Solomon's Greatness. Life of Solomon - Pt. 1. Opening Text: 1 Kings 3:4-15

Transcription

1 1 Solomon's Greatness Life of Solomon - Pt. 1 Opening Text: 1 Kings 3:4-15 My family and I have recently been going through the book of first Kings in our family worship time. Yesterday we finished the book and are looking forward to beginning 2 Kings tomorrow. As always it has been eye opening. You know, the Scriptures never get old, and they never lose information. What I mean is that there is always new information to gain from Bible reading. It's weird because its been in front of you the entire time, but then you go back one day and teach through it to your children and lo and behold you see things that you've never seen. That's what's been happening to me while going through first Kings. It's exciting if you ask me. What I would like to begin to center in on today is the life of Solomon. I say today because I'm thinking it will take two sermons to complete what I want to talk about. I want to talk about Solomon's greatness and goodness tonight, and then next week his downfall and his latter days. Solomon was a great King of Israel. As a matter of fact Solomon was blessed with wisdom by and from Yahweh like no other man that ever lived before him... or will ever live after him. Let's look at a dream that Solomon had, recorded in 1 Kings 3 beginning in verse 5. *1 Kings 3:5 At Gibeon YAHWEH appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. Elohim said, "Ask. What should I give you?" Now, do we even begin to see how huge this is? The Creator and Sustainer of every thing in the universe shows up to this man in a dream (this can happen; don't let the abuse turn you from the proper use; Mt. 2:12 the wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod) and asks him the question that so many people would love to be asked: "What do you want me to give you?" People have made movies about genies coming out of a bottle and granting wishes to the person who rubbed the bottle. I'm not in any way whatsoever equating YAHWEH to a genie, I'm just saying that what people want to happen to them through this so-called genie is actually happening to Solomon here in 1 Kings 3:5. YAHWEH just comes right out and asks Solomon what he would like for YAHWEH to give to him, and YAHWEH doesn't ask in a sarcastic manner. He's being serious. The seriousness of YAHWEH's question will become more apparent as we continue in our text. *1 Kings 3:6 And Solomon replied, You have shown great and faithful love to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity. You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. Solomon begins great. Notice that he starts by praising the faithfulness and love that YAHWEH has had towards his family. He doesn't just jump right into requesting something amiss. He doesn't leap into trying to get something to fulfill carnal desires. Solomon says "YAHWEH, You were faithful to my father David and you've remained faithful to him by blessing him with a son to sit on his throne after him.

2 2 YAHWEH had loved David greatly, and the text says that it was because David walked before Yahweh in faithfulness, righteousness and integrity. This teaches us brothers and sisters that Yahweh rewards obedience. Don't be afraid to believe that. I know that when you believe such and talk about such people call you all sorts of things like legalistic or bound by the law. But, right here in the text, Solomon recognizes that Yahweh blessed David because David followed Yahweh! All through 1 Kings we read about how David was said to have fully followed YAHWEH. One example is found in 1 Kings 9:3-5 where Yahweh responds to a prayer of Solomon. *1 Kings 9:3-5 YAHWEH said to him: I have heard your prayer and petition you have made before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built, to put My name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there at all times. As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel. Notice how YAHWEH said "Solomon... IF you walk before me AS YOUR FATHER DAVID WALKED... I will bless you..." YAHWEH was telling Solomon that his father David loved Him like a man should. David was careful to instruct Solomon about this with his last words before death. Look with me to 1 Kings 2: *1 Kings 2:1-4 As the time approached for David to die, he instructed his son Solomon, As for me, I am going the way of all of the earth. Be strong and be courageous like a man, and keep your obligation to the YAHWEH your Elohim to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees. This is written in the law of Moses, so that you will have success in everything you do and wherever you turn, and so that the YAHWEH will carry out His promise that He made to me: If your sons are careful to walk faithfully before Me with their whole mind and heart, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel. Did you see that part about success? David, just before he dies, reminds his son Solomon to keep the law of Moses so that Solomon will be successful in all that he does. My point is that David knew what it meant to serve YAHWEH. And it's simple. Obey His commandments. Keep the law of Moses. That's still how we serve YAHWEH today. Yahweh still rewards us when we are obedient to His law. Man has come up with other ways that they think are service to YAHWEH, but Yahweh hasn't changed. David had it right and he passed it down to Solomon. Solomon knew this, thus He brings up YAHWEH's love for David, because David was devoted to Yahweh. Let's keep going now in Solomon's dream in 1 Kings 3: *1 Kings 3:7-8 YAHWEH my Elohim, You have now made Your servant king in my father David's place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership. Your servant is among Your people You have chosen, a people too numerous to be numbered or counted. At this point in his dream Solomon exercises another great character trait: humility. After praising YAHWEH's love and faithfulness, he then speaks of his lack, his incompetence. He recognizes that he lacks experience in leading, especially in leading the very chosen people of YAHWEH,

