1/28/2011 5:42:35 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Solomon opposed God’s servant
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 1Ki.11:26-43; 2Chron. 9:29-31
Message of the verses: “26 ¶
Then Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s
servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the
king. 27 Now this was the reason why he
rebelled against the king: Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of
the city of his father David. 28 Now the
man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when Solomon saw that the young man was
industrious, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.
29 It came about at that time, when
Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him
on the road. Now Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them
were alone in the field. 30 Then Ahijah
took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces.
31 He said to Jeroboam, "Take for
yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ’Behold, I will
tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes 32 (but he will have one tribe, for the sake of
My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen
from all the tribes of Israel), 33
because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess
of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of
Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and
observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. 34 ’Nevertheless I will not take the whole
kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life,
for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and
My statutes; 35 but I will take the
kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you, even ten tribes. 36 ’But to his son I will give one tribe, that
My servant David may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, the city where
I have chosen for Myself to put My name. 37
’I will take you, and you shall reign over whatever you desire, and you
shall be king over Israel. 38 ’Then it
will be, that if you
listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in
My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did,
then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for David,
and I will give Israel to you. 39
’Thus I will afflict the descendants of David for this, but not always.’"
40 Solomon sought therefore to put
Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to Shishak king of
Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of
Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book
of the acts of Solomon? 42 Thus the time
that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 And Solomon slept with his fathers and was
buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his
place.”
“29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from
first to last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, and
in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer
concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30
Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel. 31 And Solomon slept with his fathers and was
buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam reigned in his
place.”
This
SD ends the commentary on the life of Solomon, and the ending is not nearly as
good as the beginning, and so there are many lessons that can be learned from
the life of Solomon. Ending well is
perhaps the biggest lesson that I can learn from the life of Solomon, and I
have written about it in earlier SD’s and perhaps the reason for that is
because I am getting older, and truly have a desire to finish strong.
This
is the last message that is recorded about Solomon in this section of
Scripture, and it tells the story of a prophet and a young man whom God has
chosen to become king over ten tribes of Israel leaving only two tribes for the
nation of Judah. The prophet and Jeroboam
meet in a field and so there was no one around them to hear the message that
was given to Jeroboam, but somehow Solomon heard of this and tried to kill
Jeroboam. Solomon should have gotten
down on his knees in repentance to the Lord and perhaps things would have
turned out different, but this was of the sovereign plan of the Lord.
Spiritual meaning for my Life today: I can write nothing else but to finish
strong, to do the will of the Lord and to follow in the shoes of Willard Stull,
a man who is finishing the race strong, and also my mother who too is finishing
the race strong, too good examples to follow.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Finish the race strong, the race of serving the
Lord.
2.
Continue to learn contentment.
3.
Remember that I am in a battle.
1/29/2011 9:39:14 AM
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