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The Book of 1 Kings Like You_ve Never Seen Before · truthunedited

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Speaker 1: The sun was already setting over Jerusalem, a city that
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Speaker 1: had grown and prospered during the forty years of David's reign.
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Speaker 1: The mighty King of Israel, the man after God's own heart,
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Speaker 1: was now old and frail. The curtains of the royal
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Speaker 1: palace fluttered in the breeze, while a young servant girl,
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Speaker 1: Abishag the Shunamite, tried to warm the king's fragile body.
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Speaker 1: A time of change was drawing near. The watchful eyes
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Speaker 1: of the court were no longer fixed on the royal bed,
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Speaker 1: but on the possible heirs to the throne. Who would
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Speaker 1: be Israel's next king, who would inherit the legacy of
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Speaker 1: the Great David. The air was thick with tension and intrigue.
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Speaker 1: In the palace corridors, Whispers and secret dealings had already
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Speaker 1: begun to take shape. The matter of succession was at stake,
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Speaker 1: and the future of a nation hung in the balance.
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Speaker 1: This is the story of how a young man named
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Speaker 1: Solomon became the wisest man in the world and led
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Speaker 1: Israel into its Golden Age, era that would never be forgotten.
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Speaker 1: King David was old in first kings one one the
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Speaker 1: Bible tells us. Now, King David was very old, and
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Speaker 1: although they covered him with blankets, he could not get warm.
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Speaker 1: As the king lay wasting away in his bed, one
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Speaker 1: of his sons saw an opportunity to seize the throne
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Speaker 1: for himself. Odnija, the son of David and Hageth, was
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Speaker 1: a handsome and ambitious man. As the oldest surviving son
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Speaker 1: after Absalom's death, he considered himself the natural heir. In
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Speaker 1: First Kings one five to six, scripture says now Adonijia,
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Speaker 1: whose mother was Hageth, put himself forward and said I
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Speaker 1: will be king. So he got chariots and horses ready,
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Speaker 1: with fifty men to run ahead of him. His father
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Speaker 1: had never rebuked him by asking why do you behave
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Speaker 1: as you do. He was also very handsome and was
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Speaker 1: born next after Absalom. Adonija organized a grand feast and
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Speaker 1: invited the king's sons and the prominent men of Judah.
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Speaker 1: But in First Kings one to eight ten we see
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Speaker 1: who was not invited, but Zadok, the priest Beniah, son
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Speaker 1: of Jehoyada, Nathan, the prophet Shimeh, and Ray and David's
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Speaker 1: special God did not join. Adonija Adonija then sacrificed sheep,
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Speaker 1: cattle and fattened calves at the stone of Zohaleth near Enrogel.
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Speaker 1: He invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all
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Speaker 1: the royal officials of Judah, but he did not invite Nathan,
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Speaker 1: the Prophet, or Beniah, or the Special God, or his
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Speaker 1: brother Solomon. Sensing the danger, the prophet, Nathan went to Bathsheba,
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Speaker 1: Solomon's mother in First Kings one eleven. He asked her,
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Speaker 1: have you not heard that Adonija, the son of Hagith,
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Speaker 1: has become king and our lord David knows nothing about it.
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Speaker 1: Nathan advised Bathsheba to go to the king and remind
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Speaker 1: him of his promise that Solomon would succeed him. Bathsheba
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Speaker 1: approached David and said, as recorded in First Kings one seventeen,
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Speaker 1: my Lord, you yourself swore to me your servant, by
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Speaker 1: the Lord your God, Solomon, your son shall be king
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Speaker 1: after me, and he will sit on my throne. She
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Speaker 1: warned him about Adonija's actions, ending with a heartfelt plea
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Speaker 1: in verses twenty two to twenty one, My Lord the King,
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Speaker 1: the eyes of all Israel are on you to learn
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Speaker 1: from you who will sit on the throne of my
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Speaker 1: Lord the King after him. Otherwise, as soon as my
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Speaker 1: Lord the King is laid to rest with his ancestors,
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Speaker 1: I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals.
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Speaker 1: While she was speaking, Nathan entered and confirmed everything. David
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Speaker 1: acted swiftly. In First Kings one twenty nine thirty he swore,
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Speaker 1: as surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me
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Speaker 1: out of every trouble, I will surely carry out this
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Speaker 1: very day what I swore to you by the Lord,
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Speaker 1: the God of Israel. Solomon, your son, shall be king
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Speaker 1: after me and will sit on my throne in my place.
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Speaker 1: David ordered that Solomon be anointed king immediately. In First
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Speaker 1: Kings one thirty nine forty we read Zadok, the priest
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Speaker 1: took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and
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Speaker 1: anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet, and all the
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Speaker 1: people shouted, long Live King Solomon, and all the people
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Speaker 1: went up after him, playing pipes and rejoicing greatly, so
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Speaker 1: that the ground shook with the sound. When Adonija heard
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Speaker 1: the news, he was terrified for his life and ran
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Speaker 1: to seek refuge at the altar Solomon showed him mercy,
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Speaker 1: saying in First Kings one fifty two, if he shows
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Speaker 1: himself to be worthy, not a hair of his head
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Speaker 1: will fall to the ground. But if evil is found
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Speaker 1: in him, he will die. Thus Solomon was established as
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Speaker 1: the rightful King of Israel. Feeling that his death was near,
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Speaker 1: David called Solomon to give him his final instructions. In
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Speaker 1: Third Kings two two three, he said, I am about
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Speaker 1: to go the way of all the earth. So be strong,
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Speaker 1: act like a man, and observe what the Lord your
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Speaker 1: God requires. Walk in obedience to him, and keep his
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Speaker 1: decrees and commands, his laws and regulations as written in
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Speaker 1: the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may
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Speaker 1: prosper in all you do and wherever you go. David
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Speaker 1: reminded Solomon of God's promise in First Kings two four.
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Speaker 1: If your descendants watch how they live, and if they
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Speaker 1: walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul,
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Speaker 1: you will never fail to have a successor on the
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Speaker 1: throne of Israel. Then David gave Solomon some practical political
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Speaker 1: advice regarding Joab, who had murdered two commanders during peace time.
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Speaker 1: David instructed in First Kings two p. Six. Deal with
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Speaker 1: him according to your wisdom, but do not let his
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Speaker 1: gray head go down to the grave in peace. About
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Speaker 1: the sons of Barzilah I, who had supported him during
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Speaker 1: Absalom's rebellion, David recommended in First Kings two seven, But
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Speaker 1: show kindness to the sons of Barzilai of Gilead, and
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Speaker 1: let them be among those who eat at your table.
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Speaker 1: They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.
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Speaker 1: And regarding Sheimee, who had cursed him during his flight,
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Speaker 1: David warned in First Kings two nine, but now do
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Speaker 1: not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom.
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Speaker 1: You will know what to do to him. Bring his
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Speaker 1: gray head down to the grave in blood. These instructions
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Speaker 1: taught Solomon how to balance justice and mercy in governance.
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Speaker 1: Soon after, as First Kings two ten tells us, then
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Speaker 1: David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the
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Speaker 1: city of David. With David now resting with his father's
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Speaker 1: Solomon needed to consolidate his power. In First Kings two twelve,
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Speaker 1: we read so Solomon sat on the throne of his
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Speaker 1: father David, and his rule was firmly established The first
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Speaker 1: challenge came from Adonija. He approached Bathsheba with a strange request,
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Speaker 1: as recorded in Versus Kings two thirteen to seventeen. Now, Adonija,
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Speaker 1: the son of Hageth, went to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. Bathsheba asked,
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Speaker 1: do you come in peace? He replied, yes, in peace.
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Speaker 1: Then he added, I have something to say to you.
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Speaker 1: Say it, she replied, so he said, As you know,
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Speaker 1: the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as
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Speaker 1: their king. But things changed and the kingdom has gone
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Speaker 1: to my brother, for it was his from the Lord.
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Speaker 1: Now I have just one request to make of you.
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Speaker 1: Please do not refuse me. You may make your request,
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Speaker 1: she said, so, he continued, Please ask King Solomon, he
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Speaker 1: will not refuse you. To give me Abishag the Shunamite
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Speaker 1: as my wife. This was far from an innocent request quest.
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Speaker 1: Marrying a concubine of the former king was a way
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Speaker 1: of laying claim to the throne. When Solomon heard about it,
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Speaker 1: his reaction was swift. In First Kings two twenty two
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Speaker 1: to twenty four, he said, why do you request Abishag
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Speaker 1: the Shunamite for Adonija? You might as well request the
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Speaker 1: kingdom for him, after all he is my older brother.
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Speaker 1: Yes for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and Joab
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Speaker 1: son of Zewyah. Then King Solomon swore, by the Lord,
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Speaker 1: may God deal with me, be it ever so severely.
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Speaker 1: If a Donega has not made this request at the
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Speaker 1: cost of his life, and now, as surely as the
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Speaker 1: Lord lives, he who has established me securely on the
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Speaker 1: throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty
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Speaker 1: for me, as he promised, Adonija, shall be put to
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Speaker 1: death to day. Thus in First Kings two twenty five
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Speaker 1: we read so King Solomon gave orders to Beniah, son
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Speaker 1: of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonija, and he died.
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Speaker 1: Next Solomon dealt with Abiathar, the priest who had supported Adonija.
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Speaker 1: In First Kings two twenty six twenty seven, it says
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Speaker 1: to Abiathar the priest, the King said, go back to
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Speaker 1: your fields in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I
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Speaker 1: will not put you to death now, because you carried
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Speaker 1: the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David
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Speaker 1: and shared all his hardships. So Solomon removed Abiathar from
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Speaker 1: the priesthood of the Lord, fulfilling the word the Lord
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Speaker 1: had spoken at Shiloh about the House of Eli. When
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Speaker 1: Joab learned of Adonija's death, he fled to the tent
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Speaker 1: of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of
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Speaker 1: the altar. Yet Solomon ordered his execution there, as recorded
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Speaker 1: in First Kings two thirty four. So Beniah son of
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Speaker 1: Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab and killed him, and
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Speaker 1: he was buried at his home out in the wilderness. Finally,
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Speaker 1: Solomon turned his attention to Schemai. Instead of executing him immediately,
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Speaker 1: he placed him under house arrest in Jerusalem. In First
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Speaker 1: Kings two thirty six thirty seven, Solomon commanded, build yourself
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Speaker 1: a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not
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Speaker 1: go anywhere else. The day you leave and cross the
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Speaker 1: Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die. Your
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Speaker 1: blood will be on your own head. Three years later,
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Speaker 1: shi May broke this command by going to Gath to
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Speaker 1: retrieve runaway servants. Upon his return, Solomon confronted him and
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Speaker 1: ordered his execution as we read in First Kings two
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Speaker 1: forty six. Then the king gave the command to Beniah,
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Speaker 1: son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck she
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Speaker 1: May down, and he died, and the kingdom was now
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Speaker 1: firmly established in Solomon's hands. Through these decisive actions, Solomon
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Speaker 1: eliminated all threats to his reign and firmly secured his authority.
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Speaker 1: With the kingdom secure, Solomon began to govern Israel. In
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Speaker 1: fir Kings three three, we read, Solomon showed his love
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Speaker 1: for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given
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Speaker 1: him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices
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Speaker 1: and burned incense on the high places. One day, Solomon
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Speaker 1: went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices. In verse Kings three four,
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Speaker 1: it says the king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices,
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Speaker 1: for that was the most important high place, and Solomon
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Speaker 1: offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. That night,
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Speaker 1: something extraordinary happened. In firse Kings three five, the scripture
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Speaker 1: recounts at Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon during the
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Speaker 1: night in a dream, and God said, ask for whatever
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Speaker 1: you want me to give you. Solomon's response revealed his heart.
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Speaker 1: In verse Kings three seventy nine, he said now, Lord,
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Speaker 1: my God, you have made your sur and king in
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Speaker 1: place of my father David. But I am only a
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Speaker 1: little child and do not know how to carry out
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Speaker 1: my duties. Your servant is here among the people. You
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Speaker 1: have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.
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Speaker 1: So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people,
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Speaker 1: and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is
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Speaker 1: able to govern this great people of yours. Rather than
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Speaker 1: asking for riches or power, Solomon asked for wisdom to
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Speaker 1: govern well. This pleased God greatly, and in First Kings
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Speaker 1: three eleven fourteen, he answered, since you have asked for this,
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Speaker 1: and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor
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Speaker 1: have asked for the death of your enemies, but for
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Speaker 1: discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked.
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Speaker 1: I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so
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Speaker 1: that there will never have been any one like you,
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Speaker 1: nor will there ever be Moreover, I will give you
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Speaker 1: what you have not asked for, both wealth and honor,
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Speaker 1: so that in your lifetime you will have no equal
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Speaker 1: among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me
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Speaker 1: and keep my decrees and commands, as David, your father did,
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Speaker 1: I will give you a long life. God not only
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Speaker 1: granted Solomon the wisdom he asked for, but also unparalleled
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Speaker 1: wealth and honor. The only condition was that Solomon remained
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Speaker 1: faithful to the Lord's ways. Soon Solomon's wisdom was put
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Speaker 1: to the test. In First Kings three sixteen twenty two,
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Speaker 1: we read about two women who came before the king
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Speaker 1: with a difficult case. Now, two prostitutes came to the
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Speaker 1: king and stood before him. One of them said, pardon me,
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Speaker 1: my lord. This woman and I live in the same house,
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Speaker 1: and I had a baby while she was there with me.
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Speaker 1: The third day after my child was born, this woman
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Speaker 1: also had a baby. We were alone. There was no
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Speaker 1: one in the house but the two of us. During
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Speaker 1: the night, this woman son died because she lay on him.
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Speaker 1: So she got up in the middle of the night
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Speaker 1: and took my son from my side. While I, your servant,
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Speaker 1: was asleep. She put him by her breast and put
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Speaker 1: her dead son by my breast. The next morning I
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Speaker 1: got up to nurse my son, and he was dead.
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Speaker 1: But when I looked at him closely in the morning light,
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Speaker 1: I saw that it wasn't the sun I had borne.
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Speaker 1: The other woman said, no, the living one is my son,
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Speaker 1: the dead one is yours. But the first one insisted, no,
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Speaker 1: the dead one is yours, the living one is mine.
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Speaker 1: And so they argued before the king. It was a
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Speaker 1: case with no witnesses, just one woman's word against the others.
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Speaker 1: But Solomon found a brilliant solution in First Kings chapter three,
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Speaker 1: verses twenty four to twenty five. He ordered, bring me
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Speaker 1: a sword. So they brought a sword before the king,
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Speaker 1: and the King said, divide the living child in two,
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Speaker 1: and give half to one and half to the other.
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Speaker 1: The reaction of the two women revealed the truth. In
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Speaker 1: First Kings chapter three, verses twenty six twenty seven, we read,
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Speaker 1: then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king,
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Speaker 1: for she yearned with compassion for her son, and said, O,
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Speaker 1: my Lord, give her the living child, and by no
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Speaker 1: means kill him. But the other said, he shall be
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Speaker 1: neither mine nor yours. Divide him. So the King answered
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Speaker 1: and said, give the first woman the living child, and
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Speaker 1: by no means kill him. She is his mother. This
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Speaker 1: decision deeply impressed all the people, as we see in
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Speaker 1: First Kings chapter three, verse twenty eight, and all Israel
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Speaker 1: heard of the judgment which the king had rendered, and
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Speaker 1: they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom
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Speaker 1: of God was in him to administer justice. The judgment
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Speaker 1: between the two mothers became famous throughout Israel. Solomon's wisdom
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Speaker 1: was not theoretic or abstract. It was practical and applied
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Speaker 1: to real problems among the people. He skillfully used human
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Speaker 1: psychology to uncover the truth when there was no physical evidence.
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Speaker 1: The true mother preferred to lose her child to another
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Speaker 1: woman rather than see him killed, showing genuine maternal love.
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Speaker 1: The false mother, on the other hand, preferred to see
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Speaker 1: the baby divided rather than allow the other to keep him.
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Speaker 1: Her cruelty revealed the nature of her heart. As the
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Speaker 1: kingdom grew in power and influence, Solomon implemented an efficient
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Speaker 1: administrative structure. In First Kings, Chapter four, verses one to six,
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Speaker 1: we see his main officials. So King Solomon reigned over
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Speaker 1: all Israel, and these were his officials as Ariah the
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Speaker 1: son of Zadok, the priest, Tilihuref and a Hyja, the
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Speaker 1: sons of Sheisha scribes, Jehoshafat the son of Ahilud, the recorder, Benaiah,
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Speaker 1: the son of Jehoyada over the army, Zadok and Abiatha
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Speaker 1: were priests, and Zariah the son of Nathan over the officers,
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Speaker 1: Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest and the king's
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Speaker 1: friend Ahshah over the household, and Adoniram the son of Abdah,
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Speaker 1: over the labor force. Unlike his father David, who was
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Speaker 1: primarily a military leader, Solomon was a natural administrator. He
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Speaker 1: organized a government cabinet with specific roles priests for religious affairs,
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Speaker 1: scribes for official records, a recorder for documenting the kingdom's history,
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Speaker 1: a military commander, officers to manage resources, personal counselors, and
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Speaker 1: an overseer of taxation. But the most significant innovation was
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Speaker 1: the division of the kingdom into twelve administrative districts, each
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Speaker 1: under the responsibility of a governor. In First Kings, Chapter four,
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Speaker 1: verse seven, we read and Solomon had twelve governors over
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Speaker 1: all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household.
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Speaker 1: Each one made provision for one month of the year.
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Speaker 1: This twelve district structure did not follow the traditional tribal divisions,
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Speaker 1: but was based on economic and geographic factors. Each district
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Speaker 1: was responsible for supporting the Royal Palace for one month
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Speaker 1: per year, thus distributing the fiscal burden more fairly across
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Speaker 1: the kingdom. In First Kings, Chapter four, verses twenty twenty one,
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Speaker 1: we see the outcome of this efficient administration. Judah and
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Speaker 1: Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea,
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Speaker 1: in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. So Solomon reigned
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Speaker 1: over all the kingdoms, from the river to the land
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Speaker 1: of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.