3 3 the 12 tribes of Jacob-Israel. Solomon knows where he falls short, and he doesn't try to hide it. He's open about it with Yahweh. He asks for Yahweh's help. You know, we are foolish to ever think that Yahweh doesn't know our shortcomings. He sees everything, every big thing, every little thing. So we might as well just be honest with Him when we talk to Him in prayer or in a dream. Do what Solomon did here. Ask Yahweh to help you in the areas where you need help. Don't try to fool Him and make Him think that you know what your doing, because He knows that you don't! Pray and ask for His guidance, pray and ask for Him to forgive you and continue to work on your heart and your mind. We are about to see that Solomon has yet to be blessed with the great gift of wisdom, but even now in the way he speaks to YAHWEH in this dream he is exercising wisdom. This is how a man should speak to YAHWEH; with the utmost respect. YAHWEH is the great Most High Sovereign over all the earth. Solomon knows this, and I feel certain that Solomon learned this from watching His father David interact with and serve YAHWEH in his own life. This should remind us fathers and mothers that in everything we do, our children are watching our behavior. We are always setting an example for our children. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. So lets see what Solomon asks for. Remember, YAHWEH has told him to ask for what He should give to Solomon. *1 Kings 3:9 So give Your servant an obedient heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours? Solomon, who could have asked for so many different things, requested for an obedient heart. He wanted to have a heart that would love YAHWEH's ways so that he would be able to judge the nation of Israel justly, properly discerning between good and evil. Solomon recognizes that no man can really govern the people of Israel rightly apart from guidance and hand of YAHWEH. This request pleased YAHWEH. Look at vss *1 Kings 3:10-12 Now it pleased YAHWEH that Solomon had requested this. So Elohim said to him, "Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to understand justice, I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again." See there it is at the end of verse 12, what I told you at the beginning of the sermon. Solomon had more wisdom than any man before him. Catch this too, he also had more wisdom than any man that would come after him. How can that be? Well, only by the working of YAHWEH. YAHWEH blessed him with this wisdom and measured it out in such a way to man, as never before or never thereafter. YAHWEH was so pleased that Solomon had not asked for long life (many people would) - or riches (many people would) - or the destruction of his enemies (many people would). So many people would have asked for things as these because it would help their self or their agenda. Solomon wasn't being concerned about himself here. He wanted to be able to bless all of Israel with his wisdom. Remember, he wanted an obedient heart to be able to judge the nation properly.

4 4 This should let us know that our requests to the Almighty should really be pondered upon before we give them. I have sometimes thought about asking YAHWEH for things and have decided not to because of knowing this very occurrence in Scripture. I shared with you last Sabbath about how I did pray for YAHWEH to bless me with mulch for my garden. Before I prayed that prayer I thought about it. I didn't want to ask for anything amiss. I didn't want to ask for my own selfish reasons. After thinking about it, and searching my heart, my reason for the request was to better my gardening and self sufficiency. I truly want to increase each year on having YAHWEH provide to me from the land He's given me, growing my food and thereby knowing where it came from, what's in it, and really what it is altogether. I want my wife and children to be blessed by the garden, and I want to have enough to bless others. I want to get to a point to where if the economy plummets, I will know how to live off of the land like all of our Israelite forefathers. After searching my heart I requested the mulch and YAHWEH provided. It must have been His will. There are some things though that I don't ask for. You know, while I do ask YAHWEH to take care of my family in every way, I don't ask him to sit down and read the Bible to my family. I don't ask him to teach my children the commandments. That's my job as a father according to Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It's a sin fathers, if you do not diligently teach your children the commandments. You know, I don't ask YAHWEH to go to work for me everyday, and I don't ask YAHWEH to just drop things in my lap, because He's already told me to work in order to provide for my family. All of this makes me think of the words of our blessed Master, Yeshua of Nazareth, in Matthew 6 where he tells us to seek the kingdom first and the rest will be added. We spend way too much time seeking our own agendas rather than YAHWEH's kingdom. I believe that Christians spend too much breathe asking YAHWEH for things that they should be doing themselves. Think about it next time, before you ask YAHWEH for something. Check your heart and motives, and make sure you're not asking to consume upon your own desires. Recognize that just like Solomon, if you ask for spiritual gifts out of a pure motive, Yahweh will not only answer, but will also bless you in other areas. And what I mean is, Solomon asked for a wise heart and he got it, but YAHWEH also gave him something else. Look at vs. 13 *1 Kings 3:13 In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor, so that no man in any kingdom will be your equal during your entire life. Now we see that YAHWEH is watching the intent of the heart. Solomon wasn't just pretending that he wanted wisdom when he really wanted riches. Solomon wasn't thinking he could fool YAHWEH and make the Most High "think" that he wanted wisdom. Solomon really picked wisdom over riches, and because his heart was in the right place YAHWEH made him the wealthiest man on the earth for his entire life. It appears that both of these promises from YAHWEH, the (1) wisdom, and (2) wealth were unconditional promises. In other words they were not based upon anything Solomon would later have to do. But, YAHWEH then promised Solomon a third thing but it was based upon a condition. Verse 14. *1 Kings 3:14 If you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commands just as your father David did, I will give you a long life.

