During the forty years Solomon reigned over the nation of Israel we see Solomon sowing a lot of seeds of self-indulgence in hopes of reaping a harvest to satisfy those longings in his life. To his dismay the harvest only brought with it more emptiness and that which he longed for continued to be elusive remaining just out of his reach. As a result of these pursuits we see Solomon’s relationship with the Lord slowly deteriorating. As that vital relationship deteriorated Solomon would begin to dabble in idolatry which would cause God’s anger to begin to burn against him. Despite the two previous times that God had appeared to Solomon, he continued to disregard the Lord’s warnings. As a result the Lord’s judgment comes down upon Solomon. With all this said, it comes as no surprise that Solomon reaped what he sowed. In fact Solomon’s own words in regard to defiance from Proverbs 1:24-27 will come back to be his own chilling indictment. “But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you—when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.” Today as we look at this episode from Solomon’s life we will learn some lessons about how God deals with a defiant child.
I. When one sows the seeds of defiance they reap the wrath of God.
A. Idolatry is only an outward sign of a rebellious and defiant heart.
1. In God’s eyes rebellion and idolatry are closely related.
2. So dangerous is the character trait of defiance God instituted extreme measures in Israel’s legal system to prevent it from spreading.
3. If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.” Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid. (Deuteronomy 21:18-21—NIV)
4. God’s harsh measures were to protect the community from the spread of defiance and the whole community coming under His judgment.
B. Solomon showed his defiance through compromise, extravagance, unaccountability and idolatry.
1. Our text shows Solomon at around age 45 experiencing the ultimate mid-life crisis and stubbornly demanding his own way.
2. The results of Solomon’s defiance were a loss of distinctive convictions, boredom and disillusionment.
3. Two times in 1 Kings 11 we are told that Solomon’s heart turned away from God.
4. Because of Solomon’s stubborn refusal to turn to God, God turned to him in anger.
II. God’s infinite compassion and slowness to anger can easily be mistaken as Him being tolerant of sin.
A. God’s wrath against Solomon is revealed as He announces His judgment on Solomon’s sin.
1. Yahweh was extremely angry with Solomon because his allegiance to him had grown cold.
2. Exceptional favors had been granted to this king. Twice he had been permitted to receive direct revelations from God.
3. Solomon had been solemnly warned about pursuing other gods, but he had disregarded this command of the Lord.
4. In his anger the Lord pronounced a solemn judgment upon Solomon. No doubt the pronouncement came through the mouth of one of God’s prophets, for it hardly seems likely that God would condescend to grant this defiant child yet another direct revelation.
5. The message is dreadful. Because Solomon had failed to live up to his obligations before God, the Lord would rip the kingdom from him. A mere servant would be heir to all of Solomon’s glory and treasure.
6. God tempered the judgment with two gracious and merciful limitations. The blow would not fall until after the death of Solomon; and the disruption would only be partial. One tribe, Benjamin, would remain under the Davidic dynasty.
B. Solomon’s peaceful reign will be in jeopardy as God proceeds to raise up adversaries against Solomon.
1. Just because the Lord leaves Solomon on the throne does not mean Solomon encounters no consequences of his sin.
2. God raises up an adversary, an Edomite named Hadad, to oppose Solomon. Hadad was the only surviving member of Edom’s royal family after David’s crushing victory over that nation
3. God also raises up a second adversary. This individual, Rezon, began his career, like David, as a leader of a band of rebels. Later he took control of Damascus, from which he caused Solomon much trouble. David had defeated Syria earlier, so Rezon’s hatred of Israel was similar to Hadad’s.
4. Rezon led a group of warriors against Damascus. He captured the city, settled in it, and finally established himself as the ruling power there. Eventually the entire region of Aram recognized Rezon as their king.
5. Yahweh was behind Solomon’s troubles. As he was with Moses and David, he is with Hadad the Edomite and Rezon. Hadad, from Edom in the south, and Rezon, from Damascus in the north, plague Solomon’s idyllic reign.
6. Solomon was faced with opposition simultaneously on the northern and southern frontiers of his empire.
C. God begins to unravel Solomon’s reign with internal threats.
1. A third adversary is introduced. This man, named Jeroboam, comes from Israel itself. In fact, this opponent emerges from Solomon’s own court, for Jeroboam is “one of Solomon’s officials.”
2. Solomon had given him a position of responsibility in the building of the Millo. Perhaps this power gave Jeroboam the desire to reign over all Israel.
3. One day Jeroboam met a prophet named Ahijah. When they were alone in the field, Ahijah took hold of his own new garment ... and tore it into twelve pieces. He gave ten pieces ... to Jeroboam as a sign that God would give him command over ten tribes of Israel.
4. If Jeroboam would obey the Lord, he would be assured of the Lord’s blessing and help. Notice the limitations which God put on Jeroboam: He was to have ten tribes, not the whole kingdom; he was to come to power only after Solomon’s death; God would make him an enduring house only if he would obey the Lord and wholly follow Him.
5. Apparently Jeroboam rebelled while Solomon was still alive, so he had to flee to Egypt to escape the king’s wrath. He remained there until Solomon’s death. Instead of facing his sin and repenting, Solomon tried to thwart the word of God by doing away with Jeroboam.
6. Shishak is not as friendly to Solomon as Siamun was in the past. Perhaps the new Pharaoh resents paying Solomon’s tolls, or perhaps he attempts to build a new power base that will serve his own interests. Either way the Davidic lineage is in trouble. Jeroboam has a constituency in Israel, a significant foreign ally, and God’s promise to place him in power.
III. Defiance can destroy our spiritual life quicker than anything else.
A. The stages that defiance leads one through.
1. The first stage is selfishness: I want my way or I am going to do things my way.
2. The second stage is stubbornness: I will not quit until I get what I want.
3. The third stage is indifference: I don’t care who gets hurt, I will step on whoever gets in my way.
4. The fourth stage is resistance: The refusal to listen to advice.
5. The final stage is contempt: This is simply not caring about any of the consequences of your actions.
B. Just as with Solomon, defiance is usually revealed more readily in a stubborn refusal to obey.
1. Often we try to hide from God or elude Him by travelling the road of defiance but we have to realize that we cannot escape God.
2. God will sound warning after warning to get our attention, sometimes these warnings may take the form of a unpleasant memory or a confrontation.
3. If we find ourselves walking defiantly through life, we need to heed the warnings before it’s too late and God’s anger and judgment comes down upon us.
4. The only way for us to escape the consequences of walking in defiance is to turn to Jesus Christ and let Him lead us on the path we should travel.
Clint Eastwood Westerns are great movies. One of his later movies is titled “Unforgiven.” In the movie, Eastwood plays the part of an aging gunfighter who lost his taste for killing many years before. He and his old partner, played by Morgan Freeman, are lured by the rumor of a bounty of gold being offered for the arrest of some cowboys who had disfigured a young prostitute. Despite some misgivings, they set out to hunt for these men, joined by a young partner who is eager to show he is as good a gunfighter as any man. When they find the men they are hunting, the young man, who had earlier bragged of killing five men, admits after the confrontation that the man he killed was his first. As he sits talking to Eastwood afterward, it is easy to see that the memory of watching the man die is haunting him. He sits with a bottle of whiskey, taking quick drinks to help him face the moment. As he tries to convince himself there was nothing wrong with what he did, Clint simply says, “Take a drink, kid.” No telling how many times the older gunman had faced the same memories with a bottle. The young man takes a drink, and says, “Well, I guess he had it coming for what he did,” still trying to justify the killing to himself. Clint just pauses and reflects for a long moment, and finally replies, “We all got it coming, kid.”
