Book of 1 Kings

The Prophet Elisha

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Elisha God’s Prophet Of Miracles

1 Kings 19 – 2 Kings 2-6

Before we begin with Elisha we need to consider a few more things of Elijah.

Elijah had one main mission as he saw it.

The name Elijah means: “whose God is Jehovah” and as his name implied, Elijah felt it was his mission to bring Israel to confess that Jehovah, He is God.

Elijah had only partially fulfilled that mission on Mount Carmel and Elijah felt that he was a failure but Elijah also felt that he was the last of the true believers left in all of Israel.

Elijah felt that history would show that he had failed just as those prophets that had come before him had failed in bringing Israel to the point of repentance.

1Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; “for I am not better than my fathers”.

First: God informed Elijah that his thoughts were wrong:

1Ki 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

We must never feel that we are the only ones serving the true God!

We must never feel as though we are the only ones serving God as He wishes because all of us can do better, I know I can!

Second: God allowed Elijah to anoint his successor who was one of those 7000:

1Ki 19:16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.

The mission of Elisha would be according to his own name which means “my God is salvation”!

Actually our job is to be more like that of Elisha than that of Elijah but we are to learn from all God’s prophets!

God continued to send other prophets to be such as Elijah was but none could replace him because his work was not complete and he will return himself one day before the Second Coming of Christ Jesus to complete the work God has for him.

Elijah had lived his life much as a nomad, but Elisha lived within the society of that time but was not a part of that society.

Elijah was a poor man but though Elisha may not have been rich by many standards, his family owned at least 12 yoke of oxen and enough land to keep that amount of animals working.

It is said that an “acre” is the amount of land that a yoke of oxen could plow in one day, and we can be sure that the family of Elisha had much more than 12 acres of land and would surely have had to market their products from so much land.

Elijah was God’s prophet of “judgment” but Elisha was God’s prophet of “salvation”!

Elisha and Elijah were totally opposites in most all ways but they did have one certain thing in common.

They both knew the true God of our universe!

They both trusted in the salvation of the Lord!

So God sent Elijah to meet his successor.

As we observe Elisha we will see that Elisha was content in serving the Lord and was complete in his willingness to humble himself and fulfill his duties as a man of God!

1Ti 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1Ti 6:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
1Ti 6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

Proper worship in spirit and truth is required of the Lord but so is being a servant to the work of the Lord!

Even the Lord Jesus came to us as a servant!

Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Elisha was already such a servant of the Lord even before he met Elijah.

*****1Ki 19:19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.

We already know that to own 12 yoke of oxen and enough land for them to work, was a sign of wealth but the first thing we see is that Elisha was not to good work himself.

We can also be sure that the reputation of Elijah was well known because of what had happened on Mount Carmel and everyone would have known that Jezebel had put a price on the head of Elijah.

Elijah was a wanted man at this time, by his own government just because he served Jehovah and not the false god Baal as his government had demanded!

The mantle that Elijah wore was a sign of God’s prophets in that day:

1Sa 28:14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and “he is covered with a mantle”. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

Samuel was known for the mantle that he wore and Elijah was also known for the mantle that he wore.

Elijah knew his days were numbered but Elijah also knew his death would not come by the hands of Jezebel!

We all know our days are numbered but a Christian knows his or her death will not come by the hands of Satan!

Elijah knowing his days on this earth were numbered, cast his mantle upon the shoulders of Elisha which signified the passing of prophetic responsibility and God’s accompanying power to him.

Notice Elijah continued on his way.

What are some things that we see here, when God calls his ministers:

**First: They must always be ready to receive the call of God!

Notice another important thing.

Elisha was involved in his daily work routine and was not called while he was in any act of worship not even in the act of prayer.

The call of God can come at any time and anywhere and comes more often when we are doing normal things rather than in a worship service!

**Second: They are to remain busy until that call of God comes!

Then when God calls they must drop what they are doing and get busy for the Lord!

**Third: The work that God has for us requires some special training.

And God’s servants will all be somewhat different from each other!

God knows our differences and takes advantage of our skills.

1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Co 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
1Co 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

**Fourth: God will make a use for our distinct individuality.

If we would look in our own Church we would see that if someone is going through certain things, God will have already placed someone else in position to help them who has gone through similar things and survived.

**Fifth: We must be determined!

Let’s learn from Elisha.

*****1Ki 19:20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?

What is willingness?

Willingness is the free choice we must make to serve the Lord.

Some would say to be willing to serve the Lord and to answer a special calling takes a “leap of faith”.

Elisha totally understood what had happened!

When Elijah dropped his mantle around Elisha it meant only one thing.

Elijah was saying “when I pass away you Elisha, must take my mantle and be my successor”.

These things took place during that period when Elijah had informed Ahab that the drought would continue for 3 more years but Jezebel had already began to kill many of God’s prophets.

Elisha made only one request.

Elisha requested just enough time to say good by to his parents.

Many will ask what was the difference in what Elisha requested and that certain one at the time of Jesus.

Luk 9:61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
Luk 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Elisha already had his hand on the plow and already was a true believer.

Elisha was also to replace Elijah at his death, a special calling!

When Elisha went to see his parents, he was saying good bye forever for he knew not whether he would ever see them again this side of Heaven!

To follow the Lord Jesus Christ is to deny one’s own self!

Elisha needed a moment in time to set his family affairs in order for he knew he might not never return to them because he would also be a wanted man.

The Lord Jesus looked into the heart of this man in His day and saw a man who only wanted to say goodbye thinking he could return at any time to his family.

Jesus also said these words to another rich man such as Elisha.

Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

This rich man in the time of Jesus could not give up his worldly riches.

Elisha had no problem giving up his family inheritance or his riches!

How did Elijah respond to this request?

Elijah said go ahead but remember it is not me that called you!

Elijah said to Elisha, “you are not accountable to me but you are accountable to God”!

You see when we allow the things of this world to come between us the Lord, we have in affect become idol worshipers and this was the same problem the nation of Israel was already having in the day of Elijah!

So Elisha took care of his family business.

*****1Ki 19:21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

Elisha called all his family together to announce to them that God, not Elijah, had called him to a work so life fulfilling that he would have to give up his life that had been devoted to his family and totally devote himself to this higher calling of God!

Elisha burnt all his bridges behind him and stepped out on “faith” to minister to Elijah!

What is a minister?

A minister by the Word of God, is a servant to one higher than yourself!

We should also know that it is only God who knows who He will call to be a Pastor or a Preacher.

Being a preacher or a pastor is not just mama called and daddy sent!

Elisha was a farmer.

Amos was a fruit-picker.

Matthew was a tax collector.

Peter, James, and John and others were fishermen.

Luke was a doctor a physician.

What did the Apostle Paul say who was once a hated Pharisee.

Act 20:24 But none of these things move me, “neither count I my life dear unto myself”, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

God had special plans for Elijah.

And God had special plans for Elisha!

And God has special plans for all those He calls!

We don’t have time to cover all the things of Elisha and the miracles that he did in the power of God who by the way was second only to Jesus in the miracles of the Bible.

*****2Ki 2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
2Ki 2:12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

As Elisha was the minister to Elijah, then Elijah was also the spiritual father of Elisha.

We should be very clear God does not and never will have any spiritual grandchildren!

We only have one Master and He is not of this Earth!

Elijah was a prophet of God for at least 55 years but his time on this Earth had come to an end.

The false truth of the Atheists, is that we live our life on this Earth and then we die and live no more.

The real truth of the Bible is that our souls are immortal and this picture of Elijah’s return to Heaven is proof of that fact!

Elijah was not the only one in the Bible who went to Heaven without dyeing.

The truth of Enoch is that we know one day Enoch was walking with the Lord and they just walked right on up into Heaven.

Gen 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

This happened because of his great faith!

Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

We know that Enoch was also a prophet of God’s choosing.

Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, “prophesied” of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

Enoch knew of the Coming of the Messiah even in his day!

BUT, this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled.

And Elijah, who was promised a death at the hands of Jezebel, God had also decided would not die at all, at least at this time for we are all appointed to a time of death.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Elijah had gone to Heaven by a whirlwind or some would say a tempest storm.

But the truth is that just as the Lord was taken up by Angels:

Luk 24:51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

Elijah was also carried up to Heaven in slightly a more dramatic way before only the eyes of Elisha because Elisha was an eyewitness to the rapture of Elijah.

If we study the Bible we will see that the ministry of Elijah was much like that of John the Baptist while the ministry of Elisha will be much more like that of the Lord Jesus Christ when He was in His physical body was up0n this Earth.

Elijah did not live in the public’s sight.

Elisha spent all his days in public life!

Elijah had ministry of “Judgment”.

Elisha will have a ministry of “Mercy”.

Thank goodness God has much more “mercy” than He has “judgment”!

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Most of the time we do not understand when our loved ones seem to leave here so early in life but there is one thing that is very seldom considered when a saint of God goes home to be with the Lord.

Most of the saints go home to be with the Lord if not all, it is God that has decided that we have seen enough of this evil world that drags us down so much!

Isa 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, “none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come”.
Isa 57:2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.

When Elisha rent his clothes it was not a sign of mourning for his brother Elijah, it was for the terrible loss of such a mighty man of God to this world.

Our world suffers a loss when any man of God goes home to be with the Lord!

Only then did Elisha know that it was his time.

*****2Ki 2:13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;

Elijah had no more need for his mantle so it became Elisha’s mantle.

Remember that mantle had been a sign to all that saw him, that Elijah was God’s man.

It was Elisha who was now God’s man!

Elisha had received a double portion of the same Spirit of God that Elijah had and it was now time to use it!

There are many in our world today that proclaim that receiving the Spiritual power of God will be immediately felt in our bodies but the truth is that the receiving of the Holy Spirit is mostly a quiet and a secret act and is known only to God and then to that saved soul!

When Elisha walked back to the River Jordan, he was not sure if he had received that double portion that he had been promised.

That mantle of Elijah was a sign to those who now saw Elisha, but the power of God was not in that mantle, the power of God was inside Elisha out of view to those that saw him now.

Elisha had one more thing to do.

During all the years that Elisha had been with Elijah it had been this mantle that had caught his eye.

But, the power of Elijah was not in his mantle, the power of Elijah was in his God!

Elisha had not requested any power of that mantle, Elisha had requested the power of the God of Elijah!

*****2Ki 2:14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

Elisha wore the mantle of Elijah as a token of God’s calling.

We know that Elisha had requested a double portion of the same Spirit that had energized Elijah and the Word of God said that it was granted to him.

The Bible records more miracles under the ministry of Elisha than it does of Elijah.

The fact remains that during days of Israel’s darkest days of the apostasy, and of idol worship, God had given Israel two of His greatest prophets for some 85 years.

We can also be sure that in the darkest days of this world we live in, God will show His strength in ways that we have not yet seen but are prophesied, but most of the world will still continue on it’s path to destruction.

When Elisha struck the waters of Jordan with the mantle of Elijah, he was just saying it’s time to get started.

BUT, God also had another reason for this incident with that mantle of Elijah.

All the disciples of Elijah were watching Elisha to see if he was worthy to be followed.

Many people keep their eyes on Christians to see if they can find any faults.

SO, What is the lesson to the child of God?

Jesus said it best!

Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

*****2Ki 2:15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

Now these were not the actual sons of the prophets to Israel but they were actually part of those 7000 who had refused to bow down to false gods.

There many schools of the prophets in those days located in the area of these ten tribes of Israel.

The Bible mentions one in Jericho, and one in Bethel and another one in Gilgal of Ephraim but there was also one on Mount Carmel after the victory of Elijah over those false prophets.

It could be said that these could be considered to be theological seminaries dedicated to the teaching of the Word of God!

Before Elijah left this earth he had taken Elisha to visit all these places and the greatest work of Elisha was not the miracles that he performed in the power of God, Elisha’s greatest work was “in the teaching and the education of these disciples in the Word of God”.

What is the greatest work of the Church?

To make disciples of all those that God calls to salvation!

What kind of men did God use in His work during this time of the divided kingdom of Israel?

Amo 2:11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.

Notice these were not Nazarites who had made certain vows but men who would become Nazarites.

Nazarite’s true meaning is to be separate from the world, and consecrated to the work of the Lord!

What does God say to the Church?

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

We should be able to see that the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament and just like Elisha we need to get busy in the things God has called us to do!

Let’s look at some things that Elisha did.

*****2Ki 6:8 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.

The Bible records some 11 miracles performed by Elisha even before we get to this Scripture.

The King of Syria was using guerrilla warfare tactics in order to weaken the defenses of Israel. These are some of the same tactics used by ISIS today.

Guerrilla warfare will cause any nation to spread it’s military strength across it’s entire region therefore making it suspect to a major assault when the proper time arrives.

These were the tactics of this king as he planned a future assault on Israel.

God was not going to allow this to happen at this time, so whenever the King of Syria had a new plan no matter how secret he tried to keep it, God informed Elisha of that plan who then would tell the King of Israel.

What is the truth of God?

Job 5:12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
Job 5:13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

There is absolutely nothing that goes on in this world that God is not aware of!

Things only happen because God has allowed them to happen!

God knows all things that exist.
God knows all the variables concerning those things.
God knows all future events.
AND, God’s knowledge is immediate!

There is nothing that God has to wait on to see the outcome of or how it will work according to how certain events will transpire!

God already knows the end before the beginning and God intervenes whenever it is necessary for things to happen according to the Scriptures!

There is nothing that happens in this world we live in that is not according to the Word of God!

Even today as we live in this Age of the Church and this Age of God’s Grace, this world we live in is moving along according to the Scriptures!

God will always adhere to the Words that He has already given to us, because God does not ever change and God does not never have too!