5 5 Notice again how YAHWEH says "as your father David did." YAHWEH considered David to be a devout obedient man, and he is promising Solomon that if he follows in David's footsteps in obeying the Torah, he will be blessed with a long life. This was a conditional promise. If you do this, then I will do this. Brothers and sisters, Solomon was a great man, blessed of YAHWEH. He was blessed with a heart of wisdom from the power of YAHWEH, as well as more wealth than any man that lived during his lifetime. We read in *1 Kings 4:32 that Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. That's a lot of songs man! I think I might have written around 50 to 60 songs, and that's a lot to me, but 1,005! Wow! And I need to mention on the heels of this that Solomon wrote 3 books of Scripture. The majority of Proverbs, the Songs of Solomon, and the book of Ecclesiastes. What a blessing to have been one of the men who was hand-picked to write books of Scripture. We are also told in *1 Kings 4:34 that people came from everywhere to visit king Solomon and learn from his wisdom. In *1 Kings 10 we read of the Queen of Sheba coming to visit him and test him with difficult questions. After listening to Solomon and seeing his kingdom she said to him that she had heard about him before she came but didn't believe it. After experiencing it she said that she had really not even been told the half of what was going on with Solomon! You know what else Solomon accomplished? He built the first stationary temple for YAHWEH. You can read about it in *1 Kings 4-9. Man it was something else! It consisted of cypress and cedar wood, ornamental gourds, flower blossoms, two huge 30 ft. tall cherub's with wings 15 ft. each. These were made out of olive wood and overlaid with gold. Even the temple floor was overlaid with gold. He also made 2 bronze pillars 27 ft high a piece, and a huge reservoir 45 ft in circumference that sat on top of 12 oxen and held 11,000 gallons. I could go on and on about the greatness of Solomon, but one of my favorite things about Solomon was his prayer in *1 Kings 8 that he prayed at the feast of tabernacles. In that prayer you can hear his love for YAHWEH. I'd like to end today's lesson with this prayer. It's in 1 Kings 8: I'll turn there in my Bible. All of this greatness we read about Solomon, but next week we will discuss that Solomon, in spite of all of this, was unfaithful to YAHWEH in areas of his life in his older age. That unfaithfulness effected generations after him. This will let us see how we must always be on guard to take heed to ourselves, lest we fall, no matter how great we think or seem to be. Solomon's Unfaithfulness Life of Solomon - Pt. 2 Opening Text: *1 Kings 11:1-3, *4-6 *It is so very easy to get into a rut of just going through the motions of life. Waking up, and forgetting how important it is to make each day a day of service to Yahweh. People who get relaxed in their service to Yahweh never do so overnight. It might appear that someone has distanced their self from Yahweh over night TO YOU, but the reality is that it happened gradually, slowly, little-by-little. They faded away, and therefore to them, it seems like they are still where they were to begin with.

6 6 This is why it is very important that we examine ourselves and check ourselves each and every day. How much time do we put into each day in service to Yahweh? How much are we praying? How much are we reading our Scriptures? How much are we studying our Scriptures? How often do we share the Gospel or witness to others about Scriptural things? How much do we talk and discuss the Scriptures every day? Are we training our family diligently from the Scriptures? These are some of the questions we can ask our self in order to examine where we are at in our Spiritual walk. Some people think that examining yourself like this is ridiculous. Well, people who think that are usually the ones who slowly fade away from the faith, and in some cases fall away from the faith. What I mean is there exists people within the visible church who appear to be believers for a time, but before you know it they are so far away from the Father, you find that they were never a believe to begin with. They never had it in their heart. On the other hand, sometimes true believers fade away, but the grace and goodness of Yahweh, the Holy Spirit's divine influence on their heart, brings them back to the place they need to be after they have realized their sin, confessed their sin, forsaken their sin, and began to devote their heart to Yahweh again. We think this, "It could never happen to me," but you know what... Solomon probably thought it could never happen to him either. We saw the greatness of Solomon last week. We saw the humility of Solomon, the wisdom of Solomon, and that Solomon's heart was in the right place. Did you know that Solomon was hand-picked by Yahweh? Look with me to *1 Chronicles 28:4-5, 6-7 and Yet Yahweh Elohim of Israel chose me out of all my father s household to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah, my father s household, and from my father s sons, He was pleased to make me king over all Israel. 5 And out of all my sons for Yahweh has given me many sons He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of Yahweh's kingdom over Israel. *6 He said to me, Your son Solomon is the one who is to build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he perseveres in keeping My commands and My ordinances as he is today.... *9 As for you, Solomon my son, know the Elohim of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for Yahweh searches every heart and understands the intention of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. 10 Realize now that Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it. Yahweh said about Solomon, "I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father." Those are strong words brothers and sisters. Those are not words to take lightly. Solomon was highly exalted by Yahweh over all of Israel according to *1 Chronicles 29: Solomon sat on Yahweh's throne as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the leaders and the mighty men, and all of King David s sons as well, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon.

