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Solomon's Fall from God · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is
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  Speaker 1: done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant
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  Speaker 1: and my statutes which I have commanded thee, I will
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  Speaker 1: surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it
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  Speaker 1: to thy servant. 1 Kings 11.11 Heavenly Father, with every
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  Speaker 1: new breath that I take, and as I watch you
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  Speaker 1: bring goodness and increase into my life, Help me not
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  Speaker 1: to forget that apart from you and your presence, there
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  Speaker 1: is no true life. I will not forget that it
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  Speaker 1: is in you that I live, I breathe, and I
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  Speaker 1: have my being. So when temptations and the pleasures of
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  Speaker 1: this world try to lure me from your path of godliness,
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  Speaker 1: I will hold fast and combat the lie that life
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  Speaker 1: is better without you. I will reject the many idols
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  Speaker 1: that will try to divide me from your divinity like
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  Speaker 1: Solomon in his latter years. I will speak to my
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  Speaker 1: mind and heart and command it to remember the God
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  Speaker 1: of your youth, the God who has always been there guiding, loving,
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  Speaker 1: protecting me on the way to my designed destiny. I
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  Speaker 1: confess that my future is secure as long as I
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  Speaker 1: secure myself in your ways, God. Thank you for preserving
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  Speaker 1: me and protecting me and drifting away from my spiritual foundation. You, Lord.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name. Amen. Listening to these daily prayers strengthens
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  Speaker 1: your relationship with God. Continue hearing from the Lord by
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  Speaker 1: listening to today's Bible in a Year. Brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Solomon's Fall from God In our last story, the temple
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  Speaker 2: of God was finally built. David's dream to see God's
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  Speaker 2: home amongst the people of Israel had finally been fulfilled
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  Speaker 2: through his son Solomon. King Solomon dedicated the temple to God,
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  Speaker 2: and a new age of peace fell upon the Hebrews
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  Speaker 2: for the first time in their history. In this story,
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  Speaker 2: Solomon meets the Queen of Sheba and slowly begins to
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  Speaker 2: fall from God. Solomon will seek to fill a hole
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  Speaker 2: in his heart with women as his final years bring
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  Speaker 2: war to the land of Israel, inspired by the books
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  Speaker 2: of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.
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  Speaker 3: I'm so glad you joined us on the Bible in
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: a Year podcast today. But before we get to today's episode,
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: I want you to know that I would absolutely love
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: to send you my daily devotional that will give you
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: fresh encouragement every single morning and day. From the moment
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  Speaker 3: we wake up to the moment our head finally hits
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  Speaker 3: the pillow, there are thousands of things demanding our attention.
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  Speaker 3: But it's in the midst of all this crush and
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  Speaker 3: hustle and bustle that you and I need peace and
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  Speaker 3: truth in God's Word. That's why I want to help
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  Speaker 3: you spend time each day growing in God's life-giving, life-changing
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  Speaker 3: Word by sending you my free daily email devotional, PowerPoint Today.
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  Speaker 3: So visit jackgram.org to sign up for your PowerPoint Today devotional.
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  Speaker 3: That's jackgram.org, jackgram.org. In our last episode, we heard how
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  Speaker 3: Solomon built the temple for the Lord, a glorious temple.
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  Speaker 3: Israel was in a time of unprecedented prosperity and peace,
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  Speaker 3: and the people gathered to worship God in this magnificent
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  Speaker 3: temple that Solomon had built, the place where God's presence
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  Speaker 3: would dwell among them. But as we will hear today,
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  Speaker 3: as Solomon's fame grew, bringing wise men and royals from
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  Speaker 3: far and wide to seek his counsel, he became distracted
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  Speaker 3: by things other than God. It would spell the end
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  Speaker 3: of peace for Israel. and mar his legacy forever. So
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  Speaker 3: let's listen now to today's reading from God's Word.
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  Speaker 2: Under the rule of Solomon, Israel became the crown jewel
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  Speaker 2: of the Eastern world. Kings and queens of all nations
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  Speaker 2: would visit Israel to marvel at Solomon's temple, libraries, architecture, gardens,
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  Speaker 2: and fields. Solomon's fame spread across the deserts, forests, and
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  Speaker 2: mountain ranges. Wise men and women would travel far and
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  Speaker 2: wide to seek his counsel. He was the heralded philosopher king,
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  Speaker 2: and all adored his kind and wise nature. One day,
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  Speaker 2: a caravan emerged from the south. A sea of camels, jewels, spices,
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  Speaker 2: and gold paraded into the city streets. At the top
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  Speaker 2: of her carriage, pulled by prized camels, the Queen of
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  Speaker 2: Sheba sat lounging in the mild Israeli sun. She had
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  Speaker 2: heard of Solomon's great wisdom and sought to ask him
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  Speaker 2: questions of ethics, politics, philosophy, and theology. Solomon watched as
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  Speaker 2: the queen's caravan filled Jerusalem like a golden river. He
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  Speaker 2: beckoned her into his palace, and the two spoke of
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  Speaker 2: deep things among his gardens. The queen had profound questions
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  Speaker 2: and challenging problems that needed solving. However, nothing was too
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  Speaker 2: hard for the king. Gently and kindly, Solomon walked the
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  Speaker 2: queen through every issue. She was amazed at his wisdom.
