Let's pray together.
Father God, we are so grateful that one greater than Solomon has come.
And so, Lord, as we look at his failings,
Father, as we look at this incident with his wives in mass idolatry,
Father, would it not serve to make us smug,
but may it serve to cling to your son even more.
Father, bless us and help us.
Teach us and change us.
Father, be glorified in this time, we pray.
Amen.
This is the last part of our series in Solomon's life.
I found it fascinating to spend these four weeks together
exploring Solomon's character.
And I think it is a definite warning
when giftedness doesn't match godliness.
And we've seen all the way through
that perhaps there are some difficulties brewing.
There are some awkward situations
where God's gifts are not necessarily employed in the right way.
And so today is the day when the wheels will finally fall off.
Where Solomon's sin finally comes to the surface.
And I think it's important as we begin to think of a word,
schadenfreude.
It's a German word, but we don't have an English equivalent.
So we use the German word.
And schadenfreude means harm joy.
It is endemic in our world that we take great delight
when we see famous people, celebrity people,
fall a long way.
Schadenfreude.
And as we study Solomon and his wives,
this is our biggest danger.
That we'll sit here and we'll almost laugh and poke fun
and feel better about ourselves on account of Solomon's fall.
But that would be to totally miss
all that we're to learn from this eerie chapter.
I remember being at school about 13,
just as that point that, you know,
boys start to grow at different rates.
And you get some boys who are 13, who are 6'2".
They've got hairy shoulders and kind of Barry White voices.
And my rugby team was quite spindly.
And our coach would always say,
the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
It was a complete lie on the rugby field.
The bigger they were, the more they hurt us.
But I think when it comes to Solomon,
we can say the bigger he is, the harder he fell.
And so we're going to read in 1 Kings 11,
the fall is catastrophic.
It is so enormous.
We're very familiar with people falling from grace.
It seems that the sports arena is particularly prone.
We all remember OJ Simpson,
this highly paid NFL star moving into a really lucrative movie career.
And then the wheels fell off.
Or Lance Armstrong,
this person who was the epitome of fighting clean
and fighting hard and persevering and bouncing back,
is then found to have taken EPO for all of his Tour de France career.
A massive fall from grace.
Who doesn't remember Tiger Woods?
The most prolific golfer ever to have lived,
whose royalties and sponsorships were bringing him
100 million pounds a year without even hitting a golf ball.
And that day that he appeared in the newspaper,
having wrapped his car around the tree,
and his marital infidelity comes to the surface.
Since then, he's not been able to hit a golf ball straight.
Or just recently, Maria Sharapova,
the highest paid female athlete ever.
And all this drug scandal that's seen her career stalled,
if not ended.
And even this week,
Oscar Pistori is the most famous para-athlete ever.
Now a man who is going to prison
and whose life is utterly broken.
The bigger they are,
the harder they fall.
And we're going to see that in Solomon's case,
the fall is gigantic.
The downfall, catastrophic.
And it's into a decline of deep, dark, and slipperiness.
That the nation never recovered from.
Solomon's sin spirals out and ripples out into the whole nation.
With terrifying consequences.
That it will never really bounce back from.
We must learn from Solomon's mistakes.
If Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived,
could be so foolish,
surely that means this can happen to any of us.
We must, unlike Solomon,
resist the drift and cling to Christ.
We must resist the drift and cling to Christ.
So if you've got a Bible, turn with me.
To 1 Kings chapter 11,
and we'll read the first 13 verses.
The chronicler writes,
King Solomon, however,
loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter.
Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.
They were from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites,
you must not intermarry with them.
Because they will surely turn your hearts after other gods.
Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.
He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines.
And his wives led his heart astray.
As Solomon grew old,
his wives turned his heart after other gods.
And his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord,
his God,
as the heart of David,
his father, had been.
He followed Ashtaroth,
the goddess of the Sidonians,
and Molech,
the detestable god of the Ammonites.
So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
He did not follow the Lord completely,
as David, his father, had done.
On a hill east of Jerusalem,
Solomon built a high place for Chemosh,
the detestable god of Moab,
and for Molech,
the detestable god of the Ammonites.
