THE LORD GIVES...BUT HE CAN ALSO TAKE AWAY

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab, the commander of the army who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking men from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.

Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh's own children.

While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Let me go, that I may return to my own country."

"What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?" Pharaoh asked.

"Nothing," Hadad replied, "but do let me go!"

And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon, son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer, king of Zobah. He gathered men around him and became the leader of a band of rebels when David destroyed the forces of Zobah ; the rebels went to Damascus where they settled and took control. Rezon was Israel's adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward Israel.

Also, Jeroboam, son of Nebat, rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon's officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.

Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the supporting terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David, his father. Now Jeroboam was a man of standing and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.

About that time, Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem and Ahijah, the prophet of Shiloh, met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes. But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of the Moabites; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and laws as David, Solomon's father, did.’

'But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon's hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David, My servant, whom I chose and who observed My commands and statutes. I will take the kingdom from his son's hands and give you ten tribes. I will give one tribe to his son so that David, My servant, may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My name. However, as for you, I will take you and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. If you do whatever I command you and walk in My ways and do what is right in My eyes by keeping My statutes and commands, as David, my servant, did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. I will humble David's descendants because of this, but not forever.'"

Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon's death.

1 Kings 11:14-40

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the opening verses of 1 Kings, chapter 11, we began to see the downfall of King Solomon as the once unrivaled wise king gave into his desires, ignoring the Lord’s counsel by marrying foreign wives and, in turn, allowing them to adversely influence him to worship their false gods. Of course, this took him out of God’s favor and we found the Lord promising to take away the kingdom…not from Solomon…but from his son, leaving but one tribe for that son to rule over for the sake of David and Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:11-13).

As we continue to study from this chapter today, we see the Lord making good on the judgment He vowed to bring, setting events in motion that would eventually lead to the kingdom dividing.

First, we read about two adversaries that were raised up by God against Solomon: Hadad the Edomite and Rezon, son of Eliada.

The scriptures tell us that Hadad was from the “royal line of Edom” who had been attacked by Joab, David’s army commander, earlier during battle. We’re told that Joab “struck down all the men in Edom”, except for some Edomite officials who fled with a young boy to Egypt via Midian and Paran. That young boy was Hadad.

Once in Egypt, we read where Hadad was treated well by Pharaoh who gave him a house and land, provided him with food, and “gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage”. From that marriage, a “son named Genubath” was born and was “brought up in the royal palace”, while living “with Pharaoh's own children”.

As Hadad grew older, word came to him in Egypt about the deaths of David and Joab and so Hadad went to Pharaoh with the following request:

“Let me go, that I may return to my own country."

Pharaoh, seemingly surprised by the request replied:

“What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?"

To which, Hadad said:

“Nothing” before asking Pharaoh again to allow him to leave, an appeal that Egypt’s ruler granted.

The second adversary, Rezon, son of Eliada, "had fled from his master, Hadadezer, king of Zobah”, and “gathered men around him”, becoming “the leader of a band of rebels when David destroyed the forces of Zobah”. We read where “the rebels went to Damascus, where they settled and took control” and from that point on, “Rezon was Israel's adversary” and was “hostile toward” them for “as long as Solomon lived”.

Now, those two adversaries would probably have been enough to afflict Solomon for the remainder of his reign but as we see, God wasn’t finished. For the scriptures tell us that “Jeroboam, son of Nebat” and “one of Solomon’s officials”, also “rebelled against the king”.

We read where “Solomon had built the supporting terraces and…filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David” and with Jeroboam being “a man of standing” with a reputation for good work, Solomon placed him “in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph”. All was well at this point but one day, as “Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem”, he encountered “Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh”. Ahijah, “wearing a new cloak”, took it off and “tore it into twelve pieces” before saying this to Jeroboam:

"Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes. But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of the Moabites; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and laws as David, Solomon's father, did.’

'But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon's hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David, My servant, whom I chose and who observed My commands and statutes. I will take the kingdom from his son's hands and give you ten tribes. I will give one tribe to his son so that David, My servant, may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My name. However, as for you, I will take you and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. If you do whatever I command you and walk in My ways and do what is right in My eyes by keeping My statutes and commands, as David, my servant, did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. I will humble David's descendants because of this, but not forever.'"

Here we find God essentially giving Jeroboam most of what he had promised Solomon and his sons, and then sealed the deal with the same vow given to them prior. As long as Jeroboam did whatever the Lord commanded, walked in His ways and did what was right by keeping His statutes and commands, then God would be with him, helping “build…a dynasty as enduring as the one (He) built for David”. As a result of changed allocation of power and authority, ten tribes…a majority of the kingdom…would be given to Jeroboam as the Lord humbled “David's descendants…but not forever."

And with that, God’s judgment plan for Solomon began to take root and as we see, Israel’s king wasn’t about to let it happen without a response. For we read where he (Solomon) tried to kill Jeroboam only to find his adversary flee to Egypt where he took refuge under “Shishak the king” and remained there “until Solomon's death”.

I can’t get over how sad this story is as we see Solomon go from the “penthouse to the outhouse”, coining a more contemporary phrase. For Israel’s king had it all and was about to lose most of what he had but this is exactly what we see happening in life today, just as it did nearly 3,000 years ago. For when someone who the Lord has richly blessed decides to turn their attention and devotion from Him, opting to satisfy sinful desires instead of walking in obedience to His Word and way, He (the Lord) in return can withdraw His blessings and immerse the sinner into punishment for their wicked behavior.

Indeed, our God is the One who provides us every good and perfect gift from above (James 1:17) but He also holds the power and authority to rescind those gifts if we don’t continuously honor Him with the way we live, using what He has granted to bring Him honor and glory.

This truth should cause us to pause and reflect over the way we’re living, asking ourselves the following questions:

Am I honoring God with the way I live my life?

Have I repaid the Lord for His goodness and provision by being uncompromisingly faithful and loyal to Him?

Do I show Him that I’m a good steward of the gifts He has given me, using them to carry out His purposes for my life?

These exercises in spiritual self examination are totally healthy for us as believers for we can’t afford to end up like Solomon with God withdrawing His blessings from us because we decided to do our own thing, separate from His expectations and desires.

For the Lord gives but He also can take away. We see this truth play out in the scriptures and we shouldn’t ever think that history won’t repeat itself if we choose to make the same mistakes of the biblical past.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.