7 7 25 Yahweh highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been bestowed on any king over Israel before him. Yet, in spite of all this, and in spite of all that we covered last week, Solomon was unfaithful to Yahweh in his old age. He slowly slipped away from serving Yahweh, to serving other mighty ones. Let's examine it a little bit. *1 Kings 11:1-3 1 King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh s daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women 2 from the nations that Yahweh had told the Israelites about, Do not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn you away from Me to their gods. Solomon was deeply attached to these women and loved them. 3 He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and they turned his heart away from Yahweh. Solomon's first wife was an Egyptian woman. We learn in 1 Kings 3 that Solomon married the King of Egypt's daughter. There is nothing wrong with what Solomon did here. A early Patriarch of Israel, Joseph, took an Egyptian woman by the name of Asenath to be his wife according to Genesis 41 and had two sons by here; Ephraim and Manasseh which make up 2 parts of the tribes of Jacob/Israel. So Solomon did not go astray with this Egyptian wife. There is however a problem with this second grouping of wives that Solomon had. We read here that these women were specifically from the nations that Yahweh had told the Israelites not to intermarry with. Yahweh said that these nations would turn the Israelites away from Him to serve their deities. Yahweh had told them "Do not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons." Well, what happened here? Solomon took daughters from these nations as wives for himself, and we see that Solomon was deeply in love with these women, and they turned his heart away from Yahweh. You know, I've told people before, and I preach to people now not to get involved in a relationship with someone who is an unbeliever. You know what I hear for the most part, "Well, I'll witness to them and they'll eventually come around." What that is, is wishful thinking that almost always turns out wrong. What happens is that the unbeliever rubs off on the believer rather than the other way around. Paul warns us about this in his writings when he says that "Bad company corrupts good morals." He also says in another place, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers." This goes for many things, but specifically for relationships between male and female. Courtship, betrothal, marriage, etc. is not to be sought for with an unbeliever. You think you can handle it, but all it is is your outward carnal senses. I'm sure Solomon thought he could handle it too, and look what happened to him, and he was even blessed with wisdom from Yahweh. Let's keep reading. *1 Kings 11:4-6 4 When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other elohim. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his Elohim, as his father David had been. 5 Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did what was evil in Yahweh's sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh.

8 8 *7 At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods. So Solomon began to worship and follow other elohim. Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh... Solomon built places of worship for these false mighty ones, and there are many others that aren't mentioned. As verse 8 says, "He did the same for all his foreign wives." Do you think Solomon just woke up one day after serving Yahweh wholeheartedly the day before and said, "You know what, I think I'll go worship an idol." Don't be ridiculous. Of course that's not what happened. His wives seduced him into this over a period of time. He wasn't serving Yahweh fully one day and serving other mighty ones the next day. Solomon did what so many of us do today, he forgot to keep himself in check. He forgot the teachings of his father David. He forgot about Yahweh and His commandments. This is why I said at the beginning of the lesson today, if you fall away from the faith, it is something that is gradual. You might be sitting here today, and this might be the only spiritual thing you've done all week long. You might be a person who is here only in body, but your mind and heart are elsewhere. What has happened is you have slowly gotten away from the matters of the Spirit and you have been feeding the will and desire of the flesh. You have let other things or other people slowly seduce you into a carnal way of life, and you may not even realize it because it's happened over a lengthy period of time. You may even try to justify yourself in order to make yourself feel better, instead of confessing your sin, repenting of your sin, and forsaking your sin. If you are a child of Yahweh today, my words will wake you up today, but if you are a child of the Devil, my words will bounce off of your stony heart. Look at *verses Yahweh was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 He had commanded him about this, so that he would not follow other elohim, but Solomon did not do what Yahweh had commanded. You know, I don't like for people to be angry with me. It tears me up inside. But even more so, I do not like for Yahweh to be angry with me, but that is what the text says concerning Yahweh's feelings for Solomon here. Solomon's heart had turned away from Yahweh. Solomon had not done what Yahweh commanded to be done. Do you remember that great prayer that Solomon prayed? I read it last week from 1 Kings 8. Well, Yahweh responded to that prayer, and part of Yahweh's response ties right in with what I am talking about. I want to read it from *1 Kings 9: If you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep My commands My statutes that I have set before you and if you go and serve other elohim and worship them, 7 I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them, and I will reject the temple I have sanctified for My name. Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples. This is Yahweh specifically responding to Solomon's prayer. What does Yahweh say will happen if Solomon or his sons turn away from following Him, going after other elohim? He says that He