He did the same for all his foreign wives,
who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
The Lord became angry with Solomon
because his heart had turned away from the Lord,
the God of Israel,
who had appeared to him twice.
Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods,
Solomon did not keep the Lord's command.
So the Lord said to Solomon,
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.
Nevertheless, for the sake of David, your father,
I will not do it during your lifetime.
I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him,
but will give him one tribe,
for the sake of David, my servant,
and for the sake of Jerusalem,
which I have chosen.
We've seen over this four-week series
that Solomon is not so much good guy gone bad
as complex guy turned catastrophe.
And this evening, the wheels finally fall off,
but there have been warning signs all the way through.
We saw in week one that wisdom is graciously given,
but perhaps inappropriately employed.
We then see worship exuberantly offered,
but with an air of hypocritical exhibitionism,
that he's doing it on such a grandiose scale.
It is to draw attention to himself.
And then we saw his wealth last week,
wonderfully gifted, but increasingly idolized.
There have been the breadcrumbs
that something's not been quite right
all the way through our series.
And tonight, the wheels finally fall off.
This evening, with Solomon's wives,
the dam finally bursts,
and everything is laid bare,
what's gone on in Solomon's life for many years.
So let's look at it together.
The first thing I want us to see is
the first four verses.
Solomon's sin surfaces.
I wonder, have you ever had an ice cream headache?
Probably don't get them in Scotland,
because ice cream is probably only edible
for about two weeks of the year.
But the strange phenomenon about an ice cream headache
is the pain caused by the coldness in your mouth
presents as a splitting headache in your head.
It is what clinicians refer to as referred pain.
Similarly, if you've ever had gallstones,
it can quite often present as pain in your shoulder blade,
which is quite a long way from your gallbladder
where the stones are situated.
It's called referred pain,
where the symptoms are a long way from the problem.
And when it comes to Solomon's wives,
this could also be referred pain.
The symptoms appear as 700 wives and 300 concubines,
but the problem is in Solomon's heart.
The heart of Solomon's problem is Solomon's heart.
It presents as polygamy,
but it's really down to half-heartedness.
Heart is mentioned six times
in these 13 verses.
Look at verse 3.
He had 700 wives of royal births
and 300 concubines,
and his wives turned his heart away.
Look at verse 4.
His heart was not fully devoted
to the Lord his God.
A little bit earlier on in verse 4.
His wives turned his heart
after other gods.
Verse 9.
The Lord became angry with Solomon
because his heart had turned away from the Lord,
the God of Israel,
who had appeared to him twice.
The heart of Solomon's problem
is Solomon's problematic heart.
Solomon falls into sin,
his half-heartedness,
long before he falls into disgrace.
We know that to be true.
These big scandals that have hit these mega church pastors in America.
Once the scandal finally breaks,
they roll back the years and isolate the many different times
that there's been failings and faults.
A heart that should have been devoted to the Lord starts to drift.
Whole-heartedness becomes half-heartedness over a period of time.
And as his heart drifts away from the Lord,
it drifts towards foreign wives.
He has 700 wives.
That means he has pretty much two wedding anniversaries to remember every day.
Over a 40-year reign,
that means he's getting married 18 times a year.
I have just about recovered from the trauma of getting married once,
nearly eight years ago.
Although the text says 700 wives,
there's 700 wives of royal birth.
So he may have a few more dotted around.
He went from such high class.
Alongside, he has 300 concubines.
300 plus 700,
a thousand women in his life.
He would need to be the wisest man.
In the world to cope with that.
This is a scary accumulation.
It's scary on a number of reasons,
not just the numbers,
but it stems from disobedience.
So many times in the law of God,
God has forbidden the king particularly to marry foreign wives.
Exodus 34 explicitly forbids Israelites taking foreign wives
because they will lead them astray after their own gods.
Exodus 20 verse 14,
one of the 10 commandments,
if you shall not commit adultery.
300 concubines probably suggest you haven't taken that law that seriously.
Deuteronomy 17, 17,
particularly about the king,
and he shall not acquire many wives for himself,
lest his heart turn away,
nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
And the passage quoted here in chapter 11 of 1 Kings,
Deuteronomy 7, 3 and 4,
you shall not intermarry with them,
giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons.
