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."
• Rev 3:19 “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.”
God did not spring a surprise. He did not “cane” them without warning. Earlier God spoke to David (through Nathan):
• 2 Sam 7:11-16 "The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 15But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'"
* God raises adversaries. He uses the rod of men, the flogging inflicted by men.
The concept of love and discipline together is hard to comprehend, but it is true.
• God disciplines the one He loves. He loves the one He disciplines.
• We see the concern of God. He disciplines NOT to destroy but to redeem.
A young child accidentally took sleeping pills from the family’s medicine cabinet.
The doctor instructed the parents to keep the child awake by any means necessary for the next four hours — including the pain of slapping if necessary.
That pain was necessary for the child’s survival.
The Covenant of God remains! God remains faithful. Nothing has changed on His side.
• This is not a CANCELLATION of God’s promise, nor a CHANGE to His purpose.
• David’s Kingdom will still be established and it will endure forever.
• To Jeroboam, who was given the reign over the TEN tribes, the Lord says - 11:37-38 “However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. 38 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.”
• The promise of God’s blessings for Israel remains unchanged.
While man has turned from Him, God remains faithful. Let’s honour Him and remain faithful.
What do we see here in this chapter?
We See THE KINGSHIP OF GOD in His dealings with men
We see the Kingship of God over the kings. “He deposes kings and raises up others.” (Dan 2:21). God presides.
• Prophet Ahijah announces BEFOREHAND the direction the future will take because that what God has decided.
• God said it. And because God said it, and it will come to pass as He said.
• God holds the future. The future belongs to Him. He knows what He is doing, and He works out His purposes despite human failures.
We submit to Him and trust Him. God knows what He is doing.
We See THE LOVE OF GOD in His dealings with men
God disciplines, not to destroy but to build up. His covenantal promise remains intact.
• God works to teach us and grow us, not to subdue us and finish us.
• He works to CONDITION us to become the final product that He has in mind – to be just like Christ.
When we face hardships or His disciplining, remember this, God has not quitted on us; He is working on us. All the twists and turns are part of His plan.
• He will not quit on us, so don’t quit on Him. We stay close and trust Him.
D. L. Moody:
"When I was a boy my mother used to send me outdoors to get a birch stick to whip me with, when I had to be punished.
At first I used to stand off from the rod as far as I could. But I soon found that the whipping hurt me more that way than any other; and so I went as near to my mother as I could, and found she could not strike me so hard.
And so when God chastens us let us kiss the rod and draw as near to Him as we can."
The Lord disciplines those He loves. He loves the ones He disciplines.