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Speaker 1: They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of
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Speaker 1: his life. Peace and prosperity reigned in Israel. The people
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Speaker 1: lived securely and abundantly, eating and drinking and rejoicing. Solomon's
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Speaker 1: administrative system ensured that the kingdom's wealth was efficiently distributed,
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Speaker 1: supporting not just the royal court, but benefiting the population
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Speaker 1: at large. Solomon's reign marked the greatest territorial expansion in
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Speaker 1: Israel's history. In First Kings Chapter four, verse twenty one,
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Speaker 1: we read again, so Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms,
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Speaker 1: from the river to the land of the Philistines, as
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Speaker 1: far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and
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Speaker 1: served Solomon all the days of his life. The river
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Speaker 1: mentioned here refers to the Euphrates, one of the major
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Speaker 1: rivers of the Middle East. Thus, Solomon's kingdoms stretched from
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Speaker 1: the Euphrates River in the north down to the border
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Speaker 1: of Egypt in the south, including control over the Philistines
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Speaker 1: to the west. This vast territory had been promised by
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Speaker 1: God to Abraham centuries earlier, as seen in Genesis fifteen eighteen,
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Speaker 1: and now Israel finally occupied the whole land. Neighboring kingdoms
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Speaker 1: not only acknowledged Solomon's sovereignty but also paid him tribute
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Speaker 1: referred to here as gifts. These were not voluntary offerings,
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Speaker 1: but regular taxes that demonstrated the political submission of these
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Speaker 1: kingdoms to Israel. In First Kings, Chapter four, verses twenty
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Speaker 1: four to twenty five, the Bible emphasizes the peace that
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Speaker 1: characterized this vast territory. For he had dominion over all
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Speaker 1: the region on this side of the river, from Tifsar
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Speaker 1: even to Gaza, namely over all the kings on this
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Speaker 1: side of the river. And he had peace on every
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Speaker 1: side all around him, and Judah and Israel dwelt safely,
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Speaker 1: each man under his vine and his fig tree. From
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Speaker 1: Dan as far as Beersheba all the days of Solomon.
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Speaker 1: The expression each man under his vine and under his
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Speaker 1: fig tree is a poetic image of peace and prosperity.
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Speaker 1: It means people could enjoy their property without fear of
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Speaker 1: invasion or war. From Dan in the far north to
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Speaker 1: Beersheba in the far south, all of Israel lived securely.
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Speaker 1: This peace was not accidental, but the result of Solomon's
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Speaker 1: strong military power. As we see in verse Kings, chapter four,
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Speaker 1: verse twenty six, Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses
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Speaker 1: for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. An army with
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Speaker 1: forty thousand horses and twelve thousand horsemen was a formidable
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Speaker 1: force at the time, capable of defending the borders and
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Speaker 1: deterring potential aggressors. Additionally, Solomon established strategic alliances with neighbouring kingdoms.
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Speaker 1: His marriage to Pharaoh's daughter mentioned in firs Kings Chapter three,
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Speaker 1: verse one, was part of this alliance strategy. Egypt was
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Speaker 1: one of the great powers of the time, and this
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Speaker 1: union secured peace along Israel's southern border. Solomon's dominance was
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Speaker 1: expressed not only in territorial control but also in cultural
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Speaker 1: and intellectual influence. His wisdom attracted visitors from all over
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Speaker 1: the region, as we will later see in the story
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Speaker 1: of the Queen of Sheba. The prosperity of Solomon's kingdom
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Speaker 1: was reflected in the royal court's way of life. In
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Speaker 1: Bvernt King's Chapter four, verses twenty two and twenty three,
22:31
Speaker 1: we read about the palace's daily consumption. Solomon's daily provisions
22:36
Speaker 1: were thirty corps of fine flour and sixty corps of meal,
22:41
Speaker 1: ten fattened cattle, twenty pasture fed cattle, and a hundred
22:45
Speaker 1: sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelle's, roebucks and
22:49
Speaker 1: choice fowl. The quantity of food was astonishing. Thirty cores
22:53
Speaker 1: of fine flower and sixty cores of regular meal would
22:57
Speaker 1: amount to about six tons of flour each day. Ten
23:00
Speaker 1: fattened cattle, grain fed for better quality, twenty pasture raised cattle,
23:05
Speaker 1: and a hundred sheep plus game and birds show that
23:09
Speaker 1: meat was plentiful, something quite rare in the common diet
23:13
Speaker 1: of that time. This abundance wasn't just for the king
23:16
Speaker 1: and his immediate family. Solomon's court included a large number
23:21
Speaker 1: of officials servants, guards, and guests. In Firs King's chapter four,
23:27
Speaker 1: verse twenty seven, it says the district governors, each in
23:31
Speaker 1: his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who
23:34
Speaker 1: came to the King's table. They left nothing lacking. The
23:38
Speaker 1: system of twelve districts, each responsible for the court's supplied
23:41
Speaker 1: during a particular month, ensured that the royal table was
23:45
Speaker 1: always fully stocked. This abundance symbolized the kingdom's power and prosperity.
23:52
Speaker 1: Solomon's fame spread beyond Israel's borders. In Burke King's chapter four,
23:58
Speaker 1: verses twenty nine thirty one, the Bible says God gave
24:02
Speaker 1: Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding,
24:07
Speaker 1: as measureless as the sand on the sea shore. Solomon's
24:11
Speaker 1: wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people
24:15
Speaker 1: of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.
24:18
Speaker 1: He was wiser than any one else, including Ethan, the Ezrahit,
24:23
Speaker 1: wiser than Heman, Chalcol and Dada, the sons of Mahol,
24:29
Speaker 1: and his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. His
24:32
Speaker 1: wisdom surpassed that of the wise men of the East.
24:36
Speaker 1: Likely referring to the Chaldeans and Arabs and Egypt, both
24:40
Speaker 1: major centers of learning in the ancient world. Solomon became
24:45
Speaker 1: a recognized intellectual authority across the known world. In wus
24:49
Speaker 1: Kings Chapter four, verses thirty two thirty three, we also
24:53
Speaker 1: learn about his literary output and knowledge. He spoke three
24:58
Speaker 1: thousand proverbs, and his song numbered one thousand and five.
25:02
Speaker 1: He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon
25:05
Speaker 1: to the hissop that grows out of walls. He also
25:08
Speaker 1: spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Solomon was
25:13
Speaker 1: not just a ruler, but a complete scholar. He composed
25:17
Speaker 1: thousands of proverbs and songs, many of which are preserved
25:22
Speaker 1: in the Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
25:27
Speaker 1: His expertise covered botany from the mighty cedar to the
25:30
Speaker 1: modest h hissop, and zoology animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
25:38
Speaker 1: This combination of political power, material wealth, and intellectual brilliance
25:43
Speaker 1: made Solomon a unique figure, As first Kings Chapter four,
25:47
Speaker 1: verse thirty four tells us, from all nations people came
25:50
Speaker 1: to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings
25:54
Speaker 1: of the world who had heard of his wisdom. Kings
25:58
Speaker 1: and queens from distant lands traveled to Jerusalem to witness
26:02
Speaker 1: Solomon's wisdom first hand and behold the glory of his kingdom.
26:06
Speaker 1: Israel's Golden Age had begun, a time of peace, prosperity,
26:11
Speaker 1: and international recognition that would forever mark the history of
26:14
Speaker 1: God's chosen people. With his kingdom at peace, Solomon decided
26:20
Speaker 1: to build the temple his father David had long dreamed of.
26:25
Speaker 1: For this project, he needed special materials and skilled workers.
26:31
Speaker 1: In First to Kings chapter five, verse one, we read
26:34
Speaker 1: when Hiram, king of Tire, heard that Solomon had been
26:37
Speaker 1: anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his
26:41
Speaker 1: envoys to Solomon because he had always been on friendly
26:45
Speaker 1: terms with David. This friendship between the two kingdoms opened
26:49
Speaker 1: important doors for Solomon. In First Kings Chapter five, verses
26:53
Speaker 1: two six, Solomon sends a message. You know that because
26:58
Speaker 1: of the wars when aged against my father David from
27:02
Speaker 1: all sides, he could not build a temple for the
27:05
Speaker 1: name of the Lord his God until the Lord put
27:09
Speaker 1: his enemies under his feet. But now the Lord my
27:12
Speaker 1: God has given me rest on every side, and there
27:16
Speaker 1: is no adversary or disaster. I intend therefore to build
27:20
Speaker 1: a temple for the name of the Lord, my God,
27:22
Speaker 1: as the Lord told my father David, saying, your son,
27:26
Speaker 1: whom I will put on the throne in your place,
27:28
Speaker 1: will build the temple for my name. So give orders
27:32
Speaker 1: that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men
27:35
Speaker 1: will work with yours, and I will pay you for
27:38
Speaker 1: your men whatever wages you set. You know that we
27:41
Speaker 1: have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.
27:45
Speaker 1: Solomon wasn't merely requesting wood. He proposed a partnership where
27:49
Speaker 1: Israelites would work alongside the men of Tire with fair
27:53
Speaker 1: payment for their labor. The Sidonians neighbors of Tire were
27:59
Speaker 1: renowned for them their exceptional skill in working with timber.
28:04
Speaker 1: Hiram was pleased with the in proposal. In First Kings,
28:08
Speaker 1: chapter five, verses seven to nine, he replies, I have
28:11
Speaker 1: received the message you sent me and will do all
28:14
Speaker 1: you want. In providing the cedar and juniper logs. My
28:18
Speaker 1: men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea,
28:22
Speaker 1: and I will float them as rafts by sea to
28:25
Speaker 1: the place you specify there, I will separate them and
28:29
Speaker 1: you can take them away. The plan was clever. Trees
28:33
Speaker 1: would be felled in the mountains of Lebanon, transported to
28:36
Speaker 1: the sea, made into rafts, and floated along the coast
28:40
Speaker 1: to Israel. From there they would be moved overland to Jerusalem.
28:46
Speaker 1: The terms of the agreement were generous. In Verse Kings,
28:49
Speaker 1: Chapter five, verses ten to eleven, we read in this way,
28:54
Speaker 1: Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar and juniper logs
28:57
Speaker 1: he wanted, and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand and cares
29:00
Speaker 1: of wheat as food for his household, in addition to
29:03
Speaker 1: twenty corps of prest olive oil. Solomon continued to do
29:08
Speaker 1: this for Hiram year after year. Solomon paid with food supplies,
29:12
Speaker 1: as Tire had limited agricultural land. This exchange greatly benefited
29:17
Speaker 1: both kingdoms. As it says in First Kings, Chapter five,
29:21
Speaker 1: verse twelve, the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he
29:25
Speaker 1: had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon,
29:29
Speaker 1: and the two of them made a treaty to construct
29:33
Speaker 1: the temple. Solomon also needed a large work force in
29:37
Speaker 1: verse Kings, Chapter five, verses thirteen fourteen, we see his strategy.
29:42
Speaker 1: King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel, thirty thousand men.
29:48
Speaker 1: He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten
29:50
Speaker 1: thousand a month, so that they spent one month in
29:53
Speaker 1: Lebanon and two months at home. Ad Aniram was in
29:57
Speaker 1: charge of the forced labor. Solomon created a rotating work system,
30:02
Speaker 1: thirty thousand men, divided into groups of ten thousand, each
30:06
Speaker 1: group working one month and then spending two months back home.
30:10
Speaker 1: This way workers could still tend to their families and land.
30:14
Speaker 1: In addition to this group, Solomon needed even more workers.
30:18
Speaker 1: In First Kings five fifteen to sixteen, we read Solomon
30:22
Speaker 1: had seventy thousand who carried burdens and eighty thousand who
30:26
Speaker 1: quarried stone in the mountains. Besides the chief officers of
30:30
Speaker 1: Solomon who were over the work, three thousand, three hundred
30:34
Speaker 1: who supervised the people doing the work. The numbers are impressive.
30:38
Speaker 1: Thirty thousand men for timber work, seventy thousand laborers, eighty
30:43
Speaker 1: thousand stonecutters, and three thousand, three hundred supervisors, a total
30:48
Speaker 1: of one hundred hundred fey three thousand, three hundred workers.
30:52
Speaker 1: Solomon paid special attention to the preparation of the stones.
30:56
Speaker 1: In verse Kings five seventeen, it says, and the king
31:00
Speaker 1: demanded them to quarry large, costly stones, hewn stones to
31:04
Speaker 1: lay the foundation of the temple. And in verse eighteen,
31:08
Speaker 1: so Solomon's builders, Hiram's builders, and the men of Gebel
31:12
Speaker 1: quarried them, and they prepared timber and stones to build
31:16
Speaker 1: the temple. The Ghiblites from Gebal or Biblos, another Phoenician city,
31:21
Speaker 1: were known for their construction skills. All this careful preparation
31:25
Speaker 1: of materials and work force shows just how much Solomon
31:29
Speaker 1: valued this project. In First King six one we see
31:34
Speaker 1: when the construction began, and it came to pass in
31:38
Speaker 1: the four hundred and eightieth year, after the children of
31:41
Speaker 1: Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in
31:44
Speaker 1: the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the
31:47
Speaker 1: month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he
31:50
Speaker 1: began to build the House of the Lord. The text
31:54
Speaker 1: marks this construction as a historic milestone, connecting it to
31:58
Speaker 1: the Exodus, the foundational event of the nation. The temple's
32:03
Speaker 1: dimensions were very precise in first King six two to three,
32:08
Speaker 1: we read the temple that King Solomon built for the
32:11
Speaker 1: Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty
32:15
Speaker 1: cubits high. The vestibule in front of the temple was
32:19
Speaker 1: twenty cubits long across the width of the temple and
32:23
Speaker 1: ten cubits deep. From front to back, a cubit was
32:26
Speaker 1: about half a meter, so the temple measured approximately thirty
32:30
Speaker 1: meters ninety eight feet in length, ten meters thirty three
32:35
Speaker 1: feet in width, and fifteen meters forty nine feet in height.
32:39
Speaker 1: An important detail appears in first King six seven and
32:43
Speaker 1: the temple when it was being built, was built with
32:46
Speaker 1: stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or
32:50
Speaker 1: chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple
32:53
Speaker 1: while it was being built. The stones were cut and
32:57
Speaker 1: shaped precisely at the quarry according to exact measurements. When
33:01
Speaker 1: they arrived at the site they fit together perfectly. This
33:05
Speaker 1: reflected reverence for the sacred space, avoiding the noise of tools.
33:11
Speaker 1: The temple had three main sections. In Verking six sixteen
33:15
Speaker 1: to seventeen, it says he built twenty cubits at the
33:18
Speaker 1: rear of the temple with boards of cedar from the
33:21
Speaker 1: floor to the ceiling. He built them inside as the
33:24
Speaker 1: inner sanctuary as the most holy place, and the temple
33:28
Speaker 1: sanctuary in front of it was forty cubits long. There
33:31
Speaker 1: was the porch at the entrance, the holy place forty
33:35
Speaker 1: cubits long, and the most holy place twenty cubits long,
33:39
Speaker 1: where the ark of the Covenant would reside. The interior
33:43
Speaker 1: was richly adorned with precious materials. In first Kings six
33:47
Speaker 1: twenty one twenty two, we read, so Solomon overlaid the
33:52
Speaker 1: inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold
33:55
Speaker 1: chains across the front of the inner sanctuary and overlaid
33:59
Speaker 1: it with gold. The whole temple he overlaid with gold
34:03
Speaker 1: until he had finished all the temple. Also he overlaid
34:07
Speaker 1: with gold the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.
34:11
Speaker 1: The temple was full of symbolic elements. In verse Kings
34:15
Speaker 1: six twenty nine, it says, then he carved all the
34:18
Speaker 1: walls of the temple, all around both the inner and
34:21
Speaker 1: outer sanctuaries with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees and
34:26
Speaker 1: open flowers. Cherubim symbolized the presence of God. Palms represented victory,
34:32
Speaker 1: and flowers symbolized life and beauty. In the most holy place,
34:38
Speaker 1: Solomon placed two massive cherubim. In Verse Kings six twenty
34:42
Speaker 1: three twenty eight, we learned that each cherub was ten
34:45
Speaker 1: cubits tall about five meters or sixteen feet. They stood
34:50
Speaker 1: side by side, with their inner wings touching each other
34:53
Speaker 1: and their outer wings reaching the walls. The construction took
34:56
Speaker 1: seven years. In Verse Kings six thirty eight we read,
35:01
Speaker 1: and in the eleventh year, in the month of bull,
35:04
Speaker 1: which is the eighth month, the temple was finished in
35:07
Speaker 1: all its details and according to all its plans, so
35:11
Speaker 1: he was seven years in building it. After completing the temple,
35:16
Speaker 1: Solomon built his palace. In First King seven to one,
35:20
Speaker 1: it says, but Solomon took thirteen years to build his
35:23
Speaker 1: own house, so he finished all his house. While the
35:27
Speaker 1: temple took seven years, the palace complex took nearly twice
35:31
Speaker 1: as long. This doesn't mean Solomon valued his house more
35:35
Speaker 1: than God's house. Rather, his palace was a large complex
35:40
Speaker 1: of multiple buildings. The first building was the House of
35:44
Speaker 1: the Forest of Lebanon. In First Kings seven two five,
35:48
Speaker 1: it is described he built the house of the forest
35:51
Speaker 1: of Lebanon, one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and
35:55
Speaker 1: thirty cubits high, with four rows of cedar pillars and
35:59
Speaker 1: cedar beams on the pillars. This structure measured about fifty
36:03
Speaker 1: meters by twenty five meters by fifteen meters. The pillars,
36:07
Speaker 1: reminiscent of a forest, likely served as a governmental center
36:11
Speaker 1: and arsenal. Next, Solomon built the Hall of Pillars. In
36:16
Speaker 1: First Kings seven to six, we read he made a
36:19
Speaker 1: hall of pillars fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide,
36:23
Speaker 1: and the hall was in front of them, and also
36:26
Speaker 1: pillars and a roof in front of them. Following that,
36:30
Speaker 1: he built the Hall of Judgment. In First Kings seven seven.
36:34
Speaker 1: It says then he made a hall for the throne,
36:37
Speaker 1: the Hall of judgment, where he might judge, and it
36:40
Speaker 1: was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. Beside it
36:44
Speaker 1: was Solomon's private residence. In verse King seven eight, we read,
36:49
Speaker 1: and his house where he dwelt, had another court inside
36:52
Speaker 1: the hall. Of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house
36:57
Speaker 1: like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken wife.
37:01
Speaker 1: Solomon also built a separate palace for his Egyptian wife,
37:06
Speaker 1: the Pharaoh's daughter. All these buildings were made with high
37:09
Speaker 1: quality materials. In Pose Kings seven p. Nine to twelve,
37:13
Speaker 1: it is described all these were of costly stones, cut
37:17
Speaker 1: to size, trimmed with saws inside and out from the
37:21
Speaker 1: foundation to the eves, and also on the outside to
37:24
Speaker 1: the great court. In addition to constructing the buildings, Solomon
37:29
Speaker 1: also ordered many sacred objects to be made for the temple.
37:32
Speaker 1: In First Kings seven thirteen fourteen, we read about the
37:36
Speaker 1: craftsmen who created them. King Solomon sent for Hiram from Tire.
37:41
Speaker 1: He was the son of a widow from the tribe
37:43
Speaker 1: of Naftali, and his father was a craftsman from Tire
37:47
Speaker 1: who worked with bronze. Hiram was filled with wisdom, understanding,
37:51
Speaker 1: and knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He
37:55
Speaker 1: came to King Solomon and did all the work he
37:57
Speaker 1: was assigned. This Hiram, different from the king of the
38:01
Speaker 1: same name, was a master bronze worker. His mother was
38:06
Speaker 1: an Israelite and his father was from Tire, giving him
38:10
Speaker 1: access to the finest techniques. Hiram crafted two massive bronze
38:15
Speaker 1: pillars for the entrance of the temple. In Verse Kings
38:18
Speaker 1: seven fifteen to twenty two, we read that each pillar
38:21
Speaker 1: was eighteen cubits high about nine meters or nearly thirty feet,
38:25
Speaker 1: topped with ornate capitals decorated with pomegranates and lilies. The
38:30
Speaker 1: pillars were named Jakin he establishes and boaz in him
38:35
Speaker 1: is strength in the courtyard. Hiram made an extraordinary piece.
38:40
Speaker 1: In Verse Kings seven twenty three twenty six, it says
38:44
Speaker 1: he made the sea of cast metal, circular in shape,
38:48
Speaker 1: ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high.
38:51
Speaker 1: It took a line thirty cubits long to encircle it.
38:55
Speaker 1: This sea was a huge basin for the priest's ceremonial washings.
39:00
Speaker 1: It could hold about forty four thousand liters around eleven
39:04
Speaker 1: thou six hundred gallons of water, and stood on twelve
39:08
Speaker 1: bronze oxen, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel. Besides the sea,
39:14
Speaker 1: Hiram also crafted ten portable basins. Worcester Kings seven twenty
39:19
Speaker 1: seven to thirty seven gives a detailed description of them,
39:22
Speaker 1: including their ornate stands adorned with lions, oxen and cherubim.
39:27
Speaker 1: Hiram also made many smaller utensils. In First King seven
39:32
Speaker 1: forty we read Hiram also made the basins, shovels, and
39:36
Speaker 1: sprinkling bowls. All of this bronze work was produced in
39:40
Speaker 1: such large quantities that Solomon stopped weighing it. Burst King
39:44
Speaker 1: seven forty seven says Solomon left all the articles unweighed
39:49
Speaker 1: because there were so many. The weight of the bronze
39:52
Speaker 1: was not determined. For the temple's interior, Solomon had objects
39:57
Speaker 1: made of gold in First King seven for four eight
40:00
Speaker 1: to fifty, it says. So Solomon made all the furnishings
40:04
Speaker 1: for the House of the Lord, the golden altar, the
40:08
Speaker 1: golden table, on which was the Bread of the Presence,
40:11
Speaker 1: the lamp stands of pure gold, five on the right
40:15
Speaker 1: and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary,
40:19
Speaker 1: the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, the cups, snuffers, bowls,
40:25
Speaker 1: dishes for incense, and senses of pure gold. The golden
40:29
Speaker 1: altar was used for burning incense. The table held the
40:33
Speaker 1: twelve loaves of the Bread of the Presence, symbolizing the
40:36
Speaker 1: twelve tribes of Israel. Unlike the tabernacle, which had a
40:41
Speaker 1: single lampstand, Solomon placed ten lampstands in the temple. Once
40:45
Speaker 1: everything was completed, Solomon brought in the offerings that his
40:49
Speaker 1: father David had dedicated. In verse Kings seven fifty one,
40:53
Speaker 1: it says, thus all the work that King Solomon did
40:56
Speaker 1: for the House of the Lord was finished. Soon brought
41:00
Speaker 1: in the things that his father David had dedicated, the silver,
41:04
Speaker 1: the gold, and the furnishings, and he placed them in
41:06
Speaker 1: the treasuries of the House of the Lord. With the
41:09
Speaker 1: temple ready, it was time to bring in the Ark
41:12
Speaker 1: of the Covenant. In First Kings eight one two we
41:16
Speaker 1: read then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem
41:21
Speaker 1: the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes,
41:24
Speaker 1: and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up
41:27
Speaker 1: the Ark of the Lord's Covenant from Zion, the city
41:31
Speaker 1: of David. All the Israelites came together to King Solomon
41:35
Speaker 1: at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim,
41:38
Speaker 1: the seventh month. The occasion chosen was the feast of Tabernacles,
41:44
Speaker 1: When many pilgrims were already gathered in Jerusalem. The priests
41:48
Speaker 1: carried the ark, as described in First Kings eight three four.
41:52
Speaker 1: When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests
41:55
Speaker 1: took up the ark, and they brought up the Ark
41:57
Speaker 1: of the Lord and the tent of Meeting and all
42:00
Speaker 1: the sacred furnishings in it. In First Kings eight point
42:04
Speaker 1: six nine we see the ark placed in its resting place.
42:09
Speaker 1: The priests then brought the Ark of the Lord's Covenant
42:11
Speaker 1: to its place in the inner sanctuary of the Temple,
42:14
Speaker 1: the most holy place, and put it beneath the wings
42:17
Speaker 1: of the Cherubim. The Cherubims spread their wings over the
42:21
Speaker 1: place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles.
42:25
Speaker 1: At that moment, something extraordinary happened. In First Kings eight
42:29
Speaker 1: ten to eleven, it says when the priests withdrew from
42:33
Speaker 1: the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord,
42:37
Speaker 1: and the priests could not perform their service because of
42:40
Speaker 1: the cloud. For the glory of the Lord filled his temple.
42:45
Speaker 1: This cloud was the visible manifestation of God's presence, showing
42:49
Speaker 1: that he had accepted the temple as his dwelling place
42:52
Speaker 1: among his people. When God's glory filled the temple, Solomon
42:56
Speaker 1: addressed the people in First Kings eight forty twenty one.
43:01
Speaker 1: He acknowledges that building the temple was part of God's plan,
43:05
Speaker 1: not his own idea. Praise be to the Lord, the
43:07
Speaker 1: God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled
43:10
Speaker 1: what he promised with his own mouth to my father David.
43:14
Speaker 1: After this address, Solomon offered an impressive prayer. In First
43:19
Speaker 1: Kings eight twenty two twenty three, we read, then Solomon
43:23
Speaker 1: stood before the altar of the Lord, in front of
43:26
Speaker 1: the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward Heaven,
43:30
Speaker 1: and said, Lord, the God of Israel, there is no
43:35
Speaker 1: God like you in heaven above or on earth below.
43:40
Speaker 1: You who keep your covenant of love with your servants,
43:43
Speaker 1: who continue wholeheartedly in your way. In First Kings eight
43:47
Speaker 1: twenty seven, Solomon reveals his understanding of God's greatness, But
43:52
Speaker 1: will God really dwell on earth? The heavens even the
43:56
Speaker 1: highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temper
44:00
Speaker 1: I have built. Solomon then asks God to listen to
44:03
Speaker 1: the prayers offered at the temple. In First Kings eight
44:07
Speaker 1: twenty eight twenty nine, he says, yet, give attention to
44:10
Speaker 1: your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy. Lord, my God,
44:14
Speaker 1: hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is
44:17
Speaker 1: praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be
44:20
Speaker 1: opened toward this temple, night and day. This place of
44:23
Speaker 1: which you said my name shall be there, so that
44:27
Speaker 1: you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.
44:31
Speaker 1: Following this, Solomon lists various scenarios whether people would need
44:37
Speaker 1: God's help, conflicts, droughts, famines, wars, captivity. In every case
44:42
Speaker 1: he asks God to hear from heaven when the people
44:45
Speaker 1: pray facing the temple. The dedication concluded with an enormous
44:49
Speaker 1: number of sacrifices. In verse Kings eight sixty two to
44:53
Speaker 1: sixty three, it says, then the king and all Israel
44:56
Speaker 1: with him offered sacrifices before the Lord Solomon and offered
45:00
Speaker 1: a fellowship offering to the Lord twenty two thousand cattle
45:03
Speaker 1: and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. The
45:07
Speaker 1: celebration lasted fourteen days, seven for the dedication and another
45:12
Speaker 1: seven for the feast of tabernacles. Then, in First Kings,
45:16
Speaker 1: Chapter eight, verse sixty six, we see that the people
45:19
Speaker 1: returned home, joyful and glad of heart for all the
45:23
Speaker 1: good things the Lord had done for his servant David
45:27
Speaker 1: and for his people Israel. After the dedication, God appeared
45:31
Speaker 1: to Solomon. In First Kings chapter nine, verses three to five.
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Speaker 1: God says, I have heard the prayer and the plea
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Speaker 1: you have made before me. I have consecrated this temple
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Speaker 1: which you have built by putting my name there forever.
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Speaker 1: But God also gives a warning in First Kings chapter nine,
45:52
Speaker 1: verses six to nine. He warns that if the people
45:55
Speaker 1: turn away, Israel will be punished and the temple will
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Speaker 1: be destroyed. The fame of Solomon's wisdom spread throughout the world.
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Speaker 1: In First Kings chapter ten, verse one, we read when
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Speaker 1: the Queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon
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Speaker 1: and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test
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Speaker 1: Solomon with hard questions. Sheba was likely in present day Yemen,
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Speaker 1: in Arabia or possibly Ethiopia. The queen's journey was long
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Speaker 1: and dangerous, showing just how deeply interested she was in Solomon.
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Speaker 1: In First Kings chapter ten, verse two, we read arriving
46:35
Speaker 1: at Jerusalem with a very great caravan with camels carrying spices,
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Speaker 1: large quantities of gold and precious stones. She came to
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Speaker 1: Solomon and talked with him about all that she had
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Speaker 1: on her mind. The queen challenged Solomon with difficult questions,
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Speaker 1: and he did not disappoint. In First Kings, Chapter ten,
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Speaker 1: verses three to five, it says Solomon answered all her questions.
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Speaker 1: Nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.
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Speaker 1: When the Queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of
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Speaker 1: Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on
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Speaker 1: his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants
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Speaker 1: in their robes, his cup bearers, and the burnt offerings
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Speaker 1: he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.
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Speaker 1: The queen was left speechless at everything she saw. In
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Speaker 1: Verse Kings, chapter ten, verses six and seven, she says,
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Speaker 1: the report I heard in my own country about your
47:31
Speaker 1: achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not
47:35
Speaker 1: believe these things until I came and soar with my
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Speaker 1: own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me. In
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Speaker 1: wisdom and wealth, you have far exceeded the report I heard.
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Speaker 1: She recognized the true source of Solomon's prosperity. In Verse Kings,
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Speaker 1: chapter ten, verse nine, she declares, Praise be to the
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Speaker 1: Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed
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Speaker 1: you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord's
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Speaker 1: eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to
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Speaker 1: maintain justice and righteousness. The queen gave Solomon lavish gifts.
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Speaker 1: In Verse Kings chapter ten, verse ten, it says, and
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Speaker 1: she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold,
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Speaker 1: large quantities of spices and precious stones. Never again were
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Speaker 1: so many spices brought in as those the Queen of
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Speaker 1: Sheba gave to King Solomon. Solomon was generous in return.
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Speaker 1: In First Kings Chapter ten, verse thirteen, it's written King
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Speaker 1: Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba all she desired and
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Speaker 1: asked for, besides what he had given her out of
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Speaker 1: his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her
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Speaker 1: retinue to her own country. The Queen of Sheba's visit
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Speaker 1: highlights how Solomon's fame and wisdom attracted even the most
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Speaker 1: distant kingdoms. In the final verses of First Kings Chapter ten,
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Speaker 1: we find details about Solomon's incredible wealth. In verse fourteen,
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Speaker 1: we read the weight of the gold that Solomon received
49:08
Speaker 1: yearly with six hundred s DC six talents. This astronomical
49:12
Speaker 1: amount came from various sources, trade tributes, and maritime expeditions.
49:19
Speaker 1: In Verse Kings, Chapter ten, verses twenty two and twenty three,
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Speaker 1: it says the king had a fleet of trading ships
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Speaker 1: at sea, along with the ships of Hiram. Once every
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Speaker 1: three years it returned bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.
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Speaker 1: King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all
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Speaker 1: the other kings of the earth. Solomon used this wealth
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Speaker 1: to create luxurious items. In First Kings Chapter ten, verses
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Speaker 1: sixteen and seventeen, we read King Solomon made two hundred
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Speaker 1: large shields of hammered gold. Six hundred shekels of gold
49:56
Speaker 1: went into each shield. He also made three hundreds small
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Speaker 1: shields of hammered gold, with three mianas of gold in
50:04
Speaker 1: each shield. The king put them in the palace of
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Speaker 1: the Forest of Lebanon. Solomon's throne was a masterpiece. In
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Speaker 1: Verse Kings Chapter ten, verses eighteen to twenty, it describes,
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Speaker 1: then the king made a great throne covered with ivory
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Speaker 1: and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps
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Speaker 1: and its back had a rounded top. On both sides
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Speaker 1: of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside
50:31
Speaker 1: each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps,
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Speaker 1: one at either end of each step. Nothing like it
50:37
Speaker 1: had ever been made for any other kingdom. Solomon's wealth
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Speaker 1: was reflected even in the simplest objects. In First Kings,
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Speaker 1: Chapter ten, verse twenty one, we read all King Solomon's
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Speaker 1: goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the
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Speaker 1: palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing
50:58
Speaker 1: was made of silver, because silver was considered of little
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Speaker 1: value in Solomon's days. Solomon's horses and chariots were equally impressive.
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Speaker 1: In First Kings Chapter ten, verses twenty six to twenty nine,
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Speaker 1: it says Solomon accumulated chariots and horses. He had one
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Speaker 1: four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept
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Speaker 1: in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
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Speaker 1: Silver and cedar, once precious materials, were so common during
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Speaker 1: Solomon's reign that they were considered as plentiful as stones.
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Speaker 1: According to verse twenty seven, his horses were imported from
51:36
Speaker 1: Egypt and other regions, establishing a thriving trade network that
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Speaker 1: further enriched the kingdom. This period marked the peak of
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Speaker 1: Israel's material prosperity. Never before or after would the kingdom
51:50
Speaker 1: enjoy such wealth, power and international prestige. Solomon transformed Israel
51:55
Speaker 1: from a small regional state into a respected global power
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Speaker 1: of the ancient world. Under the glitter of gold and
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Speaker 1: the shadow of the Cedars of Lebanon. Within Jerusalem's magnificent palaces,
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Speaker 1: Solomon lived with a heart increasingly divided. The king, who
52:13
Speaker 1: once asked for wisdom, now collected women as others would
52:17
Speaker 1: collect jewels or horses, and not just a few. He
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Speaker 1: had hundreds, filling the palace with exotic perfumes, foreign languages,
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Speaker 1: and more dangerously, foreign gods. In First Kings Chapter eleven,
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Speaker 1: write in the opening verses, we discover the root of
52:35
Speaker 1: the problem. King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides
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Speaker 1: Pharaoh's daughter, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. They were
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Speaker 1: from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites,
52:50
Speaker 1: you must not inter marry with them, because they will
52:53
Speaker 1: surely turn your hearts after their gods. Nevertheless, Solomon held
52:57
Speaker 1: fast to them in love. God had clearly forbidden such
53:01
Speaker 1: mixed marriages, not out of concern for racial purity, but
53:05
Speaker 1: because he knew these women would bring their idols and
53:09
Speaker 1: pagan customs into the heart of Israel. Yet Solomon ignored
53:13
Speaker 1: the warning. The number of Solomon's wives is staggering. First Kings,
53:18
Speaker 1: chapter eleven, verse three reveals he had seven hundred wives
53:22
Speaker 1: princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away
53:27
Speaker 1: his heart a thousand women in total, each one a
53:32
Speaker 1: princess or noble woman from foreign lands. Why so many
53:36
Speaker 1: The answer lies in the politics of the time. Every
53:39
Speaker 1: marriage sealed an alliance with another kingdom. The daughter of
53:43
Speaker 1: Pharaoh mentioned specifically represented the powerful Egypt. Others came from
53:48
Speaker 1: moab ammon Edom, Sidon, and the land of the Hittites.
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Speaker 1: Each marriage was like signing a peace and trade treaty.
53:57
Speaker 1: At first, Solomon might have been he could maintain his
54:01
Speaker 1: faith in God while accumulating these wives. After all, he
54:05
Speaker 1: had built the temple, he had witnessed the glory of
54:08
Speaker 1: God filling it with his presence. But the human heart
54:12
Speaker 1: is complicated, and little by little Solomon's loyalties began to shift.
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Speaker 1: These were not just hollow political unions. The biblical text
54:23
Speaker 1: makes it clear that Solomon loved these women, and when
54:27
Speaker 1: you love someone, you want to please them. Gradually, to
54:31
Speaker 1: please his wives, Solomon began to make compromises. It was
54:35
Speaker 1: hard to say no to a princess crying missing the
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Speaker 1: God of her childhood. It was difficult to refuse a
54:42
Speaker 1: queen's request for just a small altar in the garden
54:46
Speaker 1: for her prayers, And so, step by step, compromised by compromise,
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Speaker 1: the great and wise Solomon began to drift away from
54:54
Speaker 1: the God who had given him everything. When the Bible
54:58
Speaker 1: says that his wives turn and away his heart, it
55:01
Speaker 1: shows that the change wasn't just external in religious practices,
55:06
Speaker 1: but internal at the very core of Solomon's being. The
55:10
Speaker 1: wisdom that had made him famous across the world could
55:14
Speaker 1: not shield him from his own desire to please those
55:17
Speaker 1: he loved, even if it meant betraying the God who
55:21
Speaker 1: had raised him to the throne. Later, in the Book
55:25
Speaker 1: of Ecclesiastes, which many believe Solomon wrote in his old age,
55:31
Speaker 1: we find the bitter reflection of a man who learned
55:34
Speaker 1: his lesson too late. I find something more bitter than
55:38
Speaker 1: death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and
55:42
Speaker 1: whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her,
55:47
Speaker 1: but the sinner is taken by her. Solomon's wives were
55:51
Speaker 1: not evil by nature. They were products of their cultures,
55:55
Speaker 1: faithful to the traditions in which they had been raised.
55:58
Speaker 1: The fault lay with Solomon, who knew better, who had
56:01
Speaker 1: God's laws clearly before him, but chose to disregard them
56:06
Speaker 1: in favor of diplomacy and love. The problem didn't stop
56:10
Speaker 1: with marital alliances. Soon what had begun as small concessions
56:15
Speaker 1: escalated into outright apostasy. In First King's eleventh four we
56:20
Speaker 1: see the sad progression, for it came to pass when
56:23
Speaker 1: Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart
56:27
Speaker 1: after other gods, and his heart was not loyal to
56:30
Speaker 1: the Lord his God, as was the heart of David,
56:33
Speaker 1: his father. The comparison to David is telling. David committed
56:37
Speaker 1: grave sins, adultery, murder, but he never abandoned the Lord
56:42
Speaker 1: for other gods. His heart, despite all its failures, remained
56:47
Speaker 1: perfect or whole in its loyalty to God. Solomon, who
56:51
Speaker 1: in many ways lived more virtuously, ended up committing the
56:54
Speaker 1: sin his father never did dividing his religious loyalty. This
56:59
Speaker 1: did not happen overnight. It was a gradual process, first
57:03
Speaker 1: tolerating his wife's religious practices, then passive participation, finally active
57:09
Speaker 1: involvement in the worship of foreign gods. Verse five of
57:13
Speaker 1: chapter eleven describes it clearly. For Solomon went after Ashterith,
57:18
Speaker 1: the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcombe, the abomination
57:22
Speaker 1: of the Ammonites. Ashterreth was the goddess of fertility and
57:27
Speaker 1: sensual love, worshiped by the Sidonians Phoenicians. Her cult often
57:32
Speaker 1: involved ritual prostitution and other immoral acts. Milcom, also called Molek,
57:38
Speaker 1: was the national god of the Ammonites, often associated with
57:42
Speaker 1: human sacrifice, especially the sacrifice of children. These were not
57:47
Speaker 1: harmless deities. They represented practices that the God of Israel
57:51
Speaker 1: considered abominable. The list continues in verse seven of the
57:55
Speaker 1: same chapter. Then Solomon built a high place for Kemosh,
58:00
Speaker 1: the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east
58:04
Speaker 1: of Jerusalem, and for Molik, the abomination of the children
58:08
Speaker 1: of Ammon. Kemush was the national god of Moab, also
58:12
Speaker 1: tied to human sacrifices. And Solomon didn't merely allow these
58:16
Speaker 1: cults to exist, he actively built shrines for them. The
58:21
Speaker 1: location of these shrines is especially shocking. They were built
58:25
Speaker 1: on the hill east of Jerusalem, likely the Mount of Olives,
58:29
Speaker 1: directly facing the temple. This meant that some one looking
58:33
Speaker 1: out from the eastern window of the Holy of Holies,
58:35
Speaker 1: where the ark of the Covenant rested beneath the wings
58:38
Speaker 1: of the Cherubim, would see the altars of pagan gods
58:41
Speaker 1: erected by the king himself. Solomon's apostasy was not hidden,
58:47
Speaker 1: but public, almost as if challenging the sanctity of the
58:51
Speaker 1: temple he had built. It was as if he were saying, yes,
58:54
Speaker 1: I built a house for the Lord, but I can
58:57
Speaker 1: also build houses for other gods. Verse eight shows just
59:02
Speaker 1: how far his apostasy went, and he did likewise for
59:06
Speaker 1: all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrifice to
59:10
Speaker 1: their gods. It wasn't merely a matter of tolerating foreign cults.
59:14
Speaker 1: Solomon actively facilitated idolatry, building worship sits for every religion
59:20
Speaker 1: represented among his wives. God's reaction was swift. In verse nine,
59:26
Speaker 1: we read so the Lord became angry with Solomon because
59:30
Speaker 1: his heart had turned from the Lord, God of Israel,
59:33
Speaker 1: who had appeared to him twice. God had revealed himself
59:37
Speaker 1: personally to Solomon, a rare and extraordinary honor, and yet
59:42
Speaker 1: the king turned his back on the one who had
59:44
Speaker 1: so richly blessed him. The issue wasn't just that Solomon
59:49
Speaker 1: was breaking a commandment. He was breaking the first and
59:52
Speaker 1: most fundamental commandment, you shall have no other gods before me.
59:58
Speaker 1: The very foundation of the c between God and Israel
1:00:02
Speaker 1: was being undermined by the man who was supposed to
1:00:05
Speaker 1: be its chief guardian. The word used in verse ten
1:00:09
Speaker 1: is revealing, and concerning this thing, he commanded him not
1:00:13
Speaker 1: to follow other gods, but he did not keep what
1:00:16
Speaker 1: the Lord had commanded. The Hebrew term for keep is
1:00:20
Speaker 1: the same one used to describe Adam keeping the Garden
1:00:24
Speaker 1: of Eden. Just as Adam failed in his mission to
1:00:27
Speaker 1: protect the garden against the serpent, Solomon failed in his
1:00:30
Speaker 1: mission to protect Israel against idolatry. And just as Adam
1:00:34
Speaker 1: lost the garden, Solomon would lose the kingdom. The peace
1:00:38
Speaker 1: that had characterized most of Solomon's reign began to unravel
1:00:43
Speaker 1: In Kings chapter eleven, Verse fourteen. The Bible tells us,
1:00:47
Speaker 1: then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad
1:00:50
Speaker 1: the Edomite. He was of the royal line of Edom.
1:00:54
Speaker 1: Hadad was not a new enemy created specifically to punish Solomon.
1:00:58
Speaker 1: He was a man who harbored a lie long standing
1:01:00
Speaker 1: resentment against the House of David. When David conquered Edom
1:01:05
Speaker 1: decades earlier, his general Joab had been ruthless. According to
1:01:10
Speaker 1: verse fifteen, when Joab, commander of the army, had gone
1:01:15
Speaker 1: up to bury the dead, he struck down every male
1:01:19
Speaker 1: in Edom. Haddad had been just a boy at the time,
1:01:22
Speaker 1: and escaped to Egypt with some of his father's servants.
1:01:25
Speaker 1: Pharaoh welcomed him warmly, providing him with a house, land,
1:01:29
Speaker 1: and even a wife from the Egyptian royal family. For years,
1:01:33
Speaker 1: Hadad lived comfortably in Egypt, but he never forgot what
1:01:37
Speaker 1: had been done to his people. When he learned of
1:01:39
Speaker 1: David's and Joab's deaths, he saw his opportunity. In verse
1:01:44
Speaker 1: twenty one, he says to Pharaoh, let me go, that
1:01:49
Speaker 1: I may return to my own country. Despite Pharaoh's protests,
1:01:53
Speaker 1: Hadad returned to the land of Edom and began causing
1:01:57
Speaker 1: trouble for Solomon along Israel's southern border. But Hadad wasn't
1:02:01
Speaker 1: the only adversary. In verse twenty three, another enemy appears.
1:02:06
Speaker 1: God also raised up another adversary against him, Rezon, son
1:02:10
Speaker 1: of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadaza king
1:02:14
Speaker 1: of Zoba. Resin had a different story. He was a
1:02:18
Speaker 1: military commander who had served the king of Zoba, another
1:02:22
Speaker 1: kingdom David had defeated. After his master was vanquished, Reson
1:02:27
Speaker 1: fled and became a kind of bandit leader. Eventually he
1:02:31
Speaker 1: gathered men around him and became their leader. When David
1:02:34
Speaker 1: struck down the forces of Zoba, they went to Damascus,
1:02:38
Speaker 1: settled there, and reigned in Damascus. Reson established his own
1:02:43
Speaker 1: small kingdom in Damascus, north of Israel, and from there
1:02:47
Speaker 1: he was Israel's adversary as long as Solomon lived. Adding
1:02:51
Speaker 1: to the trouble caused by Haddad, Rason ruled over Aram
1:02:56
Speaker 1: and loathed Israel. These two men, Haddad in the south
1:03:00
Speaker 1: south and Resin in the north, began to press against
1:03:03
Speaker 1: Solomon's kingdom on both sides. The peace that had allowed
1:03:07
Speaker 1: trade and construction to flourish was beginning to collapse, but
1:03:11
Speaker 1: the most dangerous adversary was even closer to home. In
1:03:16
Speaker 1: verse twenty six we read, then also Jeroboam, son of Nebat,
1:03:21
Speaker 1: an Ephraimite from Zereda, Solomon's servant whose mother's name was Zeruah,
1:03:25
Speaker 1: a widow, rebelled against the king. Jeroboam wasn't a foreign
1:03:30
Speaker 1: prince or a bandit. He was an Israelite from the
1:03:32
Speaker 1: tribe of Ephraim, and more than that, he was a
1:03:36
Speaker 1: trusted official in Solomon's administration. Verse twenty eight explains, now,
1:03:41
Speaker 1: the man Jeroboam was industrious, and when Solomon saw that
1:03:45
Speaker 1: the young man was diligent, he put him in charge
1:03:48
Speaker 1: of all the labor of the House of Joseph. The
1:03:51
Speaker 1: House of Joseph refers to the northern tribes, especially Ephraim
1:03:54
Speaker 1: and Manasse, descendants of Joseph. Jeroboam oversaw the workers from
1:03:59
Speaker 1: these tribesb in Solomon's vast building projects, but his position
1:04:04
Speaker 1: of trust didn't stop him from turning against his master.
1:04:08
Speaker 1: What led Jeroboam to rebel The text doesn't mention personal
1:04:13
Speaker 1: motives directly, but in verse twenty seven we find a clue.
1:04:17
Speaker 1: This is the account of how he rebelled against the king.
1:04:21
Speaker 1: Solomon had built the millow and closed up the breach
1:04:24
Speaker 1: of the city of David, his father. The Millo was
1:04:28
Speaker 1: part of Jerusalem's fortification system. Why would building urban defenses
1:04:33
Speaker 1: provoke Jeroboam's anger? Possibly because he viewed Solomon's public works
1:04:38
Speaker 1: program as an unfair burden on the northern tribes, who
1:04:42
Speaker 1: provided most of the laborers. Tensions between north and south
1:04:47
Speaker 1: between Judah and the other tribes had existed since David's time,
1:04:52
Speaker 1: and Solomon's administration seems to have made them worse. However,
1:04:57
Speaker 1: the text hints at an even deeper reason for Jeroboam's rebellion,
1:05:01
Speaker 1: one he likely didn't fully understand himself. It was God
1:05:05
Speaker 1: who orchestrated these events to fulfill his purposes. Solomon's adversaries
1:05:10
Speaker 1: weren't merely acting from political or personal motives. They were
1:05:14
Speaker 1: instruments of divine justice against a king who had forsaken
1:05:19
Speaker 1: the Covenant. One morning, Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, heading north
1:05:24
Speaker 1: toward his homeland. The sun was shining and the city
1:05:28
Speaker 1: lay behind him, its stone walls and buildings gleaming in
1:05:32
Speaker 1: the morning light. Jeroboam walked alone through the fields, wearing
1:05:37
Speaker 1: a bran new cloak. Maybe he was contemplating his plans
1:05:40
Speaker 1: for rebellion, or maybe he was simply pondering an uncertain future.
1:05:45
Speaker 1: Suddenly a figure appeared ahead on the path. It was Ahijah,
1:05:50
Speaker 1: the prophet from Shiloh, wrapped in his own cloak. The
1:05:53
Speaker 1: two men met alone in the open country. In verse
1:05:56
Speaker 1: Kings eleven twenty nine, we read at that time time
1:06:00
Speaker 1: Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem and the prophet Ahijah the Shylannite,
1:06:04
Speaker 1: found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clothed himself
1:06:08
Speaker 1: with a new garment, and the two of them were
1:06:11
Speaker 1: alone in the open country. What happened next left Jeroboam stunned.
1:06:16
Speaker 1: Verse thirty continues, Then Ahijah took hold of the new
1:06:20
Speaker 1: cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.
1:06:23
Speaker 1: Without warning or explanation, the prophet ripped his valuable new
1:06:27
Speaker 1: cloak into twelve equal parts. Then he turned to Jeroboam
1:06:30
Speaker 1: and said, take ten pieces for yourself, For this is
1:06:34
Speaker 1: what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. See, I
1:06:38
Speaker 1: am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand
1:06:42
Speaker 1: and give you ten tribes. This was a dramatic and
1:06:46
Speaker 1: explicit prophecy. The united Kingdom of Israel would be torn apart,
1:06:51
Speaker 1: just as a Hyja's cloak had been. Ten of the
1:06:54
Speaker 1: twelve tribes would be given to Jeroboam, a man with
1:06:58
Speaker 1: no royal blood or lee claim to the throne. But
1:07:01
Speaker 1: God was not entirely abandoning David's dynasty. In verse thirty two,
1:07:06
Speaker 1: the prophet continued, but he will have one tribe for
1:07:10
Speaker 1: the sake of my servant David, and for the sake
1:07:13
Speaker 1: of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen. Out of all
1:07:17
Speaker 1: the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Judah, along with
1:07:21
Speaker 1: the small tribe of Benjamin, often counted together with Judah,
1:07:25
Speaker 1: would remain loyal to David's descendants. Why such a severe
1:07:29
Speaker 1: judgment against the house of Solomon, the Prophet makes it
1:07:33
Speaker 1: clear in verse thirty three, because they have forsaken me
1:07:37
Speaker 1: and have worshiped Ashtreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Kimosh,
1:07:42
Speaker 1: the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the God of
1:07:45
Speaker 1: the Ammonites, and have not walked in my ways to
1:07:48
Speaker 1: do what is right in my eyes, and to keep
1:07:51
Speaker 1: my statutes and judgments, as did David his father. It
1:07:55
Speaker 1: wasn't just Solomon who sinned. The entire nation allowed itself
1:07:59
Speaker 1: to be influenced by his poor example. The idolatry that
1:08:03
Speaker 1: started in the palace soon spread throughout the nation. Yet
1:08:07
Speaker 1: even so God showed mercy. He would not strip the
1:08:12
Speaker 1: kingdom from Solomon during his lifetime. However, I will not
1:08:16
Speaker 1: take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I
1:08:19
Speaker 1: will make him ruler all the days of his life
1:08:21
Speaker 1: for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose
1:08:25
Speaker 1: because he kept my commandments and my statutes. It was
1:08:28
Speaker 1: for David's sake, not Solomon's, that the dynasty would continue.
1:08:33
Speaker 1: God would honor his promise to David, even though David's
1:08:37
Speaker 1: son had turned away from his ways. As for Jeroboam,
1:08:41
Speaker 1: the prophet delivered a conditional promise. But I will untake you,
1:08:46
Speaker 1: and you shall reign over all that your heart desires,
1:08:49
Speaker 1: and you shall be king over Israel. Then it shall
1:08:52
Speaker 1: be if you heed all that I command, you, walk
1:08:55
Speaker 1: in my ways and do what is right in my sight,
1:08:59
Speaker 1: keeping my son statutes and my commandments, as my servant
1:09:02
Speaker 1: David did. Then I will be with you and build
1:09:05
Speaker 1: you a lasting house as I built for David. And
1:09:08
Speaker 1: I will give Israel. To you, this was an opportunity
1:09:12
Speaker 1: for Jeroboam to establish his own lasting dynasty, but it
1:09:16
Speaker 1: came with a crucial condition, faithfulness to the Lord. The
1:09:21
Speaker 1: same standard that had been required of David's house was
1:09:25
Speaker 1: now being extended to this potential new king. After hearing
1:09:30
Speaker 1: this astonishing prophecy, Jeroboam must have returned home with his
1:09:34
Speaker 1: mind racing, weighing his options, and considering when and how
1:09:38
Speaker 1: to act on this divine promise. News of Ahija's prophecy
1:09:43
Speaker 1: somehow reached Solomon's ears. In verse forty, we read Solomon
1:09:48
Speaker 1: therefore sought to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam arose and fled
1:09:52
Speaker 1: to Egypt to Shishak, king of Egypt, and was in
1:09:55
Speaker 1: Egypt until the death of Solomon. It's ironic that Jeroboam
1:09:59
Speaker 1: fled to Ea Egypt, just as Haddad had years earlier. Egypt,
1:10:04
Speaker 1: once the house of bondage for the Israelites, had now
1:10:07
Speaker 1: become a refuge for those fleeing oppression from Israel itself,
1:10:12
Speaker 1: and Shishak, the pharaoh who sheltered Jeroboam, would later become
1:10:16
Speaker 1: an instrument of God's judgment against Israel by invading Judah
1:10:21
Speaker 1: during Solomon's son's reign. The golden shine that had once
1:10:26
Speaker 1: marked Solomon's kingdom was beginning to fade. The king, who
1:10:30
Speaker 1: had received wisdom directly from God, was now reaping the
1:10:34
Speaker 1: consequences of his poor choices. Gold still flowed into his treasuries,
1:10:39
Speaker 1: spices still perfumed his palaces, but the true glory was departing.
1:10:46
Speaker 1: In First Kings eleven forty one, the Bible begins wrapping
1:10:50
Speaker 1: up Solomon's story. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon,
1:10:53
Speaker 1: all that he did and his wisdom are they not
1:10:57
Speaker 1: written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon. This
1:11:00
Speaker 1: reference to another historical record now lost suggests there was
1:11:06
Speaker 1: much more to tell about Solomon. The Bible only provides
1:11:09
Speaker 1: the highlights, the critical moments that serve the larger narrative
1:11:14
Speaker 1: of God's dealings with Israel. Verse forty two summarizes his
1:11:18
Speaker 1: reign and the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over
1:11:23
Speaker 1: all Israel was forty years. Forty is a significant number
1:11:26
Speaker 1: in scripture, often associated with periods of testing or trial.
1:11:31
Speaker 1: Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai, Israel wandered forty
1:11:36
Speaker 1: years in the wilderness. David reigned for forty years now, Solomon,
1:11:41
Speaker 1: too completed a forty year reign. Like his father David,
1:11:46
Speaker 1: Solomon had a long enough reign to leave a deep
1:11:48
Speaker 1: and lasting imprint on Israel. But while David, despite his
1:11:53
Speaker 1: grave sins, finished well in fellowship with God and preparing
1:11:57
Speaker 1: his son to continue the legacy, Solomon seems to have
1:12:01
Speaker 1: ended his reign in spiritual decline. The Bible is stark
1:12:06
Speaker 1: and unceremonious in reporting Solomon's end. Verse forty three simply states,
1:12:11
Speaker 1: then Solomon rested with his father's and was buried in
1:12:16
Speaker 1: the city of David. His father and Reherboam, his son,
1:12:19
Speaker 1: reigned in his place. There's no mention of his final
1:12:22
Speaker 1: illness or his state of mind. We don't know whether
1:12:25
Speaker 1: he ever repented of his idolatry before he died. There's
1:12:29
Speaker 1: no farewell speech like David's, no final blessing for his
1:12:32
Speaker 1: successor no last words of wisdom. This silence may be
1:12:38
Speaker 1: the most eloquent commentary on Solomon's sad end. The man
1:12:42
Speaker 1: who began with so much promise, who was granted more
1:12:45
Speaker 1: wisdom than any one else, who built the glorious temple
1:12:48
Speaker 1: for the Lord, ended his life seemingly without repentance or resolution.
1:12:54
Speaker 1: Some scholars believe that the Book of Ecclesiastes reflect Solomon's
1:12:59
Speaker 1: later years, when he finally recognized the emptiness of all
1:13:02
Speaker 1: his pursuits and returned to the fear of the Lord
1:13:06
Speaker 1: as the only true lasting value. If so, perhaps Solomon
1:13:11
Speaker 1: did find some measure of redemption before he rested with
1:13:14
Speaker 1: his father's But even if Solomon personally repented, the damage
1:13:19
Speaker 1: to his kingdom had already been done. The seeds of
1:13:23
Speaker 1: division were sown, idolatry had been firmly planted in Israel,
1:13:28
Speaker 1: Adversaries were positioned at the borders, and his son reher
1:13:31
Speaker 1: Boem was ill prepared to steer the nation through the
1:13:34
Speaker 1: coming storms. Solomon's death marked the end of an error.
1:13:39
Speaker 1: Israel would never again see such a combination of wisdom, wealth,
1:13:43
Speaker 1: and international fame embodied in a single ruler. The kingdoms
1:13:48
Speaker 1: that followed would be but pale shadows of Israel's former
1:13:51
Speaker 1: glory under Solomon. Before his fall, Solomon left his son
1:13:56
Speaker 1: a kingdom that was outwardly prosperous but rotting from within.
1:14:00
Speaker 1: His massive building projects and luxurious lifestyle had demanded heavy
1:14:05
Speaker 1: taxes and forced labor. His commitment to God's law had
1:14:10
Speaker 1: been compromised by political alliances and personal indulgences. His example
1:14:15
Speaker 1: of religious tolerance had flung wide the doors to widespread idolatry.
1:14:21
Speaker 1: Now his young son, Rehoboam would face the consequences of
1:14:25
Speaker 1: these choices, and as we'll see, he did not inherit
1:14:30
Speaker 1: his father's wisdom to help him navigate the challenges ahead.
1:14:34
Speaker 1: With Solomon in the tomb, his son Rehoboam was preparing
1:14:37
Speaker 1: to take the throne. His first step was to secure
1:14:41
Speaker 1: the support of all the tribes of Israel. In verse Kings,
1:14:44
Speaker 1: Chapter twelve, Verse one, we read Rehoboam went to Shechem,
1:14:49
Speaker 1: for all Israel had gone there to make him king.
1:14:52
Speaker 1: It is significant that this ceremony took place in Shechem
1:14:56
Speaker 1: rather than in Jerusalem. Shechem was located in the terror
1:15:00
Speaker 1: of the tribe of Ephraim in the north, and held
1:15:03
Speaker 1: historical importance as the site where Joshua had renewed Israel's
1:15:07
Speaker 1: covenant with God. By holding the coronation there, Rioboam seemed
1:15:13
Speaker 1: to acknowledge the importance of the northern tribes, whose loyalty
1:15:17
Speaker 1: was less certain than that of Judah, his own tribe Meanwhile, Jeroboam,
1:15:22
Speaker 1: who had fled to Egypt during Solomon's reign, heard of
1:15:25
Speaker 1: the king's death and returned to Israel. In verses two
1:15:29
Speaker 1: and three, the Bible tells us when Jeroboam's son of Nabat,
1:15:34
Speaker 1: heard this, he was still in Egypt, where he had
1:15:37
Speaker 1: fled from King Solomon. He returned from Egypt. So they
1:15:41
Speaker 1: sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of
1:15:44
Speaker 1: Israel went to Rihoboam and said to him. The leaders
1:15:47
Speaker 1: of the northern tribes, with Jeroboam as their spokesperson, came
1:15:52
Speaker 1: to Rihoboam with a petition, your father put a heavy
1:15:55
Speaker 1: yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and
1:15:59
Speaker 1: the heavy yoki pus on us, and we will serve you.
1:16:02
Speaker 1: This was not an ultimatum or an open rebellion. It
1:16:06
Speaker 1: was a negotiation. They were willing to accept Rehoboam as king,
1:16:11
Speaker 1: but they wanted concessions, specifically a reduction of the taxes
1:16:15
Speaker 1: and forced labor that Solomon had imposed to fund his
1:16:19
Speaker 1: grand building projects and luxurious lifestyle. Rehoboam asked for three
1:16:25
Speaker 1: days to consider their request, which seemed reasonable. In verse five,
1:16:29
Speaker 1: he said, go away for three days and then come
1:16:32
Speaker 1: back to me. During this time, he consulted two groups
1:16:36
Speaker 1: of advisers. First, he sought the elders who had served
1:16:39
Speaker 1: his father. In verse seven, These experienced men advised, if
1:16:45
Speaker 1: to day you will be a servant to these people
1:16:48
Speaker 1: and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they
1:16:51
Speaker 1: will always be your servants. This was wise counsel. They
1:16:55
Speaker 1: understood that true leadership begins with service. If Rehabbauoam showed
1:17:00
Speaker 1: that he cared about the well being of the people,
1:17:03
Speaker 1: especially the northern tribes who already felt neglected, he would
1:17:08
Speaker 1: win their loyalty in the long run. But Rihoboam didn't
1:17:12
Speaker 1: like this advice. Perhaps it seemed weak or compromising to him.
1:17:17
Speaker 1: So in verse eight we read but Rehoboam rejected the
1:17:20
Speaker 1: advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men
1:17:24
Speaker 1: who had grown up with him and were serving him.
1:17:27
Speaker 1: These younger advisers, his friends and companions from youth, gave
1:17:31
Speaker 1: a very different answer. In verses ten and eleven, they
1:17:35
Speaker 1: urged him to respond harshly. Tell these people who have
1:17:38
Speaker 1: said to you, your father put a heavy yoke on us,
1:17:41
Speaker 1: but make our yoke lighter. Tell them, my little finger
1:17:46
Speaker 1: is thicker than my father's waist. My father laid on
1:17:49
Speaker 1: you a heavy yoke, I will make it even heavier.
1:17:51
Speaker 1: My father scourged you with whips. I will scourge you
1:17:55
Speaker 1: with scorpions. The young advisers appealed to Rehoboam's pride, suggesting
1:18:01
Speaker 1: he needed to appear even more powerful and intimidating than
1:18:05
Speaker 1: his famous father. Their vision of leadership was based on
1:18:09
Speaker 1: fear and intimidation, not service and mutual respect. Tragically, Rehoboam
1:18:16
Speaker 1: chose to follow the advice of his young companions. When
1:18:20
Speaker 1: the people returned after three days, he answered them with
1:18:24
Speaker 1: the harsh words they had suggested. In verse fourteen, he
1:18:28
Speaker 1: followed the advice of the young men and said, my
1:18:30
Speaker 1: father made your yoke heavy. I will make it even heavier.
1:18:35
Speaker 1: My father scourged you with whips. I will scourge you
1:18:38
Speaker 1: with scorpions. This arrogant response completely ignored the people's legitimate concerns.
1:18:46
Speaker 1: Instead of acknowledging the burden Solomon had placed on them
1:18:49
Speaker 1: and offering some relief, re Hooboum promised an even harsher regime.
1:18:54
Speaker 1: He tried to rule by fear, failing to realize that
1:18:57
Speaker 1: such an approach would only succeed if the people feared
1:19:01
Speaker 1: him more than they resented their situation. Verse fifteen of
1:19:06
Speaker 1: First Kings twelve gives us a deeper perspective on these events.
1:19:11
Speaker 1: So the king did not listen to the people, for
1:19:14
Speaker 1: this turn of events was from the Lord to fulfill
1:19:18
Speaker 1: the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam, son of
1:19:22
Speaker 1: Nibat through Ahijah, the Shillanite. Re Heboam's foolishness wasn't accidental.
1:19:29
Speaker 1: God was allowing him to make this mistake to fulfill
1:19:33
Speaker 1: the prophecy given to Jeroboam. Although Rehoboam was acting of
1:19:37
Speaker 1: his own free will, following his own desires and pride,
1:19:40
Speaker 1: God was using his wrong choices to accomplish his greater purposes.
1:19:46
Speaker 1: Rehoboam's arrogant response was the final straw. The people, already
1:19:52
Speaker 1: weary of heavy taxes and forced labor, irrupted in open revolt.
1:19:57
Speaker 1: In verse Kings twelve sixteen, we read their am meeis reaction.
1:20:01
Speaker 1: When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen
1:20:04
Speaker 1: to them, they answered the King, what share do we
1:20:07
Speaker 1: have in David? What part in Jesse's son? To your tents?
1:20:11
Speaker 1: Israel look after your own hou's David. So the Israelites
1:20:16
Speaker 1: went home. Here was the final rupture. What share do
1:20:19
Speaker 1: we have in David was a declaration of independence. The
1:20:23
Speaker 1: northern tribes were rejecting the Davidic dynasty and declaring they
1:20:27
Speaker 1: had no further obligation to remain loyal to a king
1:20:31
Speaker 1: from David's line. The phrase to your tense Israel was
1:20:36
Speaker 1: an ancient rallying cry used after tribal assemblies, but here
1:20:41
Speaker 1: it carried a deeper meaning. Each tribe would now look
1:20:44
Speaker 1: after its own affairs without centralized leadership from Jerusalem. And
1:20:49
Speaker 1: look after your own house David meant that David's descendants
1:20:52
Speaker 1: would now rule only over their own territory, not the
1:20:56
Speaker 1: whole nation. In verse seventeen we see the immediate outcome.
1:21:01
Speaker 1: But as for the Israelites who were living in the
1:21:03
Speaker 1: towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them. Only Judah,
1:21:08
Speaker 1: along with the small tribe of Benjamin and some Levites,
1:21:11
Speaker 1: remained loyal to the House of David. The rest of Israel,
1:21:16
Speaker 1: the ten northern tribes, rejected Rehoboam as king. Rehoboum did
1:21:22
Speaker 1: not accept this rebellion quietly. In verse eighteen. He tried
1:21:27
Speaker 1: to assert his authority by force. King Rehoboam sent out
1:21:32
Speaker 1: a Donorum who was in charge of forced labor, but
1:21:35
Speaker 1: all Israel stoned him to death. A Dunairam was the
1:21:39
Speaker 1: official responsible for the taxes and forced labor, the very
1:21:43
Speaker 1: symbol of the oppression the people were rebelling against. Sending
1:21:47
Speaker 1: him to restore order was yet another foolish decision by Rihoboam.
1:21:52
Speaker 1: The outcome was predictable. The people stoned Adorum to death.
1:21:58
Speaker 1: This act of violence man made Rehoboam realize that the
1:22:01
Speaker 1: situation was far more serious than he had imagined. It
1:22:05
Speaker 1: wasn't just a difficult negotiation, it was a full blown revolt.
1:22:11
Speaker 1: Sensing the danger, Rehobam fled. Verse eighteen continues. King Rehobam, however,
1:22:18
Speaker 1: managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem.
1:22:22
Speaker 1: He fled to the safety of his stronghold Judah and
1:22:25
Speaker 1: to the fortified city of Jerusalem. The division between North
1:22:29
Speaker 1: and South was now complete. Verse nineteen summarizes the lasting result.
1:22:34
Speaker 1: So Israel has been in rebellion against the House of
1:22:37
Speaker 1: David to this day. When these events were recorded, the
1:22:41
Speaker 1: division was still in place and in nashchetij I. In fact,
1:22:45
Speaker 1: it was never truly healed. Israel the North and Judah
1:22:49
Speaker 1: the South would remain separate kingdoms until both eventually fell
1:22:53
Speaker 1: to foreign empires. After Rehoboam's flight, the northern tribes quickly
1:22:59
Speaker 1: moved to establish their own government. In verse twenty we
1:23:02
Speaker 1: read when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they
1:23:07
Speaker 1: sent for him and made him king over all Israel.
1:23:10
Speaker 1: Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house
1:23:13
Speaker 1: of David. Jeroboam, whom the prophet Ahija had promised ten tribes,
1:23:19
Speaker 1: now saw that prophecy come to fulfillment. The northern tribes
1:23:23
Speaker 1: chose him as their king, founding a new dynasty disconnected
1:23:27
Speaker 1: from David's house. Re Hoboam was not ready to accept
1:23:31
Speaker 1: this loss. In verse twenty one we see him preparing
1:23:35
Speaker 1: for civil war. When ree Hoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he
1:23:40
Speaker 1: mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin hundred eighty
1:23:44
Speaker 1: thousand able young men to go to war against Israel
1:23:48
Speaker 1: and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam's son of Solomon.
1:23:51
Speaker 1: An army of one hundred and eighty thousand men was
1:23:54
Speaker 1: significant Rehoboam clearly intended to use military force to the
1:24:00
Speaker 1: rebellious tribes back under his control. This would have meant
1:24:03
Speaker 1: a bloody civil war between brothers, but God intervened. In
1:24:08
Speaker 1: verse twenty two, we read, but the word of God
1:24:11
Speaker 1: came to Shemaiah, the man of God, say to Rehoboam,
1:24:15
Speaker 1: son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin,
1:24:19
Speaker 1: and to the rest of the people, this is what
1:24:22
Speaker 1: the Lord says. Do not go up to fight against
1:24:25
Speaker 1: your fellow Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for
1:24:29
Speaker 1: this is My doing. Through the prophet Shamiah, God prevented
1:24:34
Speaker 1: the civil war from breaking out. He confirmed that the
1:24:38
Speaker 1: division of the kingdom was his will as a punishment
1:24:41
Speaker 1: for Solomon's unfaithfulness. Fighting against this division would have been
1:24:46
Speaker 1: fighting against God. Surprisingly, Rehoboam listened to this prophetic advice.
1:24:54
Speaker 1: Verse twenty four concludes, So they obeyed the word of
1:24:57
Speaker 1: the Lord and went home again as the Lord had ordered.
1:25:01
Speaker 1: For a man who had rejected the wise Council of
1:25:04
Speaker 1: the Elders just days before, this was a remarkably sensible choice.
1:25:09
Speaker 1: With the kingdom divided, Jeroboam faced a major political and
1:25:12
Speaker 1: religious challenge. Jerusalem, the religious center of Israel since the
1:25:17
Speaker 1: time of David, was now located in rival territory Judah,
1:25:22
Speaker 1: the temple where Israelites were commanded to worship three times
1:25:25
Speaker 1: a year, was under Rehoboam's control. In First Kings twelve
1:25:30
Speaker 1: twenty six, we see Jeroboam's concern. Jeroboam thought to himself,
1:25:36
Speaker 1: the kingdom will now likely revert to the House of David.
1:25:40
Speaker 1: If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the
1:25:43
Speaker 1: Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give
1:25:46
Speaker 1: their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam, King of Judah. They
1:25:50
Speaker 1: will kill me and return to King Rihoboam. This was
1:25:53
Speaker 1: a real problem. If the northern tribes continued to travel
1:25:56
Speaker 1: to Jerusalem for religious festivals, their loyalties would eventually shift.
1:26:03
Speaker 1: Worship in Jerusalem would gradually strengthen their ties to Judah
1:26:07
Speaker 1: and could lead to reunification under David's house. Jeroboam decided
1:26:12
Speaker 1: to create a religious alternative for his people. In verse
1:26:15
Speaker 1: twenty eight, he made a shocking decision. After seeking advice,
1:26:20
Speaker 1: the king made two golden calves. He said to the people,
1:26:25
Speaker 1: it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem.
1:26:27
Speaker 1: Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out
1:26:31
Speaker 1: of Egypt. He created two golden calves and declared that
1:26:35
Speaker 1: these represented the God who had brought Israel out of Egypt.
1:26:39
Speaker 1: This directly repeated the sin committed by the Israelites in
1:26:43
Speaker 1: the wilderness when Aaron made a golden calf and said,
1:26:47
Speaker 1: these are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out
1:26:50
Speaker 1: of Egypt. Exodus thirty two four. Jeroboam then established two
1:26:54
Speaker 1: alternative worship centers. In verse twenty nine, we read one
1:26:59
Speaker 1: he set up in Bethel and the other in Dan.
1:27:02
Speaker 1: These locations were strategic. Bethel was near the southern border
1:27:05
Speaker 1: of his kingdom, close to Judah, while Dan was at
1:27:09
Speaker 1: the far north. Together, these shrines provided convenient worship sites
1:27:14
Speaker 1: across the northern kingdom, eliminating the need for trips to Jerusalem.
1:27:19
Speaker 1: But this wasn't just about geographical convenience. It was a
1:27:22
Speaker 1: deliberate apostasy from God's law, which commanded worship only at
1:27:27
Speaker 1: the place he would choose. Deuteronomy twelve five fourteen, Verse
1:27:31
Speaker 1: thirty gives a blunt assessment, and this thing became a sin.
1:27:35
Speaker 1: The people came to worship the one at Dan, Jeroboam
1:27:38
Speaker 1: also created a new priesthood, ignoring God's command that only
1:27:43
Speaker 1: Levites should serve as priests. In verse thirty one we
1:27:47
Speaker 1: read Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests
1:27:52
Speaker 1: from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.
1:27:57
Speaker 1: To complete his reinvention of Israel's religion, Jeroboam even altered
1:28:01
Speaker 1: the religious calendar. In verse thirty two, we see he
1:28:05
Speaker 1: instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,
1:28:09
Speaker 1: like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on
1:28:13
Speaker 1: the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the
1:28:16
Speaker 1: calves he had made, and at Bethel he also installed
1:28:20
Speaker 1: priests at the high places he had made. The feast
1:28:23
Speaker 1: of Tabernacles, which according to the law of Moses, should
1:28:27
Speaker 1: have been celebrated in the seventh month, was now celebrated
1:28:31
Speaker 1: in the eighth month in the Northern Kingdom. Jeroboam devised
1:28:36
Speaker 1: this festival in his own heart, not by divine revelation,
1:28:41
Speaker 1: but by his own authority. These religious changes were carefully
1:28:46
Speaker 1: calculated to sever the Northern tribe's ties to the temple
1:28:50
Speaker 1: in Jerusalem, thus consolidating Jeroboam's political power, but in God's eyes,
1:28:56
Speaker 1: they represented deliberate and institutionalized apostasy. Throughout the Books of Kings,
1:29:02
Speaker 1: Jeroboam's sin became the standard reference point for faithlessness, with
1:29:07
Speaker 1: later kings judged by whether they walked in the ways
1:29:11
Speaker 1: of Jeroboam or not. Verse thirty three closes this chapter
1:29:16
Speaker 1: with a powerful image of Jeroboam officiating at his own
1:29:19
Speaker 1: alternative altar. He sacrificed on the altar he had made
1:29:23
Speaker 1: at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,
1:29:26
Speaker 1: a month of his own choosing. He instituted a festival
1:29:30
Speaker 1: for the Israelites and went up to the altar to
1:29:32
Speaker 1: make offerings. The phrase a month of his own choosing
1:29:37
Speaker 1: highlights the stark contrast between Jeroboam's religion crafted for political convenience,
1:29:43
Speaker 1: and the true worship ordained by God. Israel's apostasy was
1:29:48
Speaker 1: not accidental or gradual. It was deliberately designed and executed
1:29:53
Speaker 1: by its first king. God did not delay in responding
1:29:57
Speaker 1: to this apostasy. At the beginning of First King's third thirteen,
1:30:00
Speaker 1: he sends an anonymous prophet from Judah to confront Jeroboam
1:30:04
Speaker 1: while he was sacrificing at his illegal altar. The prophet
1:30:08
Speaker 1: cried out against the altar, predicting its eventual destruction by
1:30:12
Speaker 1: a future king named Josiah. When Jeroboam stretched out his
1:30:16
Speaker 1: hand to point at the prophet and order his arrest,
1:30:19
Speaker 1: his hand shriveled up, a dramatic sign of divine disapproval.
1:30:24
Speaker 1: The altar itself also split apart, spilling its ashes. Although
1:30:29
Speaker 1: Jeroboam experienced a miraculous healing when the prophet prayed for him,
1:30:34
Speaker 1: even that was not enough to make him abandon his
1:30:36
Speaker 1: religious course. In First Kings thirteen thirty three, we read
1:30:41
Speaker 1: even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways,
1:30:46
Speaker 1: but once more appointed priests for the high places from
1:30:49
Speaker 1: all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a
1:30:53
Speaker 1: priest he consecrated for the high places. Verse thirty four
1:30:58
Speaker 1: delivers God's verdict on these actions. This was the sin
1:31:02
Speaker 1: of the House of Jeroboam that led to its downfall
1:31:05
Speaker 1: and destruction from the face of the earth. Jeroboam's religious
1:31:10
Speaker 1: policies not only led his people astray from God, but
1:31:14
Speaker 1: also sealed the fate of his own dynasty. In First
1:31:20
Speaker 1: Kings fourteen, God sends the prophet Ahijah to deliver judgment
1:31:25
Speaker 1: against the house of Jeroboam. When Jeroboam's son fell ill,
1:31:29
Speaker 1: the king sent his wife in disguise to consult the prophet.
1:31:33
Speaker 1: But Ahijah, now old and blind, recognized her through the
1:31:37
Speaker 1: spirit of God and delivered a devastating message. The entire
1:31:42
Speaker 1: house of Jeroboam would be wiped out in the Israelites
1:31:45
Speaker 1: would eventually go into exile because of their sins. As
1:31:49
Speaker 1: for the sick child, Ahijah prophesied, all Israel will mourn
1:31:53
Speaker 1: for him and bury him. He is the only one
1:31:55
Speaker 1: belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is
1:31:59
Speaker 1: the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom
1:32:02
Speaker 1: the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.
1:32:06
Speaker 1: Even in the midst of severe judgment, there was a
1:32:09
Speaker 1: touch of mercy. The son would receive a proper burial,
1:32:13
Speaker 1: unlike the rest of Jeroboam's family, who would die violently. Thus,
1:32:18
Speaker 1: the kingdom that had begun with such hope under David
1:32:21
Speaker 1: and reached its peak under Solomon, was now divided and
1:32:25
Speaker 1: steeped in apostasy. Both Judah and Israel would endure centuries
1:32:30
Speaker 1: of struggle, with occasional moments of spiritual renewal, But the
1:32:34
Speaker 1: division that began in these chapters would never be fully
1:32:37
Speaker 1: healed until both kingdoms were destroyed and their people exiled.
1:32:45
Speaker 1: The Northern Kingdom Israel experienced constant power shifts, while Judah
1:32:50
Speaker 1: preserved David's lineage on the throne, Israel was plagued by coups, assassinations,
1:32:56
Speaker 1: and new families seizing control. After Jerai Boam, his son
1:33:01
Speaker 1: Nadab took the throne, but not for long. First Kings
1:33:05
Speaker 1: fifteen tells us Nadab, son of Jeroboam, became king of
1:33:09
Speaker 1: Israel in the second year of arsa king of Judah,
1:33:12
Speaker 1: and he reigned over Israel for two years. He did
1:33:16
Speaker 1: evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways
1:33:19
Speaker 1: of his father and committing the same sin which he
1:33:22
Speaker 1: had caused Israel to commit. Nadab didn't even complete his
1:33:27
Speaker 1: third year as king. During a battle, one of his
1:33:30
Speaker 1: own commanders seized the opportunity to overthrow him. Uns King's
1:33:34
Speaker 1: fifteen records, Basha, son of Ahijah, of the tribe of Issachar,
1:33:38
Speaker 1: plotted against him, and he struck him down at Gibbethon,
1:33:42
Speaker 1: a Philistine town. While Nadab and all Israel were besieging it.
1:33:47
Speaker 1: Busha didn't stop at killing the king. He exterminated Jeroboam's
1:33:52
Speaker 1: entire family, just as the prophet Ahijah had foretold. First
1:33:56
Speaker 1: Kings fifteen describes as soon as he began to reign,
1:34:00
Speaker 1: he killed Jeroboam's whole family. He did not leave Jeroboam
1:34:05
Speaker 1: anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all according to the
1:34:08
Speaker 1: word of the Lord given through his servant Ahijah the Shilahnite.
1:34:14
Speaker 1: Despite having witnessed God's judgment against Jeroboam, Basha followed the
1:34:19
Speaker 1: exact same in path of sin. First King's fifteen states
1:34:24
Speaker 1: he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following
1:34:27
Speaker 1: the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam
1:34:31
Speaker 1: had caused Israel to commit. Basha ruled for twenty four
1:34:34
Speaker 1: years and was succeeded by his son Alah, but history
1:34:38
Speaker 1: quickly repeated itself. First King sixteen tells us in the
1:34:43
Speaker 1: twenty sixth year of Aesa, King of Judah, Alah, son
1:34:47
Speaker 1: of Basha, became king of Israel, and he reigned in
1:34:50
Speaker 1: Tirza two years. Alah's reign ended violently during a drunken feast.
1:34:56
Speaker 1: First King sixteen recounts Zimri, one of his official sis,
1:35:00
Speaker 1: who had command of half his chariots, plotted against him.
1:35:04
Speaker 1: While Ailah was in Terza getting drunk in the home
1:35:07
Speaker 1: of Arza, the palace administrator. Zimri came in, struck him down,
1:35:11
Speaker 1: and killed him in the twenty seventh year of us
1:35:14
Speaker 1: a King of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king.
1:35:17
Speaker 1: Zimri also exterminated the entire house of Basha, fulfilling yet
1:35:22
Speaker 1: another prophecy. First King's sixteen reports as soon as he
1:35:27
Speaker 1: began to reign and was seated on the throne, he
1:35:29
Speaker 1: killed off Basha's whole family. He did not spare a
1:35:33
Speaker 1: single male, whether relative or friend. But Zimri's reign lasted
1:35:38
Speaker 1: only seven days. When the army heard about the coup,
1:35:41
Speaker 1: they appointed their own commander as king. Burst King sixteen
1:35:45
Speaker 1: says when the Israelites in the camp heard that Zimri
1:35:48
Speaker 1: had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed
1:35:52
Speaker 1: Omri the commander of the army, king over Israel. That
1:35:55
Speaker 1: very day in the camp, Trapped in the palace with
1:35:59
Speaker 1: no way to escape, ape, Zimri chose a dramatic end.
1:36:03
Speaker 1: First Kings sixteen relates when Zimri saw that the city
1:36:08
Speaker 1: was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal
1:36:10
Speaker 1: palace and set the palace on fire around him, so
1:36:14
Speaker 1: he died. Even with Zimri dead, Omri didn't secure the
1:36:19
Speaker 1: throne immediately. Half the people supported another man named Tibney.
1:36:25
Speaker 1: First King sixteen narrates, then the people of Israel were
1:36:28
Speaker 1: split into two factions. Half supported Tibney, son of Ginath,
1:36:32
Speaker 1: for king, and the other half supported Omri. This power
1:36:36
Speaker 1: struggle lasted four years until Omri finally prevailed. In Fir
1:36:41
Speaker 1: Kings Chapter sixteen, it says, but the people who followed
1:36:45
Speaker 1: Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibney, the son
1:36:49
Speaker 1: of Guinneth, So Tibney died and Omri reigned. Omri was
1:36:53
Speaker 1: an important king who established the new capital Samaria. First
1:36:58
Speaker 1: King's Chapter sixteen explains he bought the hill of Samaria
1:37:02
Speaker 1: from Shema for two talents of silver and built on
1:37:06
Speaker 1: the hill and named the city. He built Samaria after Shema,
1:37:10
Speaker 1: the owner of the hill. Despite this achievement, spiritually, Omri
1:37:15
Speaker 1: was just as evil as his predecessors. First King's Chapter
1:37:19
Speaker 1: sixteen states Omri did evil in the eyes of the
1:37:23
Speaker 1: Lord and did worse than all who were before him.
1:37:26
Speaker 1: Omri established a dynasty that would become the most stable
1:37:30
Speaker 1: in the Northern Kingdom. His son ahab would become the
1:37:34
Speaker 1: most notorious of all the kings of Israel. In just
1:37:38
Speaker 1: fifty years, Israel had seven kings from four different families,
1:37:43
Speaker 1: most of whom rose to power through violence. Meanwhile, the
1:37:47
Speaker 1: Kingdom of Judah followed a very different path. While Israel
1:37:51
Speaker 1: experienced constant changes on the throne, Judah maintained the promise
1:37:56
Speaker 1: God had made to David, his descendants would continue to reign.
1:38:00
Speaker 1: After Rehoboam, his son Abijah took the throne. First King's
1:38:06
Speaker 1: Chapter fifteen says in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam,
1:38:10
Speaker 1: the son of Nibat, Abijah became king over Judah. He
1:38:14
Speaker 1: reigned three years in Jerusalem. Abijah was not a good
1:38:18
Speaker 1: king spiritually. First King's Chapter fifteen recounts, and he walked
1:38:23
Speaker 1: in all the sins of his father, which he had
1:38:25
Speaker 1: done before him. His heart was not loyal to the
1:38:28
Speaker 1: Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. Still,
1:38:33
Speaker 1: God kept his promise. First King's Chapter fifteen explains, Nevertheless,
1:38:39
Speaker 1: for David's sake the Lord, his God gave him a
1:38:42
Speaker 1: lamp in Jerusalem by setting up his son after him
1:38:45
Speaker 1: and by establishing Jerusalem. After Abijah's short reign, his son
1:38:50
Speaker 1: Asir became king and brought positive changes. First King's Chapter
1:38:55
Speaker 1: fifteen says Asa did what was right in the eyes
1:38:58
Speaker 1: of the Lord, as did his father David. Usa worked
1:39:02
Speaker 1: to remove idolatry from Judah. First King's Chapter fifteen recounts
1:39:08
Speaker 1: he banished the perverted persons from the land and removed
1:39:12
Speaker 1: all the idols that his father's had made. He even
1:39:15
Speaker 1: removed his grandmother Marker from her position as queen mother
1:39:19
Speaker 1: because of her idolatry. First King's Chapter fifteen narrates he
1:39:25
Speaker 1: also removed Marka, his grandmother, from being queen mother because
1:39:29
Speaker 1: she had made an obscene image of a sharer. Aesa
1:39:32
Speaker 1: cut down her obscene image and burned it by the
1:39:35
Speaker 1: brook Kidron. Esa wasn't perfect, but his heart was devoted
1:39:39
Speaker 1: to God. First King's Chapter fifteen says, but the high
1:39:43
Speaker 1: places were not removed. Nevertheless, USA's heart was loyal to
1:39:47
Speaker 1: the Lord all his days. After a reign of forty
1:39:50
Speaker 1: one years, Asa was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat. First
1:39:55
Speaker 1: King's Chapter twenty two recounts Jehoshaphat was thirty five years
1:39:59
Speaker 1: old when he became king, and he reigned twenty five
1:40:03
Speaker 1: years in Jerusalem. Jehoshaphat continued the good work of his father.
1:40:08
Speaker 1: First Kings, Chapter twenty two says he walked in all
1:40:11
Speaker 1: the ways of his father, esa he did not turn
1:40:14
Speaker 1: aside from them, doing what was right in the eyes
1:40:17
Speaker 1: of the Lord. Like his father, he did not completely
1:40:21
Speaker 1: remove the high places. First Kings, Chapter twenty two ads, Nevertheless,
1:40:26
Speaker 1: the high places were not taken away, and the people
1:40:29
Speaker 1: still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. One
1:40:34
Speaker 1: of Jehoshaphat's weaknesses was his alliance with the Kingdom of Israel.
1:40:38
Speaker 1: First Kings, Chapter twenty two says Jehoshaphat made peace with
1:40:43
Speaker 1: the King of Israel. This alliance would later cause problems
1:40:46
Speaker 1: when the royal family of Judah intermarried with Ahab's family.
1:40:50
Speaker 1: While Judah enjoyed relative stability under David's lineage, the Northern
1:40:55
Speaker 1: Kingdom plunged into new depths of spiritual corruption under Ahab,
1:41:01
Speaker 1: son of Omri, First King's Chapter sixteen says, now Ahab
1:41:05
Speaker 1: the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of
1:41:08
Speaker 1: the Lord more than all who were before him. What
1:41:12
Speaker 1: made Ahab worse than his predecessors. He not only continued
1:41:16
Speaker 1: the worship of the golden calves, but also introduced a
1:41:19
Speaker 1: new level of idolatry. First King's Chapter sixteen explains, and
1:41:24
Speaker 1: it came to pass as though it had been a
1:41:26
Speaker 1: trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam,
1:41:29
Speaker 1: the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel,
1:41:33
Speaker 1: the daughter of eth Bal, king of the Sidonians. And
1:41:36
Speaker 1: he went and served Baal and worshiped him. Ahab did
1:41:41
Speaker 1: not merely tolerate Baal worship. He actively promoted it. First
1:41:46
Speaker 1: King's Chapter sixteen recounts, then he set up an altar
1:41:49
Speaker 1: for Baal in the Temple of Baal, which he had
1:41:52
Speaker 1: built in Samaria. He also allowed the worship of Asherah,
1:41:56
Speaker 1: the fertility goddess. First King's Chapter sixteen stays Ahab made
1:42:01
Speaker 1: a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord
1:42:05
Speaker 1: God of Israel to anger than all the kings of
1:42:07
Speaker 1: Israel who were before him. During his reign, a man
1:42:11
Speaker 1: defied the ancient curse on Jericho and rebuilt the city.
