One Year Bible Monday, June 13th "Solomon's Wives Lead Him into Idolatry. Solomon Dies, Rehoboam Takes Over, But Israel is Divided Into Two Nations " "Saul the Persecutor is Converted and Becomes the Apostle Paul!"
Yesterday. we mentioned God forbid a Jewish male to marry a non-Jewish women, yet Solomon disobeyed this by marrying Pharaoh's daughter. Today Solomon takes it to a new level when he marries women from almost every Canaanite nation that the Israelites had displaced when they took over the Promised Land. God had told the Israelites to not let any of the people remain, as he had predicted that one day the Israelites would intermarry with them and they would lead them into idolatry.
Today this prediction became a reality. Solomon ends up with 700 royal wives, and 300 concubines from all of Israel's former enemies. Solomon began worshipping the pagan gods of his pagan wives. Solomon even built pagan shrines to pagan gods and goddesses like Ashtoreth, Molech, and Chemosh. God was not pleased in the least and the consequence was that God tore the kingdom away from Solomon. For the sake of David, he would not do this in Solomon's lifetime. Though God was angry with Solomon, he allowed him to still rule over one tribe, the tribe of Judah.
This is a tragic example of the power of the lust of the flesh. Because of lust, Solomon found himself in a place where he never thought he would find himself. He found himself burning incense at the altars of depraved pagan gods. He found himself at the altar of child sacrifice unto the god Molech. This is the power of lust – it can capture us in a spell, in a fog of spiritual confusion until we do things we never thought we would do. - Guzik
God promised the entire kingdom of Israel to the descendants of David forever, if they only remained obedient. David reminded Solomon of this promise shortly before his death (1 Kings 2:4). Yet they could not remain faithful even one generation. Solomon’s kingdom was an outstanding example of wealth, military power, and prestige. Yet the true security of Israel did not rest in any of those things. It rested in the blessing of God and in the obedience and faithfulness of their king. - Guzik
Solomon’s Adversaries
A pattern we will see quite often going forward is that God uses the other nations and their leaders to judge Israel for its idolatry. God raised up both Hadad and Edomite, and King Rezin, an Aramean, who were both bitter enemies of Solomon for the rest of his reign.
Though God did not approve of these men either, he used them to discipline Solomon for his disobedience. Solomon's lack of discipline and indulgence in the flesh cost him almost everything, yet God showed him mercy for the sake of his father David by sparing him his life and allowing him to rule over one tribe.
Jeroboam Rebels against Solomon
God also raised up another man within Israel to take the 10 tribes away from Solomon. It was one of his own officials, Jeroboam. Jeroboam was put in charge of labor force from the two tribes of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. But one day the prophet Ahijah was sent by God to reveal God's new plan for his life.
Ahijah and Jeroboam were in the field, and Ahihah took his own cloak and tore it into 12 pieces. He gave Jeroboam 10 pieces, symbolizing the tribes he would rule over as the new king in Israel. Like David and Solomon before, the Lord made a covenant with him that if he would be faithful to God like David was, he would give him everything he needed. The royal dynasty would be passed down through his family to his future descendants.
You may ask the question what about the one piece that was left out? 10 were given to Jeroboam and 1 given to Solomon. Benjamin was the other tribe, and both Benjamin and Judah were counted as one, because they were both in the same city of David.
This is the first we hear of the divided kingdom, which became Israel’s history for hundreds of years after the death of Solomon. At this first description we would expect that the ten tribes under Jeroboam would be larger, greater, and more enduring than the one tribe left unto the House of David. As it worked out, just the opposite happened because the ten tribes forsook the LORD, while the one tribe was more obedient. - Guzik
Solomon's life and reign now came to an end, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him. He had ruled over Judah and Israel for 40 years. Solomon's life started on a great trajectory and God blessed him with an incredible abundance in every way, but in the end Solomon's lust for his many foreign wives led him into idolatry caused him to lose almost everyone under his reign.
