Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is a famous saying that proves to be true in the life of Solomon. God had said not to inter marry with women of other countries. However Solomon wanted to have more wives than anyone. In those days it was seen as a sign of wealth and power. The more wives you had the more power and wealth you had. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines ! The reason God had given for not marrying foreigners was that the women would lead him to worship other gods. This proved to be true as Solomon built temples on hills to several different gods. One was Ashtoreth who was the goddess of love and fertility. Another was the Ammonite god called Milcom. The way to worship this god was the sacrifice of children on the fire. Another was Chemosh who was the god of the Moabites. The sacrifice of children in the fire was also customary.
It was in the middle of all of the disobedience by Solomon that the prophet came to Solomon's servant Jeroboam and said that God was going to take 10 tribes of Israel away from Solomon's son and give them to him. He also made Jeroboam the same promise He had made to David. If he walked in His ways and kept His commandments, as his servant David had, He would make his kingdom last a long time ... but not forever. This tells us that even though Solomon had done evil in the eyes of God, He was still going to reunite all of Israel at some time and keep His promise to David.
This was a really sad chapter to read. Solomon had everything a man could ever want and at the end of his life he was far away from God and had lost all that God gave. This is truly a lesson for all of us to learn ! No matter what you have, you have because of the grace of God and He can take at any time .... including your life !
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Chapter 10 The Queen Visits !
This is one of the most interesting chapters in the bible !! Through out this chapter it seems like Solomon is basking in the glow of all the blessings that God promised and is using it all for good and being very generous. This all true ... however God saw this as Solomon showing off and disobeying His commands !
When the Queen of Sheba comes to visit Solomon she brings a huge amount of tribute. Her goal was to see and test the fame and wisdom that God had given to Solomon.She gave many tons of gold, rare spices and animals. In exchange Solomon had answered all her questions. Solomon had built up many cities and stocked many with thousands of horses, stables, and riders. He had given many gifts to the Queen and had hid nothing from her ! For this last one the kingdom will pay when her armies return and plunder Israel. In the book of Deut. God tells His people not to keep horses, stables or riders because these were implements of war. The Jews were to rely on God for their defense not on their own power.
The spiritual lessons here are many but we can see that although Solomon is glowing from all the blessings, God is now arranging for these wrongs to be corrected. The same goes for us today. Even though it may look like you are being blessed ... be careful ! Make sure to stay in prayer and try to look at things from God's perspective and not from yours. Also, even though God sees it differently, he does not stop the blessing quickly. Many people are deceived when they sin by thinking if they are not punished at that moment, that God must be O.K. with the sin you have just done. As Paul would later say in the New Testament, " God forbid !! "
When the Queen of Sheba comes to visit Solomon she brings a huge amount of tribute. Her goal was to see and test the fame and wisdom that God had given to Solomon.She gave many tons of gold, rare spices and animals. In exchange Solomon had answered all her questions. Solomon had built up many cities and stocked many with thousands of horses, stables, and riders. He had given many gifts to the Queen and had hid nothing from her ! For this last one the kingdom will pay when her armies return and plunder Israel. In the book of Deut. God tells His people not to keep horses, stables or riders because these were implements of war. The Jews were to rely on God for their defense not on their own power.
The spiritual lessons here are many but we can see that although Solomon is glowing from all the blessings, God is now arranging for these wrongs to be corrected. The same goes for us today. Even though it may look like you are being blessed ... be careful ! Make sure to stay in prayer and try to look at things from God's perspective and not from yours. Also, even though God sees it differently, he does not stop the blessing quickly. Many people are deceived when they sin by thinking if they are not punished at that moment, that God must be O.K. with the sin you have just done. As Paul would later say in the New Testament, " God forbid !! "
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Chapter 8 The Ark, The Dedication, And The Benediction
Eleven months after the completion of the Temple the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the Holy of Holy's. It was done at this time to coincide with the Feast of the Tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought it up and put it in it's spot. The handles that God had commanded be used to carry the Ark were left on. They were very long, but would be needed by the priest who went in once a year into this very dark room, and would be used to find his way around.
Solomon went to the altar of burnt offering and made his very long prayer of consecration to the Lord of the Temple and bringing in the Ark. This prayer of consecration covered three areas : 1) He confirmed that there was no god that could compare the God of Israel. 2) He asked the Lord for His continued presence no matter how far the Jews would wonder. 3) Lastly he recalled 7 Israel prayers that recalled the detailed list of curses that Deut. 28 : 15-68 listed for the breaking the Law. These were some of them ... Forgive sins that had caused defeat in battle,sins brought on by drought, sins resulted in national calamity, to show mercy to foreigners, give victory in battle, and bring restoration after calamity. Solomon probably had no idea but the Jews would need every one of these blessings and then some !
Solomon then turned to dedicate the Temple. When doing this he went to sacrifice on the altar all the animals. There was no room. It is believed that he had built many altars for use ONLY for the dedication in addition to the main one. The amount of animals sacrificed was amazing. 22,000 bulls, 120,000 sheep, in addition to the peace offering and the grain offering. WOW !!!
Solomon went to the altar of burnt offering and made his very long prayer of consecration to the Lord of the Temple and bringing in the Ark. This prayer of consecration covered three areas : 1) He confirmed that there was no god that could compare the God of Israel. 2) He asked the Lord for His continued presence no matter how far the Jews would wonder. 3) Lastly he recalled 7 Israel prayers that recalled the detailed list of curses that Deut. 28 : 15-68 listed for the breaking the Law. These were some of them ... Forgive sins that had caused defeat in battle,sins brought on by drought, sins resulted in national calamity, to show mercy to foreigners, give victory in battle, and bring restoration after calamity. Solomon probably had no idea but the Jews would need every one of these blessings and then some !
Solomon then turned to dedicate the Temple. When doing this he went to sacrifice on the altar all the animals. There was no room. It is believed that he had built many altars for use ONLY for the dedication in addition to the main one. The amount of animals sacrificed was amazing. 22,000 bulls, 120,000 sheep, in addition to the peace offering and the grain offering. WOW !!!
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