Quote:
Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
... I will say from experience that while under the attack I read the Bible more, and with more prayer... these incidents turn you to the word and prayer more than anything else can.
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Amen!
I came before the Lord this morning in prayer, and, wanting to read and enjoy from His Word, asked Him where to turn. He lead me, curiously, to 1 Kings, Chapter 12 - and this is what I read:
"Thus says Jehovah, You shall not go up and wage war with your brothers the children of Israel. Every man return to his house; for this matter is of Me." Amen Lord. This matter of division is of YOU, and we are not to war with our brothers.
Seeing this, I went back to the beginning of 1 Kings, as I must confess I have not yet opened this book in my RcV (although I have read it before in my KJV). I wanted to read through the context in which the Lord spoke this to Rehoboam. So much did the Lord open up to me this morning, and I want to share what I saw here, because this is the very first time I have ever seen this:
At the beginning of 1st Kings, we see again David - weak with old age, and bed ridden. To warm his bones, a young virgin is brought to him; Abishag the Shunammite (whose name in Hebrew, means "My father strays" - what significance in this name...). Through plotting, David's son Adonijah begins his bid for the throne... and in doing so slights both Solomon and Nathan, God's prophet.... but through plotting, Nathan and Bath-Sheba likewise work together to accomplish the succession for Solomon. God's will in the matter of succession is not consulted, but it appears rather, sides are chosen based on each mans will to gain the most for himself...
Nathan, in dealing with the King, pays homage to him - even by placing his face upon the ground (1 Kings 1:23-24) and calls him "lord". Is this the position a man who manipulates his king ought to take? Should Nathan, as a prophet of God, actually prostrate himself like that to another man - or address another man as "lord"? I don't feel clear to answer that question, but it arises....
David is successfully manipulated by Nathan and Bath-Sheba, and he calls for his son Solomon, and gives him the kingdom of Judah and of Israel. He goes on to instruct Solomon in the things he ought to do first: And here we get to see what is really on David's heart these days....
because he strays:
David's first instructions are good: "Keep the commandment of Jehovah your God by walking in His ways...." (1 Kings 2:3)... but he doesn't ask this for God or for God's children, the people of Israel, but rather for himself: "That Jehovah may establish His word which he spoke concerning
me..." (1 Kings 2:4)
David follows this commandment, which is laced with more than questionable motives, with another; a call for vengeance on an old enemy (is not vengeance the Lord's?) "...you know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to
me... do not let his grey hairedhead go down to Sheol in peace." (1 Kings 2:5-6)
Finally, David tells Solomon of the situation with Shimei the son of Gera, to whom David openly acknowledges that he swore an oath to him by Jehovah saying "I shall not kill you with a sword."... Nevertheless, David harbors resentment and unforgiveness in his heart for this one, and so he urges Solomon by his wisdom to find a way around this agreement; and to "not hold him guiltless... bring his grey-haired head down to Sheol with blood."
What a dark legacy to leave your son.
Solomon is instituted as King while David lives, and immediately we see the truth in the Word of God: "The sins of the father shall be visited upon the son, yea unto the seventh generation."
Solomon's first act as King is not to Praise God, or seek His will and counsel. No, it is to establish his own authority, and consolidate his power.
First, he tells his mother that she may ask what she will ask; "I will not refuse you." But this is a lie, for when she asks for Abishag on behalf of Adonijah, Solomon breaks his promises and flies into a temper: In wrath, he commits fratricide in order to establish to any other siblings he may have - that he will tolerate no contenders. (1 Kings 2:20-25).
Unwilling to tolerate competition isn't limited to his own brothers. Next, Solomon immediately sets his sights on the priest Abiathar - a man of whom Solomon says "you bore the Ark of the Lord Jehovah before David my father and you suffered affliction in all that my father suffered."... and yet Solomon excommunicates him, and places him under house arrest under penalty of death... a sentence he will execute three years later, although he would lay the blame for it on Abiathar's own head.
Finally, Joab hears of what's going on and realizes that he's going to be in the way too... so he flees to the Altar of God and lays hands on it's horns; seeking forgiveness and absolution. It is denied. Solomon sends Benaniah to kill Joab. Benaniah is unwilling to profane the Tent of Jehovah, and asks Joab to come out so that his sentence can be executed, but Joab refuses, saying "No; I will rather die here". Benaniah returns to Solomon, not knowing what to do; but he is only sent back. Solomon has no qualms about profaning the Tent of Jehovah: "Do as he has spoken, and strike him down..." Solomon says.