In fact, it is impossible for God to lie to any of us and God in no way will ever lead this world astray!

Heb 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

God must tell the truth or He would not be God!

A warning from God is a sure future happening!

*****2Ki 6:9 And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.
2Ki 6:10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.

It is also obvious to us that the King of Syria was trying his best to assassinate the King of Israel which was King Jehoram at this time.

Even as we have learned from the past, the king of Syria of today, is seeing his once great nation destroyed because he placed himself above the Laws of God and his personal god Allah does not have it in his power to do anything about it because he simply is not real!

The traps and ambushes that were prepared for the King of Israel were known to God’s prophet Elisha.

No matter what this king thought of, even in council with his spies, Elisha knew it by the time he had that thought!

King Jehoram had no respect for God’s man Elisha so he still sent his own spies to see if the words of Elisha were true.

What he found to be the truth, was that it was only by Jehovah God that his life had been saved not once and not twice but every time, he had been able to escape the snares of this King of Syria because of the words of Elisha.

The lesson we can learn here is, that not only does God see everything that we do at any moment of time and hear every word that we say, but God also knows our thoughts even before we think them!

Psa 94:11 The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

The first thing that the King of Syria did was to assume that he had a traitor in his own royal court.

*****2Ki 6:11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?

As we can see, those who do not know God are blind to the truth of God!

What the world has the most trouble with, is when there are no worldly reasons for things that happen then they need to realize that God plays by His own rules and not by the rules of man!

Things that happen in our world, that cannot be explained by the worlds standards, can only be explained by the Word of God!

This King of Syria could only believe that there was a spy within his own servants and he set them against each other.

This created turmoil in the government of Syria!

The King of Syria also worshiped the false god Rimmon who was the Sun god of Syria and the god of the wind, the rain and the storm, but Rimmon was just like Baal and was powerless to help this king.

This king did not know Jehovah, but Jehovah had placed a man amongst these servants of this king who had the answer.

Jeremiah wrote these inspired words of God:

Jer 23:23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

God is always the answer to any problem that arises!

*****2Ki 6:12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

Notice that of all the men of Syria, and of all the men of Israel, it was pointed out that it could only be Elisha the prophet of God who could have done such a thing.

The world may seek it’s own answers but in the end the world will look toward those that know the true God!

Here again we also see that anytime there is a problem in this world, the world immediately blames it on the Christian!

The next thing we should clearly understand is that the little nation of Israel can never be attacked by a foreign government unless God allows it to happen and for His own reasons!

Zec 2:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

We are fools to not believe that God will not fulfill every promise He made to Israel and no foreign power has the ability to overcome the power of God.

The King of Syria needed to find the location of Elisha and he again sent out his own spies.

*****2Ki 6:13 And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

Elisha was not hiding from anyone because Elisha was at his home in Dothan and was very easy to find.

We first learned of the city of Dothan in the time of Joseph just before his brothers sold him into slavery.

Dothan was 12 miles from the capitol city of Samaria.

Here in this verse we see the foolishness of the world.

If Elisha was able to know all the thoughts of the King of Syria because of the Lord, then it would seem foolish of this King to believe he could just sneak up on Elisha and just fetch him away to do him harm.

Elisha knew these things before this King gave his instructions to those spies and Elisha remained at home unconcerned at what the world could do to him.

God teaches us these things:

Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

We should also notice something else here.

When a foreign power can send it’s army within 12 miles of a capitol city of any nation without being confronted, it shows the weakness of that nation.

The government of Israel was very weak militarily at this time!

It would be easy to compare these things to what is happening in Iraq today!

When ISIS can send it’s troops so close to the major cities in Iraq and cause harm then Iraq is a very weak nation no matter what our own government says!

BUT, Elisha had no fear of the government of Israel nor the government of Syria at this time, and just went about doing the work God had given him to do!

*****2Ki 6:14 Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

This was no small army that surrounded the city of Dothan that day.

This was no small army that was sent to take possession of just one wise man of God.

Solomon lived a long time before the days of Elisha but Solomon could have been writing about Elisha when he wrote these words.

Ecc 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
Ecc 9:14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
Ecc 9:15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
Ecc 9:16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
Ecc 9:17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

God says that the “fear of the Lord, that is wisdom”!

Elisha was such a man this day!

*****2Ki 6:15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

Elisha was not caught off guard at the arrival of this army but his new servant did not understand the power of God nor the double portion of the Holy Spirit that made Elisha a true man of God.

When we show our lack of faith, this world we live in will overwhelm us!

When we show our lack of faith, we are suggesting that our Lord can be defeated!

When we show our lack of faith, we are rejecting the Word of God as the truth!

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

It is the knowledge of the truth of God where our strength lies!

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

And there is a reason for everything that happens to us and these things can make us better but only if we learn from them!

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God can protect His people from any army if we open our eyes to the truth of the “Gospel”!

*****2Ki 6:16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
2Ki 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

It is a fact that there are things of the spirit world going on around us that we cannot see.

We know that angels are ministering spirits:

Heb 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

AND, Part of the ministry of Angels is the physical protection of God’s people!

Angels can protect God’s people from physical harm!

Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Psa 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Angels can frustrate the plans of the enemies of God’s people!

Psa 35:4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
Psa 35:5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.

We know that the Angels are innumerable so there are always more of them than there are mankind who can be numbered!

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

Those chariots of fire can take us home just as they did Elijah or they can simply be that wall of protection in our hour of greatest need!

These things are up to the Lord, as God will not allow this world to frustrate His plan of salvation at any time!

We should also pray for God to open our own eyes to the truth of His Word!

Psa 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

And once again we will see that “Prayer Changes Things”!

The Christian on his knees is still the most powerful force on this Earth!

*****2Ki 6:18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

The truth is that the governments of this world are so afraid of the Christian that they will do everything in their power to stop the spread of the “Gospel of Jesus Christ”!

They will continue to send their armies to crush God’s people but they will fail every time!

Elisha was just a man just as we all are, but at this point in Elisha’s life, he had not completed the work God had given him to do and until God’s says that work is complete and God takes us home there is no power on Earth that can stop that man of God!

We should know that it is not courage that drive evil men to do evil things!

It is blindness to the Word of God and in that blindness, evil men can be led to do terrible things that cause harm not only to the Christian, and not only to the world, but most of all to themselves!

We are not to fear what this world is trying to do to us, in fact to have this kind of fear is being disobedient to the Word of God!

2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

As far as this army was concerned, they had been defeated by one man, God’s man Elisha!

Elisha led this army right into the hands of the King of Israel and gave orders for them to sent back home with enough bread and water for them to get there.

That day, it was more important to show the government of Syria just how futile is was to defy God rather than allow for the government of Israel to claim some great military victory when Elisha had singlehandedly delivered this foreign army to them.

Our primary job is not to cause the death of our enemies!

Our enemies are sentencing themselves to death!

Our primary job is simply to share the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” with the world along with our testimony of what God has already done for us!

Questions?

Let’s Pray because prayer still changes things!

King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, The Demonic Duo

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Ahab And Jezebel

The Demonic Duo

1Kings 21

Last week our lesson was about the courage of the man of God named Elijah.

The name Elijah has this meaning “whose God is Jehovah”!

At the end of last weeks lesson we know that Elijah had fled from the wrath of Jezebel and during that time God had one simple question for Elijah.

1Ki 19:9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

In other words what are you doing here Elijah?

After such a great victory on Mount Carmel, Elijah could only think of a great revival in Israel and the possibility again of the united kingdom but he soon realized the government of Ahab and Jezebel was not going to allow that to happen.

***So, Elijah could only see his life’s work for the Lord as a failure.

The proof that this was not true is the fact that the work of this great prophet of God has been preserved for all the world to read about and also the promise of his return.

Jesus said:

Mat 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

When Elijah returns he will be even more dynamic in his work for the Lord.

***Next Elijah got the feeling that he was the only believer left in all of Israel.

1Ki 19:14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

What was God response?

1Ki 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

Sometimes standing up for the Word of God places us in a lonely position but in reality that is never the case!

God said to Israel:

1Sa 12:22 For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.

God says to the Church:

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Heb 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

What is God’s promise to every believer?

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Once we have been accepted into the family of God, God will use us until the day we meet Jesus!

We will see that Elijah has gotten over his self pity and returned to the work of God before this lesson is over.

**Ahab was the son of another evil king named Omri.

Because of his idolatry, his lust, and his covetousness, Ahab is presented as a type of all wicked kings and rulers.

Mic 6:16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

1Ki 21:25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
1Ki 21:26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

It is Ahab who is a “type” of all those who have made a bargain with the devil and made themselves slaves of Satan!

**Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Zidonians.

Ezekiel tells us the end result of such people:

Eze 32:30 There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.

Solomon had a wife of the Zidonians but Ahab was the first king of the Northern Kingdom to take such a wife.

Jezebel is a type of every woman in history that has a designing nature who is also crafty, malicious, revengeful and cruel!

Jezebel can be said to be the first great instigator of persecution against the people of God!

Jezebel had no principle in her beliefs.

Jezebel had no fear of God and no fear of men!

Jezebel was extremely zealous of her heathen and immoral worship in idolatry!

Jezebel spare no cost for the government to maintain her idolatrous and heathen practices.

Jezebel ruled Ahab, and two other of Ahab’s sons that sat on the throne of Israel after Ahab’s death.

Jezebel is remembered as someone who influenced the Church to do evil!

Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Rev 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
Rev 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

Let’s see this demonic duo in action:

*****1Ki 21:1 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
1Ki 21:2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

Jezreel was a city in Samaria where King Ahab had decided to build his ivory palace:

1Ki 22:39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

This palace was on the eastern side of the city and actually formed part of the city wall.

The vineyard owned by Naboth was just outside this wall.

Because no other information is given we can believe that this was the only piece of property that Naboth owned.

The one thing we will find out about Naboth is that he took a stand on the Word of God and it cost him his life!

King Ahab was a man that was used to having his way just by conveying his wants to others.

But God has explained to us all in terms that we can understand that we are not to covet what belongs to someone else.

Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

From the fall of Adam the principle of sin is in the heart of every man!

Every moral law of God begins with covetousness!

Covetousness is the strong desire for worldly things!

Covetousness leads to a strong desire to gain and greediness!

Covetousness is cold-hearted worldliness!

And God says that worldliness is the downfall of every generation.

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

These things describe Ahab but Jezebel was even more evil!

Naboth said no to the King.

*****1Ki 21:3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

Had the Lord forbid Naboth to see his land?

Naboth understood what the Word of God said about this thing.

Lev 25:23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

Naboth knew that the land was not his to sell because it all belong to the Lord and the Lord was allowing Naboth to use it in his generation!

To the Jew this meant that under certain circumstances the land could be sold as long as it could be redeemed in the year of the Jubilee.

If not then it could never be his again and could not be left as an inheritance for his own children which is the way he had come by the land.

Lev 27:20 And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.
Lev 27:21 But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s.

Either way, Naboth knew he would have to go against the Word of God to sell this land to Ahab!

Ahab then acted like a spoilt child.

*****1Ki 21:4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

Ahab was not used to the Word “no”!

Ahab knew enough about the Word of God to know that what Naboth had said was true to the believer.

That word “heavy” meant that Ahab resented what Naboth had said and he became angry that he did not get his way.

That word “displeased” meant that Ahab became offended and enraged because someone had stood up to him.

Just as Ahab lived in his own white house there is another one who occupies our own White House today that acts just like Ahab and I am not sure that he is not also married to a Jezebel!

No doubt that the servants to the king after witnessing these things went straight to this evil Queen and she had these words for her pitiful husband:

*****1Ki 21:7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

Jezebel was a full blooded politician. Get what you can no matter the cost!

Jezebel was raised in an absolute monarchy where her father King Ethbaal of the Zidonians took whatever suited him.

Naboth had a simple reason for not selling his vineyard. To Naboth he knew that it was Jehovah who owned all the land and it was Jehovah who had given the land to him for his use and it was not his to sell.

This was the truth of God to the nation of Israel and Jezebel hated the truth of the Word of God and she was not about to let the Word of God to stand in the way of what she wanted.

Her again we can see these things in our own government and our own judicial system.

God has an answer for the Jezebels of this world:

Mic 2:1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Mic 2:2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Mic 2:3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

Thirty eight times the Old Testament uses the word “Woe” and they never pleasant!

God says there is only one place suitable for such people:

Isa 5:24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

*****1Ki 21:12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
1Ki 21:13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
1Ki 21:14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
1Ki 21:15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

All through the Bible, God emphasizes the importance of speaking the truth. In fact God has given us a commandment relating to speaking the truth.

Exo 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Ahab was already guilty of covetousness.

Truth is the basis of a working society. When truth is gone, everything else will begin to fall apart!

Not only had Jezebel and the government of Ahab intended to obtain the land of Naboth by any means, Jezebel had decided that Naboth was not the type of person she wanted in her kingdom only because Naboth was a God fearing man.

Today here in America it is those that break the law that are protected while the innocent are being punished just because they stand up for the truth!

Jezebel had no right to issue a death warrant on Naboth.

Christ Jesus teaches the Church with these words:

Mat 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
Mat 20:26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

It is these “type” of leaders we need to insure hold all our public offices!

The truth is, it is the Jezebels and the Ahab’s that rule our world and we have allowed these things to happen!

A true leader will use his or her authority to build up the people while a tyrant will use people to build on their authority while the people are expendable!

Naboth died simply because he was a believer in the Word of God and he never said a harsh word to his government other than “no my land is not for sale, it was a gift of my Savior”.

It was time for Elijah who had been re-energized by the Lord.

*****1Ki 21:17 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
1Ki 21:18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.

The one thing we owe our Savior is to be ready when He calls.

