He Holds The Future Series

King Solomon loved many foreign women and held fast to them in love.

• He went astray and committed idolatry when he followed the gods of the Sidonians, the Ammonites and the Moabites.

• We want to stay vigilant. Guard our heart and pray that we will have the fear of God always in our hearts.

11:9 “The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.”

• The Lord says, “Since this is your attitude…” It seems to indicate a persistent hardening of his heart towards God.

• And declares His judgement: 11:11 “I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.”

God purposes all things. He knows WHAT He will do. He determines what is to come.

• The ‘WHAT’ has to do with tearing Solomon’s kingdom apart, and God chooses WHO to reign. We’re going to see that later in this chapter.

11:12 “I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of your hand of your son.” He decides WHEN it is to happen.

• When we say we trust God, we are also saying we trust His timing.

• Sometimes He explains, like here – “for the sake of David your father, I will not do it in your lifetime.” (11:12)

• At other times, we just do not know WHEN it’s going to happen.

11:13 “Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe…”

• God determines HOW it is done. He states His will and accomplishes His purpose.

• We are going to see how God executes His plan in today’s passage.

God set the stage for the eventual outcome. He raises adversaries against Solomon.

• 11:14-22 - Hadad the Edomite. When David fought Edom, Joab his general destroyed everyone but Hadad, only a boy then, fled to Egypt.

- He grew up in Egypt, married and now returned to Edom.

• 11:23-25 – Rezon son of Eliada. He was leader of a gang of rebels when David fought Zobah. The group fled and established themselves in Aram.

- Both Hadad and Rezon caused trouble for Solomon.

• 11:26ff – Jeroboam, son of Nebat, rebelled against Solomon; he was one of his officials.

Let’s read 1 Kings 11:26-40.

The Lord communicated His plan to Jeroboam through a prophet of Shiloh, Ahijah.

• The prophet said exactly what the Lord has revealed to Solomon - WHAT God is going to do - tear out 10 tribes from Solomon son’s hands and give them to Solomon’s subordinate, Jeroboam.

• And to leave ONE TRIBE with Solomon’s kingdom, for the sake of David.

And the Lord explains WHY – sometimes He does that immediately, but most times, we must wait to understand WHY.

• 11:33 “I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshipped the gods… and they have not walked in my ways, nor done what is right in my eyes, not kept my statues and laws, as David, Solomon’s father did.”

• God knows WHAT He wants to do, WHO He wants to pass the kingdom to, WHEN is it going to happen, HOW is it going to be done and WHY.

• The author puts it plainly: “Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary… (11:14), and “God raised up against Solomon another adversary” (11:23) and raised up the ONE to rebel against Solomon and break his kingdom apart.

The future is His story. God acts to execute His will. The future is in His control. He controls the future.

• Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam are not accidental characters that happened to appear in the history of Israel.

• Their appearance, their place, their time, and their impact took place at the beck of God’s sovereign control.

• They were there to fulfil God’s will.

So what is the purpose of all of this? Is God vending His anger? Is He going to destroy the kingdom?

• 11:36 “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.”

• God is not going to snuff out the light. The light will shine through JUDAH. I believe this points to the ultimate Son of David who will from Judah.

11:39 “I will HUMBLE David's descendants because of this, but not forever.”

• “I will humble them” means God wants to teach them a lesson. It’s a discipline.

• Heb 12:5-6 "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."