SLIPPERY SLOPES, A DRIED UP HAND AND STILL REFUSES TO LEARN...
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
2 Tim. 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
[4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
I. DO YOU REMEMBER THE RIVER FLOWING FROM THE ALTAR OF GOD...
IN EZEKIEL 47... THE WATERS GET DEEPER AND DEEPER...
WE CAN NOT ACCEPT THE SHALLOW, GOD HAS MORE...
Ezekiel 47:3 The waters flowed from the waters were ANKLE DEEP...
Ezekiel 47:4 The waters were KNEE DEEP...
Ezekiel 47:4 LOIN DEEP
Ezekiel 47:5 The waters were flowing so deep that ONE HAD TO SWIM...
A. SOME LESSONS CAN BE RECEIVED BY THE FLESH, BUT SOME DEEP LESSONS
CAN ONLY BE REVEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT...
THIS LESSON IS SO VERY DEEP, THAT THE DEPTH OF THIS LESSON HAS TO BE GOD SEALED... A DIVINE REVELATION...
PLEASE JESUS TEACH US THE LESSON OF DAN AND JEROBOAM...
B. Linda my wife and I stood near the head of the JORDAN RIVER in January, 2010. Our guide was a powerful Christian man from Russia. He and his mother came from Russia to Israel many years ago.
C. We unloaded from the bus, 33 pastors from around the USA, at the NORTHERN MOST PART OF ISRAEL...
Today Jordan and Syria border the LAND OF THE TRIBE OF DAN...
D. DAN WAS THE 5TH SON OF JACOB...
HIS MOTHER WAS LEAH'S HANDMAIDEN... BILHAH (Gen. 30:6)
E. JACOB'S BLESSING TO HIS SON: DAN WAS...
Genesis 49:16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
F. THIS BLESSINGS IS REVEALED IN MANY WAYS--
FOR EXAMPLE: SAMSON WAS A JUDGE OF ISRAEL...
SAMSON WAS OF THE TRIBE OF DAN...
G. DAN HAD ALWAYS CAMPED TO THE NORTH OF THE TABERNACLE WHEN
MOSES AND THE PEOPLE WERE TRAVELING FROM EGYPT TO THE PROMISE
LAND...
H. ARE YOU FAMILIAR THAT THE NORTHERN MOST PART OF ISRAEL WAS THE
LAST AREA CONQUERED BY ISRAEL... ?
I. THE TRIBE OF DAN'S TERRITORY WAS SMALL BUT IT WAS VERY BLESSED...
IT WAS FERTILE AND VERY FRUITFUL. The Jordan River starts here.
J. ON A VERY SAD NOTE THE TRIBE OF DAN NEVER FULLY OBEYED THE
COMMAND OF MOSES AND OF GOD TO TOTALLY DRIVE OUT THE
INHABITANTS OF THEIR GOD GIVEN AREA...
THIS LACK OF OBEDIENCE WILL COST THE WHOLE TRIBE OF DAN DEARLY...
II. BEFORE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND FULLY THE LESSON OF JEROBOAM,
WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE WEIGHT OF APATHY AND INDIFFERENCE
TOWARD GOD, PREACHERS AND GOD'S WORD EXISTING IN THIS SAD
TIME IN HISTORY... THIS LESSON IS AS REAL IN AMERICA TODAY AS IN
ISRAEL'S YESTERDAY...
A. THERE IS GREAT DANGER IN APATHY AMONG THE CHURCH TODAY...
THERE IS A SPIRIT OF COMPROMISING AND ACCEPTANCE OF ANY THING
COMING DOWN THE PIKE...
B. We are moving the ANCIENT LANDMARKS...
The world is becoming CHURCHIE...
And the Church is becoming WORLDLY...
C. We see COMPASSION FATIQUE as preachers and Sunday School teachers
are laying down their Bibles and allowing the INSIGNIFICANT BURDENSOME
SPIRIT CREEP INTO THE HEARTS OF SPIRITUAL LEADERS...
D. We are seeing LEADERSHIP BECOMING MORE AND MORE UNFAITHFUL
TO THEIR POST OF DUTY. Do we forget there are others walking this path and your faithfulness or your lack of faithfulness is AN EXAMPLE to them?