9 9 will remove the Israelites from the land He gave them, He will reject that great temple Solomon built, and the Israelites will be ridiculed by other peoples of the earth. Remember... Yahweh is just as sure to keep his promises of punishment as He is his promises of reward. Yahweh meant what he told Solomon here, and Solomon did exactly what Yahweh told him NOT to do. It's easy at this point to focus upon Solomon alone, and forget our own self. How many times have we done what Yahweh told us NOT to do? Boy, there are a lot of self righteous people in the world today who aren't humble enough to admit their wrong, myself included. There have been times when I, just like Solomon, have rejected Yahweh's word for my life, and I try to reason it all out in my mind and justify my actions when deep down inside I know that I'm wrong. So long as I remain in that state, I have no promise of the blessings of Yahweh upon my life, especially if Yahweh loves me. What I do have is a promise of discipline, chastisement, and hardship. "What do you mean by that Brother Matthew?" Well, if Yahweh loves me, and I do wrong, He has promised to discipline me in order to bring me back into submission. So, if I try to remain in my prideful state of not wanting to confess and forsake my sin, all hell breaks loose in my life. It's happened to me before, but thanks be to Yahweh, when I humble myself, confess my sin, and forsake my sin, I find the mercy of Yahweh. You know, Yahweh speaks of this mercy in his response to Solomon's prayer. It's not recorded in this account of 1 Kings, but it is recorded in the account of 2 Chronicles. You need to know that the books of Kings and Chronicles are parallel to each other, much like the 4 Gospels. You will read many of the same accounts in both books, but sometimes there is more information in one of the books that gives us more insight into the story. In 2 Chronicles 6 we find Solomon's prayer, the same prayer recorded in 1 Kings 8. In 2 Chronicles 7 we find Yahweh's response to Solomon's prayer. Let's read *2 Chronicles 7: Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a temple of sacrifice. 13 If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on My people, 14 and My people who are called by My name (1) humble themselves, (2) pray and seek My face, and (3) turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. Did you see that? We just read a very popular verse in the context in which it was first spoken. Yahweh is telling Solomon in his response that if He is cursing the sky, land, and people of Israel, there is still yet hope for these things if what Yahweh says in verse 14 is taken heed to. The people of Israel must first *humble themselves. That is the first step in the process of reconciliation. Until you quit being so prideful and refusing to admit to your sin you will never be healed. It's a hard thing to do for a carnal human being - admit you are in sin. Admit that you are transgressing the law. Admit you are a thief, a sabbath-breaker, a false accuser, a fornicator, and adulterer, an idolater, a hater of people, a liar, a gossip, etc. It's hard because you're placing yourself down low. Your acknowledging that you're filthy, your wretched, your sick, and that you need help. I pray for humility often, because I know from reading the Scriptures just how important it is. I know that nothing will ever take off in my life without humility being in my heart. Humility is thinking less of your self, and it is thinking low of yourself. You know, I've shared that with