For they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods.
Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you,
and he would destroy you quickly.
Real warnings.
And this is the law that Solomon,
the king is supposed to have written out
and meditated on all the time to keep with them.
And yet he thinks,
700, that's fine.
That's not what I would consider to be excessive number of wives.
Or he just didn't believe it would happen.
He thought so great was his gifting that he wouldn't fall,
as God said,
that anyone would.
It's direct disobedience,
but it's also distrusting.
There's been a warning sign of this in 1 Kings chapter 3,
in verse 1,
where we read,
Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt
and married his daughter.
So this military alliance is finalized and forged
and ratified by Solomon marrying Pharaoh's daughter.
And it would seem from context
that many of these other royal weddings have happened
about shoring up Israel's borders.
So Israel's great enemies are the Moabites
and the Ammonites and the Edomites
and the Sidonians and the Hittites.
So what does Solomon do?
He gathers all their princesses together
and makes them Mrs. Solomons.
And why?
Because he trusted more in his diplomacy
than he did in his God to keep them safe.
He thought,
I know what?
Solomon's will get us through.
Rather than my trust in the God
who has brought us safely thus far.
Solomon relying on his own diplomacy
more than he is on the God of the universe.
And then there's real duplicity.
Because not only does he let his,
not only does he marry many foreign wives,
he lets them continue to worship their own gods.
There's a real pluralism going on here.
He lets his wives worship their gods
in the very city that God had chosen
to bear his own name.
The city out of all the cities of the world,
God said,
that is where I'm going to place my name.
And suddenly we find hymns of worship
raising to many foreign gods.
The wisest man has played the fool
and has drifted into difficulty
and opened the door to calamity.
Chapter 11, verse 2.
The end of it.
Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.
Literally, Solomon clung to them in love.
This language of clinging
usually refers to one's relationship with God.
How we cling to God in love.
How we lean on him and cleave to him.
It's in fact the very words
that have been used to describe
Solomon's relationship with God.
Solomon 3, 1 Kings 3, verse 3.
Solomon showed his love for the Lord
by walking according to the instructions
given him by his father.
It's exactly the same phrase.
Solomon clung.
He held fast to his gods.
What a scary contrast that has happened
over eight chapters.
The beginning of Solomon's reign.
He clung to his gods.
Solomon, 1 Kings 11, verse 2.
Solomon clung to his wives.
There's been a complete switch, a total swap.
The last time we heard Solomon speak
was at the end of his benediction
in chapter 8.
Chapter 8, verse 61.
This is what he prays for all his people.
And may your hearts
be fully committed to the Lord our God
to live by his decrees
and obey his commands
as at this time.
Well, he was the first person to disobey.
Well, he was praying for others.
Someone whose heart was not fully obedient.
Who didn't fully laugh.
And then look at verse 4.
What a warning this is for all of us.
As Solomon grew old.
As Solomon grew old,
his wives turned his heart
off to other gods.
It is a stark warning.
Aileen and I have friends
who are trying to sell their flat
in Aberdeen.
And it's a tenement flat
and all the toilet blocks
are on top of each other in a stack.
And they can't sell it
because for many, many years
there has been water ingress
into the toilet stack.
And actually,
the toilet stack is coming away
from the rest of the tenement
and is actually only braced on
and held by these huge metal clips.
Undetected.
Year after year,
drip, drip, drip, drip, drip.
You get the sense
that's exactly what's happened
in Solomon's life
with all of these wives.
That over time,
they've just worn him down.
That when he was old,
his heart turned
from the Lord.
Worn down by this swarm
of foreign wives.
You could see how it happened.
Oh, Solomon,
love,
will you not come to the festival
for my God this week?
Will you not come
to this celebration?
You wanted me to come
and be your wife.
Come and celebrate
like we used to in Sidon.
Come and do this ritual
that we used to do in Moab.
Come on.
You're always dragging me
off to the temple.
Now it's your turn
to come to one of my things.
Oh, Solomon,
can't we sacrifice some goats
on this high place today
as well as in the temple?