God is silent throughout all of this; and no one asks Him about any of it.
In Chapter three, we see that the first thing that Solomon does after consolidating his power is to take for himself a wife from a daughter of Pharoah in Egypt, and not from among his own people. Why does he do this, in clear violation of God's law? Again, he wishes to secure his own power, by forging an alliance with a nation that in all typology typifies the sinful world itself.
Next, Solomon goes up to the high places and sacrifices 1,000 burnt offerings to the Lord. Why does he do this? We are not told. Why does he go to the high places to do it, instead of to the Altar in the Tent of Jehovah? Solomon is not a priest, does he have the right to do this? Saul certainly didn't, and was punished for that foolishness. What is going on here? The high places are where the pagan Canaanites sacrificed to their 'gods'. (1 Kings 3:1-4).
At last, we hear from God; here is what he says to Solomon in a dream: "Ask what I should give to you." That's it. Not, "Solomon, this is what I would have you do." Not, "Here my servant, what I would say:" No. What the Lord speaks here is not an offer of a pleased Father, it is a test; and in Solomon's case, I have come to see, it is a trap. "Ask what I should give to you."
Now, I have always been taught that Solomon gave a great answer to this question. I myself have prayed the prayer of Solomon many times, and today the Lord caused me to repent of it; because He has opened my eyes to what Solomon really was asking for here:
"...Give therefore to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil." (1 Kings 3:9).
Do you see that? Sounds good, doesn't it? What's he really asking for here though? He's asking to be a judge over God's people... but isn't it God's place to judge? Further, he isn't asking for God to lead him, he's asking to eat from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so that he can DECIDE FOR HIMSELF. He is REJECTING God as his judge, as the light to his feet and lamp to his path, but wants instead the wisdom/knowledge to make it all on his own. I believe what Solomon should have asked for, was faith like Abrahams. If he had that kind of faith, he could have been used of God to do some tremendous works....
God honors his prayer; and tops it off with more wealth than Solomon could imagine. Curious blessing, considering "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven". Lord, preserve us. Lord, when we pray foolishly - forgive us; I do not want my foolish prayers answered.
So what happens next? Well, according to everything I've ever heard or read, what happens next is a tremendous blessing to Israel and even later to us: Solomon was chosen to build the Temple of God.... right?
Well, consider what Scripture tells us; and consider who Solomon sounds like when he says "
I intend to build a house for the name of Jehovah my God according to what Jehovah spoke to David my father, saying, 'Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, he will build a house for My name.'"
Wow.
Solomon, true to form - usurps a word God spoke to David for himself. Was he right to do so? Tell me, do the Psalms of David prophecy of his son Solomon, or his 'son', Christ? Was not Christ called the "Son of David"? To whom was promised David's throne forever and forever? Not Solomon, but to CHRIST! Solomon doesn't ask God whether he should build him a "house" or not, nor does he ask what form such a house should take, or of what material to build it, or where to locate it. He simply usurps a promise and begins to plan construction all on his own.
Read what is recorded, Solomon planned the whole design and constructon of the temple on his own. He fills it with graven images, and hand-cut stones (against the clear dictates of God who always wanted natural stone, not man-carved stone on His altars). What does God say about this, well - He says nothing until construction is at least half-way complete - then he says this:
"As for
this house that you are building,
IF you walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments, by walking in them,
THEN I will establish My word with you, which I spoke to David your father; And I will dwell
in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will not forsake My people Israel."
Listen to that! First, the Lord refers to the Temple NOT as HIS house, but as "this" house. Secondly, He offers Solomon not a promise but an ultimatum: IF you do this, I will do that. But Solomon hasn't been keeping all of God's commandments; we've already seen that... and he's not about to change his ways. So the implication is that God will NOT do His part either. Further, even if Solomon DID walking in God's ways, He never says He will live in this house that Solomon is building - rather, that He will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel. God rejected the Temple from BEFORE day one.
...to be continued...
In Christ,
Neither First nor Last