10 10 people and even Christians have a hard time submitting to that. Sometimes people say, "Well, it's not really thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." Boy that sounds good, and it soothes the soul to think that what it really means. But, it's lie. The Hebrew word for humble in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is *kana, and it literally means "to bend the knee, hence to humiliate, vanquish." It really does mean to think low of yourself. And that's hard. A man by the name of *T.S. Eliot said this, "Humility is the most difficult of all virtues to achieve; nothing dies harder than the desire to think well of oneself." And this carnal desire is strong when it comes to us trying to justify our sin. But I'm going to tell you again, you will never even begin the healing process of your sin, until you admit how filthy you are and how filthy you've acted. At the point you do humiliate yourself, the devil's grip upon you loosens. As *Jonathan Edwards put it, "Nothing sets a person so much out of the devil's reach as humility." Even right now, some of you are having a difficult time receiving what I'm telling you, but what I'm telling you is straight Scripture. *1 Peter 5:5 says, "Yahweh resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves before Yahweh, and He will exalt you." Matthew 23:12 says, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Yahweh says in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 that if he is bringing all kinds of pestilence and turmoil and hardship on your life, that if you, His people, who are called by His name, will HUMBLE yourself. You've got to do it. I've got to do it. Or else the other steps in the text will not take place. So what is the next step? *The next thing Yahweh says to do is pray and seek His face. Saints, how much do you seek the face of Yahweh? Seeking the face of Yahweh is a Hebrew idiom meaning that you cry out to Yahweh for His compassion and His mercy on your life. Yahweh says it well in the book of the prophet *Hosea 5:15 where He says, "I will depart and return to My place until they recognize their guilt and seek my face; they will search for me in their distress." There must be times in your life where you are so sorrowful for your sins that you cry out to Yahweh and beg and plead for His mercy. It's part of the healing process. You talk to him about what you have done wrong, you confess your sins before Him, in His presence, and you seek the face of Yahweh with prayers and fasting and tears. The prophet Daniel did this when he was reading the book of Jeremiah while in captivity and he realized that His people Israel were placed there for 70 years. *Daniel 9:3 says, "So I turned my attention to Adonai Elohim to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." I guarantee you, if you humble yourself, and pray and seek the face of Yahweh, the burden that is upon your soul will begin to lift. The grasp that the enemy has upon you will loosen. Those tears of supplication that happen when you truly cry out to Yahweh in prayer will yield a spirit of peace in your mind and in your heart. But that's NOT the end of what Yahweh said in response to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14. The first step was humble yourself, the second was pray and seek my face, but there is a third step: *TURN FROM YOUR EVIL WAYS. So many people forget this step, but it is just as important as the previous two. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is such a popular verse in America today. You can buy plaques at the Christian bookstore with this verse on it, there's been study manuals written based upon the verse, and you might even see it held up on a sign at a sporting event from time to time. Generally though, when

11 11 I hear Christians quoting the verse they center in on getting back to prayer and seeking his face, and that's good - I'm not knocking that. But to only mention that and forget the part about turning from our evil ways is only half the truth. And a half-truth is a whole lie. To turn from your evil ways... well I'll put it like this. In Solomon's case, it would mean this: putting away his foreign wives, smashing his idols, destroying the high places, and devoting his life solely to Yahweh all over again. That's what it would mean for Solomon. For you it might mean something else. It all depends on what sin you are in a love affair with. I want you to know that all of us are just as guilty as Solomon if we are involved in any sin that we don't desire to turn from. *Any sin you cling on to, you love that sin more than you love Yahweh, and your heart is not a Kingdom heart. Once again, we have the tendency to just point our finger at Solomon and say, "Look at the wickedness of this great man!" But we are blind to the sins in our own life while we are so busy concentrating on the sins of Solomon or the sins of other people around us. I was talking to someone the other day about this. It is so easy for you to point out someone else's sin, and be blind to your own. Oh, it's so easy to do. We spend every waking moment it seems, pointing out and talking about the sins of the person down the street, or sitting next to us in church, and we are so blind to our own sin and seek to justify ourselves unjustly whenever it pops into our brain. "Oh well, what I'm involved in isn't that bad, I mean after all..." and then the excuses pop up one after another. You know, a wise person will receive the truth about their own sin. A foolish person will reject it, and stubbornly continue in his or her unrepentant sin, and ride it straight into the second death, which is the lake of fire. You must humble yourself, pray and seek His face, and turn from your evil ways. That goes for us all. Now. I've been plain, and I've been blunt, and I hope that it's awakened everyone's senses to the seriousness of sin. I hope you realize that you can't hide from Yahweh. I hope that you understand that I'm under obligation to talk to you like this because I'm a minister of the Almighty. But I want you know something. I want you to know that 2 Chronicles 7:14 doesn't stop there. There's good news behind all that. *I'd like to read it again. 2 Chronicles 7: If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on My people, 14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. Yahweh says that if we do what He requires, He will hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land. Now, specifically, this promise is to the physical people of Israel and the physical land of Israel, the land that Yahweh gave to our forefather Abraham, but there is application for us as individuals as well as in the areas we live in. Oh, man, woman, and child listening to me today! Yahweh is a merciful Mighty One. He is ready to forgive, and He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. If you humble yourself and pray and seek His face and turn from your wicked ways He will forgive you of everything that you've done wrong towards Him. *Psalm 103:8 says "Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy." There is no doubt in my mind that if any of us have a genuine humility and repentance take place, Yahweh will welcome us into His loving arms.