You could see her
when he was old.
His heart turned away.
He just gradually drifts away.
Gradually.
But over time,
he's pointing
in a totally different direction.
I think it's right
that we spend a lot of time
praying for young people
at Brunsfield.
I think it's right
that they would build
their lives
on the rock of Jesus Christ
over and against
the tide of popular culture
that comes running against them
at school
and in the media.
But I think
on the back of tonight,
we must also pray
for our older people.
We should pray
for all our people.
But particularly
our older people
that they wouldn't drift.
So we wouldn't be
saying about people,
but when they were old,
their hearts turned away.
The daily discipline
of devotion to Jesus.
Jesus.
We must pray
that it won't be diluted
down through the decades.
I thought Ian
was brilliant this morning.
He's talking about familiarity
and the danger that is
with how we see Jesus.
Well, that becomes
more and more dangerous
the longer we're on this road
that we just build
a familiarity
and almost immunity
to his grace
and his wonder
and his glory
and his goodness.
Is your attitude
like the elderly Caleb
who says,
give me this mountain
or has it become
like Victor Meldrew
passed me the slippers?
It's a serious question
because Solomon,
the wisest man
who had ever lived,
who knew gifts
unlike anybody
who's ever lived
and even he drifts away.
Even he drifts
to half-hearted
idolatry.
In orienteering,
another sport
we were made to play
at school,
you had to have
a compass
and a map
and you were chasing
these flags
that were never
where they were supposed
to be,
so bad is my map reading.
But if you got
the compass direction
a little bit out
after you run
in 10 minutes
that direction,
you are miles away.
So easy,
isn't it,
to drift?
So easy that
today I'm going to
line my life up
with Jesus.
Tomorrow I may be
a degree out
and I go a bit
further down the road
and then I'm
another degree out
and before we know it
the distance between
us and Jesus
is miles apart.
It's what happens
to Solomon
when he's old.
His wives
turned his heart
away,
he drifted.
We've got to
resist the drift,
we've got to
cling to Christ.
Not taking a,
not letting it slip away
but clinging to him
to daily get up
and say,
today Jesus
I love you
and I want to
follow you
that I want you
to be the number
one priority
in my life
that we do sing
I am so glad
that Jesus loves me
because the danger
is we just drift away.
It's never,
nobody ever sins
like Solomon
in one great big leap.
It's just by little
steps closer and
closer to a line
before we're miles
away
and miles away.
The Puritans
have this lovely
image that they
use over and
over again.
They describe
sin like baby
snakes.
And they appear
in our lives.
But we're so
bad at just
stamping on them
that these
little snakes
that look so
innocuous
end up growing
and becoming
poisonous
death vipers
in our lives.
Solomon is married
to 700
baby snakes
and over time
they've turned
into
an enormous
wriggling
mass
of poisonous
death vipers.
Instead of
killing sin
and fleeing
temptation
Solomon
caught sin
and cohabits
with temptation
on a
ginormous
700
scale.
Hebrews 2
verse 1
is something
we must
come back to.
Therefore
we must pay
much closer
attention
to what we
have heard
lest we
drift away
from it.
Lest we
drift away.
Solomon is a
case and
point of what
it means to
drift away.
Solomon got
lax
and then he
got lost.
there's nothing
sadder is there
than to see
somebody drift
away.
I think of
some people
that I was
on CU
committee with
so passionate
and ardent
for the
Lord and
at least
two of
their cases
it was
when
unbelieving
females
came into
their lives
that the
drift
catastrophically
happened.
If there's
nothing sadder
than seeing
somebody drift
away there
is nothing
more heart
warming
than to see
people still
going strong
for the
Lord.
Even in
later life.
I had the
joy last
week of
being at
the faith
mission
minister's
breakfast and
there was
John Shearer
talking about
50 years of
pastoral ministry
and at the
age of 75
he said I
love Jesus
more today
than I did
when I
started.
Isn't that a
great thing
that we
should all
be pursuing?
