"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT THE DANGER OF DISOBEDIENCE"
1st Kings 11:1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites--
1st Kings 11:2 from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
Some explanatory thoughts/application/questions and a prayer:
The events recorded in 1st Kings took place towards the end of Solomon's life. Earlier in his life, and even before his life, God had spoken the Children of Israel about what a ruler was to do, and not to do. Solomon knew God's Word, but unfortunately he chose to ignore it, and rather gave into his own desires, instead of being obedient to God. He became disobedient and it was the start of much, much trouble for him personally, and ultimately for the nation as a whole.
1. Direct disobedience to God's Word is never fruitful.
1st Kings 11:1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites--
We are told what the disobedience was. 1st Kings 11:1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women,
God had directly warned His people and His rulers not to do this.
The New Testament calls this being un-equally yoked together with unbelievers. Light and darkness do not mix.
As Christians we are light in the Lord, and to marry, or to engage in business relationships etc, is an effort that is in direct contradiction to God's will for His people. You cannot blend the two. Trouble will ensue
2. Direct disobedience will bring about consequences that are not a blessing.
1st Kings 11:2 from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
Here we have God's Word spoken very clearly. And, we are also given the reason for this command.
Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon
God told Solomon, that these foreign women would turn his heart away after their gods. Solomon's heart had been towards the Lord, but now it was being turned away from the Lord and towards the gods of his wives.
If you read on in 1st Kings, you hear about the various God's, Astoreth, was the goddess of sex. One of the other gods he wound up worshipping was Molech, which involved the sacrifice of children, having them burned alive as in their worship of this god Molech.
One only has to stop and think for a moment that if one god is sex, and that's what you gave yourself to, then the natural outcome would be pregnancies. We would call these today, unwanted pregnancies. So, they would have sex, get pregnant and then kill their children. This is what Solomon was involved in. It's hard to believe, but it happened. It's so sad to read about, but how true it was.
3. Direct disobedience is something that Satan seeks for God's people to do.
1st Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
There is no question that satan was involved in all this pagan worship as he is this very day. His goal is to destroy the work of God in God's people. And, he did a good job when it came to Solomon, just like he seeks to do today in our lives.
Our defense against Satan is available, and it's called the armor of God. See Eph 6:10-18. We are told there, that if we will put on the armor that God has made for us, that we will stand in victory and not go down in shameful defeat.
Putting on that armor is in it's simplest form, is putting on Christ. Putting on Christ in it's simplest form, is knowing Him, and following Him, and obeying Him.
Some questions:
1. What did this devotional today make you think of?
2. Can you see that even the mighty can fall like Solomon did?
3. Can you also see that obedience is the best path to choose?
4. God knows what's best for us. It's for our good to be obedient to Him.
5. Can you think of any area of your life right now that may need adjustment from disobedience to obedience?
6. Do you know that God loves You, and will forgive you and restore you if you have been disobedient?
7. Do you know that just because a person is in a position of leadership, they are not immune form the consequences of disobedience.
A prayer:
Father, thank You for not glossing over the harsh realities of this life. Here we have the story of a wise man, the wisest of men, who to his own hurt chose to give into his lust, and disobeyed You, and how it hurt the nation in the days following. Father, the same sequence can happen in our lives. We today, would want to quickly and sincerely confess and repent of any known sin in our lives, and cling to You, and forsake our sins. Thank You for wanting to protect us. May we heed Your Word with all of our hearts. Give us grace and mercy this day we pray. In Jesus name, amen.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.