God will provide each of us certain opportunities!

Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

We can be sure that Elijah had still been busy in the work of the Lord but Elijah also had a special purpose and it took a special man of God to stand up the evils of Ahab and Jezebel.

If we open our eyes to the truth we will be able to see that the Lord does not do anything that He has not already warned us about and He says so.

Amo 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

God has also provided nations with great opportunities.

God gave Rome an opportunity to teach nation building.

God gave Greece an opportunity to show the arts and philosophy and cultural things.

God gave Israel an opportunity to preserve the Word of God and the meaning of God-fearing worship.

These have been examples and lessons we were to learn from and grow from!

God has now given us the opportunity to tell the world what we can learn from the truth of God!

Elijah then answered the call of God and God gave Elijah the exact words to say!

*****1Ki 21:19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

Ahab knew his wife very well and Ahab knew that Jezebel could not have obtained the land of Naboth except by evil means.

Ahab did not care for Ahab was like a child with a brand new toy!

Ahab had not ordered these things to take place but it is obvious who God held to blame.

As husbands and as parents, God will hold us responsible for many of the things that happen in our families if we have not followed the Word of God ourselves!

There is the sin of commission but there is also the sin of omission!

Jezebel had not only seen to it that Naboth was killed but she had also seen to it that Naboth’s sons were killed so that no future claim could come for the land that Naboth had.

2Ki 9:26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.

Ahab had allowed for the innocent blood of Naboth and his sons to be shed and it would cost him his own life.

But God always has a special way for these things to be remembered!

Naboth had been murdered outside the city of Jezreel.

1Ki 21:13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.

This is where the blood of Naboth fell.

If at all possible it was a bad thing for blood to be shed on the city streets in that day.

And what was Ahab’s future?

1Ki 22:37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
1Ki 22:38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.

According to Josephus a Jewish historian who also was not a believer wrote that this pool of Samaria was the place used by harlots to bath and therefore considered to be unclean. This was the same place where the government equipment was taken to be cleaned so as not to spoil the drinking water of the city.

The blood of Ahab was added to the unclean waters of this pool and some mongrel dogs drank of this water just as God had said.

And how did Ahab accept the Word of God on this occasion?

*****1Ki 21:20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.

Just as suddenly as Elijah had appeared on his first occasion, Elijah reappeared before Ahab while he was gloating over his newly acquired property.

Ahab thought that his ordeal with Naboth was over but no doubt fear now came upon King Ahab at the sight of Elijah!

What is God’s truth?

God is the God of the second chance!

Elijah was never Ahab’s enemy!

Elijah was Ahab’s friend, it was Ahab’s own wife who was his true enemy!

No true man of God is an enemy of this world.

No true Christian is an enemy of this world.

The Church is not the enemy of this world, in fact the Church is the only true friend this world has left!

We all have the same purpose and that is to shine as Christ Jesus shines!

We are only to be a witness for the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

But what do we see today?

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

The world insists on having contempt for the Church and persecution of the Church is on a steady rise.

Ahab had thought he had escaped the consequences of the death of Naboth because it was Jezebel who had conspired to have him murdered by twisting the twisting the Word of God in her favor.

God always knows the truth.

In the eyes of God Ahab had surrendered his own wants and desires into the hands of others in this case Jezebel.

It was Ahab’s sin of covetousness that had led to the death of Naboth, through the evil mind of Jezebel.

God is not fooled by our actions!

Ahab had been warned and he will now learn of the results of his sin.

*****1Ki 21:21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,
1Ki 21:22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

God announced doom upon all the house of Ahab.

When we think our own sin will not affect our own household we are truly foolish!

That word posterity when used with the phrase “will cut off” means that every man, every woman, and every child, including Jezebel would die before their time.

Because of the foreknowledge of God, He knew that not one of the descendants of Ahab would ever come to know the Lord and was because of the influence that Ahab and Jezebel had on their lives.

Num 14:18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

As the unbelievers are so easy to remind us that we serve a God of love, it is because of God’s love that He must punish evil!

All the family and descendants of King Jeroboam had died out most of them being murdered.

All the family and the descendants of King Baasha had died out most of them being murdered.

It would be the same for all the family and all the descendants of King Ahab!

Jezebel was part of the family of Ahab by marriage but Jezebel would meet a specific doom.

*****1Ki 21:23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

To God it did not matter that Jezebel was a Queen of Israel.

To God it did not matter that Jezebel could paint herself up or fix her hair to be an enticing woman.

To God it did not matter that Jezebel came from a royal family and married into a royal family.

God is no respecter of persons in salvation and God is no respecter of persons in His judgement!

In the walled cities and towns in those days there was a space outside the walls but still uncultivated.

This is the space where the refuse of the city was cast until it was gathered and burned.

This was the place where the mongrel dogs roamed freely.

How does the Bible describe the end of Jezebel?

2Ki 9:30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
2Ki 9:31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?
2Ki 9:32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
2Ki 9:33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.

The body of Jezebel was not gathered for a burial and nor was the bodies sons of Ahab!

*****1Ki 21:24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.

The Jewish people normally took great pains in the burying of the dead.

The body was covered in herbs and spices and then wrapped in linen clothes as it was still in the time of Jesus.

Joh 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

A proper burial of the dead was a great concern for those left behind.

Even the Bible still shows a specific reverence of the dead in Christ!

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This does not mean that burial is the only way a Christian should be treated after death because can restore any body just as He created them to begin with.

These deaths of the descendants of Ahab are in fact a “type” of all those that die without Christ.

That dead body without Christ will be in the torments of Hell just as Ahab’s dynasty would suffer from wild dogs, vultures and other beast that devour things that die and are left on the side of the road.

Why would all these things take place?

*****1Ki 21:25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

Up until the time of Ahab there had been no other human being that knew God, and knew the Word of God, and had been warned by the Men of God but who rejected all the things of God and Jezebel was a great influence on the sinful life of Ahab.

Ahab was the perfect picture of sinful man!

2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Elijah, God’s Prophet

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Elijah, God’s Prophet Of Courage

1 Kings 17–2 Kings 2

From our previous lessons we know that Israel had been divided into two separate nations, one being Judah and the other the 10 tribes now called Israel.

Israel had departed from the Living God, Jehovah and had turned to idolatry.

Because of God’s mercy and God’s grace, He is still God of the second chance and the God of opportunity.

The word “repent” would not be necessary in any language if it were not for the fact that God knows that we are all only sinners who can only be saved by God’s grace.

The Grace of God still means—“God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”.

God needed a man who was willing to boldly stand up a government that promoted idol worship and God sent the prophet Elijah.

The name Elijah means “my God is Jehovah”!

If you are a believer in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ then your name is also Elijah but only if you possess one more thing.

Elijah had courage!

Courage in the believer is much more than the bravery of the average man.

Courage is the quality of the mind that allows a believer to encounter dangers and difficulties because they already know the truth of God and know they have eternal life.

Biblical courage is showing that you are strong in the Lord!

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

It takes courage to overcome the lies of Satan but the rewards are worth the pain of abuse.

Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Courage to the believer is opposite from the cowardice of the unbeliever!

Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

It can be said that Elijah was the most dramatic person in all of history, second only to Jesus Christ.

Elijah was a man of action. Elijah did not take the time to write things down for us because he was a man that things were written about!

Elijah appeared on the scene and in much less than a lifetime Elijah just as quickly disappears!

Long after Elijah disappeared, the Jews have been continually expecting him to return, to again stand up the the falseness of this world.

The Bible says this will actually take place but Elijah will not return in his personal capacity, Elijah will return in his spiritual capacity.

Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mal 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Many believed that John the Baptist was actually the second coming of Elijah. but John himself said this was not true.

Luk 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Luk 1:14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
Luk 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
Luk 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
Luk 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

John informed the world that he was not that Elijah.

Joh 1:19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
Joh 1:20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
Joh 1:21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Joh 1:22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
Joh 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

John the Baptist was also a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

John the Baptist did preach in the same power of Elijah but there was another who also preached in the power of Elijah and his name was Jesus.

Mat 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
Mat 16:14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
Mat 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And it is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who says that Elijah will certainly return again to this Earth.

Mat 17:10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mat 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

Israel was suffering from a drought of the Word of God, so God decided Israel should also suffer from a drought of life giving water.

We first meet Elijah as he delivers his first message to the government of Israel.

*****1Ki 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

Elijah was from Tishbi a city of very few people and he had relocated to Gilead. Gilead was a mountainous region north of Samaria but east of the River Jordan and was known as a good place to raise cattle.

Num 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;

It is not mentioned in the Books of Kings, but Elijah had prayed before he entered into this work of the Lord.

Jas 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

What should we immediately notice about Elijah?

He was just a man subject to the same passions as we are!

What should we remember about God’s prophets?

Deu 18:21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
Deu 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Elijah had not prayed for Israel not to receive rain!

Elijah was stating the pure facts!

If Israel would not return from their evil ways they would face the judgement of God. There had been no rain or even dew already for 6 months and Elijah said this would last for another 3 years unless God saw a change and Elijah would then become an “intercessor” for the people of Israel.

Rom 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
Rom 11:3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.

All the kings of Israel since Jeroboam had attempted to kill or remove all of God’s prophets and had destroyed the places for true worship and Elijah was well aware of all these things.

What are the facts?

Israel had turned to Baal worship along the worship of many other false man-made idols.

Baal was supposedly the storm god and the god of good crops.

For the words of God’s prophet’s to be true, then Baal would have to be a complete failure as a god and he was!

Elijah had just proposed a direct challenge to the god of Ahab and the god of Jezebel.

Elijah would not have been a true prophet of God if he had stayed and asked God to bless these people, so God sent Elijah away until the proof of Elijah’s words were seen.

*****1Ki 17:2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
1Ki 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

We must realize that God tells us up front that our future home is in Heaven once we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

Up until that time, God will only lead us through this life one day at a time!

Our prayers should center on, “Lord what next step should I take” and once that step is revealed we must take that one step while trusting in the Lord to show us how to take that next step in our walk with the Lord.

After Elijah had revealed his message from God, it was time for Elijah to remove himself and allow God to do what He had said He would do.

We will never be able to confront this sinful generation, until we have spent some personal time with God!

Notice this drought was to last 3 and 1/2 years.

The ministry of Jesus and the teaching of the Apostles was 3 and 1/2 years.

The time the Apostle Paul spent in the wilderness alone with God was 3 and 1/2 years.

I believe we can see that each child of God should spend some time alone with God before we can begin our own ministries and we all have a ministry and by example, 3 and 1/2 years would seem to be a reasonable time.

What does God do during that time period?

God prepares each of us for the work He has called us to do!

Elijah was not sent to hide from the wrath of Ahab or even Jezebel.

Elijah was sent to God’s proving ground to teach Elijah a lesson in truth and patience!

We are never to fear what man can do to us, we are to have a Godly fear of the Lord!

The remembrance of Elijah as true man of God is well documented in the New Testament and we find his named mentioned at least 30 times.

God gave Ahab 3 and 1/2 years to see the truth of God and God caused Elijah to vanish out of the sight of Ahab.

God removed Elijah so Ahab would have no contact with him for this same period!

The brook of Cherith was only a rainy season stream that dumped into the River Jordan but it would always dry up during the dry season.

So what is the truth of Scripture?

David wrote in the Book of Psalms these words:

Psa 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

The truth is that God will always provide for those that serve Him!

*****1Ki 17:4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

It was God’s intention to keep Elijah safe to complete the work he had started.

It was God intentions to keep Elijah fed and watered during all this time.

It was also God’s intention for Elijah to grow in the Lord during all this time.

Jer 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Elijah had not been raised in luxury. Elijah was a man of the wilderness. In fact Elijah did not even dress as most men dressed. If you had ever seen Elijah you would always remember that you had seen him!

2Ki 1:7 And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
2Ki 1:8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

Many depict Elijah as some hairy man wearing leather for his clothes and this could have been true but the Scriptures only say that Elijah was a man of hair.

In the Hebrew this means that Elijah was the owner of hair or that Elijah wore the skins of animals, probably cattle that still had the hair attached to that skin.

This why John the Baptist was associated with Elijah and it was intentional on God’s part!

Mar 1:6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

John’s message was the same as Elijah’s!

Joh 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

Just as John was a voice in the work of the Lord, so was Elijah!

This is our only job after we accept the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts, we are to be a voice in the work of the Lord!

God will provide for all those that lend their voice to the work of the Lord and if you notice most Christians will dress differently from the world!

We should also realize that Elijah would have perished by the brook of Cherith if God had not shown him the next step to take.

Our faith must wait on God’s plans!

Elijah next went to Zarephath which was located in part of the land that was ruled by the father of Queen Jezebel, which made it the last place that Ahab and Jezebel would think to search for Elijah.

It amazes me how God will many times use our enemies to provide our needs.

There are many great stories and great miracles shown by the Lord during this 3 and 1/2 year period which we do not have space for in this lesson so let’s pick up with the end of this period of time.

It was also during this time that Elijah first began training his replacement Elisha.

So, Again Elijah meets Ahab.

*****1Ki 18:17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
1Ki 18:18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.

When Elijah had first called on Ahab, Elijah had presented a direct challenge to the false gods of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.

We would be foolish not to look at Ahab’s response.

The very first thing all false religions will do, is to blame all the problems of this world on Christians!

Our own President said all Christians are Neanderthal!

The theory Evolution teaches that Neanderthal were just a step in the development of the true human.

In other words our own government considers a Christian to be hung up in the past refusing to accept modern humanism.

In other words Christian beliefs are so far in the past that they cannot comprehend the truth of real human life that exists in our world today.

This is an insult to the truth of the Word of God!