Now I
dare say
none of
us are
drifting away
into polygamy
at least I
hope not.
however we
can drift
away through
many things
not just
wrong things
but good
things wrongly
prioritized
where we
prioritize job
and pursue
that or
possessions or
reputation or
friendships or
family or
spouses or
hobbies or
leisure activities
all of them
can upset the
course of our
lives and
orientate our
lives away from
the Lord
Jesus.
None of
them are
bad but if
our hearts
let go of
Jesus and
start clinging
to these
more we'll
be in
desperate
danger of
drifting away.
Solomon's
sin surfaces
and that needs
to be a real
warning for us.
Think where
will you be in
your relationship
with Jesus if
you continue on
your current
trajectory?
Where will
you be in
a year's
time?
Five years
time?
Ten years
time?
If you
carry on
on your
current
trajectory
where will
you be?
Will you
be more
in love
with him
or less
in love
with him?
Will you
be walking
closer to
him or
will you
be miles
away?
If you
continue on
your current
trajectory
because the
way to resist
the drift is
to keep
check on
yourself.
what in
your heart
is competing
with Jesus?
What is in
danger of
you clinging
onto more
than the
Lord Jesus?
What baby
snakes are
you stroking
now that
might bite
you then
instead of
stamping on
their head
right now?
Solomon's
issue when
he was old
the sin
that he'd
been storing
up for
ages
surfaced
and manifested
as gross
idolatry.
Solomon's
sin surfaces
but it's
been bubbling
away for
ages
drip,
drip.
Then we
see Solomon's
worship
wavers
verses 4
to 8.
The true
extent of
Solomon's
half-heartedness
his duplicity
starts to
become apparent
as he sets
up shrines
and pursues
the false
gods of
his foreign
wives
and the
three that
are mentioned
are an
unholy
trinity of
foreign gods
to start
worshipping.
We get
Molech,
the detestable
god of the
Ammonites,
Ashtaroth,
the fertility
god of the
Sidonians,
Chemosh,
the abominable
god of the
Moabites.
This is not
just flirting
with idolatry,
this is jumping
in with both
feet.
Ashtaroth is
the goddess
of the
Sidonians,
whom you
worship with
your glands
for whom
sex is
the way
you worship
particularly
involving
temple
prostitutes
and rituals.
Chemosh
and Molech
are described
as detestable
gods or
abominations.
We have
loads of
evidence saying
that their
worship involved
child sacrifice.
Leviticus
18, 21,
you shall not
give any of
your children
to offer
them to
Molech,
and so
profane the
name of
your God,
I am the
Lord.
We have
extra
biblical
evidence of
what worship
of Molech
looked like.
One historian
comments,
worship of
Molech
included people
burning their
own children
to death
in fire,
often by
placing them
in the arms
of a hollow
metal idol
of Molech
that had
been heated
very hot
with a
fire and
they're
burnt
inside.
Terrifying.
You have
to say
that on
the back
of Solomon's
prayer,
in 1 Kings
8,
verse 59,
let me read
that for
you.
And may
these words
of mine
which I
have prayed
before the
Lord,
be near
the Lord
our God
day and
night,
that he
may uphold
the cause
of his
servant
and the
cause of
his people
Israel
according to
each day's
need,
so that
all the
peoples of
the earth
may know
that the
Lord is
God and
that there
is no
other.
Terrifying.
That is his
declaration and
here we see
the Lord
Molech,
Lord Chemosh
and Lady
Ashtaroth have
moved into
town.
Notice as
well that he
erects a high
place east of
Jerusalem,
on the mountain
east of
Jerusalem on
the hill.
This would be
known later in
the Bible as
the Mount
of Olives.
That this
high place
is within
sight of the
temple mound
that Solomon
has spent
seven years
building as
a majestic
representation of
where God
dwells on
earth.
And later in
life what's he
doing?
He's building a
high place
to Chemosh
the detestable
God of
Moab and
for Molech
the detestable
God of the
Amorites.
Within the
very few
of God's
dwelling
place.
Terrifying
how far
Solomon has
fallen.
Notice as
well that
these three
are just
the tip
of the
iceberg.
Verse 8
he did
the same
for all
his foreign
wives.
Potentially
another
697
shrines
going up
around the
place.
Terrifying
how deep
in idolatry
Solomon is
falling.
