ALL IS VANITY (1 KINGS 10:23-25, 11:1-13)
A Jewish story tells of Alexander the Great’s presence before the gates of paradise on his journey home after he had conquered the whole world. Seeing that the gates would not open for him, he asked for a token to prove that he was there. All he got was a human eye. Reaching home, he called all his wise men together.
“O King,” replied the wise men, “place the eye in the scales and weigh it.” “What for?” asked Alexander. “I can tell you before hand that it weighs but little.” “Do it just the same!” the wise men urged. “In the other half of the scales place a gold piece. Then we will find out which is heavier.” Alexander did as they asked. To his surprise he found that the eye was heavier than the gold piece. He threw into the scales another gold coin - still the eye was heavier. He then threw a whole handful of coins and ordered that all his gold and silver and jewels be thrown in. Still the eye outweighed the treasure.
“Even were you to take all your chariots and horses and palaces and place them in the scales, the eye will be heavier.” said the wise men. “How do you explain this?” asked the king. “How is such a thing possible?” “Learn a lesson from all this, O king,” said the wise men. “Know that the human eye is never satisfied with what it sees. No matter how much treasure you will show it, it will want more and still more.” “Your explanation doesn’t satisfy me. Give me proof,” insisted Alexander. “Very well,” agreed the wise men. “Have all your gold and treasure removed from the scales. Then place a pinch of dust in their place and observe what happens.”
Barely had Alexander placed a little dust in the scales when they tipped to the other end, for the dust proved heavier than the eye. “Now I understand the meaning of your words and of what was in your minds!” cried Alexander. “So long as man is alive, his eye is never sated, but no sooner does he die when he is as dust! Then his eye loses its impulse and becomes powerless. It can no longer desire.”
People tend to forget where the small pleasures of life and the simple things in life once they make it. Solomon made it big. He was a celebrity, a hit, a showstopper. Traders or spice merchants (1 Ki 10:15), governors of the land (1 Ki 10:15), apes and peacocks (1 Ki 10:22) made its debut in Scriptures and made their way into Israel for the first time. The king lived a life of influence, affluence and opulence. Solomon made a great throne of ivory for himself (1 Ki 10:18), and twelve lions were on the six steps leading to the throne. All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the palace were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver (1 Kings 10:20-21). Solomon had forgotten that people came to hear his wisdom (1 Ki 10:24), not to see his riches.
How can we be rightly related to God, others and self? What safeguards do we need and have against riches and vanities in life and relationships?
You Need a Head Exam On Your Big Head
11:1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter-Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
A Mormon acquaintance once pushed Mark Twain into an argument on the issue of polygamy. After long and tedious expositions justifying the practice, the Mormon demanded that Twain cite any passage of scripture expressly forbidding polygamy.
“Nothing easier,” Twain replied. “No man can serve two masters.”
It’s been said, “The penalty for polygamy is more mother-in-laws.”
Sixth century Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “It is not good for all your wishes to be fulfilled. Through sickness you recognize the value of health, through evil the value of good, through hunger satisfaction, through exertion the value of rest.”
Solomon knew the twin threats that come from being dirt poor and being filthy rich. He prayed in Proverbs 30:7-9: “O LORD…give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ’Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
The word “love”( v 1) tracks Solomon’s rise and fall. His values were bankrupt, his decline was hastening, and his collapse was imminent. The barely-enthroned king Solomon loved the Lord (1 Ki 3:3), but the long-entrenched king loved foreign women (11:1). The amorous king couldn’t stop himself from flirting with ladies, playing with fire and courting for trouble. He added wives like stacking trophies, change them like purchasing clothes, and collected them like buying stamps. Solomon had the wisdom to deal with things related to others, but not to himself. Further, even the wisest man in the world was not given the ability to deal with 1,000 women.