III. THERE CAN GROW A LOVE OF MATERIALISM AND THE THINGS OF THE
WORLD THAT SMOTHERS TO DEATH THE LOVE OF GOD...
JERUSALEM HAS JUST EXPERIENCED ONE OF THE GREATEST SEASONS OF
PROSPERITY THAT THE NATION OF ISRAEL HAS EVER KNOWN.
A. SHOW ME WHERE YOU SPEND YOUR TIME AND I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT
IS IMPORTANT TO YOU... ???
B. What was the VALUE SYSTEM IN THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL... ???
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
C. God's word CLEARLY WARNED THE PEOPLE, SOME AREAS OF LIFE
ARE SLIPPERY SLOPES...
Horses, FINE HORSES, and chariots are as common as walking by feet...
the MULTIPLYING OF HORSES... will be a slippery slope.
Deut. 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
B. Sexual desires, EATING, DRINKING AND GIVEN IN MARRIAGE...
DEVALUE THE FAMILY,
UNDERCUT AUTHORITY... will become slippery slopes...
Deut. 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
C. THE FOCUS BECAME THE ABUNDANCE OF GOLD AND SILVER.
PROSPERITY BECAME THE NORM NO MATTER WHAT THE COST...
D. THERE WAS AN UNDERCUTTING OF THE VALUE OF GOD'S WORD...
IGNORANCE OF GOD'S WORD AND A PULPIT THAT FEARS TO SPEAK
BOLDLY AND DECLARE WHAT THUS SAITH GOD...
Deut. 17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
E. GOD DOES NOT WINK AT IGNORANCE OF HIS WORD...
IV. WANT TO DISCUSS PEOPLE THAT REFUSE TO LISTEN... ???
IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT HUMPTY DUMPTY'S TERRIBLE FALL
THAT ALL THE KING'S MEN AND ALL THE KING'S HORSES COULD NOT
PUT TOGETHER AGAIN...
LET US LOOK AT HOW SOLOMON'S EXCESSIVENESS SET HIS KINGDOM
UP FOR A TERRIBLE FALL... A SLIPPERY SLOPE...
A. WHILE SOLOMON WAS VERY WISE HE SEEMED TO RAISE A SON
SO BENT ON EXCESSIVENESS THAT HE WAS STUPID FIRST DEGREE...
B. Solomon was of the TRIBE OF JUDAH...
C. SOLOMON HAD A SON NAMED REHOBOAM...
THAT COULD HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF FIRST DEGREE STUPIDITY...
D. STUPID PEOPLE WILL NOT HEED GOD, GOD'S WORD, OR GOD'S
PREACHERS... REHOBOAM REFUSED TO LISTEN...
1 Kings 12:4-8 Thy father (Solomon) made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
[5] And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
[6] And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
[7] And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
[8] But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:
E. WILL WE LISTEN TO THE SOUND SPIRITUAL WORDS OF GOD?
WILL WE SEEK TEACHERS HAVING ITCHING EARS... AND FIND OURSELVES
ON SLIPPERY SLOPES.
V. DIVISION CAN DESTROY EVEN THE GREAT...
SEEMS WE CAN HAVE A CHOICE BETWEEN STUPID AND STUPID...
AND STUPID PREVAILS?
A. WHILE SOLOMON WAS KING THERE WAS A MAN THAT SEEMED VERY
NICE TO THE EYE... JEROBOAM...
B. JEROBOAM: IT IS NOT HOW YOU HANDLE DEMOTION THAT TELLS ABOUT
YOU... IT IS HOW YOU HANDLE PROMOTION...
C. JEROBOAM HAS THE CHANCE TO HELP BRING BALANCE AND RIGHT
BACK TO THE KINGDOM...
1 Kings 11:28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.
D. There was a Preacher named AHIJAH ( a-HIGH-jah). He saw the trouble ahead...
E. AHIJAH takes JEROBOAM'S ROBE AND CUTS IT INTO 12 PIECES...
Jeroboam gets 10 pieces, REHOBOAM gets 2 pieces... for David's sake?
A SLIPPERY SLOPE IS AHEAD.