Jerusalem
turns into
a smorgasbord
of cult
deities and
idols.
The wheels
have fallen
off and
they've
rolled down
the hill.
Solomon's
poisoned
pluralistic
heart now
flows into
polytheistic
paganism.
And you
have to say
Solomon would
do quite
well in
the 21st
century.
Pluralism
is the
spirit of
the age.
A place
where anything
goes as
long as
everything
goes.
A place
where the
only thing
you cannot
claim is
that your
God is
the only
God's.
Your way
is the
only way.
Your
worship is
the only
acceptable
worship.
That
Solomon's
Jerusalem
is like
21st
century
Britain,
a place
where
tolerance,
acceptance
and
inclusivism
are
treasured
above
truth,
holiness
and
devotion.
A place
where Solomon's
actions
would be
reported as
broadening
his
horizons,
exploring
other realms
of
spirituality.
See
though what
the
chronicler
calls it
in verse
6.
This is
not open
mindedness,
this is not
inclusivism.
Solomon did
evil in the
eyes of the
Lord.
Solomon did
evil in the
eyes of the
Lord.
His drifting
from God
turns into
evil
against
God.
Resist
the drift.
Don't
accommodate.
Cling to
Christ.
Resist
the drift.
Our
culture says
don't be so
narrow-minded.
Don't be so
arrogant as to
think that
Jesus is the
only way and
you can see
how we just
start to
drift.
resist the
drift.
Don't
accommodate.
Cling to
Christ.
Well that
won't happen
to me we
say.
I'm not like
Solomon.
That's not how
Nehemiah sees it
in the end of
his writing.
He writes
this to the
Israelites who
were also
courting
foreign
ladies.
Solomon
king of
Israel
sin on
account of
such
women.
Among the
many
nations there
was no
king like
him and
he was
beloved by
his God
and God
made him
king over
all Israel.
Nevertheless
foreign
women made
even him
to sin.
Nehemiah
very much
sees it that
if Solomon
is susceptible
to it then we
must be very
careful.
that if
Solomon can
fall so
drastically
be careful
if you think
you can
stand
lest you
fall.
A daily
devotion to
the Lord
getting up
each and
every day
Jesus I
love you
Jesus I
want to
walk with
you Jesus
I want to
cling to
you.
And tomorrow
just repeat
Jesus I
love you
Jesus I
want to
walk with
you Jesus
I want to
cling.
Tie up
tightly to
Christ.
Pay close
attention lest
we drift
away.
We finish
with this
Yahweh's
fury
fueled.
Verse 9
The Lord
became angry
with Solomon.
The Lord
became angry
with Solomon
as the
nauseating
smell of
idolatry
enters the
nostrils of
God.
It evokes
a visceral
reaction.
Solomon
so gifted
by God.
Solomon to
whom God
appeared
twice.
He has
loads of
evidence.
He's not
doing this
in ignorance
he's doing
it in
arrogance.
Solomon's
drifted away.
He's turned
his back on
God.
He's turned
his heart
away from
God.
And
judgment
falls.
And his
sin has
consequences.
Jesus.
This is
going to
do major
damage to
his people.
Solomon's
kingdom had
been a
place of
peace.
And it
says at
least three
times that
Solomon's
subjects were
happy.
And now
Solomon's
kingdom is
going to be
divided and
split.
It's not
going to be a
place of
peace.
It's going
to be a
place of
division.
It's not
going to be a
place of good
kings.
it's going
to be a
place of
bad kings
with the
odd
exception.
Look at
verse 11.
So the
Lord said to
Solomon,
since this is
your attitude
and you have
not kept my
covenant and
decrees,
which I
commanded you,
I will most
certainly tear
the kingdom
away from
you and
give it to
one of your
subordinates.
Solomon
clings to
his wives.
What does
God do?
He tears
the kingdom
out of his
hands.
Nevertheless,
for the sake
of David,
your father,
I will not
do it in
your lifetime.
I will tear
it out of
the hand
of your
son.
Yet I
will not
tear the
whole kingdom
from him,
but will
give him
one tribe
for the
sake of
David,
my servant,
and for
the sake
of Jerusalem,
which I
have chosen.