Solomon not only loved many foreign women (v 1); he held fast to them in love (v 2). The word “held fast” is the traditional word in marriage for leaving one’s parents and “cleaving” to one’s wife. It means cling, attach, paste, glue, bond - the very thing Ruth did when she clung to her mother-in-law and refused to leave Naomi (Ruth 1:14). This is also the “holding fast” relationship that Moses and Joshua admonished Israel to have with God when they enter the Promised Land (Deut 11:22, Josh 23:8). Besides, whether loving God or others, a person can only hold fast or cleave to no more than one person; human or divine love is that exclusive. Solomon not only added one wife, ten loves, or one hundred spouses, but one thousand families! The aging Solomon had become a ladies’ man, a playboy king and a sex maniac in his old age. He couldn’t keep his hands to himself, take his eyes off the ladies or last a day without company. Forget the 7-year or 7-month itch; the king couldn’t wait for 17 days. He reigned for 40 years (v 42), which is 14,600 days (40 years x 365 days). The king averaged a wife or a concubine once every 14.6 days. Not even the wisest man in the world could remember all his wives, concubines or children’s names, their anniversaries or birthdays.
You Need a Heart Operation On Your Cheating Heart
4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. 7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. 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. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command.
In a 1995 Forbes magazine released an interesting survey of the chances of a person having an extramarital affair with the income level he or she is making. The higher the income bracket you are in, the higher the infidelity level you will face.
If a person makes $10,000-20,000, the chances of a person’s heart changing is 33%. If the person makes $20,000-30,000, the percentage is 45%. If the income is $30,000-40,000, 55%. If income is $40,000-50,000, 66%. If $60,000 and above, 70%. (Forbes FYI 1995)
The king took a wrong turn and U-turn with interfaith and polygamous marriage. The word “turn” in verses 2, 3, 4 and 9 poignantly captured the course Solomon took. God warned that heathen wives will surely turn one’s heart after their gods (v 2), but Solomon ignored and snubbed the warning. Then his seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines led him astray, or “turned away his heart” in Hebrew (v 3). He became another person. More was to come. Next, his wives turned the aging king’s heart after other gods (v 4). Still, the blame did not completely lie with the wives; the buck stopped with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD (v 9).
This Hebrew word “turn” is linked to oneself or people when it is used of other parts of the body. One can bend the “shoulder” (Gen 49:15) or stretch the “arm” (Ex 6:6, Deut 4:34, Deut 5:15, Deut 9:29, Deut 11:2, Deut 26:8) or stretch/turn one’s “hand” (Ex 7:5, 7:19, 8:5, 8:6, 8:17, 9:22, 10:12, 10:21, 10:22, 14:16, 14:21, 14:26, 14:27, 15:12), or give/incline the “ear” in the Psalms (Ps 17:6, 31:2, 45:10, 71:2, 88:2, 102:2, 116:2), but “turning” of the heart is used of one’s relationship with God and one’s faithfulness to His word. Nine Hebrew references to “turning of one’s heart” are recorded in the Bible, but half of them refer to Solomon’s apostasy (vv 2, 3, 4, 9, Josh 24:23, 1 Kings 8:61, Ps 119:112, Ps 141:4).
The indictment against Solomon was justified, pointed and blunt. The text not only recorded Solomon’s downfall but also his free fall. The active verbs categorizing his sins were fast and furious: (1) Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter (v 1), (2) he held fast to them in love (v 2), (3) he followed Ashtoreth and Molech (v 5), (4) he did evil in the eyes of the LORD (v 6), (5) he built a high place for Chemosh and for Molech (v 7), (6) he built high places for his foreign wives (v 8), (7) his heart had turned away from the LORD (v 9), and (8) he did not keep the Lord’s command (v 10).
You Need a Hearing Aid On Your Dull Hearing
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. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command. 11 So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
Sometimes things are best thrown away, but my wife does not like to waste things. She keeps used plastic bags, old IKEA catalogues, free home buying guide, and empty tin containers. On the other hand, I like to get rid of clutter as soon as I can, especially junk mail, supermarket advertisements, and order catalogues.
Once I spotted a mug without handle or ears on the table. Before throwing it I was curious why it was not disposed of, since we have more than twenty mugs to use from! My wife said, “Don’t throw it. I can use it to sharpen knives.” Sure enough, blunt knives became sharp again when she thrust the blade on the broken ends of the ears. Her ingenuity solved a big headache: how to sharpen knives. My old method was to throw blunt knives and buy new knives, but now we can sharpen our own knives and keep them far longer.