VI. JEROBOAM TAKES PROMOTION IN THE FLESH AND TURNS FAR AWAY
FROM GOD...
A. Jeroboam takes the AUTHORITY and undercuts Solomon, and Solomon sees the DANGEROUS ATTITUDES THAT JEROBOAM IS DEVELOPING...
B. JEROBOAM IS GOING TO EGYPT... EGYPT WILL BE A SLIPPERY SLOPE...
EGYPT IS A TYPE OF SIN IN THE BIBLE...
C. JEROBOAM IS GOING TO MAKE AN ALLIANCE WITH EGYPT...
1 Kings 11:40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak ( SHE- shak) king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
D. JEROBOAM IS GOING TO MARRY SHISHAK'S (SHE-shak) DAUGHTER...
Shishak is of the ASSYRIAN DYNASTY --- OF EGYPT.
E. AS JEROHOAM'S FATHER-IN-LAW, Shishak, not only did this MARRIAGE bring an ALLIANCE WITH THE WORLD but it also STRENGHTEN JEROHOAM'S RULE...
Jeroboam knew better than this.
F. SHISHAK (SHE-shak) ATACKS JERUSALEM and in great power and force
SHISHAK TAKES CONTROL OF JERUSALEM...
PAGAN PEOPLE DESTROY THE TEMPLE AND PLUNDER THE PEOPLE
AND JEROBOAM REJOICES IN THE DOWN FALL OF THE TABERNACLE
AND OF GOD'S PEOPLE...
G. JEROBOAM REJOICES IN THE DESTRUCTION OF GOD'S WORK AND THUS
HE IS EMPOWERED MORE AND MORE...
VII. THIS FRIENDSHIP IS NOT A SLIPPERY SLOPE, IT IS A MUTUAL
FRIENDSHIP...
JEROBOAM'S COMPROMISE AND FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD
MEANS A COMPROMISING OF DIVINE TRUTH AND A LOWERING OF
EXPECTATIONS... JEROBOAM FEARED REVIVAL IN JERUSALEM AND
MADE WORSHIP MORE CONVENIENT...
A. WE KNOW GOD HAS MADE JERUSALEM THE CENTER OF WORSHIP...
WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE TO GO TO JERUSALEM???
B. GOING TO JERUSALEM IS TOO HARD FOR YOU...
I HAVE BEEN THINKING... WHY HAVE ONE PLACE?
LET US MAKE TWO...
C. WE SEE THIS SAME TENDANCY ALIVE AND WELL IN THE USA's CHURCHES...
We must make worship more approachable and SEEKER-FRIENDLY...
1 Kings 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
[27] If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
VIII. THE SLIPPERY SLOPE GETS SLICKER?
JEROBOAM'S CALL WAS TO BYPASS THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM...
THIS CALL STILL GOES FORTH TODAY... SOME SAY THE CHURCH IS NOT
IMPORTANT...
JEROBOAM DOES NOT LOOK TO GOD'S WORD...
JEROBOAM DOES NOT SEEK OUT GOD'S MAN FOR GOD'S PLAN...
JEROBOAM HAS A FLESHLY FIX TO A SPIRITUAL PROBLEM...
A. IF ONE PLACE TO WORSHIP IS GOOD?
IN THE FLESH --- TWO PLACES OF WORSHIP WILL BE BETTER...
B. Jerusalem has many problems, there are spiritual people in Jerusalem that are not what they claim to be...
1 Kings 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
[29] And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
C. NOT ONLY HAS JEROBOAM CLOSED HIS EYES AND ALLOWED HIS
FATHER-IN-LAW TO SNEAK IN TO DESTROY JERUSALEM.... JEROBOAM
CONDONED SHISHAK TO ATTACK GOD'S SYSTEM.
D. JEROBOAM HAS ESTABLISHED TWO PLACES...
THERE IS A CIRCUS LIKE ATMOSPHERE TO THIS WORSHIP...
E. The old way is ARCHAIC, ANTIQUATED, OBSOLETE...
WE ARE JUST TAKING WORSHIP TO A NEW LEVEL OF CONVENIENCE
AND WE WILL REACH MORE PEOPLE...