Our own Vice-President said that if not for the antiquated Word of God, Christians could accept the gay lifestyle and abortion as just being the truth of society!

The Muslim blame everything on the Christian and simply strive to remove all Christians from the face of the Earth!

Christians will continue to get the blame for everything even including climate change, which lies only in the hands of God.

Evolution teaches that there has been at least 7 Ice Ages so even evolution teaches of many climate changes over billions of years, years when there where no humans on this earth. So why are they showing such great concern now and blaming it all on humans? It’s called money, to make the rich get richer and the poor kept dependant on the rich to survive!

What was Elijah’s response?

Now it is not that false religion causes all the problems of this world!

It is the rejecting of the truth of God and God Himself that brings these problems!

What words were spoken to the Apostle Paul as he strived to begin the early church?

Act 17:6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also”;

What words were said of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Luk 23:5 And they were the more fierce, saying, “He stirreth up the people”, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.

All that call on the Lord Jesus Christ can be sure of one thing, Christianity will always get the blame for the problems that are in this world!

What is our job?

Our job continues to be, to turn this world upside down!

In the end we will see who has the most truthful message.

So Elijah just said, let’s just see who is telling the truth!

*****1Ki 18:19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.

We must realize that during the absence of Elijah, Queen Jezebel had searched the entire land trying to find him and she had caught, tortured and murdered as many of God’s prophets as she could find in trying to locate Elijah but to no avail.

1Ki 18:13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

A man named Obadiah, not the prophet Obadiah, who was a servant to King Ahab had actually helped to preserve as many of God’s prophets and preachers as he could.

1Ki 18:4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

If we look closely at those two words “cut-off” we will see that these words come from the Hebrew word “karath” which mean to cut up into pieces or to mutilate, much like someone would fillet a fish!

Jezebel was a very evil and cruel woman and we can see this same type of evilness is performed by that group called ISIS today along with some others who persecute God’s people!

Our world is still filled with evil men and women and God says many will get even more evil than these we see today!

2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Jezreel was the home of the palace of Ahab and Jezebel and also a place where a temple for Jezebel to worship her own false gods was built.

Mount Carmel was a high place of beauty directly across the valley from Jezreel and in full view of all those in this evil city.

The Mediterranean Sea could also be seen from Mount Carmel.

This was the place God had chosen for Elijah to challenge the false prophets of Israel.

God does not hide the work that He causes to happen from the view of those who are evil!

As we know, Baal was considered to be storm god and the fire god of Jezebel. It was Baal who was worshiped so that there could be fruitful harvest.

There were 450 prophets of Baal.

There were also 400 prophets of the groves that were fed, clothed, and housed at the expense of the government of Israel, according to the command of Jezebel who had absolute control of King Ahab.

We see our own government housing many of the enemies of Christ Jesus today!

That word “groves” means the prophets of Asherah. Remember Asherah was worshiped as the wife of Baal and she supposedly was the goddess of fertility, love, and war!

Baal was worshiped as the Sun god and Asherah as the Moon god!

Elijah had directly challenged the false gods of the government Israel but Elijah also confronted the people of Israel with this challenge.

1Ki 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

You see it’s not only important to confront the government but the people must also be confronted. It is the people who can eventually do something to cause a new government to be in place!

What did the Apostle Paul say about the Jew that still holds true today?

1Co 1:22 “For the Jews require a sign”, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

It’s remarkable that a sign is never asked of false religion but a sign is always required of the truth of God!

These false prophets had tried everything they knew to get a response from these false gods but they had no success!

Why? Because man-made idols are powerless because they are man-made!

Psa 115:4 Their idols are silver and gold, “the work of men’s hands”.
Psa 115:5 They have mouths, but “they speak not”: eyes have they, but “they see not”:
Psa 115:6 They have ears, but “they hear not”: noses have they, but “they smell not”:
Psa 115:7 They have hands, but “they handle not”: feet have they, but “they walk not”: “neither speak they through their throat”.
Psa 115:8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

False gods have no power to do anything at all!

So Elijah set about to call on the true God, the Creator of our world.

*****1Ki 18:31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
1Ki 18:32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

Notice Elijah was well aware that all eyes were focused upon him and he was very deliberate in the things he did.

It was Moses who had written the Books of the Law that these Jews were to follow and Moses used 12 stones to build an altar one stone for each tribe of Israel showing that God had intended for them to remain united as one nation.

Joshua had used 12 stones to build a memorial as Israel had crossed Jordan into the Promised Land.

Jesus would later choose 12 disciples showing all of Israel that they were also to be united “in faith” in the Living God.

And the truth of the Church is that all believers are to be united in one faith!

Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

That trench was to hold all the water that would be poured over the entire altar.

But as water is a “type” of the Holy Spirit, that trench also represented a healing of new flesh or “new skin” to cover the wounded nation of Israel.

To the Church we are taught by the Word of God that we are not only to be washed in the blood of Jesus, we must be washed in the water of the Holy Spirit and all these things require our “Faith” and only then will come a “new life”!

1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
1Jn 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
1Jn 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1Jn 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

And the wood then had to be placed in order!

*****1Ki 18:33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

There can be no doubt that this wood placed in specific order then represents a “type” of Jesus Christ.

It was Jesus Christ who was cut to pieces by the “cat-o-nine tails”, His body ripped to shreds and then laid on that cross for all the world to see.

It was the Lord Jesus Christ who was then in the control of the Holy Spirit, represented by the water.

It was those two measures of seed that represent the truth of the Gospel, the Gospel Seed!

And it is on Mount Calvary where the Church is tried by fire!

How had Elijah approached the people that day?

1Ki 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

If the people of God would just be settled in their beliefs, we could all come together at the foot of the cross where all the people of God stand on level ground.

Even more so today in America we struggle between two opinions when we all have only “one” true Word of God!

And what is the truth of the Gospel?

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Elijah had very little concern for King Ahab and his government which was actually controlled by Queen Jezebel.

Elijah had no concern for those 850 false priests.

Elijah was concerned only with the people of God!

Notice there were also 12 barrels of water that were poured upon the altar built by Elijah.

According to the laws of Moses, one lamb would be offered in the morning by the high priest in atonement for their souls. Then later that same day another lamb would be offered in the evening sacrifice still in atonement for their souls.

Exo 29:41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Exo 29:42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.

Elijah had waited until it was time for this evening sacrifice!

*****1Ki 18:36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.

Elijah had done all these things according to the truth of the Scriptures!

Elijah had taken the Word of God as literal!

It was only then that Elijah called on the Lord, not for his own sake but for the peoples sake!

Elijah became an “intercessor” for the children of Israel.

What is the truth?

Elijah will return sometime in the near future to stand in the gap between Israel and our Holy God!

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

Then Elijah prayed for all those present, and loud enough for all to hear.

Elijah was not ashamed of the Word of God!

*****1Ki 18:37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
1Ki 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

I fully believe that in His own way, God makes contact with every national leader that have risen to that level.

I believe that God gives them specific instructions in His Word and has made His Word available to each nation and each government on this earth.

BUT, God deals with the ordinary people who are restrained and constrained by those governments because “it is the people of God who can make the necessary changes to those governments”, if those people would have enough “faith” to just follow the written Word of God!

And God responded to the prayer of Elijah.

Prayer changes things!

Elijah had confronted the government of Israel that day.

Elijah had challenged all false religions and their leaders to prove their false gods.

Elijah had mocked all false religion because that’s what they are, they are false and powerless!

This fire that came down from Heaven attested to the truth of God’s prophet!

This fire that came down from Heaven demonstrated the falsehood of Baal the fire god of Jezebel!

Ahab became confused.

Jezebel would fly into a rage when she heard of these things.

But many of the people began to see the truth of idol worship, but it would not last and Elijah soon realized this truth!

*****1Ki 18:39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

What is the truth of our world?

At some point in the life of every individual, God will make Himself known!

And God only requires a short prayer of “Faith” for Him to take His “salvation” action!

Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

It is the Lord, He is God!

God requires our “faith” in order to do His work!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

What was the truth of Elijah, God’s prophet?

Just as he had informed Ahab at the first, rain would not come to Israel until he prayed that the Lord would end the drought!

And God’s people then began to eliminate those who preached a false religion!

And Ahab ran home to Jezebel to tell her what Elijah had done.

*****1Ki 19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

It had been Jezebel who had made pagan worship the national religion of Israel.

And we must not be fooled it is taxpayer money and our own government that is allowing pagan worship in America!

Jezebel herself had seen that most all prophets of God located in Israel had been slaughtered!

It was the government of Israel that was killing God’s people!

1Ki 18:13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

Jezebel hated God’s prophets and Jezebel became Elijah’s darkest and most dangerous enemy!

To be quiet honest, it is our own government has become the greatest enemy to all those Pastors who take a stand on the truth of God!

Jezebel was so deep in her paganism, she could not be moved to believe the truth!

*****1Ki 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

Just when Elijah felt that there would be a great revival in all of Israel, he found out that the entire force of the government of Israel would be seeking his life.

So it is true that for the first time in his life Elijah had a fear for his own life.

But it is also true that Elijah knew revival could not come to Israel at this time and it broke his heart!

We sometimes have a greatest let downs after a sure victory and needless to say when you are up on the mountain, this world will always find a way to knock you down, if you are a true child of God!

Elijah began to trust in his own power to save himself, after all Elijah was only a man with a man’s weaknesses.

*****1Ki 19:3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
1Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

Elijah’s hope for revival had come to a quick end and Elijah was heartbroken for the people he loved.

Elijah was not a coward we have seen the proof of that.

Elijah was not afraid to die because we see he asked the Lord to take his life.

Elijah was discouraged!

Remember courage is the quality of the mind which enables men to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness.

To be discouraged is to be disheartened, a loss of confidence and dejected.

Elijah felt that if such a great miracle as God had shown to Israel on Mount Carmel could not win the hearts of the people then Israel could not be won back to the Lord.

God says this:

Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Many of God’s men have felt that they were alone in the the work of the Lord but we should remember a few things.

This is God’s plan of salvation and we just need to be a part of His plan!

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

And these things will not end until God says it’s time for them to end!

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God was not through with Elijah!

On the contrary God has great plans for Elijah even beyond the Church age!

Mat 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

What will Elijah’s job be at that time?

Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mal 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

It was not Elijah’s job to restore Israel because that has always been the Lord’s job!

Elijah was just one small part of the plan of God just like we all are!

Jesus preached in all the synagogues and included these things in His message:

Luk 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luk 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

Our job is to go where the Lord leads us and respond to the opportunities that He gives us and continue to do good, without getting weary in well doing.

And to take our stand on the Word of God!

It takes as much courage today to stand for the truth, as it took in the days of Elijah!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

King Jeroboam and King Asa A Contrast In Worship

/ Bobby Mayfield / 2 Comments

Jeroboam and Asa

A Contrast In Worship

1 Kings 12-16

2 Chronicles 11-16

It is the choices that we make in this life that define our existence and our legacy!

What is the truth that cannot be denied by any people?

1. Sinful life style choices will have an immediate effect on any people!

2. Sinful choices will always produce failure to acknowledge the truth of God!

3. Sinful choices will always bring God’s judgment!

Rom 1:32 “Who knowing the judgment of God”, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Remember at the end of last weeks lesson we saw that Jeroboam had already began to rebel against the Word of God given to him by God’s prophet Ahijah.

What had God’s prophet told Jeroboam?

1Ki 11:37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
1Ki 11:38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

How quickly will power cause most men to exalt themselves above the truth of God!

Lets begin:

*****1Ki 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
1Ki 12:27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.

The dictionary says that “history” is an account of facts, respecting nations or states. True History then is an accurate record of the events that have transpired.

What is the real truth of “history”?

True “history” is that God is teaching this entire world by examples from true history!

What have we seen from our past and continue to see in our own lifetime?

Foolish men in power never learn from true history, so history repeats itself over and over again!

Jeroboam had been a man that had been a part of Solomon’s abuse of the people of Israel. When he had confronted Solomon about this abuse of people, he had to flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of Solomon.

God had taken Jeroboam and made him King of the Northern Tribes of Israel, which were ten tribes and Israel had become a divided nation.

Jeroboam had established his capitol city in Shechem in Samaria. Shechem already held great history for the nation of Israel for it was the place where Abraham had built his first altar in the Promised Land.

Shechem was the place where Abraham had received the covenant promises of God!

Jacob had also bought some land from the children of Hamor and had made this area his home place.

It was at Shechem where the bones of Joseph and Jacob were buried.

It was in this same place where the well of Jacob does still exist and where the Lord Jesus met with a certain woman at a well.

What did Jesus explain to this woman?

Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Jeroboam built Shechem in this place but he also built Penuel.

Penuel is best known for the battle of Gideon with the Midianites.

So we see that even historical places will have a way of revealing themselves in our own actions when we do learn our history very well!

Jeroboam then built his own home in Tirzah which had a history and a reputation for it’s beauty for even Solomon recognized the beauty of Tirzah.

Son 6:4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.

But once Jeroboam had settled into his royal life, he began to realize that all these things could come to an end just as fast as they had begun.

Jeroboam began to doubt the Word of God as he entered into deep sin and he began to repeat the same things that had divided the nation of Israel to begin with.

In fact Jeroboam began to invent a totally new religion!

Even Solomon had found this to be true of mankind late in his life as he wrote these words:

Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

All Jeroboam had to do was to obey the Word of God, he had received from God’s prophet Ahijah.

1.) He needed only to walk in the ways of God, and he already had all the Books of Moses.

2.) He needed only to do right things and not wrong things. God’s Word explains this very well even in the first 5 books!

3.) He needed only to realize that God had His eyes on everything that he did!

God keeps good records of all things done on this earth!

God says on Judgment Day those “books” would be opened!