Solomon’s ears were dull of hearing. He became the only king God was said to be angry with (v 9), for a reason. No king – not even David - had twice witnessed God’s up-close self-revelation (v 7). The idols in his life had taken him from God. The course he took enslaved and gripped the nation in idolatry for generations until sixteen kings later, good king Josiah tore down the high places Solomon built (2 Ki 23:13). Note: the abominable or detestable (vv 5, 7, 7) worship of Ashteroth, Molech, and Chemosh made inroads into Israel during Solomon’s reign.
Solomon was in over his head in his latest adversaries. His rivals to the throne were no longer his siblings, but himself, idolatry, and inevitably foreigners, generals, and outsiders. They turned into his sworn enemies, bitter foes and biggest headaches and they rose up from near and far, from right under his nose, and from out of nowhere. The first one, Hadad the Edomite, was raised and nurtured in his in-laws’ own backyard, since Solomon’s first wife was Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Ki 11:1). My guess is that Pharaoh did not look too kindly at the way Solomon treated their Egyptian princess, whose fortunes and popularity had dropped from first lady to aging queen, former favorite and has-been.
Pharaoh not only gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food, but also his sister-in-law in marriage to Hadad. Hadad’s son was raised by her aunt, Pharoah’s wife herself, and the child lived and grew up with Pharaoh’s own children (vv 18-20). Another adversary, Rezon, seized control of Aram, creating a powerful alliance with Hadad in Syria and causing a big headache to Solomon in his borders.
What happened outside Israel’s borders was not as dramatic as what happened within that would divide the people and splinter the country in two. An Ephramite Jew by the name of Jeroboam caused more trouble than any Gentiles could. Jeroboam was the unwitting beneficiary of Ahijah’s pronouncement and the unproven contender to the throne. He was granted the kingship of the northern kingdom, and more, if he would follow and obey God. A dynasty as enduring as David’s dynasty was promised Jeroboam if he was faithful to God. When Solomon tried to kill his rival, Jeroboam fled to Egypt. Again, Egypt was more than happy to provide cover and refuge.
Conclusion: The saying is true: “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.” It should not be a surprise that polytheism led to syncretism, and syncretism led to apostasy. Apostasy is not a sudden change, but stubbornness to change. God does not tolerate or suffer or share competition for His glory, worship and work. Have you gone ahead of yourself? Have you gotten too big for your shoes? Too big for your budget? Too big for your own good? Are you low in committed to God and hot in pursuit of materialism?
EVERYTHING TO PROVE (1 KINGS 11:42-12:20)
I have been teaching preaching at the seminary level for the past six years. I enjoy seeing students master the basics, watching them develop their confidence, and grooming them for immediate impact. However, most teachers enjoy one thing least: evaluation. Six years ago lecturers were evaluated at the end of each course. Three years later teachers had student evaluation midway through the course. Now students give feedback on the first day of the class, too. The only consolation is that I have survived and thrived.
None of us like the pressure of meeting others’ expectations, fulfilling one’s potential, and showing one’s worth. Last year’s NBA champions have to prove they were worthy champions, no fluke, and not a flash in the pan. Champions have to prove they were not lucky; also-rans have to prove they are not losers. Teachers and students have to prove themselves. Professionals have to prove they know what they are doing. Voters need proof of residency and identity, drivers their proof of insurance, and customers their proof of purchase. Scientist have to prove their findings, mathematicians their calculation, chemist their formula, archaeologist their discovery, prosecutors their evidence, athletes their fitness, producers their ratings, and CEOs their salary. Laggards have something to prove, rookies and veterans have something to prove, and young and old have something to prove. Sooner or later and to a greater or lesser degree, everyone has something to prove to oneself, if not to others.
Rehoboam had big shoes to fill. His illustrious grandfather was the beloved King David and his distinguished father was the sage King Solomon. However, the new king was not left without help. His father’s advisors were ready to help the young man make a good start, succeed his father, and complete the transition, but the young Rehoboam took things too personally, lightly, and immaturely. He had more to prove than he thought, more to lose than he thought, and was more to blame than he thought for his misfortune.
Prove Yourself Compassionate, Not Callous or Cold
12:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away. (1 Kings 12:1-33)
During an operation, an experienced surgeon asked a young intern, “Who is the most important person in this operating room?”
