal with those who disobey Him:

• The alter Jeroboam built was split apart and its ashes poured out


• Jeroboam was temporarily crippled when he tried to have others seize the man of God (from Judah)


• The man of God was killed by a lion after he stopped to eat after God told him not to; his body was not returned to his people in Judah


• Because of his ongoing evil ways, the house of Jeroboam was completely destroyed


• Because Israel worshipped other gods, they would be uprooted, unsettled, and scattered


• Judah also worshipped other Gods and continued their evil ways; they continued to live an unsettling life of warfare

Can you imagine Jeroboam's wife as she was hearing God's message from Ahijah about her husband and their "house"? WHOA! That will make you stop and think. God was very clear to her how He felt about Jeroboam's actions and what the punishment would be. However, God did recognize one good thing in the house of Jeroboam, his son. When Jeroboam's son died, God allowed him to be properly buried. He was the only one in the entire house for whom God allowed this.

The Israelites were missing out on God's promises and blessings!

"Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant,
then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.
Although the whole earth is mine,
you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
~ Exodus 19:5-6

Through these passages, I'm encouraged to learn from the Israelites mistakes. I want to seek God even more and to pursue what is right in His eyes. I'm encouraged to know His Word, His commands, His blessings. What does He require of me? What does He promise me? What does He want me to do? Where does He want me to serve? It will likely not be the easiest road, but He promises blessings and eternal life with Him. What an incredible gift!

The downfall of men!

As I read these chapters, I was reminded once again how easily a man's heart is turned by the appeal of a woman.  Solomon set out to do right, but in the end, his heart was turned from following the Lord because of all the women he had loved.  God warned him not to go astray, and that there would be consequences (and there were pretty serious consequences) yet Solomon still turned to follow after the gods of his wives, who turned his heart.

A man's heart is so easily turned by how a woman dresses or even in the manner in which she presents herself.

Today's society is hungry for more and more vile things like pornography.  Just today I received an e-mail denouncing pornography, and I'll give you some of the statistics in that e-mail:

According to research: Every second $3,075.64 is spent on porn.

Every second 28,258 people view porn.

In the U.S. alone there are 4.2 million Porn websites with a new porn video being created every 39 minutes.

the Department of Justice has not indicted a single porn distributor in the past two years.

Why could this industry, vile and disgusting as it is, be so profitable.  It's simply this.  Man is driven by what he sees, and Solomon was no different.  His heart was turned away by the beauty of women, and if we are going to lift up our brethren spiritually, we must be careful of  how we present ourselves.  We are called to live Holy lives to be discreet in our apparel, and in today's world where even in the church, we have women wearing skin tight clothes or low cut necklines, we need to be careful of protecting our brothers' eyes.  We have a responsibility to help uplift and edify our brethren, let's be careful to not cause them to be tempted by any of us.

Also, let us remember the great sway with have with our husbands simply by living a Godly life in front of them.  It is not necessary to try to force our way our insist on things being done in some specific manner.  God is capable of leading a man in the right way, and our job is simply to be a helper, not a dictator.  We can be a great influence for good, or we can be the force that drives our spouses away from God.