What did Jeroboam do instead?

Jeroboam realized the great power of the Temple that Solomon had built had over the people and he knew that worship could become a most unifying force!

The Radical Muslim movement in our world today also take great advantage of this one thing in our world today!

Jeroboam had been given a great opportunity to unite God’s people and to be a witness for Jehovah to the world, but Jeroboam could only think of himself!

The believing Jewish people were to journey to the Temple at the minimum 3 times a year and Jeroboam sought to put an end to these things and to end all contact with God’s people

Jeroboam decided that he needed a state sponsored religion so he invented a new man-made religion just as many other have done!

*****1Ki 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

We may not know who Jeroboam took counsel with, but Jeroboam had an Egyptian wife and he had spent much time in Egypt and was well aware of false religions of Egypt, just as Moses had been.

Jeroboam caused the Jewish people to remember their own history of the time of Moses and Aaron.

Exo 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Exo 32:2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exo 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Jeroboam decided if he could twist this sad history of the beginning of the nation of Israel around just a little bit, he might be able to substitute an idol in place of the Living God!

Living bulls were important in Egypt and a thing of worship and still are today.

The great basin in the Temple of Solomon had 12 bulls as it’s support.

Aaron had made a golden calf as an image of God.

In Egypt many bulls were worshipped as being sacred and a resemblance of this idol was first placed at Bethel.

Jeroboam already knew the “history” of Bethel and how the Jewish people had gone to Bethel in times of trouble throughout history.

Jdg 20:26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
Jdg 20:27 And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
Jdg 20:28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.

In fact Hosea later wrote that Bethel meaning the “house of God” should be changed to Bethaven the “house of idols” for that is what it had become!

Hos 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
Hos 10:6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

Another false bull idol was placed in Dan.

Again if we remember “history” we will know the story of Micah and how Dan already had a history of idol worship.

Jdg 17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
Jdg 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

This place of false worship still existed and Jeroboam took advantage of this and the people of the Northern Tribes of Israel fell into the deep sin of idolatry!

*****1Ki 12:30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

Sin can be said to be, when any person expresses their own sinful nature passed down from Adam!

Adam’s sin, was that he did not obey the Word of God!

Sin then is anything that goes against the Word of God!

1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Sin is the inward habit of the soul that shows in the outward conduct of life, whether by omission or commission!

What is God’s number one rule?

Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

What is the “Royal Law” of King Jesus?

Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Anything we place before the Word of God is an idol and living in deep sin!

Jeroboam did not just stop here!

Jeroboam was on his way to creating an entirely new religion, just as the Atheists have done, and the Evolutionist have done and these people of Climate Change are trying to do now!

Climate change religion is more about the control of the undeveloped countries and the control of population than anything else which is another reason abortion is not eliminated and the gay lifestyle is allowed to fester.

If the entire world was gay, the entire world would die off in one generation.

These evil people take advantage of the fact that when people see things of nature that affect their lives, they hunt something to blame it on whether good or bad!

Evil men also take advantage of the fact that skills are no longer taught in most schools but only philosophy.

They take advantage of the fact that the Word of God has been removed from the schools along with Prayer to the only true God.

This has resulted in the growth of false worship and false priests.

What did Jeroboam do next the same thing our world is doing today!

*****1Ki 12:31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.

There were many of the Levite priests that still had their homes in this territory of these ten tribes whom God had placed there for many reasons, but Jeroboam did not allow them to be the priests in this new religion but cast them out and most all of them returned to Jerusalem and to Judah.

2Ch 11:14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the LORD:
2Ch 11:15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

Jeroboam was afraid that these men of God would go against what he was trying to do, so he created an entirely new order of priesthood again going against the Word of God.

A priest or preacher or pastor who is not God called, is not a true man of God!

In America today, every effort is made by our own government to shut the mouths of our men of God even by causing the Word of God to be included as hate speech!

When the truth becomes hate speech, we are all doomed to evil!

Jeroboam assumed himself to be the highest priest and selected other men who did not follow the Word of God to be the false temple priests.

It is a fact that our own President has surrounded himself with non-believers including the Muslim Brotherhood and has also exalted his own self above the Word of God!

That word lowest would truly mean the most degraded humans he could find.

2Ch 13:9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

Jeroboam needed one more thing, Jeroboam needed some special feast days.

*****1Ki 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

What had Jeroboam devised in his own heart?

Jeroboam had seen in his years that most all people will choose a religion of convenience rather than seek the truth, if seeking the truth required some difficulty on their part!

Jeroboam had seen in his years that many people would not have a problem with substituting an image of God for the invisible God.

Jeroboam decided to set aside the days that God required, for mock holidays that he had determined in his own mind.

Jeroboam devised these things himself, in his own heart.

What does God say?

Mat 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Mat 15:20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

These are all traits of the Antichrist!

Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

We know that many Christian holidays, such as the birth of Christ (Christmas), the resurrection of Christ (Easter), and a day of thanks (Thanksgiving), have lost their true meaning and purpose because of commercialism and man’s influence, deliberately changing the meaning of these days from the truth.

The Temple in Jerusalem was available for worship everyday of the year but there were 3 specific times that all of Israel were required, if at all possible to return to the Tabernacle and now the Temple to worship the Lord!

1.) The Feast of the Passover was a memorial day, a symbolical memorial to the memory to that very first passover night when Israel escaped from the “iron furnace” of Egypt and freedom.

The meaning is best illustrated in the Book of Hebrews.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

We cannot know true freedom without the “Blood of Jesus”!

2) The Feast of Weeks, best known as Pentecost, was 50 days from the end of the Feast of unleavened bread which came just after the Passover.

This day was a memorial to the day that God gave the Law to Moses which was 50 days after they had escaped from the bondage of Egypt.

We cannot know freedom without the Word of God!

3) The Feast of the Trumpets, or the Day of Atonement.

This was the only day of the year that the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies and intercede on behalf of the Jewish people.

This was the only day that the “intercessor” for all of Israel, could sprinkle the blood on the “Mercy Seat”.

The people were to afflict their souls on this day:

Lev 16:29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
Lev 16:30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

This event was to represent the mourning and sadness of Israel, just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

My day of atonement was the day the Lord Jesus Christ interceded on my behalf and I got saved!

Zec 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zec 12:11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
Zec 12:12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
Zec 12:13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
Zec 12:14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

God had a purpose for all these things and there is no man on earth that can change the things of God!

Jeroboam had placed politics above the truth of God!

Jeroboam had installed his own government ordained religious system born out of selfish motives!

Jeroboam’s appeal was that these things were good for the nation of Israel.

How often have we heard this thing?

Israel could now have a religious system that they truly would not have to share with others or any other nation.

Many in Israel have always said that Jehovah was just the God of the Jew and this was a great problem for the early Church!

And then Jeroboam decided that he should be the high priest of his own new religion!

Every false religion in the world was begun by such men as Jeroboam!

BUT, we can be sure God was not going to allow Jeroboam to escape His wrath for this disobedience.

*****1Ki 14:14 Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
1Ki 14:15 For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
1Ki 14:16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.

What did God promise to Jeroboam?

1. God would raise up another king who would put and end to the dynasty of Jeroboam. Jeroboam would never have a son to sit very long on the throne of Israel.

2. God would remove His hand of protection from the ten tribes of Israel and allow a foreign power to chasten and punish Israel. We know that history says this was the Assyrians.

3. We think of reeds as plants that grow in a marsh. The Hebrew word “Kaneh” is used here to denote a “reed of any kind”.

Reeds give the appearance of being firmly rooted in the ground but by the violence of many storms and the movement of the wind and the waters, they can be uprooted and scattered over and on dry land to die.

That phrase “beyond the river” means that these reeds would be scattered in lands other than the “Promised Land”.

SO, How does Jesus say we are to avoid these things?

Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Jesus said if we are to be the messengers of the Gospel then we cannot be like a reed that is easily shaken.

Mat 11:7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
Mat 11:8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.
Mat 11:9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
Mat 11:10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Israel had become a nation of reeds and God would fulfill this promise as He does them all!

We know these things began with Solomon and Jeroboam had been given an opportunity to restore Israel to the Word of God but Jeroboam had allowed his own lust for power to interfere with the work of God.

Jeroboam had sinned and he had caused Israel to fall even deeper into sin.

AND, Because our own government is so caught up in sin, America is now also caught up in and is falling deeper into sin!

But before Jeroboam died Judah had a new king named Asa.

AND, Asa had a heart for the truth of God!

*****1Ki 15:9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.

Asa was the son of Abijah and his grandfather was Rehoboam.

King Asa would rule Judah for 41 years.

We know that Rehoboam had also sinned greatly against the Lord and Abijah his son had followed in his footsteps but Asa was an entirely different man from his two predecessors.

Even though Asa had been raised by parents that rebelled against God, Asa became zealous in maintaining the true worship of Jehovah!

The name Asa means physician and one of the few blemishes in the record of Asa was near his end when he sought the physicians help rather that God’s help.

1Ki 15:23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

2Ch 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.

This does not mean we are not to go the doctor. It does mean we must not forsake the Lord, by allowing our heart to depart from serving God, even when our health begins to interfere with our daily walk in this life!

The Bible says it takes great strength to handle our elder years:

Psa 90:10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

The Bible also tells us where our strength will come from:

Isa 46:4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

God does not just make us sick so we can then call on Him for healing and God simply does not do bad things to us just to get our attention!

Paul said he once acted like a child but as he grew in the Lord. he did away with childish things!

BUT, God may remove His protective hand and allow Satan to do some things!

Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Asa did not have a god-fearing father nor grandfather and Asa did not have a god-fearing grandmother!

*****1Ki 15:10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

Maachah was actually Asa’s grandmother or we would say the Queen Mother in this case.

Maachah was also David’s son Absalom’s granddaughter, so we can see that she came from the side of the family that had always rebelled against God.

2Ch 11:20 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.
2Ch 11:21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
2Ch 11:22 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.

These things meant that Asa was very young when He assumed the throne of Judah!

SO, What is the biblical truth of King Asa?

King Asa was more like King David than he was of his father or his grandfather!

No doubt Asa had learned much about his heritage as a child.

2Ch 14:2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:

*****1Ki 15:11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.

Unlike Rehoboam and unlike Jeroboam, Asa sought to please God!

Israel is still today looking for a king that does right in the eyes of God, as did King David!

In fact Israel is still looking for someone to return to the throne of David and remove the threat of all those nations that hate them!

In the time that Asa ruled Judah, Israel would see King Jeroboam die along with all his sons but also King Baasha and his son Elah, King Zimri who was king for just one week, King Omri and King Ahab and the short live throne of King Tibna.

Judah had once again found peace with God, while Israel found turmoil in sin without God!

Good things can always be accomplished when a nation is at peace and is strong enough to keep it that way, and the only way for these things to happen is for that leader to do right in the eyes of God!

How did good King Asa go about making Judah a better nation in the eyes of God?

Asa did things according to the Word of God!

*****1Ki 15:12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

Being a Sodomite did not mean these were descendants of the city of Sodom that was destroyed many years earlier in the time of Abraham.

These Sodomites were all those who practiced the same immoral acts that took place in that city of Sodom!

In America, these Sodomites have even been granted the freedom to be marital partners!

In the time of Jeroboam these sinners made sodomy a religious rite just as they have in America today!

They made unnatural sex acts an open part of their lives, just as the gay movement has done in America today.

They committed abominable sin against the Lord by rejecting the Word of God!

You have to go against the Word of God to approve of such things!

Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

To the dismay of these people, God has only one answer for such sin.

Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Unless they repent of their sin, they will end up in a burning fiery Hell because they have corrupted their own selves.

People simply are not born this way, this is a lie straight from Hell, they corrupt themselves!

Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things “they corrupt themselves”.

This is just the truth of the Word of God and not some hate speech aimed at anyone in particular!

We are always to love all people but we are also to hate all sin including the gay lifestyle!

Asa’s answer was not to kill these Sodomites but to remove them for the land.

This should also be the response of our own nation!

BUT, Asa did much more than this one thing!

Asa removed any image or idol that the government of his father and his grandfather had put in place!

The truth is that America was built on the principles of Jehovah God and it is about time we acted like it!

Asa demanded for Judah to remember their heritage.

We need a leader now, who will step up and that America remember her heritage!

2Ch 14:2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
2Ch 14:3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:
2Ch 14:4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
2Ch 14:5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

Regardless what we see in the news and the bold mouths of the gay community, it is only the truth of God that will bring peace to America and only then can America begin to rebuild as a Nation!

2Ch 14:6 And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.

Biblical principles bring peace and prosperity to any nation!

Asa could not show the proof of his intentions to restore Judah and if he allowed such sin to be seen in his own household, so Asa began by clearing out his own household!

*****1Ki 15:13 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

King Asa removed all the appearances of government involvement in religious practices except those that concerned Jehovah God.

King Asa knew that we cannot know the peace of God until we have peace with God!

King Asa told his nation, let’s work together in rebuilding the sure platforms of our nation!

We need a leader today that we can work together with to rebuild the platforms of our own nation!

Our true foundation is still Jesus Christ!

2Ch 14:7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

It was during the time of King Asa that most all the Levites relocated to Judah from Israel.

It was during the time of King Asa that most all believers of the ten tribes of Israel returned to Judah from Israel.

It was during the time of Asa that many of those deep in sin and the sodomites, left Judah to go to other places where they could practice their sin openly.

Israel was in turmoil and at this time, but Judah was at peace!

And King Asa said to all of Judah, let us just seek the Lord!

God did not put all these things in the Bible, just for us to read!

God put all these things in the Bible for us to learn from so we do not make the same mistakes!

History is only useful when we avoid the mistakes of the past that have caused such errors in the lives of mankind!