A divided
kingdom will
be the
penalty for
Solomon's
blatant
disobedience.
The rest
of chapter
11 is
going to be
all about
these seeds
of division
being sown.
As Hadad
and Rezon
and Jeroboam
are raised
up as
adversaries,
Solomon's
know nothing
but peace
and now
adversaries
are raised
up.
Solomon's
reign that
had been
plain sailing
now has
tumultuous
storm clouds
brewing in
the distance.
Yet see,
and with this
we finish,
there's hope
even amidst
judgment.
that even
when God
is angry
because of
this evil
that Solomon
has perpetrated,
see that
there's grace
in the midst
of it.
I will not
tear the
whole kingdom
away,
but on account
of my
covenant,
God,
despite his
anger,
will remain
utterly faithful
to the covenant
that he made.
that even
though Solomon
has broken
the covenant,
God will
keep the
covenant.
He will
have one
tribe.
He will
keep Judah
as it
turns out.
This is the
great hope
of the
gospel,
that our
salvation is
not dependent
on how much
we love
God,
but on how
much he
loves us.
that even
though we
break covenant
with him,
he will
keep it
forever.
That his
unfailing
love will
never fail.
One tribe
is ultimately
preserved,
the tribe
of Judah,
from which
would come
the one,
the lion
of Judah,
great David's
greater son,
greater than
Solomon,
whose undivided
heart would
be the ultimate
remedy of our
fickle faith.
One whom on
the mountain
east of
Jerusalem didn't
flirt with other
faiths,
whose half-hearted
heart didn't
build high
places for
other gods,
but this one
who lay
prostrate,
sweating drops
of blood from
a wholehearted
heart,
praying in
obedience,
not my will,
but yours be
done.
The ultimate
expression of
what it means to
be a wholehearted,
obedient,
worshipper of
God.
So there are
lessons to be
learned from
Solomon,
important lessons
that cause us
to take seriously
the command to
resist the drift
and cling each
and every day to
Christ.
We are to do
exactly what
Joshua commanded
God's people as
they enter at the
end of the
conquest of the
promised land.
Be very careful
therefore to love
the Lord your God.
Be very careful.
what Jesus says
on that night in
Gethsemane at the
Mount of Olives,
watch and pray that
you may not enter
into temptation.
Watch and pray that
you may not enter
into temptation.
1 Kings 11,
36,
I will give one
tribe to his son
so that David,
my servant,
may always have a
lamp before me in
Jerusalem,
the city where I
chose to put my
name.
that lamp that
God preserves
down the line
would grow up
into the light
of the world.
He would be
snuffed out so
his light could
shine for all
eternity on our
lives.
Let's pray.
Father God,
we pray for
ourselves and we
pray for each
other.
Father,
we want to be
wholehearted
worshippers.
Father,
we don't want to
treat faith in
you as a hobby
or something we
just do on a
Sunday.
Father,
we want to love
you and cling to
you.
We don't want to
drift from you
or turn from you
or walk away from
you.
Father,
we want to be
yours and wholly
yours.
So,
Father,
whether we're
young,
may we resist
the drift.
May we,
whether we're
middle-aged,
Lord,
keep us
clinging to
Christ.
And,
Father,
may those who
are old have
this testimony
that they love
Jesus more
today than
they ever have
in their
lives.
Father,
we pray the
same for our
church that we
would not drift
away.
But as your
body of people
in this place,
we would cling
to Christ
together.
And,
Father,
we would
encourage each
other in our
walk that we
might walk
closely to your
son Jesus,
who is the
very epitome
of what a
wholehearted
worshipper is.
And,
Lord,
because of his
wholeheartedness,
thank you that
there's forgiveness
for when we're
half-hearted.
But,
Lord,
kindle in us
such a faith
and a love
for your son
that we will
worship and
follow and
adore him
all the days
of our lives.
We pray this
not for our
safety.
Lord,
we don't pray
this for our
own fame,
but we pray
it so that
Jesus might be
glorified in
our lives
and that
people might
see that we
love him
most.
Father,
bless us and
help us in
his glorious,
all-conquering
name.
Amen.