October 8, 2010

1 Kings 11

Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to the daughter of Pharaoh of Egypt. Why? Could he not learn from his father’s sins? Why did he marry the daughter of Pharaoh? Later in the chapter we read of an enemy that God raised up from Edom. When David was still alive, this Edomite had fled to Egypt to escape Joab. The Edomite received the sister-in-law of Pharaoh as a wife. That is a powerful alliance. Could it be that Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter as a counter alliance? Is that why she seems to have received better treatment as Solomon built a palace just for her? Hmmm…. It seemed to work so well, perhaps he added marriage alliances to Sidon, Amon and Moab as further precautionary alliances to keep from having to go to war. It would seem that most of his marriages were political alliances to secure his kingdom without going to war. Interesting tradeoff.

Yet what happened was exactly what the Lord said would happen. His wives turned his heart away from the Lord. People in lust (I won’t say love) never recognize that. Here the wisest man to have ever lived succumbs to one of the oldest temptations. So, what were these gods like? Here is a short list:

Ashtoreth—Sidonian goddess of fertility, consort of Baal, worshipped with immoral rites and sometimes temple prostitution.

Milcom—Amonite god who demanded the best of his worshippers. Hence child sacrifice was often practiced. The image of Milcom (Molech) was a large metal man with the head of a bull. It was hollow beneath and below where a fire could be placed. His arms were outstretched to receive the sacrifice. The arms were tilted up so that the sacrifice would roll down the arms into a hole in the body where the sacrifice would fall into the fiery pit below. Flutes were played to drown out the screams of the sacrifice.

Chemosh—Moabite god who was very similar to Milcom. With the finding of the Moabite stone we read descriptions of Chemosh that are very similar to the Scripture’s description of Yahweh. There was one exception. Chemosh often demanded the sacrifice of children. Yahweh forbids the sacrifice of Children—Leviticus 18:21 & Deuteronomy 18:10.

How could the world’s wisest man fall for this? Sin is rarely a problem with the intellect. It is usually a problem with the will and emotions. I just don’t want to obey. And so Solomon thinks with his loins rather than with his logic. He now has his own private brothel with religious institutions to sanctify it, and he has secure borders because of his marriage alliances. But at what cost? It cost him the glory of God. Where is the glory? It is obscure; isn’t it? But it is there. Yahweh tears the kingdom away, but he leaves one tribe, Judah, for the sake of His promise to David. There is the glory. When we are unfaithful like Solomon, He remains faithful. Why? Because He never is unfaithful to Himself. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john


Philippians 4

How can one be content in all things? I mean really, suppose your two best friends in the church are having a strong disagreement. It is tearing you up to see them fight. The Lord says to rejoice in Him always. The Lord says to let your gentleness be known to all men. Or suppose you were one of the refugees from hurricane Rita in New Orleans. You’ve lost everything, home, job. Who knows how you will access your bank account. The Lord says to be anxious for nothing. How can one be content in all things?

It seems to me the answer is clear in verses 8&9. Whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, or praise worthy, we are to think about them. I have some friends who named their sons Justice and Noble. I suppose they are always thinking on what is noble and just. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist a bad pun.) But there is one Son who is all of the things mentioned above. The Lord Jesus Christ is all of the things mentioned above. When we focus on His glory, we are focusing on His truth, His nobility, His justice, His purity, His loveliness, His virtue, His Praise. When we focus on those things, we come to realize that our sovereign King will bring to right what we think is wrong. He will deliver us through the situations. And in the end, His glory will be increased. We begin to have problems with attitudes when we focus on the temporal. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor John