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1 Kings 11 (Part 2) Bible Study (The Lord Raises Adversaries) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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So at this point, meet me in the book of First Kings Chapter 11,
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First Kings Chapter 11, where we will complete this chapter
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together by the grace of God and before we even begin anything,
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let's pray Nestle Lord for help. Father, we are fully convinced
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that if you don't help us, this will be a powerless A futile
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meeting. Lord, we know that and
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everything that we do, even in your name, it requires your
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help. And so we look to you with
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genuine, sincere hearts, fully convinced that you must be here
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and you must guide us through these verses.
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So we pray with absolute trust and joy, knowing that this is a
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prayer that you are excited to answer, that you will indeed
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teach us the truth, so that we can know you and walk with you
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the way that you've called us to.
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So Lord, may we hear your voice in this time, and may we be
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changed as a result of these things.
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In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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For the rest of this chapter, you and I are going to read,
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maybe painfully, of the detailed consequences of Solomon's
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disobedience. Last week, where we came
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together to the beginning of this chapter, we learned of the
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great breach of Solomon's sin and what it violated in terms of
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God's covenant and His laws to him and the people of Israel.
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But this evening we are going to learn and be reminded yet again
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that sin is not free. Sin has wages.
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No matter what sin we entertain consciously, there is always a
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undisclosed price tag attached to it.
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And what we're going to learn here in this lengthy portion of
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Scripture is just that. And although the consequences
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and the repercussions of Solomon's sin are unique to him,
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because he is a king, and because he is a descendant of
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the Davidic line, the overarching reality and the
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experiences that he will endure are universal, are universal.
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Meaning the essence of these outcomes are relative to you and
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I. Because what we have to
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understand as children of God is that when we even sin, though we
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have been grafted in by grace, and though we have been
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justified by faith, that does not mean we can pursue this walk
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the way we want. No, there are still rules and
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regulations, boundaries within this relationship that bless us.
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And when we violate or veer off, we pay a price, to an extent.
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And that's especially true when we premeditatively and
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intentionally pursue wrongdoing. And so if there's any way to
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frame this text and to divide these verses, if there is a
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title that you can take away from this Bible study, it is
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this. I want to speak to you tonight
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about three things that deliberate disobedience will
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affect in your life. Three things that deliberate
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disobedience will affect in your life, and that is illustrated by
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Solomon's example. And we will begin now in verse
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9. And let's read here the verse
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the 1st 2 verses of the portion allotted to us we read here in
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First Kings 11, verse nine. And the Lord was angry with
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Solomon because his heart turned away from the Lord, the God of
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Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him
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concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods.
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But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.
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The first thing that deliberate disobedience effects, if you're
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taking notes, is this. The pleasure of the Lord, The
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pleasure of the Lord. What we read here at the outset
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of this Bible study is something that we don't hear often about,
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and that is the Lord's anger, the Lord's anger toward someone
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And we learn much about the Lord's jealousy last week.
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And just like the Lord's jealousy, his anger is always
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justified. It is a holy anger.
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It is never erratic. It is never inexcusable.
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It is something that is always tied to his righteous character
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and that is no different here. We see here that the Lord was
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angry with one of his servants, and this is important to see,
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especially when you compare it with how we began with Solomon's
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reign. When you reflect on where
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Solomon started, it makes this commentary even more
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heartbreaking. Turn with me to 1st Kings 3,
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where Solomon begged the Lord for wisdom as he realized that
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he has been appointed the throne and he knew that he could not do
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this without God's assistance. And so he pleads with the Lord
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for wisdom. And this is the Lord's response
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to Solomon's heart posture at the beginning of his career in
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First Kings chapter 3, verse 10. It pleased the Lord.
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It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
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So Solomon began with pleasing the Lord, and at the last
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chapter of his life he ends up grieving the Lord.
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He starts by pleasing the Lord. He ends by grieving the Lord.
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And I believe that this consequence to sin is especially
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effective for those who have personal history with God.
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For the people here who have walk with the Lord, who have
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worshipped the Lord and enjoyed worshipping the Lord.
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For those who have prayed and sought answers.
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For those who even at this time can look back and point to
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moments where God intervened with His love and His undeserved
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acts of mercy. This should, this should, should
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stir us. Because what we learned from
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this is that the first thing sin does is it breaks God's heart.
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It breaks God's heart, this anger here, yes, it stems from a
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law that has been broken, but read again with me, says here in
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the Lord verse nine was angry with Solomon because his heart
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had turned away from the Lord. This is a heart thing.
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This is relationship. This is this is a longing that
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God has for our hearts. And most of us in here, I'm
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sure, cannot be at ease knowing that our inexcusable actions are
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causing a loved one to be heartbroken.
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That would disturb us if our conscience has not been
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completely seared. That would move us, That would
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haunt us to a certain degree. And some of you in here have
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experienced the pain of heartbreak as a result of
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somebody else's failure in your life, maybe a friend that you've
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had many memories with who has made promises to you, who's even
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said to you that we will be friends for the rest of our
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lives. I'm always here for you.
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And they have doing something that betrayed you and that broke
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your heart. You know what that feels like?
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And I think this is important to put ourselves in the shoes of
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the Lord because he's expressing this from a place of
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relationship. He's not just expressing this
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from a legal standpoint. This is God's heart being broken
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because the heart of one of his own has turned away from him.
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Feel that. Feel that and translate that
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into your life as you are tempted with sin.
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What will this do to my God, to his heart?
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I've talked to many people who have found themselves in deep
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sin, consecutive seasons of sin, and I've been disappointed not
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because necessarily they are in sin, though that is
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heartbreaking in itself, but their confession of sin.
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Many people are more concerned about their reputation, their
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resources, what their elders might think, what their wives
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might think, what their and very little people.
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In my own experience, your experience might be different.
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My own experience, very little people have confessed.
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I've broken God's heart, I've broken my God's heart.
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And the Holy Spirit gives us texts like this to show that his
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heart is effective. Primarily.
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You know, when the Lord Jesus spoke through John to the seven
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churches in Revelation, the first church that was addressed
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was the Church of Ephesus. It was a doctrinally sound
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church. It was a church that can sniff a
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false apostle a mile away. It was a church that worked
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hard. But it was a church that was
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indicted for this one thing. Most word for word translations
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put Revelation 2 four. In this way you have left your
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first love. The ESV would say it this way.
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You have left the love that you had at first.
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But if you understand it in how most translations put it, you
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have left your first love that says something about what God
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longs from us. You've probably heard other
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people. You probably said this yourself.
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You love God and you heard people say I love God.
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But God's not after just your love.
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He wants your first love. God will not settle for 2nd
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place. He will not.
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In your heart, God wants preeminence By virtue of being
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creator, sustainer, provider, savior.
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God is worthy of your first love.
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He does not want any rivals. He does not want a slot in your
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heart. He wants the whole thing.
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And so he tells this church you've left your first love.
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Oh, I'm sure they didn't stop loving God, but he was removed
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from first place. And Solomon here has done much
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more than just leaving his first love.
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This man walked away from God completely.
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And we're we're learning something about why God was
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grieved even more. It's at the last part of verse
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9. So Solomon turned his heart away
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from the Lord, and then the Holy Spirit says the God of Israel,
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who had appeared to him twice. That moved me.
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We've studied how the Lord appeared to Solomon twice, with
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unique and incredible manifestations of his voice.
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You know, you have some people who believe that if they just
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have these incredible experiences with God, if they
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just witness certain miracles, or if they experience the Lord
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in a personal and extraordinary way, that they'll be more
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dedicated to him. Solomon proves otherwise.
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Here's this man who had two experiences that most of us, if
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not all of us, would never experience on this side of
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glory. And despite those experiences,
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he was still able to turn away from the Lord.
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Experiences do not automatically mean that you will be faithful.
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It should cause you to be more faithful because what we learn
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from this, according to what the Holy Spirit reveals, is that God
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takes into account the testimonies and the experiences
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that He grants us. He remembers it.
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And the greater our experiences are with God, the greater our
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responsibility is to God. The greater our experiences are
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with God, the greater our responsibility is to God.
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That is true for every individual, and that was
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especially true for this nation called Israel under the Old
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Covenant. Turn with me to Amos Chapter 3,
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verse 2. You get a lot of people today
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who are bent out of shape, even I'm talking about those within
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Christendom, about this idea that God has made a covenant
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with this people called Israel. And that covenant still stands.
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And one of the arguments is, well, how is it that God can
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make such a promise to one people group?
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Yes, we know that in the cross. We know that because of what
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Christ has done, that wall of hostility is brought down.
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Gentiles have been grafted in. I don't want to get into that
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discussion now, but I want to make a comment based on what the
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Lord himself has said, that although this people experience
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certain privileges, with those privileges came
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responsibilities. Here's what he says in Amos 32,
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the Lord speaks to these people and He says, you only have I
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known of all the families of the earth.
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He's highlighting the privilege of being elected unto a service
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you only have. I known of all the families of
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the earth. Therefore I will punish you for
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all your iniquities. Do you see that, Israel?
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Don't get it twisted. Just because you've been
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selected by me from all the families of the earth does not
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mean that I wink at your sin. Does not mean that you get to
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have special treatment from me. No, no, no.
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In fact, because you belong to me.
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Because you've been called to specific role on the earth, you
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have extra accountability from me.
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And so I will punish you for your iniquities.
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So yes, Paul confesses that this people had an advantage, but we
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also seen the Scriptures that with that advantage came great
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accountability. And we look at this and we see
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this relatable to Solomon as a king in Israel and the people of
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Israel. Well, no.
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It relates to us as well. We have different churches
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represented here, and I pray that every single one of you,
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wherever you come from, go to a Bible preaching God fearing
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assembly. And if you do, you should
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rejoice in that and consider that a gift from the Lord.
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But with that gift also is a responsibility.
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Don't boast too much that your pastor preaches good sermons,
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because you'll be held accountable for what you hear
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every week. Now, we don't think about it
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that way, right? Oh, yes.
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We want deeper revelation of God's word.
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We want to learn it at a rate that might not be normal.
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Perhaps we want a depth that most people won't have.
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OK, great. But understand that with what
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God will show you, he will hold you accountable.
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This is not just information. This information demands
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obedience. It demands change.
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And and so with the degree that he reveals himself and gifts us
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and gives us experiences, comes a responsibility.
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God appeared to Solomon twice, and he notes that in light of
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his disobedience, how could you walk away from God after you've
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given you these experiences? And so it's a warning, even it's
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a warning, and this chapter really is a warning.
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The first thing that are deliberate disobedience effects
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is the pleasure of the Lord, the heart of God.
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The second thing that are deliberate disobedience effects
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are the promises of the Lord, so the pleasure of the Lord, but
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now the promises of the Lord. Let's read from verse 11.
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Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, since this has been
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your practice, other transitions will say this way, since you
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have done this. But the ESP says, since this has
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been your practice, and you have not kept my covenant and my
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statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the
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Kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.
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Yet, for the sake of your father, I will not do it in your
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days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
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However, I will not tear away all the Kingdom, but I will give
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one tribe to your son, for the sake of David, my servant, and
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for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.
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So the Lord is repeating something.
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You've heard me emphasize a word tear, tear away.
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And he's telling Solomon, who has enjoyed the the rule over
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all the tribes of Israel, that things are going to change now.
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I'm going to remove a majority of these tribes.
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For the sake of your father, David.
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I'll keep one. I'll keep one for you and the
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rest of your descendants. But your experience of having
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the entire nation will now be affected because of your
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disobedience. This was a promise that God gave
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to David. He gave to his son and the
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succeeding kings. And now this promise would not
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be experienced in its fullness. Contrary to popular belief, not
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every promise that God gives is unconditional.
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Praise God that the significant ones are.
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But not every blessing is automatic, even for those who
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are walking in Christ. There are certain things that
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can only be unlocked and enjoyed in the place of conscious
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obedience to the Lord's Word and cannot be known otherwise.
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And what we need to do as diligent students is realize
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what it is that God demands of us in the New Covenant to know
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that how we can experience all of his promises in Christ Jesus
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on this side of heaven. And I think of one example of
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how this is true. It's in Second Corinthians 71
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where Paul makes this amazing claim and provides this
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wonderful insight for what our motivation one of our motivation
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should be in pursuing complete holiness. 2nd Corinthians 7, one
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reads. Since we have these promises,
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Beloved, Since we have these promises, beloved, let us
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cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit,
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bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
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There's so many things I can say about this verse.
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Let me make one comment before I get to the main point.
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OK? Notice, he says, bringing
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holiness to completion in the fear of God.
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Holiness is not a scary word. Maybe in your upbringing, if you
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came from a legalistic background, you equate holiness
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as a dirty thing. As a legalistic concept,
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holiness is simply health for your spirit.
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None of you are afraid of health for your body.
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You shouldn't be afraid of holiness because holiness is
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health for your spirit. And he says bringing holiness to
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completion. Contrary to what some believe,
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Paul is not speaking here about sinless perfectionism.
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You can never know a sinless state consecutively until you
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get to glory. That's what glorification is all
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about. Completion here, in the original
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word simply means maturity. Maturity.
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Let's bring our holiness to a mature state and the only way we
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can arrive to a state of holiness, supreme and heightened
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health for your spirit. Wouldn't you want that?
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Power in the Spirit, clarity in the Spirit, peace in the Spirit,
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joy in the Spirit, Power again in the Spirit?
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If you want to arrive there and live there, you're going to have
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to do it in the fear of God. This is what this teaches me.
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If you don't have the fear of God, you'll never know
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completion and holiness. You can only know completion and
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holiness if you first understand what it means to fear the Lord.
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So that's why you have a lot of people in Christendom, a lot of
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people even in the church, who never arrived to a place of
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maturity spiritually. And I argue in great part, is
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because there's a lack of fear in their lives.
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If you minimize the fear of God in your life, whether you
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realize it or not, you're minimizing your spiritual
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maturity. OK, that's a side point.
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Here's the main point. What's the motivation for us to
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pursue holiness and completion? Paul states in the first few
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words, since we have these promises, promises, there are
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certain promises that Paul just spelled out clearly, right?
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His wording here denotes that he just finished explaining certain
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promises. And it goes.
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Now that I've given you these promises in the New covenant
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that are for you pursue holiness so that you can secure these
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promises in your life. What are those promises?
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Well, some translations say therefore, right?
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So he just finished saying something.
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And all we have to do is look back the first few verses of the
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last portion of chapter 6. Here's one of them.
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In 2nd Corinthians 616. Here's one of the promises Paul
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says. What agreement has the temple of
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God with idols? For we are the temple of the
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living God, as God said. Here's one of the promises.
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I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I
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will be their God, and they shall be my people.
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Quiz you like quizzes, right? Quiz.
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Is Paul quoting scripture here? Yes.
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Who here knows which book of the Hebrew scriptures he is quoting?
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Leviticus. Leviticus, chapter 2611 and 12.
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Well, the Lord is speaking to his people.
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He's speaking to his people about their holiness under the
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New Covenant. And he promises them.
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If you hold to this code, here's what I will guarantee you.
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I will dwell among you, and I will walk with you.
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And Paul, by the Spirit takes that promise.
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There are a lot of things in Leviticus that we don't do
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right. That's why you're wearing a
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certain fabric shirt, and that's why, men your your hair is
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trimmed on your sides. But Paul, by the authority of
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the Spirit, reaches to one of these promises, and he applies
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it to the New covenant. And how do we summarize what
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this, what this promise is all about?
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It's very easy. Greater intimacy with the Lord.
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I will dwell among you and I will walk.
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How? Well, how does that happen now?
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Do we have a room called the Holy of Holies?
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Do we have a tent that we live beside?
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No, no, no. It's called the Holy Spirit who
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lives in you, the new Tabernacle.
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And so he applies this old covenant promise, and by
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permission of the Holy Spirit, he applies it to the New
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Covenant context. And he says the Holy Spirit, the
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glory of God that dwelt in that tent around the people, now is
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able to live in you as the new tent of God.
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Which tells me that there is something about this promise
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that's not just theoretical or theological, It's experiential,
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greater intimacy with the Lord. Here's one of those promises.
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And he says, since we have these promises run after holiness,
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shut off all the defilement of the flesh in the body, get rid
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of all those things that might, that might all turn, effect this
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promise, I don't know what can be greater than greater intimacy
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with the Lord? I don't.
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I don't know. Have nothing else to offer you.
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That is the the pinnacle of the promises of God in the new
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covenant on this side of heaven. And there are other promises,
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and Paul spells that out elsewhere.
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So we see this understanding that there are promises of the
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Lord that our disobedience can rob us from.
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And remember that as you are standing before the temptation
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of amusing yourself with sin, whatever that sin may be,
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because whatever you think will bring that thrill, it will
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always cost you Greater promises and greater fulfillment, greater
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pleasure in God. And that's what we see with
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Solomon. But notice, even in this right
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there is mercy. Look back at verse 12, the 1st
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Corinthians 11. Excuse me, First Kings 11.
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Yet, for the sake of David, your father, I will not do it in your
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days. And then in verse 13, however, I
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will not tear away all the Kingdom, but I will give one
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tribe to your son for the sake of David, my servant, and for
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the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen Solomon.
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It's not going to happen in your lifetime.
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It's going to happen with your son.
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And I'm not going to take all the tribes.
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I'm going to leave one tribe because I made a promise to your
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father. You know what this is supposed
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to do to us as we're reading this text?
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This is God's declaration of his fidelity in the middle of
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studying Solomon's unfaithfulness.
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So even in this dark chapter, we're supposed to feel
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refreshed. How?
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Because as I'm studying the colossal mess up of a man who
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experienced so much, I'm confronted with a promise
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keeping God. Solomon didn't keep his promise.
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Solomon could not hold his weight.
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Solomon could not keep up with what he had said.
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But you know who does? God, God, Man will make vows.
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Man will claim things. Man will say something and end
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up changing their mind down the road.
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God is not like man. So even in this rebuke, even in
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this chastisement, God is declaring and showing.
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He is unlike man. When I say something, I mean it.
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I don't let things happening around me.
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I don't let people around me alter my word.
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When I say it, I mean it and I keep it.
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This is the God that we serve. So every time you read this
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book, every time especially you read promises concerning today
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and promises and prophecies for tomorrow.
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You can bank your life on this. God said it so he will mean it
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and he will keep it. So I'm refreshing reading this.
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Thank God my king is not like King Solomon.
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Thank God my king is not like King David.
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He's the king of all kings. We talked about how deliberate
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disobedience effects the pleasure of the Lord, how it
25:45
affects the promise of the Lord being experienced in their
25:48
fullness in our lives. Lastly, let's read a few verses.
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You probably noticed there's a lot more verses here, and I want
25:58
to just highlight a few verses from this next portion and then
26:00
we'll dissect them verse by verse.
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Read with me verse 14 of this chapter and the Lord raised up
26:08
an adversary against Solomon Haddad, the Edomite.
26:13
He was of the royal house in Edom.
26:16
Let's put that aside and come down to verse 23.
26:19
God also raised up as an adversary to him, resigned the
26:24
son of Eliada who had fled from his master had Azur king of
26:29
Zoba. And lastly, let's come here to
26:33
verse 26. Jeroboam, the son of Nibat,
26:38
Nephromite of Zerodah, a servant of Solomon whose mother's name
26:42
was Zeraya. A widow also lifted up his hand
26:46
against the king. So the Lord now raises up 3
26:52
opponents, 3 adversaries against Solomon.
26:58
Again, what makes us heartbreaking is when we reflect
27:01
on Solomon's experience when he was walking with the Lord.
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So we read those 3 verses right? God raising up an adversary, God
27:08
raising up an adversary. Jeroboam raising up his hand
27:11
against the king. Solomon made this awesome
27:15
confession declaring the goodness of God in First Kings
27:18
chapter 5 and it's so sad to see where it's led to 1st Kings
27:22
five. Look at this in verse 4.
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This is Solomon speaking and notice what he gladly admits and
27:29
declares. And 1st Kings 54 But now the
27:36
Lord my God has given me rest on every side.
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There is neither adversary nor misfortune.
27:49
No adversary. Listen, we've been studying
27:51
Solomon's life for quite a few weeks.
27:54
Have we read of any significant adversary rising up against
27:56
Solomon as long as he was walking with the Lord?
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No. As long as he shunned idolatry?
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No, but now that he is walking in rebellion, God raises up
28:07
three of them. Deliberate disobedience not only
28:11
affects the pleasure of the Lord, not only does it alter the
28:16
promises of the Lord, some of them it also affects the peace
28:22
of the Lord in our lives, The peace of the Lord.
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Solomon's reign was characterized by peace, and you
28:31
and I in Christ have access to greater peace.
28:33
Solomon could give peace economically, politically, in
28:37
society, Christ can bring peace internally, where peace matters
28:41
the most, greater peace. But what we learned here through
28:47
Solomon's example is that when we choose to live in sin, not
28:51
only do we put a pause on the promises of God, but we replace
28:56
them with problems from God. You put a pause on the promises
29:02
and you invite problems. And those problems are allowed
29:06
by the Lord, who raised up these adversaries?
29:11
Satan. And the Lord raised them up.
29:15
The Lord removed the hedge. The Lord opened the floodgates.
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For all this time God apprehended these adversaries,
29:23
He kept them at Bay. And when Solomon kept ignoring
29:26
the Lord and kept walking away from the Lord, the Lord says
29:28
enough is enough. I have to get your attention
29:30
somehow. And he chooses to raise up these
29:33
adversaries For what? For what reason?
29:35
To rouse up a slumbering Solomon in his sin so that he could
29:39
ultimately repent and turn back to the Lord.
29:43
So you heard about the mercy of God, how he said what?
29:45
That he would not allow all the the tribes we removed from the
29:48
Kingdom of David, and that it would not happen in his
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lifetime. I argue that God's mercy still
29:53
being displayed here, saying how houses God's mercy because God
29:57
and his love will not allow his child to remain in sin
30:00
undisturbed. That's God's love toward you and
30:04
I God doesn't just let you go your way.
30:08
God will chase you and God will agitate you and God will signal
30:15
to you over and over again. He will not give up on you.
30:19
This is God's mercy in these adversaries coming against
30:22
Solomon. One of the worst ways God can
30:26
judge a people or a nation is when He lets them be in their
30:30
sin, when He lets them have their idols.
30:35
But see, God here is pursuing this man.
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Despite all the shortcomings and all the disappointments, the
30:42
Lord says I'm still going to find a way to get your
30:44
attention, and if it if it needs this, then let it be.
30:50
There's a profound verse that solidifies this point about how
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unrighteousness will not provide peace.
30:58
Only righteousness, practical righteousness will provide
31:01
peace. It's in Isaiah 32, verse 17,
31:04
Isaiah 3217. Here's what the prophet says.
31:09
It's a wonderful insight about how walking with the Lord
31:12
promises his peace, Isaiah 3217 reads.
31:19
And the effect of righteousness will be what peace.
31:24
The effect of righteousness will be peace and the result of
31:28
righteousness. Oh, I love these two words
31:30
quietness and trust forever. That's a verse that America
31:37
needs. You want peace, America, you
31:40
need righteousness. Yes, first you need the
31:41
righteousness that is imputed by Jesus Christ.
31:45
And then from there you need the practical righteousness that he
31:47
empowers you to walk in. The effect of righteousness is
31:51
peace. No righteousness, no peace.
31:56
And that's especially true for the child of God who knows
31:59
better. A lukewarm Christian is the most
32:04
miserable person on earth. Really.
32:07
I argue that say how Because you have enough of God where you
32:14
can't enjoy the world the way you would hope to, and you have
32:18
enough of the world where you can't enjoy God the way you're
32:20
supposed to. You're just like in this
32:22
miserable limbo. And it's so pathetic to watch
32:27
because there you are, just trying to create mud pies and
32:31
figure out how this whole thing works.
32:33
It doesn't work until you submit to righteousness, consecrate
32:38
yourself unto the Lord. Can I just be real?
32:41
Can I just talk? Yeah.
32:43
OK, Aren't you the happiest when you're the holiest?
32:49
When you're when you're the closest to the Lord, aren't you
32:51
the happiest? Right.
32:54
Yeah, I know. You try to numb yourself with
32:55
entertainment and you try to silence your conscience by doing
32:59
all these different activities, but you know that you are the
33:02
most glad when you're the closest to God.
33:05
You know that there's a lightness, there's a strength,
33:08
There's a confidence. There's a joy to your step
33:11
because only God provides that. Just a reminder.
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The effect of righteousness will be peace.
33:21
There's no peace for Solomon Now Why?
33:23
Because there's no righteousness.
33:24
So now let's explore these three adversaries separately.
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Verse 14. And the Lord raised up an
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adversary against Solomon Haddad, the Edomite.
33:34
He was of the royal house in Edom for when David wasn't Edom.
33:37
Now we get the back story of how this man comes on the scene when
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David was in Edom and Joab, the commander of the army, went up
33:45
to bury the slain. He struck down every male in
33:49
Edom for Job, and all Israel remained there six months until
33:53
he had cut off every male in Edom.
33:56
But Haddad fled to Egypt together with certain Edomites
33:59
of his father's servants. Haddad still being a little
34:02
child, they set out from Midian and came to Puran and took men
34:06
with them from Puran, and came to Egypt to Pharaoh, king of
34:09
Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of
34:12
food and gave him land. And a dad, found great favor in
34:15
the side of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister
34:18
of his own wife, the sister of Tappanese the queen.
34:22
And the sister of Tappanese bore him Ghenobath, his son, whom
34:29
Tappanese weaned in Pharaoh's house.
34:31
The Gator bath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh.
34:35
But when Haddad heard in Egypt that David slept with his
34:37
fathers, and that job the commander of the army was dead,
34:40
Haddad said to Pharaoh, let me depart, that I may go to my own
34:43
country. But Pharaoh said to him, what
34:46
have you lacked with me, that you are now seeking to go to
34:48
your own country? And he said to him only, let me
34:51
depart, Haddad. Where is he from?
34:56
Where is he from? He's from Edom.
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Why should that be important for us?
35:03
Don't go too far. Consider the context of
35:04
Solomon's life. I'll give you another hint.
35:08
Consider the context of the chapter that we're studying.
35:12
Edom. He's from Edom.
35:15
Look at the first few verses of Chapter 11.
35:19
Something should stand out. Very good verse one.
35:26
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the
35:29
daughter of Pharaoh Moabite, Ammonite.
35:32
Tell me the third one. Edomite, Cydonian and Hittite
35:36
woman. So Solomon, yes, in his lust had
35:41
all these women. But there was also a hint of
35:44
political strategy here. He marries into the Edomite
35:48
clan, the Edomite people. He thought he was clever.
35:52
He was operating under human wisdom here, thinking to
35:55
himself, I will be able to promote peace if I have these
35:58
marriage alliances. And perhaps for a season there
36:02
was a soothing effect of him marrying into this people group.
36:07
Ain't know what this teaches us. Because what Solomon did here,
36:09
marrying these foreign woman was a sin, not because they were
36:12
formed, but they were foreign to God.
36:15
And what he thought would provide him security and
36:18
prosperity and peace betrayed him.
36:22
Now you have a man from Edom who is going to harass you for the
36:26
rest of your life. Sin always lies to you.
36:30
It always does. It always lies to you.
36:32
And again it seems to bring some kind of relief, some kind of
36:35
escape. But it will always come back to
36:38
bite you. Always.
36:40
You don't know when, you don't know how, but sin is very clever
36:44
and finding a way to make sure that you get that check.
36:49
So he marries into the Edomites and now his enemy, his first
36:53
enemy is from Edom. And this is what we learned from
36:57
this man in the beginning of this portion of scripture.
37:01
But we also notice something about Haddad notice.
37:05
So he he now experiences this massacre, right?
37:08
He escapes this war and he finds himself in Egypt under the care
37:13
of Pharaoh. And for some reason, Pharaoh
37:15
shows unusual kindness them, gives them housing allowance,
37:17
food. And he loves him so much that he
37:19
even makes an alliance with him by allowing him to marry his
37:21
sister-in-law. Everything's going well for for
37:25
Edith, I mean, I mean for her dad.
37:26
He could have just stayed there and just lived the rest of his
37:29
life in that place. But when he learns that David
37:32
and Joab are dead, he now comes to Pharaoh and asked for
37:35
permission to go to his own country for one sole purpose.
37:39
I will live the rest of my life assaulting and harassing
37:43
Solomon. What does that reveal about what
37:47
was in this man's heart after all these years?
37:51
Vengeance. Bitterness.
37:55
Unforgiveness. This man was harboring these
37:59
things, and when the opportunity arose, he took advantage of it.
38:04
And what's so fascinating is that he was willing to walk away
38:07
from this favor that he experienced.
38:09
He was willing to walk away from his livelihood, his familiarity,
38:14
to now live with a campaign, to be a thorn in Solomon's side.
38:21
A brief point, but it's really a sad illustration of what
38:24
bitterness can do to a man, and what bitterness is willing to
38:27
lead a man into and lead a man away from as much as you feel
38:32
empowered in your unforgiveness, because in your mind you
38:35
entertain these thoughts towards that person who has hurt you.
38:38
Ultimately, you're draining yourself of life.
38:42
Here's this man now walking away from all these things so that he
38:44
can be an antagonist against the son of David.
38:48
But now we read about this other man, verse 23.
38:51
Not much is said about him in comparison to Haddad and
38:55
Jeroboam, but let's read God also raised up as an adversary
38:58
to him. Razon, the son of Eliade who had
39:01
fled from his master, had it as their king of Zoba, and he had
39:04
gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding ban
39:07
after the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and
39:10
lived there and made him king In Damascus.
39:13
He was an adversary of Israel, all the days of Solomon doing
39:16
harm as Haddad did, and he loathe Israel and reigned over
39:22
Syria. The thing that I want to
39:26
highlight here is that unlike Haddad, this man here was not of
39:31
royal birth. He was.
39:34
He was a servant to his master. And though this is God
39:39
recruiting men with evil intent in their hearts, the rule of
39:44
recruitment is still true for the righteous.
39:47
God can raise up a man from royalty or from obscurity.
39:52
He can recruit a man from nobility and a man who nobody
39:55
knows about. And so that's a positive way of
39:59
looking at this. So you have a Haddad who many
40:02
people knew and was used obviously for.
40:05
And as an instrument of judgement.
40:06
And then you have this man, Rezon, where some people might
40:09
have not known as much and he was still used by God.
40:11
In a positive sense, this is an encouraging thing.
40:14
In this context, it's a terrifying thing.
40:18
You know. What you notice here is that you
40:20
have these political shifts. You have the rise and fall of
40:22
kings. And from a natural standpoint,
40:26
it just seems political. But there's a spiritual reason
40:30
behind it. There's a spiritual component to
40:34
this. The the real reason for all of
40:37
this is that there's a leader who's in covenant with God, and
40:39
he's about to experience God's judgment, and God's going to use
40:42
people to bring about that judgment.
40:46
And so with all that we see in this world, it's very tempting
40:48
to look at it from a humanistic, natural standpoint.
40:52
Realize that the essence of our universe is that there is good
40:55
and there is evil. There is a God, and there is a
40:56
devil. And ultimately, this is about
40:59
souls entering into one of two places in eternity.
41:04
And God knows how to govern the universe even now, not just in
41:08
the Old Testament. Even now He is governing
41:10
nations, and he's dealing with leaders And one of God's
41:15
instruments of judgment when a nation has fallen to a place of
41:21
no return is that he will use another nation to judge that
41:24
nation. Study the ways of God and you'll
41:27
see that that is consistent with his character.
41:31
And so you have this other man now who is out of obscurity, but
41:35
the main person out of these three is Jeroboam.
41:39
Why is that? Because with Haddad, you had
41:43
harassment against Solomon from the South with resin, you had an
41:48
adversary from the North. With Jeroboam, you have an
41:51
adversary. From where?
41:54
Where is he? He's from within.
41:57
He's an Israelite. He's not a foreigner.
42:00
He's among the brethren. And so this is where most of
42:04
this text is dedicated to, to this man.
42:07
And so let's read a few of these verses.
42:09
We'll stop and we'll continue. Jeroboam, verse 26.
42:13
The son of Nebat and Ephraim might have Zerodah, a servant of
42:17
Solomon whose mother name was 0. A widow also lifted up his hand
42:22
against the king and this was the reason why he lifted up his
42:25
hand against the king. Solomon built the Milo and
42:28
closed up the breach of the city of David, his father the man
42:33
Jeroboam. Notice this, the man Jeroboam
42:35
was very able and when Solomon saw that the young man was
42:39
industrious, he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the
42:43
House of Joseph. So Solomon has relationship with
42:46
this man. Solomon in fact hired this man.
42:50
And when you look at this verse, it's quite interesting because
42:53
Solomon, we're about to learn, reigned for 40 years.
42:55
Who else reigned for 40 years in Israel?
42:58
Saul, the first king of Israel. Who else?
43:01
David, Solomon's father. So the 1st 3 kings of Israel
43:03
reigned for 40 years. Even in verse 28 you can do a
43:08
comparative study between all those 3 kings and learn
43:12
something about each of these kings.
43:14
When Solomon saw Jeroboam that he was a very able man and
43:18
industrious man, hard working, diligent, he recruited him unto
43:22
himself. It reminds me of the verse of
43:24
Saul and who he looked for when he hired men into his work.
43:29
So turn with me. This is going to be worth it.
43:31
Turn with me to First Samuel and let's look back at who Saul
43:34
looked for while he was king in chapter 14 and verse 52.
43:40
Notice what we're told about what Saul was looking for in a
43:45
man. First Samuel chapter 14, verse
43:48
52. There was hard fighting against
43:54
the Philistines all the days of Saul, and when Saul saw any
43:59
strong man or any valiant man, he attached him to himself.
44:06
So Solomon looked for industrious men, men who really
44:11
got things done, because he was this man who always worked on
44:14
projects and construction endeavors.
44:18
When Saul looked for men, he looked for valiant, strong,
44:21
courageous warriors, and he attached them to himself.
44:26
Who did David look for? Are we told anywhere?
44:31
The kind of men, the character, the quality of men that David
44:34
looked for? Any idea?
44:38
I'll give you a hint. It's not found in First or
44:40
Second Samuel. What kind of boys did David look
44:47
for to join in his ranks? I'll tell you where it's in a
44:51
Psalm. Psalm 101.
44:57
And look at verse six with me and you'll get your answer.
45:00
This is the Psalm of David. And I'll be patient and wait for
45:11
you. I'll wait till the rustling of
45:13
the leaves make no more noise. Psalm One O 1, verse six reads.
45:18
This is David speaking. I will look with favor on the
45:21
faithful in the land that they may dwell with me.
45:27
He who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me.
45:32
Saul. Look for strong warriors.
45:35
Solomon, look for industrious men.
45:37
David look for God fearing men. That's what we look for.
45:41
Another nugget to prove and show why David stood out among the
45:46
kings of Israel. How David was a man after God's
45:49
heart. Not that he was just a
45:51
worshipper, but the fellowship that he had with certain people
45:54
indicated the kind of man he had, the kind of heart he had as
45:57
a man toward his Lord. I'm going to look for those who
46:02
are faithful, those who are blameless, and those are the
46:04
guys that I'm going to hire. Those are the guys that are
46:06
going to be in close proximity to me.
46:10
So you see the spirituality of this man.
46:12
Saul didn't have it. Solomon didn't have it.
46:14
David had it. That moves me.
46:17
I don't know if it does anything for you.
46:21
Let's come back to our main text in verse 29.
46:24
And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the
46:27
prophet Ahijah, the Shiloh knight, found him on the road.
46:32
Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment and the two of
46:36
them were alone in the open country.
46:39
Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him and he
46:42
tore it into 12 pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, take
46:47
for yourself 10 pieces, for thus says the Lord the God of Israel.
46:50
Behold, I'm about to tear the Kingdom from the hand of
46:53
Solomon, and will give you 10 tribes.
46:57
But he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David,
47:00
and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I've chosen, of
47:02
all the tribes of Israel, because they have forsaken me,
47:05
and worshipped Ashtroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Kemos,
47:09
the God of Moab, and Milk on the God of the Ammonites.
47:12
And they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my
47:15
eyes, and keeping my statutes and my rules as David, his
47:17
father, dead. Nevertheless, I will not take
47:21
the whole Kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler
47:24
all the days of his life, for the sake of David, my servant
47:27
whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes.
47:30
But I will take the Kingdom out of his son's hand, and we'll
47:33
give it to you. 10 tribes. Yet to his son I will give one
47:36
tribe that David, my servant, may always have a lamp before me
47:39
in Jerusalem and the city I have chosen to put my name.
47:43
Now look at that. This is astounding.
47:45
Verse 37. And I will take you, and you
47:48
shall reign over all that your soul desires.
47:51
That may be an indication that Jeroboam actually had on his
47:53
heart to be a king. All that your soul desires, and
47:59
you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all
48:03
that I command you, and will walk in my ways and do what is
48:06
right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as
48:10
David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a
48:14
sure house as I built for David. And I will give Israel to you,
48:21
and I will affect afflict the offspring of David because of
48:23
this, but not forever. Do you see this?
48:27
Do you see the depth of this promise, how massive this is.
48:31
I will build you a house, just as I did for David.
48:37
That is huge. Imagine that.
48:44
Did Jeroboam take this seriously?
48:47
We're going to find out that he doesn't.
48:49
The depravity of man is mind blowing.
48:55
Imagine this opportunity, this covenant that God makes with
48:59
David, right? It's unique in many ways, but
49:02
Jeroboam has this opportunity now to have a name for himself
49:06
and a name for the rest of his descendants for generations to
49:09
come. And he blows it.
49:12
Just feel how stupid we can be sometimes because of our sin,
49:18
How foolish we can be. Look at verse 39 and I will
49:22
afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not
49:24
forever. That verse confirms what we
49:26
studied many weeks ago about God's warning to Solomon as
49:30
descendants for his disobedience.
49:32
We we had to make the decision concerning Solomon, the Davidic
49:36
line, and the people of Israel as a whole, God's punishment
49:39
toward them. Would it be permanent or to be
49:41
temporal? And we agreed that it was
49:44
temporal. And here's another verse to
49:46
confirm that I will flick the offspring of David because of
49:49
this. But not forever.
49:52
Not forever, because I keep my word and there are promises that
49:55
I still must fulfill to David and to Abraham.
49:59
So it's not going to be forever. You're saying that was very long
50:03
winded. This seems to be drawn out.
50:06
This seems to be not practical. Seems very historically
50:10
necessary, but I'm not sure how it helps me.
50:12
Well, all that I just read to you is supposed to build up to
50:15
what we're about to read in verse 40.
50:18
Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam arose and
50:25
fled into Egypt to Shishak, king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until
50:29
the death of Solomon. You would think after God
50:31
raising up 3 adversaries, you would think after learning that
50:35
you're going to have the 10 tribes removed from you.
50:38
And somehow I'm sure he had an intelligence agency, he realized
50:41
that Jeroboam was the guy that was going to have these tribes.
50:44
You would think that after all of that this would cause you to
50:47
fall on your face and say God please forgive me and instead
50:53
all it does is Rev Revs him up to pursue further disobedience.
50:57
I'm going to kill you. You're the guy that God said is
51:00
going to take my place. I'm coming after.
51:03
Jeroboam learns of this and he flees the scene.
51:08
Not only the sin devastate us, right?
51:11
Deliberate disobedience. It can make a person delusional.
51:16
Delusional. Saying What do you mean?
51:19
It was the word of the Lord that Jeroboam was supposed to be
51:21
king, wasn't it? Was it Jeroboam's idea?
51:24
No. It was a prophet.
51:25
It was authenticated by man of God.
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Solomon knew this, and he could care less.
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He could care less. God's will, That doesn't matter.
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I'm king. I'm coming after the one that
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God chose. Sin makes us delusional.
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It makes us think that we can thwart.
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It makes us think that we can resist.
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It makes us think that we can flee from God, from God saying
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how, How is the wisest man in the world capable of stooping
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down to this kind of level of reasoning?
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You know, the Bible actually tells us how I've mentioned this
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verse on different occasions in our study of the Old Testament,
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but we are creatures that require repetition in order to
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learn. In Hosea 411, we are told how a
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man like Solomon can think this way, and we're almost done here.
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Look what the Prophet says in Hosea 411 about two particular
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sins, and it will all make sense.
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Now we're told here that whoredom, wine, and new wine,
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which does what? Take away the understanding.
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So we all agree that it being intoxicated by alcohol disarms
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us from having judgment, clear judgment, discernment,
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reasoning, right? But wine is equated with
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whoredom. They're mentioned together, so
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there are certain sins of the flesh that have the effect on
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the mind as alcohol does. It removes your ability to make
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sound, clear decisions to interpret things rightly.
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And one of those things is lust. Whoredom.
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Did Solomon struggle with whoredom?
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It's an understatement. Whoredom.
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So the wisest man in the world gave into whoredom.
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And here's the consequence. According to Hosea 411, he was
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stripped from his understanding. He couldn't think right.
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He couldn't think right To what extent?
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That when the word of the Lord went out from a prophet, he
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thought he could actually stand against it.