Now we can just sit by and allow all these things to keep happening in America or we can insists that those we place in leadership positions honor the Word of God.

Either way we deserve the results that we get!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Fame And The Shame Of King Solomon

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Solomon, His Fame And His Shame

1 Kings 10-11

“Fame” can be said to possess a good reputation versus a “rumor” which can only be a good or a bad report.

There are many people that the Bible mentions of having great fame.

Joshua, Mordecai, Joseph are just a few but the Bible also says that God has fame as did the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus became so famous that even kings and rulers had heard about Him!

Mat 14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the “fame” of Jesus,

Solomon also became very famous throughout the world of that day because God had given to Solomon the gift of “Wisdom”!

In the time of Solomon, fame and shame became the marks of mankind and of nations and it is even more prevalent today.

Today all our leaders seek a legacy hoping that their good outweighs their bad and it would if they would just refuse to do bad things!

As wise as and as rich as Solomon was, he is remembered as much for his shame as he is for his fame if not more so!

No matter what people think of our existing president, he will be remembered for the fact that while he has been in office, he has done nothing improve the conditions of his own race nor of America!

He has even divided America more then any other president that came before him!

God placed these scriptures in the Bible for us to learn more from Solomon’s mistakes and not so much to learn of Solomon’s accomplishments!

To honor someone is to recognize their value to society.

This time next year we will be asked to vote for our next president.

From now until then, many men and women will present their fame.

But because of the way our world works, many news sources and many others will point out to us the shame of all these individuals and not so much their accomplishments.

To shame someone is to challenge their reputation!

In many cases the one with the less shame will get elected but people are so fickle that today many who should withdraw because of their shame actually take advantage of that shame showing they have exalted them selves above the ordinary people!

We must rely on the facts and the proved record of these people in order to determine who will be our next leaders and not so much on what they say, for what they say does not usually match their actions!

Pro 5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

If we show a lack of concern for matters of honor and shame we will then become shameless ourselves and deny the truth and we will suffer for our own poor judgment!

Adam and Eve were not ashamed to be in the presence of God until sin came into their lives.

Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Once sin entered into their lives they became ashamed to be in the presence of God!

Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Anyone who is ashamed to be in the presence of God does not need to hold public office!

Today sin has progressed to a point where mankind has no shame in their sin because they have rejected to Word of God.

SO, Let’s see how Solomon reached this point in his own life even though he was the wisest man to have ever lived.

*****1Ki 10:1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

Let’s first see Solomon’s glory and his fame.

Though some may disagree Sheba was the country of the Sabeans.

Sheba was a prosperous nation in southern Arabia.

Scholars believe that this long 1500 mile journey was taken by this queen to establish a commercial treaty with Solomon but we already know that many kings and monarchy traveled to visit King Solomon to seek his wisdom to help them in their own nations and this queen was no different.

We can trust the Biblical account of these things!

We will also see that this queen wanted to know more about the God of Israel, who we know is the true God of all creation!

The nation of Sheba was formed by the descendants of Cush, a son of Ham who was the son of Noah.

Today this area of Sheba is known to us as Yemen.

Yemen was a rich merchant nation for 1000 years or more until it became dominated by Muslim cultures and Yemen is now in political turmoil.

Nations such as Sheba were expected to bring gifts signifying royalty.

Psa 72:10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Psa 72:11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

This in typology, this represents the time when all nations will worship the true King of Kings and come to Jerusalem once again seeking wisdom, but this is still in the future.

Isa 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

1Ti 6:14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Ti 6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

The Lord Jesus Christ also used this historical truth of the Queen of Sheba, in His rebuke of the Pharisees.

Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Jesus was saying, that even this great queen was wise enough to seek the wisdom and the knowledge of the God of Israel and came to Solomon, yet these Pharisees, who already had the Word of God, were not wise enough to seek the kingdom of God even though the Lord Jesus was much wiser than Solomon and was in their presence that very day.

God says we must first seek the kingdom of God, before we can truly see the benefits in this life we have now.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

These Sabeans were indeed traveling merchants and if they were to ever go further north to sell their wares they would have had to go through the area of land that was ruled by King Solomon.

*****1Ki 10:2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

In many ways Solomon was a type of Christ in typology and that being the case, the Queen of Sheba would then be a type of the Church!

We all know that as we are lead by the Holy Spirit, and we will also sometimes have hard questions of spiritual things in our daily walk with the Lord.

This queen was also well aware as she traveled through Israel, how Solomon was well prepared to defend all of Israel.

We should remember it was some of these Sabeans who had also destroyed Job’s flocks because Job was also a merchant with many things to sell.

Job 1:15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

These Sabeans were willing to destroy the competition if it were possible.

We can be sure that this was no ordinary merchant caravan.

This queen would not have traveled without her military escort!

This queen had many reasons to visit Solomon and during her visit she found that the rumors she had heard of King Solomon would prove to only tell half the truth of his might and of his fame.

*****1Ki 10:6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
1Ki 10:7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, “the half was not told me”: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

This queen had seen the splendor of the palace of Solomon.

This queen had seen royalty like she had never observed before.

This queen had seen the construction projects as she had passed many of them along her route to Jerusalem.

This queen had seen the Temple that was prepared to worship the God of Israel.

2Ch 9:3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,
2Ch 9:4 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

And it is written that she had no more spirit in her from the sight of all these things!

This queen was overwhelmed by what she had seen and what she had heard!

This queen then had a great desire for a new spirit!

Psa 119:81 My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.

What does God say to the Church?

Isa 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

What did the Apostle John do when he saw the glory of Heaven?

Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

We can be sure that as wonderful as we believe Heaven to be, we do not have a clue to the real glory and the real splendor of our Heavenly home.

We do not even know half the truth of the glory of Heaven!

Words by them selves cannot explain the glory of Heaven and it is only when we are like Christ that we can know these things.

This should be our main reason to keep steady in our walk with the Lord!

Our goal must be to tell as many as we can about the Lord Jesus Christ, so they can seek His wisdom for themselves just as this queen had done from Solomon.

*****1Ki 10:23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
1Ki 10:24 And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

During this period of King Solomon, the Phoenicians were the dominant sea power, Assyria and Egypt were also great military powers but it was Israel that was the dominant nation of that day and also the richest of all nations.

King Solomon financed the Phoenician sea going operations and King Hiram shared his sea going knowledge with King Solomon but he also paid a considerable tribute to Israel.

We can see that even Egypt sought peace with Israel as Egypt’s Pharaoh gave Solomon his daughter for a wife.

Assyria was not near strong enough to challenge Israel at this time.

All the known powers of that day sought out King Solomon to hear his wisdom.

All the known powers of that day paid tribute to Israel and to King Solomon and he and Israel became very rich.

Many other nations followed after Pharaoh and offered their daughters as wives in order to have peace with Israel.

We can see that it takes a strong military presence to insure peace, a weak military is a sure sign you will be attacked even by those that say they are friendly.

These are all facts because it was God who places fear in man!

Psa 102:15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

We know that at the return of Jesus Christ all nations will again have this fear of the Lord!

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

But, Solomon began to use all these things to his advantage to control the economies of the world.

*****1Ki 10:25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
1Ki 10:26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.
1Ki 10:27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.
1Ki 10:28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

Solomon used his riches to build a great military machine and placed them strategically through his realm.

Silver had no more value than ordinary stones.

Precious timber had no more value than cheap lumber.

Solomon controlled the price of durable goods and the breeding of pure blood animals.

Solomon’s annual intake of gold was 25 tons.

In today’s market one ton goes for about 32 million dollars.

That would easily be 8 billion dollars today of tribute paid per year to King Solomon and Solomon reigned for 40 years.

The glory of Solomon was open and visible to the entire world, but inside of Solomon, this outer glory began to influence his inner person!

Solomon fell into great sin!

Nehemiah challenged all of Israel with this truth in a great sermon.

Neh 13:26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

Solomon was beloved of God but even in all his wisdom, given to him from God, Solomon fell into the snares of the devil.

The downfall of Solomon began when he began trying to please his many wives!

*****1Ki 11:1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Ki 11:2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

Let’s listen as Solomon describes his own downfall.

Ecc 4:13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

Solomon became so rich and powerful that no one would tell him that what he was doing was wrong because they feared for their own lives!

Again Solomon wrote of his own downfall.

Ecc 11:8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
Ecc 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Solomon realized that though no one else had the power to judge his actions, there was One who would judge him and judge him harshly!

Ecc 12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

Solomon realized that he had spent to much of his life in vain!

The immediate occasion of the fall of Solomon was the influence of his foreign idolatrous wives!

Solomon did not just have one wife of paganism, Solomon had way too many wives!

*****1Ki 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

1) Not only did these wives sap Solomon’s physical strength, they blunted his perception and dulled his morals.

2) They had worshiped false gods all their days and they convinced Solomon to provide them temples so they could worship the idols of their own nations.

3) To make it convenient for them, they insisted that these places of worship be located adjacent to the House of God.

4) They then convinced Solomon to worship with them.

Solomon’s 700 wives were mostly from kings who paid tribute and who sought peace with Israel.

Solomon’s 300 concubines were considered secondary wives and this seemed to never cause jealousy among the true wives.

But many of Solomon’s wives were never truly treated as wives as Solomon says himself.

Son 6:8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and “virgins without number”.

This would be 60 queens, 80 concubines, and an untold amount of virgins.

The nation of Israel may have been at peace at this time, but Solomon was not at peace with himself!

Solomon sinned grievously against Jehovah who had set him on his throne and had given him such wonderful gifts.

Solomon had violated the kingdom charter given to Moses by God Himself!

Deu 17:14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
Deu 17:15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
Deu 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
Deu 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
Deu 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
Deu 17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
Deu 17:20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Solomon had openly violated the Mosaic Law of marriage and he knew it!

Ecc 9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

And Solomon fell even deeper into sin!

*****1Ki 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
1Ki 11:6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.

Ashtoreth was the moon goddess of the Phoenicians and she was associated with Baal the sun god.

She was also known as Ishtar, Astarte, and Diana and open sexual behavior was used in this worship of her.

Milcom or Moloch or Chemosh, were considered as fire gods and were worshiped with human sacrifices and mutilation but there were also some who made vows of celibacy and virginity in worship of them, which is still seen in some religions of today.

A place for Milcom was even built on the Mount of Olives.

2Ki 23:13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

*****1Ki 11:7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
1Ki 11:8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

And Solomon did these same things for all his wives.

1) Solomon openly violated the first and second commandments of the Laws of Moses.

Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

2) Solomon openly defied God.

1Ki 9:3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
1Ki 9:4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:
1Ki 9:5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
1Ki 9:6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:
1Ki 9:7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
1Ki 9:8 And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?
1Ki 9:9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

3) By placing places of idol worship adjacent to the Temple, Solomon was flaunting an insult directly in the face of God.

4) It is a terrible sin for Solomon to abuse the wisdom that was a gift from God by trying to add religion and philosophy to God given knowledge!

5) It is a terrible sin to place God in competition to false deities!

America is not the nation it once was, because our leaders have allowed paganism to take a foothold in America and the Church has also compromised the Word of God in the name of peace with these false things.

And God became angry with Solomon.

*****1Ki 11:9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
1Ki 11:10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.

God had personally blessed Solomon at Gibeon but God had also warned Solomon.

1Ki 3:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

God had personally blessed Solomon at Jerusalem but God had warned Solomon here also.

1Ki 9:4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:
1Ki 9:5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

Solomon had also been given many instructions by his father David.

Solomon had been taught the Word of God by God’s prophet Nathan.

Solomon therefore had no excuses for his actions in turning away from God!

We should never doubt the Word of God!

God means what He says and God says what He means!

The Lord Jesus told a great parable to the disciples about the faithful steward and near the end of that parable Jesus had these words!

Luk 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required”: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
Luk 12:50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

Solomon had been given much by the Lord and Solomon was given a great opportunity to spread the Word of God around the known world of that time period but Solomon failed in these things.

Solomon fell at the stumbling block of Satan!

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

As Solomon fell from the “Grace” of God, so did the nation of Israel, and Israel has not recovered since that day.

1) Israel would soon become a divided nation.

We can also see that America is more divided than at any time in our own history.

2) The division of Israel resulted in the destruction of ten of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Today the people of God are being destroyed all over the world and the world does not seem to care especially our own leaders.

3) Idolatry became the religion of Israel.

Idolatry now rules in America, as wants and desires outweigh the Word of God!

4) Division made Israel a weak nation in the presence of her enemies.

America is now seen as a weak nation in the presence of all our enemies.

5) The destruction of the ten tribes of Israel brought about the Samaritans who were a mixed people who built there own temple and compromised the Word of God.

In America the Word of God is being modernized so much, till it is not even the truth anymore.

6) In Israel philosophy and religion and atheism began to dominate the people.

We can see this same thing happening to America today!

Solomon had allowed God to be just a small part of his life and he had began to rely on his own wisdom to rule in his life.

So therefore God said:

1Ki 11:11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

What is the truth?

When rulers live in the splendor of high office and in luxury, they become irresponsible to the moral laws of God!

They will try their best to maintain costly establishments and the people will find that taxation and servant-hood are the dominant themes of these rulers, our own president included.

What does God say?

Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

What is the truth of God?

1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

So, how does God continue to do His work?

1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

God’s will, will be done no matter what the leaders of our world try to do in their own wisdom!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Solomon The Dedication Of The Temple

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Dedication Of The Temple

1 Kings 8:1-9:28; 2 Chronicles 5:1-7:22

Focus On: 1 Kings 8:3-6, 10, 11, 18-20, 22, 23, 33, 34, 46-51, 63, 66

In our last lesson we saw part of the construction of the Temple and it’s furnishings.