12 12 He says that He will *hear us from heaven. Think about that. You pray to him, and He hears each word you say because you are broken and contrite and serious in your prayer. He forgives your sin because you've humbly confessed it, admitted to it, and forsaken it. And he heals your land, which in a personal case may be your life, or in a more broad case, may be your nation, or in the immediate context, it's the land of Israel. Yahweh can do this, He can forgive your sin and make you clean. Do you know why? It's not because he just lets you go unpunished. He has to punish your sins, and He punished your sins when He punished His Son on the torture stake 2,000 years ago. He can be merciful to the unjust, because He punished His righteous servant in your place. Yeshua took your penalty upon Himself, after living in perfection according to Yahweh's holy law during His lifetime. This is the good news. Yes, the bad news is bad, but the good news... it's really good. *But what about Solomon? Did Solomon die in his sin? Or... did Solomon humble himself, pray, seek Yahweh's face, and turn from his wicked ways? Well, you'll have to wait until next weeks lesson, or you can study it out yourself before next Sabbath gets here. Solomon's End of Life Life of Solomon - Pt. 3 Opening Text: *1 Kings 11:9-13 Humans in general are so quick to judge other people without ever judging their self. I once read a quotation from and old minister that said something like this: "A righteous man is hard on himself and easy on others. A self-righteous man is easy on himself and hard on others." No doubt, a minister of the Scriptures MUST speak the truth and that includes rebuke and showing people their sins, but with that comes great responsibility. With that, the minister must be harder on himself and not get involved in hypocrisy - hypocrisy is just appearing to be righteous on the outside, while inward being full of dead bones. What we do is we read a story like that of Solomon's life, and that means we read about all his greatness, wisdom, dedication, love for Yahweh, but then, when we read about his mistakes, it's all we want to talk about. We point our finger at a man who made a mistake, and we forget all the service that he performed for Yahweh. All the while we have this block in our mind. It's a block that doesn't let us see that we have made mistakes that are equal with or even greater than Solomon's mistake, and I'm talking about even after our salvation. The moment that you ever begin thinking that Yahweh owes you something, or that you really are good enough to enter his kingdom, that's the moment that your brain is going hay-wire. You aren't truly evaluating your life. You aren't truly understanding the purity, holiness, and perfection of Yahweh's teaching and instructions. See when David wrote in Psalm 19:7 that the Torah of Yahweh is perfect, he meant that it was without flaw. There's not one single centimeter of the Torah that has problems. It's perfect because it was designed and spoken by the Perfect Being - the Most High Yahweh. And let me also say here that because of this, when the Torah was made flesh, He was perfect as well. It's so funny when I hear people talking about Adam and Eve's sin in the garden, and they'll say something like, "Well, we can credit all these hard things in life to good ol' Adam." People say this as though if they were in the garden they would have never sinned against Yahweh. Listen, if

13 13 you've sinned against Yahweh now, you would have sinned against Him then. You aren't any better than Adam or Eve, or Solomon for that matter. Now, let's get to the message today. I just wanted to open up with a few more thoughts like I shared last week. Thoughts that temper our self ego and trample upon our pride that we have as human beings. So, Solomon definitely messed up. We read last week and this week to open up, that Yahweh was angry with Solomon. Yahweh had specifically commanded Solomon not to follow other elohim, other mighty ones, but Solomon didn't take heed to Yahweh's commandment. Let's read again what Yahweh said to Solomon. *1 Kings 11: Then Yahweh said to Solomon, "Since you have done this and did not keep My covenant and My statutes, which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David; I will tear it out of your son's hand. 13 Yet, I will not tear the entire kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem that I chose." What does Yahweh do here? He punishes Solomon for his disobedience. Yahweh's reason for doing this is simple. He tells Solomon that it is because he neglected to keep His covenant and statutes which Yahweh commanded him. Yahweh is going to tear the kingdom away from Solomon. Remember that Solomon was king like David, over all 12 tribes of Israel. Take note that then Yahweh says that he is not going to do this in Solomon's lifetime, but it has nothing to do with the actions of Solomon, it has to do with the actions of his father David. Yahweh says that the reason he is going to wait until Solomon dies to tear away the kingdom is because of David. David's blessing as a father, is filtering down to his son Solomon. We learn here of the importance of following Yahweh not just for His blessing on our own life, but for His blessing on the lives of our children. Yahweh promises to watch over our children because of things that we do in our life as their parents. And parents, if that doesn't motivate you to keep the commandments, I don't know what will. *Psalm 103: But from eternity to eternity Yahweh's faithful love is toward those who fear Him, and His righteousness toward the grandchildren 18 of those who keep His covenant, who remember to observe His instructions. David is mentioned about all through 1 Kings 11 as being the reason that Yahweh is going cut Solomon some slack so to speak. I'd just encourage you to read the whole chapter and see how Yahweh mentions David as His righteous servant. We also read how that one tribe (or technically one location our house) would remain in the line of Solomon. Let's read another section here in 1 Kings 11 that speaks of this as well. *1 Kings 11: During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam (a servant of Solomon, but a son of a man named Nebat) on the road as Jeroboam came out of Jerusalem. Now