The intern (who was taken back by the question) groped for an appropriate answer. He didn’t believe (for a moment) that this mentor was asking (or fishing) for personal compliments, so trying to sound gracious, he replied (giving credit to the other people’s contribution to the team), “I suppose that it would be these nurses who assist you in such an efficient manner.”
The surgeon shook his head and said, “No, the most important individual in this room is (not the doctor, the nurses, or the team, but) the patient. (Remember that.)” (Daily Bread 9/29/93)
//Peter Drucker said that what Andrew Carnegie wanted on his tombstone were these words: “Here lies a man who attracted better people into his service than he was himself.” (Bits and Pieces 1/2/97)
The forty years of Solomon’s reign had exacted a heavy toll on commoners’ lives. The expenses for building expensive projects (1 Kings 10:4), entertaining foreign dignitaries (1 Kings 10:24), buying expensive toys (1 Kings 10:26-29) and supporting 1,000 families (1 Kings 11:3) came directly from the government coffers. The Israelites told Rehoboam frankly how much they suffered when his father was king. The first “heavy” word in verse 4, meaning fierce, rough, severe, is used for Rachel’s great difficulty in giving birth (Gen 35:16), the hardening of the hearts of foreign kings such as Pharaoh (Ex 7:2-3), Sihon (Deut 2:30), Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chron 36:13), and the recurring word for being “stiff-neck” (Deut 10:16, 2 Chron 30:8, Neh 9:16, 9:17, 9:29, Jer 7:26, 17:23, 19:15).
Even then, “heavy” is not the most emphasized word. The most used word in the chapter is the word “yoke,” which is used eight times (vv 4, 4, 9, 10, 11, 11, 14, 14). The delegates’ frequent mention of the word was calculated to dramatize the problem and draw a reaction. The Hebrew word “yoke” has always been used in the Bible for the burden placed upon by enemies (Deut 28:48) and foreigners (Jer 30:8), and never upon or by fellow countrymen. The yokes Israel had suffered included the yoke of Egypt (Lev 26:13), Midian (Isa 9:4), Assyria (Isa 14:25), and Babylon (Isa 47:5-6, Jer 28:2). The Israelites complained frankly that their own king was no better than foreign kings that enslaved them.
The second “heavy” word in verse 4 is frequently used to describe the severity of the famine in the days of Abraham (Gen 12:10), Joseph (Gen 41:31, Gen 43:1, 47:4, 47:13). Even though the messengers were frank, they came in with a polite request, a positive reassurance, and a proper rationale. They said “lighten” but not demand the exact amount or proportion, diplomatically pointed out that Solomon and not Rehoboam caused the hardship (v 4 “he put on us”), and reiterated and concluded that they will serve the new king.
Prove Yourself Competent, Not Childish
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked. 7 They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” 8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ’Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “Tell these people who have said to you, ’Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’-tell them, ’My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’“
(Neighbors in a housing community were upset by the proposal of a new zoning law. Nice people become argumentative, angry, aggressive, aggravated and avoidable.)
“Are you in favor of the new zoning laws?” a householder angrily asked his neighbor.
“Well, some of my friends are for it and some of my friends are against it,” the (cornered) neighbor said. (The impatient householder asked in return, “Well, how are you voting and who are you for?” The neighbor replied,) “I am for my friends.”
Peter Marshall had this proper attitude in prayer: “O God, when I am wrong, make me easy to change, and when I am right, make me easy to live with!” (Tan #2954 epigram)
Rehoboam’s troubles worsened when he listened to the advice of his posse, the youngsters he grew up and hanged out with, rather than the advice his father’s trusted and true advisers. The old hands at the court suggested a brilliant and radical approach, using a kindler and gentler approach to handle a controversial subject and adding a spoon of sugar to the citizens’ bitter medicine. They advocated using a servant model rather than a superior model, a humble and healing approach rather than a hot and heavy approach, providing not a forceful response but “a favorable answer,” or “good words” literally in Hebrew (v 7).