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  Speaker 2: She had not realized just how knowledgeable the king truly was.
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  Speaker 2: Nor did she expect the riches of Israel to be
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  Speaker 2: so vast and immaculate. She watched the way Solomon's servants
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  Speaker 2: worked diligently and with joy. She awed at the worship
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  Speaker 2: in the temple, and she could not understand the depth
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  Speaker 2: of Solomon's kindness despite his riches. I had heard much
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  Speaker 2: about your country and its achievements, the queen said. However,
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  Speaker 2: it has exceeded my wildest dreams. A smile came across
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  Speaker 2: her face. How happy your people must be to live here,
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  Speaker 2: and how happy your officials must be to learn under you.
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  Speaker 2: Praise your God for what has happened here. Then she
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  Speaker 2: gave Solomon a gift of 9,000 pounds of gold, along
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  Speaker 2: with spices and precious jewels. After saying goodbyes, the queen departed,
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  Speaker 2: determined to bring similar wisdom and joy to her land.
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  Speaker 2: Solomon was gifted with great wisdom and riches, yet even
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  Speaker 2: his intellect and wealth could not protect him from the
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  Speaker 2: darkness within his own heart. Solomon slowly began to search
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  Speaker 2: for meaning in things other than God. His heart often
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  Speaker 2: wandered aimlessly, seeking satisfaction in carnal activities. Solomon had a
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  Speaker 2: love for foreign women. What started as marriages to form
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  Speaker 2: alliances quickly turned into a sick addition to new women
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  Speaker 2: and new pleasures. Besides his first wife from Egypt, Solomon
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  Speaker 2: married women from Moab, Amman, Edom, Sidon, and Hittite. He
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  Speaker 2: immersed himself in the strange sexual practices of other cultures.
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  Speaker 2: Soon his mind began to wander into the dark recesses
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  Speaker 2: of other religions— This is why the Lord had strictly
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  Speaker 2: warned the people of Israel to not marry those with
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  Speaker 2: other gods. Solomon was reaping the terrible consequences of his actions.
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  Speaker 2: Solomon amassed a harem of 700 wives and 300 concubines,
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  Speaker 2: continually wanting to satisfy himself with new women. He began
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  Speaker 2: to forget what it meant to love faithfully. Solomon's heart
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  Speaker 2: began to fall from God. Solomon had built the temple
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  Speaker 2: of God, For this, he would be remembered forever for
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  Speaker 2: his faithfulness. However, his union with many different cultures and
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  Speaker 2: nations also led him to build shrines and altars to
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  Speaker 2: false gods. With each passing year, Solomon would give a
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  Speaker 2: piece of his soul over to a new god. This
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  Speaker 2: caused a deep anger in God. He had gently warned
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  Speaker 2: Solomon many times. However, his heart was corrupted just as
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  Speaker 2: his ancestors in the wilderness. God's wrath burned against Solomon,
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  Speaker 2: and he decided to divide his kingdom among his descendants.
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  Speaker 2: As Solomon engaged in his sexual idol worship, rebels and
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  Speaker 2: adversaries began to emerge from the depths of Israel, giving
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  Speaker 2: Solomon his first taste of war. Rebellion from the east
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  Speaker 2: and south began to emerge, and Solomon was finally called
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  Speaker 2: to war. His era of peace had been interrupted by doubt, bloodshed,
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  Speaker 2: and conflict. This was a representation of Solomon's heart. For
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  Speaker 2: the last years of Solomon's life, he warred against rebellion
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  Speaker 2: and felt no peace. For 40 years, Solomon ruled over Israel.
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  Speaker 2: He brought the nation into an unprecedented era of peace.
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  Speaker 2: His heart to worship God reflected his father's, and his
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  Speaker 2: wisdom gave him more riches than he could ever have imagined. However,
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  Speaker 2: the last few years of his rule was marked with woe.
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  Speaker 2: Towards the end of his life, Solomon's writings became contemplative
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  Speaker 2: and sorrowful. He reflected on the meaningless pursuit of knowledge, riches,
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  Speaker 2: and success. As his eyes began to dim and his
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  Speaker 2: bones grew brittle, Solomon finally came to the understanding that
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  Speaker 2: there is no meaning in life apart from God's presence.