14 14 Ahijah had wrapped himself with a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field. 30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he had on, tore it into 12 pieces, 31 and said to Jeroboam, "Take 10 pieces for yourself, for this is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: 'I am about to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand. I will give you 10 tribes, *32 but one tribe will remain his because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem, the city I chose out of all the tribes of Israel. (The apparent discrepancy of = 2 is cleared up when "one tribe" is understood as "one location" or "one house," i.e. the House of Judah, the southern territory in the land of Israel.) 33 For they have abandoned Me; they have bowed the knee to Ashtoreth, the elohim of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the elohim of Moab, and to Milcom, the elohim of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways to do right in My eyes and to carry out My statutes and My judgments as his father David did. 34 " 'However, I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand but will let him be ruler all the days of his life because of My servant David, whom I chose and who kept My commandments and My statutes. *35 I will take 10 tribes of the kingdom from his son's hand and give them to you. 36 I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city I chose for Myself to put My name there. 37 I will appoint you, and you will reign as king over all you want, and you will be king over Israel. So the prophet Ahijah is sent by Yahweh to tell this Jeroboam son of Nebat that he is going to get 10 tribes of Israel to rule over, and the reason for this is because of the sin of Solomon in worshiping other elohim which stemmed from him marrying foreign women that Yahweh had commanded him not to marry in the first place. Before I move on, I want you to quickly notice something about this transference of blessing I just mentioned from David to Solomon. We just read again in these verses where the main reason that Yahweh did not tear the kingdom from Solomon in his own lifetime was because of the life of his father David. However, did you notice that there is a transference of cursing flowing from Solomon to his son Rehoboam? We just read where Yahweh would not tear the kingdom from Solomon, but rather would wait and tear it from his son. According to 1 Kings 12:1 Solomon's sons name is Rehoboam and it was from Rehoboam that the kingdom of all 12 tribes was torn. Jeroboam son of Nebat took 10 tribes (the northern tribes of the House of Israel) and the land of Judah remained under control of Rehoboam. My point is that just as there is a transference of blessing from father to son because of obedience, there can also be a transference of cursing from father to son because of disobedience. We see both of these in these three men: David, Solomon, and Rehoboam. What happened to Rehoboam (the tearing of the Kingdom) happened because of his fathers sin. I just wanted to point this out again to stress the importance of keeping the commandments in our lives parents, so that Yahweh's blessings come not only upon us, but also upon our children. So, what did Solomon do now? Well, let's read... *1 Kings 11: Therefore, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, where he remained until Solomon's death. 41 The rest of the events of Solomon's [reign], along with all his accomplishments and his wisdom, are written about in the Book of Solomon's Events.

15 15 42 The length of Solomon's reign in Jerusalem over all Israel totaled 40 years. 43 Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam became king in his place. And... *that's it. That's what we read about Solomon after this rebuke that he got from Yahweh. We read that he tried to kill Jeroboam, presumably because he was angry that Jeroboam was going to get to rule over 10 of the tribes of Israel. Then we just read that Solomon died and rested with his fathers and Rehoboam his son took over. We do not read anything in 1 Kings 11 of Solomon repenting for the sin that he committed in marrying the foreign wives and worshiping the other elohim. When I first read this in our family worship time a few weeks ago, I waited until we were through studying as a family, and then I quickly turned over to the books of Chronicles to see if there was anything else said about Solomon's end of days. Remember how I said last week that the books of Kings and Chronicles are often parallel with each other, telling the same accounts. Well, I soon found that 2 Chronicles (which speaks much of Solomon) doesn't even mention the part about Solomon marrying foreign women, serving other elohim, or anything of that nature. It also mentions nothing about Solomon's repentance or brokenness over the sins that he had committed. At this point, the quick thing for us to do is to have self-righteousness kick in and pick up Solomon and chunk him into the lake of fire... and you know some people have done just that. I've read articles on line from other Bible students or even pastors and theologians that believe that Solomon did not repent and that he will not be in the Kingdom of Heaven. But... my brain (by the grace of Yahweh) would not let me go there so quickly because I know how sinful I am and how much grace I need from Yahweh every day to live my life. After studying this issue out to the best of my ability - I believe Solomon did repent, and I believe that he will be in the resurrection of the righteous and thus the Kingdom of Heaven. I've narrowed the rest of the lesson today down to 4 REASONS why Solomon did have salvation and will be in the Kingdom. *Reason #1: Solomon is a type of the Messiah In 2 Samuel 7 Yahweh speaks to David and makes a covenant with David. Let's read verses *2 Samuel 7: When your time (speaking to David) comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. *14 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod and with blows from others. 15 But My faithful love will never leave him as I removed it from Saul (this, and the last part of vs. 14 is key); I removed him from your way. 16 Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever.' " Notice how that Yahweh says about this descendant of David that when he does wrong Yahweh will discipline him, but his faithful love will never leave him. This is talking about Solomon. Solomon is the man whom Yahweh speaks of when He says, "I will be a father to him, and he