The Northern Tribes Revolt
Rehoboam begins his reign with a decision to make. Jeroboam and the tribes of Israel asked him to lighten the heavy labor load on them and give them a break on taxes. Wisely Rehoboam asked for three days to think it over. First, he gathered advice from his father's advisors. They advised him to take them up on the deal, as they would always then be his loyal subjects.
But when Rehoboam turned to his younger advisors that he had personally selected, they gave him a very different answer. The counseled him that not only should he refuse their offer but double their work load and taxes.
Here was Rehoboam's response to Jeroboam and his people,
My father laid heavy burdens on you, but I’m going to make them even heavier! My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions!” 1 Kings 12:14
You can see that Rehoboam lacked the wisdom his dad had and also had no tact. When the people of Israel heard Rehoboam's response, the chants began, "Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse" Rehoboam sent his labor secretary, Adoniram to restore order, but he was stoned to death. When Rehoboam heard the news he fled in fear.
From this moment on the Northern tribes of Israel would never be subject to a king from Judah again.
Solomon asked a lot of Israel, in both taxes and service. Yet we don’t have the impression that Israel followed Solomon out of fear, but out of a sense of shared vision and purpose. They believed in what Solomon wanted to do, and were willing to sacrifice to accomplish it. Rehoboam did not appeal to any sense of shared vision and purpose – he simply wanted the people to follow his orders out of the fear of a tyrant. - Guzik
“With a dozen rash words, Rehoboam, the bungling dictator, opened the door for four hundred years of strife, weakness, and, eventually, the destruction of the entire nation.” (Dilday)
The older advisors told Rehoboam what he needed to hear. The younger advisors told him what he wanted to hear. Any leader is only as good as his trusted advisors. Be careful with whom you get your advice from.
In chapter 9, we read of one of the greatest and most important conversions in the New Testament. Saul of Tarsus, the great persecuter of the early Christian church, became Paul the apostle to the Jews first, and then the Gentiles. And it happened in dramatic fashion, as Saul was headed to Damascus to round up rebellious Christians and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem.
But God had a different plan in mind for Saul. As he was approached Damascus, a light from heaven blinded him and a voice called out to him saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' The Lord told him to go into the city and wait to be told what to do. The men with him heard the voice and did not know what to do, so they escorted Saul, who remained blinded, back to the city.
Meanwhile, the Lord had told Ananias, a disciple. to go to where Saul was staying. Ananias objected by telling the Lord that this man's reputation preceded him for he had done to the believers in Jerusalem. But the Lord told Ananias that Saul was his chosen instrument, who would testify for him to Gentiles, kings, and even his own people Israel. In obedience, Ananias went and found Saul and laid hands on him. Not only did Saul receive the Holy Spirit, but his sight was restored, and he was baptized.
Saul thought that he was serving God in viciously attacking Christians, but he discovered that he was fighting God. This has been sadly true through history. Often those who are convinced they are doing God a favor do much of the worst persecution and torture ever practiced. - Guzik
Ananias went his way and entered the house: This took great courage. In the centuries since, Christians have had to deal with those who make pretended conversions to infiltrate the followers of Jesus. Ananias had to overcome this fear or suspicion. - Guzik
Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
Immediately Saul began to preach the Good News that Jesus was the Messiah. The people were amazed that this was the same guy who had put Christians in prison. Saul had excellent rhetorical skills and was gifted at reconciling the Old Testament scriptures with the prophecies about the Messiah. Now the tables were turned, as the Jewish leaders realized what a powerful evangelist Saul was! They quickly devised a plot to kill him, but the believers gave him a way of escape through the city wall.
Saul’s early work for God so soon after his conversion should not surprise us. Often, that is the best time to serve the Lord, and especially to tell others about Jesus. When we are newly converted, we still understand the way people who don’t yet know Jesus think. - Guzik
“It was the beginning of many escapes for Paul, and sometimes he didn’t quite escape. Sometimes they caught him, imprisoned him, beat him. He did indeed have to suffer many things for Jesus’ sake.” (Boice)
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