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  Speaker 2: With his dying breath, he praised God, and his son, Rehoboam,
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  Speaker 2: took his place as king.
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  Speaker 3: As we begin today's passage, Solomon has become a man
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  Speaker 3: of great renown, not only in Israel, but all around
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  Speaker 3: the world. Word of his wisdom and kindness spread far
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  Speaker 3: and wide to kings and queens and sages from distant lands.
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  Speaker 3: Just as God had promised him, Solomon's wisdom was matched
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  Speaker 3: by no one. but his wealth and prosperity was also
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  Speaker 3: without equal. It was an opportunity for Israel to be
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  Speaker 3: a shining witness to the rest of the world, as
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  Speaker 3: when the Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon. She
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  Speaker 3: was impressed by his great mind and by the wealth
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  Speaker 3: that she saw in his country. She even seemed to
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  Speaker 3: praise God for what he had done for Israel. But
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  Speaker 3: in reality, she wasn't interested as much in the giver
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  Speaker 3: of blessings as she was in the blessings and all
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  Speaker 3: the benefits themselves. Though she had a chance to turn
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  Speaker 3: to God, the one true God, and honor him, what
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  Speaker 3: she really wanted, in the end, were the riches. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 3: it wasn't just the Queen of Sheba who missed the
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  Speaker 3: point of things. As his fame and influence grew, Solomon's
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  Speaker 3: attentions turned away from God, and then came the gratifying
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  Speaker 3: of the flesh. Like so many before him, Solomon's appetite
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  Speaker 3: for sexual pleasure clouded his visions. And being a man
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  Speaker 3: of such power and influence, he was able to take
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  Speaker 3: many wives for himself. As he would later write in Ecclesiastes,
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  Speaker 3: Solomon denied himself nothing he desired. That is a recipe
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  Speaker 3: for disaster. He married women from many different countries, women
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  Speaker 3: who worshipped other gods. Taking wives from other nations was
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  Speaker 3: against God's will. And in 1 Kings 11 verse 2,
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  Speaker 3: we hear why. You shall not enter into marriage with them,
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  Speaker 3: neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn
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  Speaker 3: away your heart after their gods. But Solomon, for all
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  Speaker 3: of his wisdom, ignored God's command, and sure enough, his
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  Speaker 3: heart became divided. He took more than 700 wives and
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  Speaker 3: 300 concubines, and each of these unions chipped away at
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  Speaker 3: his relationship with the Lord and his ability to lead.
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  Speaker 3: Despite multiple warnings from God, Solomon allowed himself to be
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  Speaker 3: corrupted by lust and eventually God's anger could be held
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  Speaker 3: back no more. The peace that Israel had experienced was
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  Speaker 3: shattered as wars broke out once more. Not only that,
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  Speaker 3: but Solomon's own peace was destroyed and sorrow filled his
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  Speaker 3: heart for much of his latter years. Because of his
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  Speaker 3: persistent sin, God would split the kingdom in two. But
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  Speaker 3: this would not happen until his son Rehoboam became king.
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  Speaker 3: It is the tragic result of sin and unfaithfulness, and
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  Speaker 3: it is a powerful reminder that what Israel needed, what
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  Speaker 3: we all need, is a king that was not just wise,
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  Speaker 3: but one who is perfectly good and pure. And there
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  Speaker 3: is only one king who is above all kings. He
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  Speaker 3: would one day rise from the house of David as
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  Speaker 3: Savior and Lord and give us the power to defeat sin.
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  Speaker 3: Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
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  Speaker 3: Solomon came to understand at the end of his life
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  Speaker 3: what his father knew, that there is nothing that compares
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  Speaker 3: to being in God's presence. Solomon repented and praised God
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  Speaker 3: once more before he went to his final rest, and
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  Speaker 3: the kingdom passed into the hands of his son, Rehoboam.
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  Speaker 3: Would the new king model the wisdom of his father,
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  Speaker 3: or was Israel headed for more pain? We'll find out
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  Speaker 3: the next time. Dear God, we remember the words of
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  Speaker 3: the hymn which says, Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.
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  Speaker 3: Prone to leave the God I love. We are all
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  Speaker 3: prone to leave the God that we love. Just like Solomon,
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  Speaker 3: we want to wander. But God, we ask you to
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  Speaker 3: move in our hearts, to sanctify and purify us, and
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  Speaker 3: by your grace and because of your forgiveness, that we
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  Speaker 3: would live holy and godly lives. Help us to keep
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  Speaker 3: our eyes on you and to worship you and you only.
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  Speaker 3: May you be our King and our Lord forever and ever. Amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. And before we go,
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  Speaker 3: I want you to know that I would love to
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: send you my daily devotional to give you fresh encouragement
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: every single day. So visit jackgraham.org to sign up for
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: your PowerPoint Today devotional. That's JackGraham.org.