It took seven years from start to finish in the construction of the Temple, not for the lack of skills but only because of the lack of modern machinery.

And as brother Buddy can attest to, it would have taken a great skill to assemble material that was custom made and processed in so many different places.

This glorious Temple built under the direction of King Solomon had as one of it’s purposes to be a witness to the world in that day.

Since God will not live in temples made by hands but only in temples that He constructs Himself, we that are saved have this same purpose, to be a witness of the glory of God to this world we live in!

So now it was time to “dedicate” this marvelous Temple.

To “dedicate” this Temple meant “to set it apart for God’s use”!

It was not just the building itself that was dedicated for God’s use. It was the building, all the furniture, all the vessels, all the altars, and all the tools that were a part of this glorious Temple.

Another word for this “dedication” would be “sanctification”.

The Temple of Solomon could only be dedicated one time.

The Temple of Solomon could never be perfect.

We know that God will not live in man made structures but He will live in a “Born Again” child of God and it is the work of the Holy Spirit to take that dedicated child of God on to perfection!

1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

These temples that are made by the hands of God are built upon our own “Faith”!

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

So let’s see the dedication process for the Temple of Solomon and relate what we see to each Christian.

*****1Ki 8:3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
1Ki 8:4 And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

We must realize that this entire Temple complex and all the things associated with it were designed to house the Ark of the Covenant.

It was the Ark that was the symbol of God’s presence and without the presence of God, this Temple would be just a building and of no use for the work of God!

King David had made the mistake of moving the Ark in his own way the first time and not obeying the Word of God and it had caused the death of a good man, Solomon was not about to make that same mistake.

God had said the Ark could only be moved one way.

Num 3:30 And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.
Num 3:31 And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof.
Num 3:32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

The movement of the Ark had to coincide with the proper time.

This was not only the time of the Feast of the Tabernacles but it also fell a Jubilee year and the fulfillment of the words of Moses!

Deu 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
Deu 16:17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.

It was in Jerusalem where God chose to have the Temple that was built by Solomon.

It was also the time of the Jubilee that is considered the acceptable year of the Lord:

Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isa 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

We know that Jesus Christ also used this same passage when He began His ministry.

So the purpose of the Temple was:

1) To provide a fixed place for all the Nation of Israel to worship.

2) To provide a central place where all the tribes of Israel could assemble at the time of the three feast as directed by God to preserve the unity of Israel.

This was the place to meet Jehovah.

This was the place to offer sacrifices, the blood atonement, the propitiation.

This was the place to meet the Priests, the intermediary between Jehovah and the people.

This was the place to meet Jehovah at the right time which was, daily, weekly, monthly, and especially yearly at the annual feast.

This was the place to learn how to approach God in the proper way.

3) This was the place that was to be a type of the buildings that God would build.

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Isa 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

And as many as believed Word Of God showed up.

*****1Ki 8:5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
1Ki 8:6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.
1Ki 8:7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

We need to remember that this entire Temple complex was designed to house the Ark of the Covenant and only then to become a house of prayer!

Isa 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
Isa 56:8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

The Temple was never to be just for the people of Israel but for all people. The Temple was never to be just some royal chapel nor become some tourist attraction.

It Jesus who showed God’s wrath at what was taking place in the Temple in Jerusalem as He trained the disciples.

Mar 11:15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
Mar 11:16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
Mar 11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

To the Church, the Ark emphasizes the “Person” of Jesus Christ just as the “Mercy Seat” portrayed by the Cross, emphasizes the “Purpose” of Jesus Christ!

The Cherubim on the Mercy Seat faced each other as a sign they observed the mysteries of God’s Grace.

1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

The Cherubim in the Holy of Holies faced the Holy Place where the congregation were, as a sign that they also observed the ministry of God’s people.

1Co 4:9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

Once put in the Most Holy Place, the staves were withdrawn enough to guide the High Priests but not far enough to be seen by the congregation.

Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

*****1Ki 8:8 And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.
1Ki 8:9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 8:10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

Originally the Ark had contained not only the stone tablets but also the “golden pot that held manna” and also “Aaron’s rod” that had budded but these had been removed leaving only the two stones.

Heb 9:4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

The Ark has since disappeared and may never be found again!

Rev 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and “there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament”: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

This Ark was originally called the Ark of the Testament:

Exo 25:22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon “the ark of the testimony”, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

It was then that God showed up!

This is the same Cloud of Glory that had filled the Tabernacle when it had been completed.

This cloud was the symbol of the divine presence of the Lord and a symbol of God’s acceptance of the Temple as a place of worship.

Exo 40:34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Exo 40:35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Just as Moses had been awestruck by this obvious sign of the presence of God, so it was with all of Israel this day of the Temple dedication.

*****1Ki 8:11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

The glory of the Lord is known as the “shekinah”.

Exo 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

Today in our churches it is that presence of the Holy Spirit!

Jo 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

And in another parallel it is God’s presence in each believer.

Eph 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Solomon spent a great price in building the first Temple but God paid an even greater price for the living temples He builds with the blood of His Son Jesus!

And so the Temple became a place where the divine glory of God is revealed to His people and just as Solomon establish his royal residence in sight of this Temple, the Lord Jesus will one day establish His residence in the New Jerusalem and become our Temple.

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

It was not Solomon that had caused this to happen as much as it was his father King David.

*****1Ki 8:18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.
1Ki 8:19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
1Ki 8:20 And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

On this day of dedication Solomon acted as King and High Priest in other words a royal priest, a priest that sat on a throne!

Solomon had rule over the civil power.

Solomon had rule over the priestly power.

Solomon had rule over the religious power all the days of his life.

Solomon was given a tremendous responsibility and Solomon failed!

BUT, on this day of dedication Solomon made the nation of Israel aware that God will always keep His promises!

God in His “Goodness” and His “Grace” had made a covenant with David concerning his family and this House of God.

What God speaks with His mouth, God accomplishes with His hands.

1Ki 8:15 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

What God promised to David, God fulfilled through Solomon.

But we must not believe that God did these things to glorify Solomon nor his father David.

God did these thing in honor of His own name Jehovah!

We can see the title LORD mentioned 14 times in this prayer of Solomon.

Solomon was very careful to give God the glory for what he had accomplished.

When we come together to worship we must remember why we came to the House of God for it must be to worship God, by the Holy Spirit and through His Son Jesus.

We must give God the glory for what He has done in our lives and even if God only saves us He has done much more than what we deserved!

We must also certainly never forget that when God makes promises, God uses people to fulfill those promises during this time of God’s “Grace”!

Solomon rejoiced in his being the son of promise to his father David but the true Son of Promise is the Lord Jesus Christ!

Rom 1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
Rom 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Solomon began his prayer of dedication while standing but Solomon just as soon went to his knees.

*****1Ki 8:22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

Our prayers are not to be a request only thing!

It is by Prayer that we have fellowship with the Lord.

It is by prayer that we have communion with God.

And it is by prayer that we are identified with God.

True prayer is a soul that knows who his true Father is and pours out his heart in loving devotion!

*****1Ki 8:23 And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:

There may be many religions in our world but there is only One Jehovah God.

Sure He is the God of Israel but He is also the God of joy of all those that believe but also the God of wrath to all those that do not believe!

There are many in our world that think they can loose their salvation but that could only happen if we did not have an Intercessor who is dedicated to keeping us saved!

Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

The Lord Jesus is not just preparing us a place in our new home but He is also saving us to the uttermost so we can get there!

Heb 7:24 But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Even when we make a sinful mistake, and we all do, it is our Intercessor who restores us to fellowship when that fellowship is broken.

1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

No, there is no other god like unto the LORD!

Mic 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
Mic 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

All these things are just as true for the nation of Israel!

*****1Ki 8:33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:
1Ki 8:34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

If we need a time piece to know where we are in Biblical fulfillment, then we need only to look toward Israel!

Israel has been restored as a nation and as small and as vulnerable as they are, Israel stands firmly and boldly before the world.

This is a sign to the “Born Again” Christian that we are also to stand boldly before the world!

Solomon recognized that Jehovah God rules all His creation and has complete provincial control of all nature and all of Heaven.

Solomon realized that prayer changes things!

If prayer could not change the outcome of things God would not teach us to pray!

The hope of Israel is the ultimate restoration of all things under the Messiah!

Mic 5:4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

The hope of the Church is the Rapture!

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

The Rapture has not taken place and God is not through with Israel but these things get closer with every passing day.

Most all remaining prophesy concerns Israel as the Church could be removed at any moment!

*****1Ki 8:45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
1Ki 8:46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
1Ki 8:47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
1Ki 8:48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:

What is the truth of repentance?

To repent is to “bethink”, which is to recall to the mind.

Repentance is a complete change of mind followed with a complete change of direction!

Repentance is not just saying I’m sorry!

And how are we to love the Lord?

Moses taught the children of Israel with these words:

Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Jesus taught the disciples:

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

God said the way to get restored after wickedness Israel would have to return to the Lord with all their heart and all their soul, even if they were in the land of their enemies!

This is a picture of the “Grace of God” and God tells the Church to do the very same thing!

1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament!

And all these things come about when we pray.

*****1Ki 8:49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
1Ki 8:50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
1Ki 8:51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

How do we know that God will hear our prayers?

1st) Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

If we have not repented then we can be sure God will not hear our prayer!

2nd) If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive our sins.

If we have confessed our sins we can be sure that God is listening to our prayers.

The truth is that God will answer every prayer that reaches into Heaven!

And, God will always provide the things that meets His will for our lives!

What is the will of God?

Col 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Col 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Being able to get our prayers answered is the will of God!

Being filled with knowledge and understanding of God, we will have the wisdom of God’s will for our lives.

Walking worthy of the Lord Jesus is being in the will of God!

We can know that our prayers will be answered if we belong to God!

Not one Word out of the mouth of God will ever fail!

*****1Ki 8:54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
1Ki 8:55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
1Ki 8:56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

God had promised David that the reign of King Solomon would be a time of peace for the nation of Israel!

Joshua had seen the same thing as Solomon was seeing.

Jos 23:14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.

And if all the good things will always come true, then all the bad things will certainly be true when we ignore the Word of God!

Jos 23:15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

But what is the pure truth of God?

When we become part of the family of God, He will never leave us or forsake us!

1Sa 12:22 For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.

God will simply not ever do anything that goes against His own nature!

Why?

*****1Ki 8:57 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:
1Ki 8:58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.
1Ki 8:59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:
1Ki 8:60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.

If we will just walk in the ways of God’s Word.

If we will just keep the two “royal commandments” of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we will just study the Word of God we will be able to know how God deals with sin.

And all the world will know that the LORD, He is God!

2Jn 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

1Jn 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

There is no other way to be in the family of God except by Jesus Christ!

If we walk in His ways, then all the world will know that the LORD, He is God!

Not Allah, not Confucius, not Buddha, not any other false thing!

*****1Ki 8:61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
1Ki 8:62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
1Ki 8:63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

The pure truth of the Lord is that He provides the needs that we require daily.

With the nation of Israel observing his actions, Solomon had prayed directly to the Lord.

Solomon was dedicating the new Temple to the Lord.

Now Solomon was asking the entire nation of Israel to rededicate themselves to the Lord.

It was a time of national revival and we need this in America today!

We need to let our hearts be as perfect as humanly possible with the Lord.

We need to walk in the statutes of the Lord, the “royal law” of Jesus Christ.

We need to keep all the commandments of God and see that no man-made laws are written that go against the statutes of God.

And We Must Then Sacrifice Ourselves To The Lord!

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We can see that a godly national leader can have a tremendous impact on the any nation.

We must dedicate ourselves to the Lord!

We must dedicate our places of worship to the Lord!

We must dedicate our Nation to the Lord!

*****1Ki 8:66 On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

A nation that knows Jehovah God will truly be blessed and they will know it!

A nation that knows the Lord will also be a blessing to it’s leaders.

1Pe 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
1Pe 2:14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
1Pe 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
1Pe 2:17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Today we find America is even more divided than it was at the time of the Civil War!

AND, it is not because of States Rights as it was in those days though that is a major part of it.

It is not because of slavery because slavery does not exist in that form today in America even though it is still in much of the world.

America is divided because we do not follow the statutes and the commandments of God!

America is divided because our national leaders do not accept the Word of God as the basic tool for humanity!

America is divided because God’s people have allowed Satan’s worldly system to dominate over the truth of God!

Solomon dismissed Israel to go back home hoping they would return to the ways of God.

Our leader has dismissed America in all things, because he has exalted himself above not only the office that he holds but he has exalted himself above God!

We “may” get one more opportunity to use our vote to change things but if we fail once again we may never have that same opportunity again!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Solomon God’s Man Of Wisdom

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Solomon God’s Man Of Wisdom

1 Kings 3:4-15, 28; 4:29-34

Bible history tells us that Solomon was the third King of Israel and his father was David the second king.

Solomon was born of Bathsheba after David and Bathsheba became husband and wife.

David had many wives and therefore he had many sons and daughters but this was never God’s design.

God said a marriage was to be between one man and one woman to avoid sin!

1Co 7:2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

Solomon was probably still a teenager when he was given the throne of Israel by his father David!

1Ki 1:17 And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.

Solomon reigned for 40 years but the first half of his reign was much brighter than the last half because Solomon was led into idolatry by his many non-believing wives.

During the time of King Saul and King David, Israel had fought many wars but for the first time under King Solomon, Israel knew peace.

It was Solomon who built the first and the most beautiful Temple in Jerusalem!

Solomon not only had great influence over Israel but Solomon had great influence over the entire world in his day.

It was the kingdom of Solomon that set the pattern that many kings throughout the world would follow for many centuries to come, after him.