1:42:15
Speaker 1: First Kings, Chapter sixteen narrates in his days, Heel of
1:42:20
Speaker 1: Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Aboram, his
1:42:24
Speaker 1: first born, and with his youngest son Segob. He set
1:42:27
Speaker 1: up its gates according to the word of the Lord,
1:42:31
Speaker 1: which he had spoken through Joshua, the son of Nun.
1:42:34
Speaker 1: This fulfilled the prophecy exactly as spoken centuries earlier. But
1:42:38
Speaker 1: even this sign did not turn Ahab back to the Lord.
1:42:43
Speaker 1: His reign lasted twenty two years, long enough for Baal
1:42:46
Speaker 1: worship to spread widely throughout Israel. No figure had a
1:42:50
Speaker 1: more negative influence on Israel than Jezebel, Ahab's wife. As
1:42:55
Speaker 1: the daughter of Ethbal, priest king of Sidon, she brought
1:42:59
Speaker 1: with her a fanata devotion to bel and Ashera. Jezebel
1:43:04
Speaker 1: was not content with practicing her religion privately. She actively
1:43:08
Speaker 1: persecuted God's prophets. First Kings Chapter eighteen reveals. For so
1:43:15
Speaker 1: it was while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord
1:43:18
Speaker 1: that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them
1:43:22
Speaker 1: fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread
1:43:25
Speaker 1: and water. While persecuting the true prophets, she promoted the
1:43:29
Speaker 1: false ones. First Kings Chapter eighteen shows that there were
1:43:34
Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty prophets of Bal and four hundred
1:43:38
Speaker 1: prophets of Asherah who ate at Jezebel's table. These eight
1:43:42
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty pagan prophets were supported with state resources,
1:43:47
Speaker 1: demonstrating how idolatry had become official policy under Jezebel's influence.
1:43:53
Speaker 1: Her control over Ahab is clear in the incident of
1:43:56
Speaker 1: Naboth's vineyard. When Ahab failed to buy the vineyard, he
1:44:00
Speaker 1: became depressed. First King's Chapter twenty one recounts that Jezebel
1:44:05
Speaker 1: asked him, why is your spirit so sullen that you
1:44:09
Speaker 1: eat no food? When Ahab explained the situation, Jezebel took control.
1:44:15
Speaker 1: First King's Chapter twenty one says, then Jezebel his wife
1:44:19
Speaker 1: said to him, do you now govern Israel? Arise, eat bread,
1:44:23
Speaker 1: and let your heart be cheerful. I will give you
1:44:26
Speaker 1: the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite. She then devised a
1:44:30
Speaker 1: malicious plan. First King's twenty one describes so she wrote
1:44:35
Speaker 1: letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal.
1:44:39
Speaker 1: She sent the letters to the elders and nobles who
1:44:42
Speaker 1: lived with Naboth in his city. In the letters, she
1:44:45
Speaker 1: ordered a false trial. First King's twenty one details, proclaim
1:44:50
Speaker 1: a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people,
1:44:54
Speaker 1: and set two worthless men opposite him, and let them
1:44:57
Speaker 1: bring a charge against him, saying you have cursed God
1:45:01
Speaker 1: and the King. Then take him out and stone him
1:45:04
Speaker 1: to death. The plan worked, Naboth was wrongfully convicted and executed,
1:45:09
Speaker 1: and Jezebel presented Ahab with the vineyard. This shows how
1:45:14
Speaker 1: manipulative she was, willing to use both religion and royal
1:45:18
Speaker 1: authority to achieve her aims. Her negative influence piqued after
1:45:23
Speaker 1: the confrontation on Mount Carmel, when Elijah defeated the prophets
1:45:27
Speaker 1: of Bel Jezebel swore vengeance. First King's Chapter nineteen records.
1:45:33
Speaker 1: Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may
1:45:37
Speaker 1: the gods do to me, and more also, if I
1:45:40
Speaker 1: do not make your life as the life of one
1:45:43
Speaker 1: of them by this time tomorrow. This threat was so
1:45:47
Speaker 1: intimidating that Elijah, despite his spectacular victory, fled for his life.
1:45:52
Speaker 1: Jezebel represented the danger of foreign influences that God had
1:45:56
Speaker 1: warned against. She brought not only idolatry, but also foreign
1:46:01
Speaker 1: concepts of absolute power that contradicted Israel's view of the
1:46:05
Speaker 1: king as subject to God's law. Amid the spiritual darkness
1:46:10
Speaker 1: of Ahab's reign, God raised up an extraordinary prophet, Elijah
1:46:14
Speaker 1: the Tishbite. He appears abruptly in the narrative without introduction.
1:46:19
Speaker 1: King's Chapter seventeen records his first appearance. Now, Elijah the
1:46:24
Speaker 1: Tishbite of Tishbae in Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord,
1:46:30
Speaker 1: the God of Israel, lives before whom I stand, there
1:46:35
Speaker 1: shall be neither due nor reign these years except by
1:46:39
Speaker 1: my word. This declaration was a direct challenge to Bail,
1:46:43
Speaker 1: who was supposedly the god of rain and fertility. During
1:46:47
Speaker 1: the drought that followed, God cared for Elijah in miraculous ways,
1:46:52
Speaker 1: first by the brook of Cherith, where ravens brought him food. First,
1:46:56
Speaker 1: King seventeen says the ravens brought him bread and meet
1:47:00
Speaker 1: in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening,
1:47:03
Speaker 1: and he drank from the brook. When the brook dried up,
1:47:07
Speaker 1: God sent him to Zarafath, where a widow sustained him. There,
1:47:11
Speaker 1: Elijah performed two miracles. He made the widow's flower and
1:47:16
Speaker 1: oil last throughout the drought, and raised her son from
1:47:19
Speaker 1: the dead. After three years, God commanded Elijah to confront
1:47:24
Speaker 1: Ahab again. The king blamed the prophet for the drought.
1:47:29
Speaker 1: Versant King's Chapter eighteen records when Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab
1:47:33
Speaker 1: said to him, is it you, you troubler of Israel. Elijah
1:47:37
Speaker 1: boldly replied, as recorded in First Kings eighteen, I have
1:47:41
Speaker 1: not troubled Israel, but you have and your father's house,
1:47:45
Speaker 1: because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and
1:47:48
Speaker 1: followed the Bales. Then he proposed a challenge, a show
1:47:52
Speaker 1: down between himself and the prophets of Bail on Mount Carmel.
1:47:56
Speaker 1: First Kings eighteen describes Elijah's challenge. Now, therefore, send and
1:48:02
Speaker 1: gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the
1:48:05
Speaker 1: four hundred fifty prophets of Bail and the four hundred
1:48:08
Speaker 1: prophets of a sharer who eat at Jezebel's table on
1:48:12
Speaker 1: the mountain. Elijah proposed a test to determine who the
1:48:16
Speaker 1: true God was he said in Third Kings eighteen, let
1:48:20
Speaker 1: two bulls be given to us, and let them choose
1:48:24
Speaker 1: one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces and
1:48:27
Speaker 1: lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it.
1:48:30
Speaker 1: And I will prepare the other bull and lay it
1:48:32
Speaker 1: on the wood, and put no fire to it. And
1:48:35
Speaker 1: you call upon the name of your god, and I
1:48:38
Speaker 1: will call upon the name of the Lord. And the
1:48:40
Speaker 1: god who answers by fire, he is God. The prophets
1:48:44
Speaker 1: of Bail agreed and went first. They prepared their altar
1:48:48
Speaker 1: and called upon Bale from morning until noon First King's
1:48:51
Speaker 1: eighteen narrates. At noon, Elijah mocked them, saying, cry aloud,
1:48:56
Speaker 1: for he is a god. Either he is musing, or
1:48:58
Speaker 1: he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey,
1:49:02
Speaker 1: or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. The
1:49:05
Speaker 1: prophets became desperate. First King's eighteen recounts they cried aloud
1:49:10
Speaker 1: and cut themselves after their custom, with swords and lances,
1:49:14
Speaker 1: until the blood gushed out upon them. Despite all their efforts,
1:49:18
Speaker 1: there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention.
1:49:22
Speaker 1: When it was Elijah's turn, he first rebuilt the Lord's
1:49:25
Speaker 1: altar with twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then,
1:49:31
Speaker 1: to make the challenge even more dramatic, he ordered water
1:49:34
Speaker 1: to be poured over the altar until everything was soaked
1:49:38
Speaker 1: and the trench around it was filled. Then Elijah prayed
1:49:42
Speaker 1: a simple prayer in verse Kings eighteen, he prayed, O, Lord,
1:49:46
Speaker 1: God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known
1:49:50
Speaker 1: this day that you are God in Israel, and that
1:49:53
Speaker 1: I am your servant, and that I have done all
1:49:55
Speaker 1: these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer
1:49:59
Speaker 1: me that this people may know that you, O Lord,
1:50:03
Speaker 1: are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.
1:50:06
Speaker 1: The response was immediate and powerful. First Kings eighteen describes.
1:50:10
Speaker 1: Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the
1:50:13
Speaker 1: burnt offering and the wood, and the stones and the dust,
1:50:16
Speaker 1: and licked up the water that was in the trench.
1:50:19
Speaker 1: The people's reaction was dramatic. First Kings eighteen says, and
1:50:24
Speaker 1: when all the people saw it, they fell on their
1:50:26
Speaker 1: faces and said, the Lord he is God, the Lord
1:50:30
Speaker 1: he is God. With clear proof of who the true
1:50:33
Speaker 1: God was, Elijah ordered the execution of the false prophets.
1:50:38
Speaker 1: First Kings eighteen recounts and Elijah said to them, seize
1:50:42
Speaker 1: the prophets of Baal. Let not one of them escape.
1:50:45
Speaker 1: And they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to
1:50:48
Speaker 1: the brook Kishon and slaughtered them. There After this victory,
1:50:52
Speaker 1: Elijah announced the end of the drought. First Kings eighteen
1:50:57
Speaker 1: narrates that Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel,
1:51:00
Speaker 1: and he bowed himself down on the earth and put
1:51:03
Speaker 1: his face between his knees to pray for rain. Soon after,
1:51:08
Speaker 1: the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there
1:51:12
Speaker 1: was a great rain. After the spectacular victory on Mount Carmel,
1:51:17
Speaker 1: one might naturally expect Elijah to feel confident and empowered. Surprisingly,
1:51:23
Speaker 1: we see the opposite. When Jezebel threatened to kill him,
1:51:26
Speaker 1: Elijah fled for his life. King's nineteen recounts, and when
1:51:32
Speaker 1: he saw that, he arose and ran for his life
1:51:36
Speaker 1: and came to be a sheba which belongs to Judah,
1:51:39
Speaker 1: and left his servant there. Elijah not only fled to Judah,
1:51:44
Speaker 1: but continued into the wilderness, desiring to die. First King's
1:51:48
Speaker 1: nineteen states but he himself went a day's journey into
1:51:52
Speaker 1: the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree,
1:51:56
Speaker 1: and he prayed that he might die, and said, it
1:51:59
Speaker 1: is enough now, Lord, take my life, for I am
1:52:04
Speaker 1: no better than my father's. This moment reveals the humanity
1:52:08
Speaker 1: of the great prophet. Even after witnessing God's power in
1:52:12
Speaker 1: extraordinary ways, Elijah fell into deep discouragement. He had hoped
1:52:17
Speaker 1: the demonstration at Carmel would lead to a national revival,
1:52:21
Speaker 1: but Jezebel's threat showed that nothing had truly changed among
1:52:26
Speaker 1: Israel's leadership. God dealt tenderly with his exhausted servant First
1:52:31
Speaker 1: Kings nineteen narrates. Then as he lay and slept under
1:52:36
Speaker 1: a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him and said
1:52:39
Speaker 1: to him, arise and eat. God provided not only food
1:52:44
Speaker 1: but also rest. After eating and sleeping again, Elijah was
1:52:48
Speaker 1: strengthened for a long journey First King's nineteen recounts. And
1:52:53
Speaker 1: the Angel of the Lord came back the second time
1:52:56
Speaker 1: and touched him and said, arise and eat, because the
1:52:59
Speaker 1: journey is too great for you. So he arose and
1:53:03
Speaker 1: ate and drank. And he went in the strength of
1:53:06
Speaker 1: that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb,
1:53:09
Speaker 1: the mountain of God. At Mount Horeb, another name for
1:53:13
Speaker 1: Mount Sinai, Elijah experienced an intimate encounter with God. First,
1:53:19
Speaker 1: the Lord asked him what he was doing there. Elijah
1:53:22
Speaker 1: poured out his disappointment and loneliness. First Kings nineteen records
1:53:27
Speaker 1: him saying, I have been very zealous for the Lord,
1:53:30
Speaker 1: God of Hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken
1:53:34
Speaker 1: your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets
1:53:38
Speaker 1: with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek
1:53:41
Speaker 1: to take my life. God then revealed himself to Elijah
1:53:46
Speaker 1: in a surprising way. First Kings nineteen describes then he said,
1:53:51
Speaker 1: go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord,
1:53:54
Speaker 1: and behold. The Lord passed by, and a great and
1:53:58
Speaker 1: strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks
1:54:01
Speaker 1: in pieces before the Lord. But the Lord was not
1:54:04
Speaker 1: in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, but
1:54:07
Speaker 1: the Lord was not in the earthquake, And after the
1:54:10
Speaker 1: earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire,
1:54:14
Speaker 1: and after the fire, a still small voice. God was
1:54:19
Speaker 1: not in the spectacular events, not in the wind, nor
1:54:24
Speaker 1: the earthquake, nor the fire, but in the still small voice.
1:54:30
Speaker 1: This experience taught Elijah that God does not always work
1:54:33
Speaker 1: through dramatic displays like those at Mount Carmel. Sometimes he
1:54:37
Speaker 1: operates quietly through ordinary means and ordinary people. God then
1:54:42
Speaker 1: gave Elijah three assignments, to anoint Hazel as king over Syria,
1:54:47
Speaker 1: Jihu as king over Israel, and Elishah as his prophetic successor.
1:54:52
Speaker 1: First Kings nineteen explains, you shall Anointjihu the son of
1:54:57
Speaker 1: Nimshi as king over Israel, and Elisha, the son of
1:55:01
Speaker 1: Shaffat of Abel Meholah. You shall anoint us prophet in
1:55:04
Speaker 1: your place. God also corrected Elijah's distorted view that he
1:55:09
Speaker 1: was the only faithful one left humat King's nineteen states,
1:55:13
Speaker 1: Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose
1:55:17
Speaker 1: knees have not bowed to bail, and every mouth that
1:55:20
Speaker 1: has not kissed him. This revelation must have been incredibly
1:55:24
Speaker 1: comforting to Elijah. He was not alone. There were thousands
1:55:29
Speaker 1: of faithful ones whom God knew, even if they were hidden.
1:55:33
Speaker 1: Revitalized by this encounter with God, Elijah set out to
1:55:37
Speaker 1: fulfill his mission. The first step was finding Elisha, earned
1:55:42
Speaker 1: to King's nineteen narrates, so he departed from there and
1:55:46
Speaker 1: found Elisha, the son of Shafat, who was plowing with
1:55:49
Speaker 1: twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with
1:55:52
Speaker 1: the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his
1:55:55
Speaker 1: mantle on him. This symbolic act of casting his mantle
1:56:00
Speaker 1: on Elisha indicated that he would be Elijah's successor. Elisha
1:56:05
Speaker 1: immediately understood its meaning. First King's nineteen recounts, and he
1:56:09
Speaker 1: left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, please,
1:56:13
Speaker 1: let me kiss my father and my mother, and then
1:56:16
Speaker 1: I will follow you. And Elijah said to him, go
1:56:20
Speaker 1: back again, for what have I done to you. Elisha
1:56:24
Speaker 1: demonstrated his total commitment. First Kings nineteen says, So Elisha
1:56:29
Speaker 1: turned back from him and took a yoke of oxen
1:56:32
Speaker 1: and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh using the oxen's equipment,
1:56:36
Speaker 1: and gave it to the people and they ate. Then
1:56:39
Speaker 1: he arose and followed Elijah and became his servant. By
1:56:43
Speaker 1: burning his plow and sacrificing his oxen, Elijah showed there
1:56:47
Speaker 1: would be no turning back. He was fully committed to
1:56:50
Speaker 1: his new calling as Elijah's disciple and successor. During Ahab's reign,
1:56:55
Speaker 1: Israel faced a significant external threat Ben Hadad, King of six.
1:57:00
Speaker 1: These wars, although political in nature, also had a spiritual dimension,
1:57:05
Speaker 1: showing that God still cared for Israel despite widespread idolatry.
1:57:12
Speaker 1: The first confrontation began when Ben Hadad besieged Samaria with
1:57:16
Speaker 1: a powerful army. First Kings twenty narrates now Ben Hadad,
1:57:21
Speaker 1: King of Syria, gathered all his forces together. Thirty two
1:57:25
Speaker 1: kings were with him with horses and chariots, and he
1:57:29
Speaker 1: went up and besieged Samaria and made war against it.
1:57:33
Speaker 1: He sent messengers to Ahab with arrogant demands. First at
1:57:37
Speaker 1: Kings twenty says your silver and your gold are mine.
1:57:41
Speaker 1: Your loveliest wives and children are mine. Surprisingly, Ahab initially agreed, Bursart.
1:57:48
Speaker 1: Kings twenty records his response, just as you say, my lord,
1:57:52
Speaker 1: O King, I and all that I have are yours.
1:57:57
Speaker 1: But Ben Hadad wanted even more. He sent another message
1:58:02
Speaker 1: saying he would send his servants to ransack the palace
1:58:05
Speaker 1: and take whatever they desired. This outrageous demand led Ahab
1:58:09
Speaker 1: to consult the elders, who advised him not to give in.