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Sin makes us delusional. Sin makes us stupid.
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It really does. Some of us can testify to that
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when we were in sin. Some of us have witnessed that
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and other people who have run headlong into sin.
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But this is how we can make sense of Solomon's actions here,
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thinking that he can stand in the way of God's purposes and
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the way that he could overcome this consequences by turning
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back to the Lord. And instead he thought that he
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can do so by acting in his own strength.
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Here's the conclusion. You and I are never going to
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study about Solomon directly after this moment, so enjoy this
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chapter. It's sad, but we still must
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consider it. Verse 41.
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Now the rest of the Acts of Solomon and all that he did and
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his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the Acts of
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Solomon? In the time that Solomon reigned
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in Jerusalem, over all, Israel was 40 years and Solomon slept
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with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, his father
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and Rehoboam, his son, reigned in his place.
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Most people believe that when Solomon became king, he was in
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his 20s, early 20s. We're told here that he reigned
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for 40 years, making him somewhere around 60 something
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years old. Is that a long life?
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Not really. You know why that's important to
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know. Go back to First kings three and
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look at verse 14. He's what the Lord told Solomon
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at the beginning of his reign. And if you will walk in my ways,
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keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father
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David walked, then I will do what lengthen your days.
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Did that happen to Solomon? Not if he started in his 20s.
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So he even cut himself short of the years that he could have
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known in life. I believe that.
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And this is what makes it so heartbreaking.
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If you consider the book of Ecclesiastes then you can make a
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case as Solomon repented near the end of his life.
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But if you just stick to 1st Kings 11 we talked about how sin
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has the ability to take away understanding.
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I'm absolutely shocked that at no point in this chapter that
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Solomon consider what he had himself said to God in First
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Kings chapter 8 when he had dedicated the temple and through
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a sequence of request he made this this passionate plea.
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Lord, if your people sin against you, and they turn toward this
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place, and pray towards this place and plead for forgiveness,
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will you hear them? And he gives all these different
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scenarios. You remember that.
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And the Lord gives him the assurance I will honor that.
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And Solomon didn't even take advantage of his own plea.
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All it would have taken is him to humble himself, turn his face
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toward the House of God, call upon the Lord.
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And this could have been a very different ending.
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But he didn't. He dies in apostate.
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If we just stick with First Kings 11 it's a sad sign and
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it's meant to warn us. It's meant to keep us in a place
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of dependency on the Lord. Deliberate disobedience effects
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three things for the child of God.
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It affects the pleasure of the Lord, it affects the promises of
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the Lord. And it affects the peace of the
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Lord that he wants to give us that we can only know in
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righteousness. And I hope that what you hear
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from Solomon's life, what we studied about Solomon's life,
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would encourage you to do one thing, finish well, I don't have
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many goals in life. Somebody asked me recently
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what's your goal for this new year?
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Look, goals are important. It's important to be goal
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oriented in many ways. Can I tell you the goal of
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goals? That I get to the end and I hear
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my master say, you know, well done, good and faithful servant.
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That's what I'm in for here. Well done, good and faithful
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servant. Oh, what will that do to your
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heart when you stand before the master and he looks at you in
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the eyes and he says you did it. You faithfully served me.
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You finished. Well, enter into the joy of your
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master. That makes it all worth it.
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That makes it all worth it. With all that Solomon had in his
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life. He died as a pauper, and I don't
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want that for anybody. I want your funeral and mine to
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be a celebration. I want you and I to be able to
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sign off in this life with a smile, knowing that we did what
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the Lord asked us to do Imperfectly, yes, for for sure,
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but consciously pursuing it in the strength of the Spirit.
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And if you and I even tonight, are in a place where we're not
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supposed to be, and every point that I made made total sense to
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you, I feel the effect of my sin on the pleasure of the Lord, on
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the peace of the Lord, on the promises of the Lord.
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Just do what Solomon said you can do, But it's even better in
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the New Covenant, because you don't have to turn to some
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house, you don't have to visit some city, You don't have to
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bring some kind of animals. You just look to the cross and
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you look to the Lamb of God and you pray in Jesus name and
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everything will be made right in a moment.
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Oh sure, you might have some scars because of your sin,
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because naturally that's what sin does, but at least you've
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secured your fellowship with the Savior Lord.
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We ask tonight that in this difficult, challenging chapter
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that we've taken 2 weeks to study, our hearts would not be
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heavy, but we would rejoice knowing that you loved us enough
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to preserve such a testimony so that we would be preserved from
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making the same mistakes. We bless you not just in your
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promises, not just in your proclamations of love, but even
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in your warnings. We say thank you, thank you for
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your warnings. And we ask, Lord, that if there
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is anything in our lives that we are pursuing deliberately that
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is clearly wrong in your word, that we would at this time
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through this Bible study, say enough is enough.
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I want to know the pleasure of the Lord.
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I want to know all His promises, and I want to know this peace
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that I've not known since I have lived this way for those in this
1:00:04
place. Lord, who don't know you in a
1:00:05
real born again way. May even this Bible study show
1:00:08
us and reveal to us the joys that we can know in Christ when
1:00:13
we repent and believe in what He has done on the cross.
1:00:16
Lord, we stand together tonight concluding this very important
1:00:19
chapter in our study and knowledge of the Word of God.
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We say thank you for the 1st 11 chapters of First Kings.
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Now prepare us for the rest of this book.
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In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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Amen. Stand with me.
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Stand with me. Let's celebrate.
1:00:34
You know why we can celebrate? Because the way you divide first
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kings. If I can remind you from the
1:00:39
first time we started the first chapter is in two-part 1 to 11.
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the United Kingdom. From 12 to the end of the book,
1:00:47
the divided Kingdom. Now we have passed through the
1:00:50
threshold of the divided Kingdom.
1:00:53
We are now going to study the people of Israel in a way that
1:00:56
we have never studied them before. 10 tribes versus 2A
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Northern Kingdom versus a southern Kingdom.
1:01:03
So you made it. Thanks for sticking around for
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the 1st 11 chapters. Let's worship the Lord.