The youngsters’ reckless fighting words were anything but sound advice. The king did not consult his father’s team of advisors, including Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the general (1 Kings 1:38), people who were godly, knowledgeable, and experienced, but heeded a group of unofficial advisors that were untrained, unqualified, unskilled, unwise, and untested. The recommended words were so harsh and arrogant that even half the answer Rehoboam offered later (v 13) was offensive enough to kill any hope of reconciliation. He was the only king to use on his subjects the word “chastised,” “whips” and “scorpions,” words that were calculated to mean business, silent opposition, and impose punishment.
What a stark contrast to the way his father made his debut. The first impression the people had of Solomon was the Hebrew phrase “good fear” when they saw the godly wisdom in him to administer justice (1 Kings 3:28). The first impression the Israelites presently had of Rehoboam was open hostility and worst hospitality. They saw the vicious intent in him to inflict pain when he unfortunately chose the word “laid” in verse 11 that exacerbated the problem, demeaning and angering the messengers. The word “laid” is used primarily for loads bore by donkeys (Gen 44:13, Neh 13:15), cattle (Isa 46:1) and construction laborers (Neh 4:17) in the Bible.
Prove Yourself Constructive, Not Condemning
15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home. 17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them. 18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Experts in communication have come a long way in suggesting ways to offer advice to others, especially when it is unpleasant and hard to take. Telling others point blank their mistake is not the best course to take to deal with others.
One way to communicate change is the 1+1 or 2+1 advice, giving one or two compliments along with the one point that can be improved on. The 1 + 1 example would be, “Your grades are up, but your punctuality needs improvement.” The 2+1 example is, “I noticed you’ve been doing homework earlier and you’ve been doing your chores, but your room is in a mess.”
The better suggestion is the 2+2 feedback protocol consisting of two compliments and two suggestions for improvement. For example, “You have been spending less time on the phone and you’ve been nice to your brother, but you have not fed the dog and you need to sleep earlier.”
The best I’ve read so far is the 2+1+1 comment, which is to offer two positive comments, followed by the improvement to be made, and to end with another positive. For example, “You’ve spent less time surfing the net and watching television, but you’ve got cut down on playing video games, but you can invite your friends over to play.”
The word “harsh” characterized not only the Israelites’ labor (v 4), but also Rehoboam’s reply (v 13). Not only were the words spit to the face and dagger to the heart, the harsh attitude (v 13) was abysmal, unexpected, and shocking. No cutting slack, breathing room, or continuing dialogue was offered; just a callous attitude, a confrontational approach, and a cutting answer. Unknown to the king, the splinter was complete. The united kingdom that his grandfather David reigned over for 33 years (1 Kings 2:11) was torn apart in 3 short days by Rehoboam, and the joint alliance his father Solomon presided over for another 40 years (1 Kings 11:42) could not last 4 days with the youthful Rehoboam.
To make matters worse, taking back his word did not cross Rehoboam’s mind, but roping in the dissidents occupied his thoughts. The king then sent his favorite henchman to strike fear and instill sense in the Israelites, but they stoned the hated Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor (1 Kings 4:6, 5:14) and building construction, which was ongoing for twenty years (1 Kings 6:38-7:1). This is the first reported death from stoning in the new land. The clueless king then realized that the people despised him. They had enough of the new king, the youthful administration, and the southern grip. From now on, things reverted to the past before David was crowned and before the kingdom was united. The nation would split into Israel, the ten northern tribes that formerly supported King Saul, and Judah, the southern two tribes that previously followed David.
Rehoboam failed miserably, He could have tried the compliment and minor concession method, or the compliment and on-one condition method, or the compliment and possible compromise method, or the compliment and mutual challenge method, or the compliment and further consideration method; instead he used the “one chief, one choice and one consequence” rule on them.
Conclusion: Maturity cannot be passed from family or given at birth. It is important to surround ourselves with people more mature and capable than us, not people that drag us down or dumb down our maturity. Colin Powell said, “Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.” When you’re young inexperience and innocence go with the territory, but maturity, ignorance and indifference are optional and unnecessary. James 1:19 says, “Be slow to speak,” Ephesians 4:15 says “Speak the truth in love,” and Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Victor Yap
http://epreaching.blogspot.com/
www.riversidecma.org
www.preachchrist.com (Chinese sermons)