1:58:13
Speaker 1: In response, Ahab said to Ben Hadad, tell my Lord
1:58:17
Speaker 1: the King, all that you sent for to your servant
1:58:20
Speaker 1: the first time, I will do. But this thing I
1:58:23
Speaker 1: cannot do. Ben Hadad reacted with threats. First Kings twenty
1:58:28
Speaker 1: recounts his words, may the gods do so to me,
1:58:33
Speaker 1: and more also, if enough dust is left of Samaria
1:58:36
Speaker 1: for a handful for each of the people who follow me.
1:58:39
Speaker 1: Ahab responded with a wise proverb, First Kings twenty says,
1:58:44
Speaker 1: tell him, let not the one who puts on his
1:58:46
Speaker 1: armor boast like the one who takes it off. In
1:58:50
Speaker 1: other words, don't boast before the battle, as if you
1:58:53
Speaker 1: have already won. At this critical moment, a prophet approached
1:58:58
Speaker 1: Ahab with a surprising message. First at King's twenty declares,
1:59:02
Speaker 1: thus says the Lord, have you seen all this great multitude? Behold,
1:59:07
Speaker 1: I will deliver it into your hand to day, and
1:59:10
Speaker 1: you shall know that I am the Lord. Ah have
1:59:14
Speaker 1: asked how this would happen, and the prophet explained it
1:59:16
Speaker 1: would be through the young men of the provincial commanders,
1:59:20
Speaker 1: inexperienced young officers, not the main army. This unlikely strategy
1:59:26
Speaker 1: was meant to show that victory would come from God,
1:59:29
Speaker 1: not from Israel's military strength. Following divine instructions, Ahab first
1:59:35
Speaker 1: sent out the two hundred and thirty two young officers,
1:59:38
Speaker 1: followed by the small army of seven thousand men. In
1:59:41
Speaker 1: First Kings twenty, it recounts that they went out at
1:59:45
Speaker 1: noon while Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the
1:59:49
Speaker 1: tents with his allies, confident in his superiority. When Ben
1:59:54
Speaker 1: Hadad was informed that the Israelites were coming out of
1:59:57
Speaker 1: the city, he arrogantly ordered in Brial Kings twenty, if
2:00:02
Speaker 1: they have come out for peace, take them alive, and
2:00:05
Speaker 1: if they have come out for war, take them alive.
2:00:08
Speaker 1: To his surprise, the young Israelite officers began defeating the
2:00:13
Speaker 1: Syrian forces. First King's twenty records the young men of
2:00:18
Speaker 1: the provincial commanders marched out of the city with the
2:00:21
Speaker 1: army behind them, and each one struck down his opponent.
2:00:26
Speaker 1: The Syrian army panicked and fled, with Ben Hadad escaping
2:00:30
Speaker 1: on horseback. Israel achieved an unlikely victory, exactly as the
2:00:34
Speaker 1: prophet had foretold. The prophet warned Ahab that Ben Hadad
2:00:38
Speaker 1: would return the following year. In First Kings twenty, he instructed,
2:00:42
Speaker 1: go strengthen yourself take note and see what you must do,
2:00:47
Speaker 1: for in the spring the king of Syria will come
2:00:49
Speaker 1: up against you. Ben Hadad's advisers offered two explanations for
2:00:54
Speaker 1: their defeat. First, they believed that the God of Israel
2:00:58
Speaker 1: was a god of the hills, so they suggested fighting
2:01:01
Speaker 1: on the plains instead. In First Kings twenty, they said,
2:01:05
Speaker 1: their gods are gods of the hills. That's why they
2:01:09
Speaker 1: were stronger than us. But if we fight them on
2:01:12
Speaker 1: the plains, surely we will be stronger than they. They
2:01:15
Speaker 1: also advised a military reorganization, replacing the allied kings with
2:01:20
Speaker 1: professional captains. Following this advice, Ben Hadad gathered another army
2:01:25
Speaker 1: and attacked at Effeck on the plains. Once again. A
2:01:29
Speaker 1: man of God approached Ahab with a promise of victory.
2:01:35
Speaker 1: In First Kings twenty he said, thus says the Lord,
2:01:38
Speaker 1: because the Syrians have said the Lord is God of
2:01:42
Speaker 1: the hills, but he is not God of the valleys,
2:01:46
Speaker 1: I will deliver this great multitude into your hand, and
2:01:50
Speaker 1: you shall know that I am the Lord. After seven
2:01:54
Speaker 1: days of mutual observation, the battle began. The result was
2:01:58
Speaker 1: a crushing victory for his ill Israel First King's twenty
2:02:02
Speaker 1: records the Israelites killed one hundred thousand Syrian foot soldiers
2:02:07
Speaker 1: in one day. The rest fled to the city of Afhek,
2:02:10
Speaker 1: and the wall fell on twenty seven thousand of the
2:02:14
Speaker 1: remaining men, Ben Hadad fled and hid in the city.
2:02:18
Speaker 1: His servants suggested surrendering, having heard that the kings of
2:02:21
Speaker 1: Israel were merciful. In Verse Kings twenty, they said, we
2:02:25
Speaker 1: have heard that the kings of the House of Israel
2:02:28
Speaker 1: are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth around our waists
2:02:31
Speaker 1: and ropes around our heads and go out to the
2:02:34
Speaker 1: King of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life. Ben
2:02:38
Speaker 1: Hadad surrendered, and surprisingly Ahab treated him like a brother
2:02:43
Speaker 1: and made a treaty with him. In First Kings twenty,
2:02:47
Speaker 1: ben Hadad promised, the cities my father took from your father,
2:02:51
Speaker 1: I will return, and you may set up market places
2:02:54
Speaker 1: for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.
2:02:57
Speaker 1: Ahab responded, I will let you go on these terms.
2:03:02
Speaker 1: So he made a treaty with him and let him go.
2:03:05
Speaker 1: This generous treaty displeased God. A prophet using a vivid
2:03:11
Speaker 1: parable condemned Ahab for letting ben Hadad escape. In First
2:03:15
Speaker 1: Kings twenty the prophet declared, thus, says the Lord, because
2:03:19
Speaker 1: you have let slip out of your hand, the man
2:03:22
Speaker 1: I had appointed for destruction, your life shall be for
2:03:25
Speaker 1: his life, and your people for his people. Ahab went
2:03:29
Speaker 1: home sullen and angry because of this message, revealing that
2:03:33
Speaker 1: even when God granted him military victories, he was still
2:03:37
Speaker 1: unwilling to fully obey divine instruction. While the wars against
2:03:42
Speaker 1: Syria demonstrated that God still protected Israel externally, the episode
2:03:47
Speaker 1: of Naboth's Vineyard revealed the internal corruption that had taken
2:03:52
Speaker 1: root in the kingdom's leadership. The story begins with a
2:03:56
Speaker 1: seemingly simple desire. In verse King's the twenty one, it says,
2:04:01
Speaker 1: some time later Naboth, the Jezreelite, had a vineyard in
2:04:05
Speaker 1: Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
2:04:09
Speaker 1: Ahab said to Naboth, give me your vineyard so I
2:04:12
Speaker 1: can use it for a vegetable garden, since it is
2:04:15
Speaker 1: close to my palace. In exchange, I will give you
2:04:18
Speaker 1: a better vineyard, or if you prefer, I will pay
2:04:21
Speaker 1: you its value in money. Ahab made a fair offer
2:04:26
Speaker 1: another vineyard or money in exchange, but Naboth refused based
2:04:31
Speaker 1: on Israelite law and tradition. In First Kings twenty one,
2:04:36
Speaker 1: he replied, the Lord forbid that I should give you
2:04:39
Speaker 1: the inheritance of my ancestors. According to Israelite law, family
2:04:45
Speaker 1: land was a sacred inheritance that was supposed to remain
2:04:48
Speaker 1: within the family Leviticus twenty five, twenty three to twenty eight.
2:04:53
Speaker 1: Naboth was simply being faithful to God's law by refusing
2:04:57
Speaker 1: the offer. Ahab was deeply disappointed. Burst Kings twenty one recounts,
2:05:04
Speaker 1: so Ahab went home sullen and angry because Naboth, the Jezreelite,
2:05:09
Speaker 1: had said, I will not give you the inheritance of
2:05:12
Speaker 1: my ancestors. He lay on his bed, turned his face away,
2:05:16
Speaker 1: and refused to eat. When Jezebel discovered the cause of
2:05:20
Speaker 1: her husband's sadness, she mocked his weakness. In verse Kings
2:05:24
Speaker 1: twenty one, she asked, is this how you act as
2:05:27
Speaker 1: king over Israel? Get up and eat. Cheer up, I'll
2:05:30
Speaker 1: get you the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite. Jezebel viewed
2:05:35
Speaker 1: royal power as absolute, without the legal or moral limits
2:05:39
Speaker 1: that Israelite tradition imposed to her. If the King wanted something,
2:05:44
Speaker 1: he should simply take it. So she devised a cruel plan.
2:05:48
Speaker 1: In First Kings twenty one, it says she wrote letters
2:05:52
Speaker 1: in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent
2:05:55
Speaker 1: them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city.
2:05:58
Speaker 1: In the letters, he ordered them to organize a false trial.
2:06:02
Speaker 1: In Birse Kings twenty one, she instructed proclaim a fast
2:06:06
Speaker 1: and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people,
2:06:09
Speaker 1: but seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring
2:06:12
Speaker 1: charges that he has cursed both God and the king.
2:06:16
Speaker 1: Then take him out and stone him to death. The
2:06:19
Speaker 1: city leaders obeyed without question. First King's twenty one records
2:06:25
Speaker 1: the men of Naboth's city, the elders and nobles who
2:06:29
Speaker 1: lived there, did as Jezebel had directed in the letters
2:06:32
Speaker 1: she had written to them. They orchestrated a religious trial,
2:06:36
Speaker 1: brought forth false witnesses, and sentenced Naboth to death for
2:06:40
Speaker 1: a crime he did not commit. In First Kings chapter
2:06:43
Speaker 1: twenty one, it says, and they stoned him with stones
2:06:47
Speaker 1: so that he died. When they reported Naboth's death to Jezebel,
2:06:52
Speaker 1: she told Ahab, arise and take possession of the vineyard
2:06:56
Speaker 1: of Naboth, the Jezreelite, which he refused to sell you
2:06:59
Speaker 1: for money, for Naboth is no longer alive but dead.
2:07:04
Speaker 1: Ahab immediately went to seize the vineyard, becoming complicit in
2:07:09
Speaker 1: the murder of an innocent man. He didn't even question
2:07:13
Speaker 1: how the vineyard had suddenly become available so conveniently, But
2:07:17
Speaker 1: God saw everything and sent Elijah to confront Ahab. In
2:07:23
Speaker 1: First King's chapter twenty one, the Lord said, arise, go
2:07:27
Speaker 1: down to meet Ahab, King of Israel, who is in Samaria.
2:07:31
Speaker 1: He is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has
2:07:33
Speaker 1: gone to take possession. You shall speak to him saying,
2:07:37
Speaker 1: thus says the Lord. Have you murdered and also taken possession?
2:07:42
Speaker 1: And you shall speak to him again, saying, thus says
2:07:45
Speaker 1: the Lord. In the place where dogs licked the blood
2:07:48
Speaker 1: of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours. When
2:07:53
Speaker 1: Ahab saw Elijah, he immediately knew judgment was coming. In
2:07:58
Speaker 1: Verse Kings chapter twenty one, he said, have you found
2:08:01
Speaker 1: me o my enemy. Elijah did not hold back. In
2:08:04
Speaker 1: First King's Chapter twenty one, he declared, I have found
2:08:07
Speaker 1: you because you have sold yourself to do evil in
2:08:10
Speaker 1: the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring calamity
2:08:14
Speaker 1: upon you and will utterly sweep away your descendants and
2:08:17
Speaker 1: cut off from Ahab every mail, both bond and free
2:08:21
Speaker 1: in Israel. The judgment would be harsh and absolute. Ahab's
2:08:26
Speaker 1: dynasty would be completely destroyed, just as the houses of
2:08:30
Speaker 1: Jeroboam and Basha had been before him. The reasons were twofold,
2:08:35
Speaker 1: his idolatry, and the moral corruption exemplified by the case
2:08:39
Speaker 1: of Niboth Dot. Elijah also had a specific message for Jezebel.
2:08:44
Speaker 1: In First Kings Chapter twenty one, he prophesied and concerning Jezebel,
2:08:50
Speaker 1: the Lord also spoke, saying, the dogs shall eat Jezebel
2:08:54
Speaker 1: by the wall of Jezreel. He who dies of Ahab
2:08:57
Speaker 1: in the city, the dog shall eat, and he who
2:09:00
Speaker 1: dies in the field, the birds of the heavens shall eat.
2:09:05
Speaker 1: This judgment was well deserved for First Kings Chapter twenty
2:09:09
Speaker 1: one concludes, surely there was no one like Ahab who
2:09:13
Speaker 1: sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord,
2:09:17
Speaker 1: because Jezebel, his wife, incited him, and he acted very
2:09:21
Speaker 1: abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites
2:09:26
Speaker 1: had done, whom the Lord cast out before the children
2:09:29
Speaker 1: of Israel. Amazingly, Ahab responded with genuine repentance. In First
2:09:35
Speaker 1: Kings chapter twenty one, it says, and it came about
2:09:38
Speaker 1: when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes,
2:09:42
Speaker 1: put on sackcloth, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and
2:09:46
Speaker 1: went about despondently. God acknowledged this repentance and adjusted the judgment.
2:09:52
Speaker 1: In First Kings chapter twenty one, God said to Elijah,
2:09:56
Speaker 1: have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me?
2:10:00
Speaker 1: Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not
2:10:03
Speaker 1: bring the disaster in his days, but in his son's days,
2:10:07
Speaker 1: I will bring the disaster upon his house. This episode
2:10:12
Speaker 1: powerfully reveals God's mercy even toward the most corruptive kings.
2:10:17
Speaker 1: When there is true repentance, the judgment would still come,
2:10:22
Speaker 1: but it was postponed by a generation. The story of
2:10:26
Speaker 1: Naboth's Vineyard highlights the moral decay that had corroded Israel's leadership.
2:10:32
Speaker 1: The justice system meant to protect the rights of ordinary citizens,
2:10:37
Speaker 1: had been turned into a tool of oppression by those
2:10:40
Speaker 1: in power. God's Law, which established boundaries for rulers, was ignored,
2:10:45
Speaker 1: and innocent lives could be taken simply for the convenience
2:10:49
Speaker 1: of the Mighty. Yet even in such darkness, the prophetic
2:10:54
Speaker 1: voice remained alive, reminding both king and people that a
2:10:59
Speaker 1: higher standard and of justice existed, and that ultimately every
2:11:03
Speaker 1: one would be held accountable to God. Ahab's story concludes
2:11:08
Speaker 1: with his death, just as prophesied. After three years of
2:11:12
Speaker 1: peace between Israel and Syria, Ahab allied with Jehoshaphat, king
2:11:17
Speaker 1: of Judah, to reclaim Ramoth Gilead. Despite warnings from the
2:11:21
Speaker 1: prophet Machaea, Ahab went into battle, attempting to disguise himself
2:11:26
Speaker 1: to avoid the foretold fate. In First Kings, Chapter twenty two,
2:11:31
Speaker 1: a Syrian archer drew his bow at random and struck
2:11:36
Speaker 1: Ahab between the joints of the armor. Ahab was propped
2:11:41
Speaker 1: up in his chariot throughout the battle to avoid demoralizing
2:11:44
Speaker 1: the troops, but died by sunset when his blooded chariot
2:11:49
Speaker 1: was washed in the pool of Samaria. Dogs licked his blood,
2:11:53
Speaker 1: fulfilling Elijah's prophecy to the letter. His son Ahaziah succeeded him,
2:12:00
Speaker 1: continuing the cycle of idolatry that had become a pattern
2:12:04
Speaker 1: in the Northern Kingdom. Israel and Judah, once united under
2:12:08
Speaker 1: David and Solomon, now followed starkly different paths. The Northern
2:12:13
Speaker 1: Kingdom remained trapped in a cycle of violence, instability, and
2:12:17
Speaker 1: idolatry that would eventually lead to its destruction. The Southern Kingdom,
2:12:23
Speaker 1: though not without its own troubles, maintained David's lineage and
2:12:26
Speaker 1: occasionally experienced spiritual renewals that reconnected them to the God
2:12:31
Speaker 1: of their ancestors. And finally we reached the end of
2:12:35
Speaker 1: this grand book. What an incredible journey we've taken. Through
2:12:38
Speaker 1: the sacred pages of verse kings, we witnessed a divided kingdom,
2:12:43
Speaker 1: good and evil kings, courageous prophets, and astonishing miracles. Did
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Speaker 1: you notice how the choices of each individual didn't just
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Speaker 1: change their own lives, but shifted the destiny of entire nations.
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Speaker 1: What God did back then, he still does today. He
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Speaker 1: continues to speak, guide and seek faithful hearts like yours.
2:13:05
Speaker 1: If you enjoyed this journey through the Bible, don't keep
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Speaker 1: it to yourself. Hit that like button right now and
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Speaker 1: share this video with friends and family who also need
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Speaker 1: to hear these powerful stories. Every share could touch a life.
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Speaker 1: And of course, don't miss the next episodes in this series.
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Speaker 1: There's so much more Bible history waiting for you. Subscribe
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Speaker 1: to the channel, hit the notification bell, and let's keep
2:13:30
Speaker 1: exploring God's word in a way you've never experienced before.
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Speaker 1: Drop a comment below and tell us which part of
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Speaker 1: the story touched your heart the most. Was it Elijah's
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Speaker 1: challenge on Mount Carmel, Naboth's courage, or maybe God's mercy
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Speaker 1: even toward kings like Ahab See you next time. May
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Speaker 1: God bless your weak