Sunday, August 3, 2014

An Angry King (1 Kings 12:18-24)


2/3/2011 5:40:20 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                                       Focus:  An Angry king

 

Bible Reading & Meditation            Reference: 1Ki. 12:18-24; 2Chron. 10:18-19; 11:1-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “18  Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19  So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 20  It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. 21  Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22  But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23  "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people, saying, 24  ’Thus says the LORD, "You must not go up and fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me."’" So they listened to the word of the LORD, and returned and went their way according to the word of the LORD.”

            “18  Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19  So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.”

            “1 ¶  Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2  But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 3  "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4  ’Thus says the LORD, "You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me."’" So they listened to the words of the LORD and returned from going against Jeroboam.”

 

            There seems to be a dispute over who Adoram actually was, for there was a man with that name doing that job for both David and Solomon, so perhaps this was a relative of one of them.  At any rate this was a good choice for the king because the problem was with the forced labor and also with taxes.

            At this point I want to quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on 1Kings, and 2nd Chronicles because I think this quote tell about the most important part of this section of the Scriptures above.  “Though what happened was the consequence of Rehoboam’s foolishness and Jeroboam’s aggressiveness, it was God who had ruled and overruled to bring about the division, thus fulfilling Ahijah’s prophecy.  Each man had acted freely and so had their counselors, yet the Lord’s will was done. (See Acts 2:23) ‘23  this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.’  Our sovereign God is so great that He lets people make their own decisions and yet accomplishes His purposes.”  This last highlighted portion seems to put it in a nutshell for me.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am responsible for my actions but God is in control of my life, therefore I must seed the Lord in all decisions, and then trust that the Lord will guide me into His will for my life.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Trust the Lord to guide my path this morning.

2.      Remember that I am in a spiritual battle and in need of my spiritual armor.

 

2/3/2011 5:57:36 AM

 

           

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