F. Besides all this --- WE HAVE TWO SHOWY GOLD CALVES... that appeal to the flesh.
G. You don't need JERUSALEM we have BETHEL and DAN...
IX. WHO SAYS GOD CALLS MEN?
JEROBOAM TRIES TO HAVE THE REAL MAN OF GOD ARRESTED...
LET'S EDUCATED, TRAIN AND DEVELOP NEW PREACHERS... MORE SENSITIVE...
WE LOWER THE STANDARDS OF WORSHIP, LET US LOWER
THE EXPECTATIONS OF LEADERSHIP...
A. WHY DOES GOD ALWAYS USE THE MEN FROM THE TRIBE OF LEVI?
B. The tribe of LEVI THINK THEY ARE BETTER THAN WE ARE.
1 Kings 12:31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
C. WHEN GIRAFFE'S ARE IN THE PULPIT... ???
COME DOWN TO THE COMMON MAN...
LET US LOWER OUR EXPECTATIONS, THESE OLD MEN OF GOD ARE JUDGMENTAL...
PICKING GOD CALLED MEN?
X. DEVICES OF THE HEART...
WORSHIP IS NOT LIKE A WHOPPER --- HAVE IT YOUR WAY....
WE MUST NOT BRING WORSHIP TO THE FLESH, BUT TAKE OUR FLESH
TO THE SPIRIT REALM...
A. JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN OFFERING DOES NOT MEAN THE OFFERING
IS ACCEPTABLE...
1 Kings 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
B. GOD HAS A MAN... A MAN OF GOD THAT WILL STAND UP TO THE FALSE,
PAGAN WORSHIP AND SPEAK THE TRUTH....
C. GOD WILL RENT ALL THE FALSE WORSHIP!
GOD WILL RENT THE FALSE ALTARS OF CONVENIENCE...
GOD WILL RENT THE FLESH PLEASURES...
LOVERS OF PLEASURES MORE THAN LOVERS OF GOD... WILL FALL FLAT...
1 Kings 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
[2] And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn
incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
[3] And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
D. WATCH THE SLIPPERY SLOPES THAT HURTS THE HAND...
THE HAND IS A SYMBOL OF WHAT WE DO...
BE CAREFUL WITH THAT DRIED UP HAND...
DRIED UP? WHY WAS THE KING'S HAND DRIED UP?
[4] And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar,
saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
[5] The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
E. JEROBOAM'S WORDS: PRAY FOR ME ARE A TELL ALL OF THE SLIPPERY
SLOPES OF SIN...
JEROBOAM, WHY NOT PRAY FOR YOURSELF?
1 Kings 13:6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
CONCLUSION:
TODAY'S RELIGIOUS LEADERS CAN FALL INTO THE SAME DEADLY AND
VERY COSTLY TRAPS OF MAKING WORSHIP SO SEEKER FRIENDLY THAT
GOD QUIETLY LEAVES THE WORSHIP TO THE REPROBATE MINDS THAT THINK
GOD'S MAN AND GOD'S SYSTEMS ARE SO OUT DATED THAT THEY LOSE THEIR
EFFECTIVENESS.
I have stood at the place at the tribe of Dan where Jeroboam
1.bypassed God,
2. made friends with the world,
3.made worship more convenient,
4. made WORSHIP HAVE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE...
5. BYPASSED THE MEN OF GOD for men of low standards...
--- to find out... GOD WAS NO LONGER WITH JEROBOAM...
THE SAD STORY WAS NOT ENDED WITH THE DRIED UP HAND...
JEROBOAM NEVER LEARNED THE LESSON AND NEVER CHANGED...
JEROBOAM REIGNED 41 YEARS OVER THE 10 TRIBES...
THERE WERE SOME GOOD SEASONS OF PROSPERITY...
Jeroboam was warned on several occasions but the WARNING WAS NOT HEEDED...
Jeroboam may have claimed the 2 GOLD CALVES WERE SYMBOLS OF
TRUE WORSHIP TO JEVOHAH, but the people worshiped the GOLD CALVES
NOT GOD AND THE CONVENIENCE OF FALSE WORSHIP CAN LOWER
EXPECTATIONS AND LEAVE US WITH DRIED UP HANDS.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
HELP ME? PASS THIS ON?