Solomon was a great king and Israel had many kings but it is the throne of David that has been remembered above all other kings, throughout all these years!

And as we continue our studies in the Bible we must remember that we are to always be working on our walk with God on this Earth and part of that learning is using the Old Testament as our guideline and as an example of how God dealt with sin.

So let’s begin:

*****1Ki 3:4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

Gibeon was a city sitting on a hill located about 8 miles from Jerusalem.

When Joshua had taken Canaan Land as directed by the Lord, the Tabernacle had been set up in Shiloh. The Tabernacle remained in Shiloh all the period of the Judges until the Ark fell into the hands of the Philistine and Shiloh was destroyed but we can see that God had even allowed that to happen for certain reasons.

Jer 7:12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it “for the wickedness of my people Israel”.

We should also realize though Shiloh was the oldest place of worship for Israel, but God’s favor is not tied down to any certain location for worship.

The Tabernacle had been relocated to Gibeon but the recovered Ark was still located in Jerusalem in a Tabernacle that David had built for it until the Temple was to be built.

2Sa 6:17 And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

Notice also that it is this Tabernacle of David that is in prophecy and not the Tabernacle of Moses.

Amo 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

We can see that King David, Solomon’s father, made his offerings to the Lord in this place.

But God had said that it would be at the Tabernacle of the Congregation, where He would meet with the children of Israel.

Exo 29:42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.
Exo 29:43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.

The Tabernacle of the Congregation was located at Gibeon, the same place where God made the Sun and the Moon to stand still for a whole day.

Jos 10:12 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
Jos 10:14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.

BUT, Gibeon was also the great high place of worship for the Canaanite nations!

God had commanded all the “High Places” of the Canaanites to be destroyed or He would destroy them.

Lev 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

It seems since Gibeon was the highest of all the high places and this is where the Tabernacle of Moses was now located and also the place of the original “Brazen Altar”.

We can be sure God was not pleased with this thing!

God is very pleased when we worship Him but He will never be pleased if go into a Mosque or any other place set aside for false gods and then worship Him in that same place where worship to some false god also takes place.

That would be like saying Jehovah was just a god among many other gods which is not true!

There are no gods other than Jehovah!

We see that Solomon went to this place because the Tabernacle of the congregation had been set there.

2Ch 1:3 So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.
2Ch 1:4 But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjathjearim to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.
2Ch 1:5 Moreover the brasen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the LORD: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.

It was on this altar that Solomon did offer 1000 burnt offerings because it was important for the nation of Israel to see that the new king worshiped the Lord just as his father had.

It was also at this place where Solomon met with all the government, all the military, and all the people of Israel.

2Ch 1:2 Then Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers.
2Ch 1:3 So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

SO, It was this place in Gibeon where Solomon gave his inauguration speech and God decided to also make Himself known to Solomon to show His approval but also to test Solomon.

Remember we will never have a testimony until we have been tested by God Himself!

*****1Ki 3:5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

God came to Solomon in a dream and this is not so unusual and in fact may increase as we approach the last days.

Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

Solomon had the opportunity to ask anything that he desired of God at this time in his early life!

This was a special time for Solomon but remember God is no respecter of persons and God still offers this same request to every believer!

Joh 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Joh 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

To be quiet honest our response should be similar to that of Solomon.

Nothing is as important as the wisdom of God!

*****1Ki 3:6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
1Ki 3:7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
1Ki 3:8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
1Ki 3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

It is always in our best interest to choose God’s given wisdom!

Pro 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

If we begin with the Word of God, then we will prosper in this life.

Now does not mean carnal riches but to prosper in spiritual things will bring eternal riches and also joy in this life!

Notice that Solomon viewed his succession to the throne of Israel as a fulfillment of God’s promises to his father David.

God always keeps His promises!

Unlike teenagers of today, Solomon admitted that he was not qualified to be king!

In fact most people today will qualify them on selves in most every situation!

Remember Solomon was royalty and had attended the best schools and had even been schooled by Nathan.

Nathan was a true prophet of God to Israel and to King David.

2Ch 9:29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

2Sa 12:24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.
2Sa 12:25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

As Gamaliel was to the Apostle Paul, so was Nathan to Solomon all the days of his youth.

Solomon realized that he was nothing without God!

Solomon humbled himself before God and was not lifted up with pride in his royalty at least in his early days.

The boundaries of Israel at this time approached the fulfillment of Scripture and Israel was the greatest of nations at the time of Solomon.

Deu 11:23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
Deu 11:24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

King David had left his son a mighty nation but also a rich nation.

So, Solomon’s prayer was brief and to the point.

When we come before God we need to be brief and to the point in our request as God has already promised to meet our needs!

Solomon knew that compared to his nation, he was but a very small person!

Wouldn’t it be nice if our own government felt this way today instead of exalting itself above the people?

What else was important in this prayer of Solomon? Solomon had faith that God would provide the wisdom needed to lead Israel into the future.

This is the prayer that every national leader should pray but it takes “Faith”!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

What is the proof of this?

*****1Ki 3:10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

What pleases God the most in our prayers?

When we pray seeking the will of God for our lives and the wisdom and the understanding to be a part of God’s will and not just pray for carnal things to consume on ourselves.

Pro 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

This is the prayer that pleases God!

So how did God respond?

*****1Ki 3:11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
1Ki 3:12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

What is wisdom?

First and foremost real wisdom begins with a reverent fear of God!

Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

What is the truth that guides our world?

Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: “but fools despise wisdom and instruction”.

The world is led by foolish men who have rejected the wisdom of God!

1) Many believe that wisdom is simply the art of how to succeed in this life.

It does not take long growing up in our world to see that there is an order of worldliness in our world and if you cannot be a part of it then you will be just pushed aside and walked over.

This is even more prevalent today as immorality is pushed onto people who know the truth of immorality!

Most people believe that success and happiness can only come by finding a place to fit into this evil world.

This is the world of Satan!

This is the world that Satan used to tempt to the Lord.

Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

BUT, What does God say?

Pro 24:21 My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
Pro 24:22 For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?

2) There are also many who seek wisdom by a philosophical study of the essence of life.

Philosophy is the love of wisdom but today this usually only means searching for a reason things are the way they are.

Things are the way they are because of the influence of Satan!

Philosophy should be based on facts and truth but today a few ignorant men have changed philosophy into a search to explain things without acknowledging the truth of God!

For instance evolution is not based on facts.

Climate change has been happening for 6000 years with very little influence from man.

SO, Philosophy has become a false religion of the mind!

God says this:

1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

We see that both of these groups are only fools who reject the truth of God!

3) The true essence of wisdom then can only be spiritual!

Life is more than just living by man-made rules!

Life is more than being rewarded for some action you may have or may not have completed.

BUT, Wisdom has it’s foundation in only one place!

Pro 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
Pro 2:7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
Pro 2:8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.

True wisdom involves observation!

True wisdom involves instruction!

BUT, True wisdom begins with “Faith” in our Lord and our Savior!

Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

God granted Solomon his request and the Word of God says that Solomon was given a wise and understanding heart that He has not given to any human since that time.

These things of wisdom are only useful, if we are going to be around for awhile so God also said these things:

*****1Ki 3:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
1Ki 3:15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

People are always seeking ways to live a long and happy life and there is truly only one way to do this!

If we walk the Christian walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, God will lengthen our days!

Solomon would go on to attain great riches but David his father had already made Solomon a very rich man.

Solomon would go on to increase the size of his army and their military equipment but David his father had made Israel a safe place to live.

Solomon’s future days depended on his own walk with the Lord just as are the days of each of us!

When Solomon awoke from his dream he was already wiser and he realized to honor God, he needed to get as close to God as possible and he went to the Tabernacle of David where the Ark of the Covenant was housed and not some high place where anyone could go seeking there own god.

Solomon realized it was more important to present his offerings at the place where the Temple would soon be built.

Jerusalem is certainly the place that God has chosen for the nation of Israel just as the New Jerusalem is the place God has chosen for the Body of Christ!

Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

SO, the wisdom of Solomon began to be seen by his people, Israel.

*****1Ki 3:28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

What are the facts?

Every nation will follow and will submit to leaders who are guided by the wisdom of God!

Why?

The wisdom of God can be made clear by chosen men if they are in agreement with the written Word of God!

Today we have the complete Word of God so we do not need any special revelation from God, or some dream, to know what God desires from each of us. God has written it all down for us!

AND, the wisdom of God is only a great benefit if we put it into action in our own lives!

Applying wisdom to our life demonstrates our understanding of the Word of God!

In the life of Solomon we can see proof that God does exactly what He says He will do.

What had God promised King David?

1Ch 22:9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.
1Ch 22:10 He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

So, Solomon became the wisest of all men.

*****1Ki 4:29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

We see that the wisdom of Solomon came from Elohim, our Creator.

God’s power is His ability to accomplish His purpose for every individual that is born into this earth!

God does not allow anything we humans do to interfere with His will for all creation!

God can do and will do what is needed to be done in any and in every circumstance!

Mat 19:25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Mat 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; “but with God all things are possible”.

There is absolutely nothing that God cannot do!

There is only One other mentioned in the Bible who was wiser than Solomon and it was the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, “a greater than Solomon is here”.

Because it is only the Lord Jesus who has the entire wisdom of God!

Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

God not only gave Solomon high powers of the mind but he also gave Solomon a great capacity to receive knowledge as well as communicate that knowledge to others.

We may not ever have the wisdom of Solomon while we are on this earth but God will still freely share His wisdom with us if we just ask.

Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

God will always give us the wisdom we need for the work He has given us to do!

And one day when we finally get back home God will share with us all His wisdom!

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

BUT, Even this wisdom is useless unless we use it to be in God’s will.

The “heart” as used in this verse refers to the intellect of Solomon.

Not only was the wisdom of Solomon vast in in quantity but also in quality!

We may see a pile of sand as just particles until we see that we do not have a number to give the quantity of sand even in one desert or on one beach. We can look into just a handful of that same sand and see that no two grains of sand are exactly alike, in size, in shape, or in color and our minds just cannot see how this could be true but Solomon could give an answer to all these things.

There was no doubt that the wisdom of Solomon exceeded that of any other human being!

*****1Ki 4:30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

Wisdom alone can make a man foolish but God had given Solomon the wisdom of how to apply knowledge.

Solomon knew how to do things!

The children of the east are always described as being wise and full of wisdom but they did not know how to get things done and in most cases chose war as an act to convey their own wisdom.

We can see that this still holds true today for the nations that are east of Israel.

The wisdom of Egypt was in arts and sciences and they were renown for this wisdom which was one of the reasons that they despised the Greeks in the time of Alexander who boasted of their own wisdom but the wisdom to apply the arts and sciences to all the things of this world was known only by Solomon.

The Bible says that Moses possessed the wisdom of Egypt which aided him in moving the children of Israel to the Promised Land of Canaan.

Act 7:22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.

The wisdom of Solomon much exceeded the wisdom of Moses because Solomon knew why things work as they do.

Israel is still a world leader in many of these things of applying wisdom to knowledge and much of the world still hates them even for these things!

The Bible says that Solomon was wiser than all men!

*****1Ki 4:31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Graphite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

Ethan was wise enough to have written written one the Psalms that are preserved throughout eternity.

Psa 89:1 Maschil of Ethan the Graphite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

Heman was also wise enough to have his Holy Ghost inspired words preserved throughout eternity but the wisdom of Solomon was far superior to that of Heman.

Psa 88:1 A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Graphite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:

The sons of Mahol, Chalcol and Darda were also renown in Israel for their wisdom but their own wisdom was far surpassed by that of Solomon.

We see that Solomon was given a great opportunity to spread the Word of God because he certainly knew the truth of God but Solomon!

Solomon had the God given ability to even discern the signs of the times and this power to interpret extended to natural things as well as spiritual things.

Solomon became a great philosopher the proof is in the Book of Ecclesiastes.

Solomon became wise in his teachings, the Book of Proverbs is that proof.

Solomon became a great songwriter, the Songs of Solomon is proof of that.

And much of what Solomon said went unrecorded.

*****1Ki 4:32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
1Ki 4:33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

God teaches us, in these things of Solomon, that common sense is a good thing.

Discretion is also a good thing along with getting a good education in all the things of God and His creation.

Intelligence also should be a trait of the Christian, so the world can see that we are not just a bunch of robots who blindly follow the Word of God.

There is a great difference in blindly following the Word of God and understanding the “Truth” of God!

God wants us to understand the full realm of His creation, so we do not fall into the traps of evolution and the traps of false science.

1Ti 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:
1Ti 6:21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen

We can see today that even our own president says that Christians are all a bunch of Neanderthal because we do not accept what false science insist on, though the world has never been able to prove God to be wrong!

Solomon’s wisdom included being able to explain God’s creation in words that all others sought to hear!

*****1Ki 4:34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

Today there is no one place where a person can go to get answers, beyond the Word of God.

Knowledge is so vast that no one person can comprehend it all!

In fact this is a sign of the last days.

Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

In fact the universities of America and much of the world have stopped teaching instructions for life and are now teaching philosophy to the point where our young people are not able cope with the world that is being left behind by this generation that is falling away from God! This is to our shame!

Ecc 8:16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
Ecc 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

True wisdom begins with God!

In Solomon’s day, the entire world came to Solomon for the answers to questions that they did not understand because Solomon’s wisdom was a gift from God!

Solomon was the richest man to have ever lived by our own standards but Solomon was not the wisest man to have ever lived because that was Jesus and Jesus said this:

Mar 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mar 8:37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mar 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

By the end of Solomon’s life, he came to know the clear truth.

Spiritual matters and not physical matters are the most important things in this life!

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

As grand as was the life and the wisdom of Solomon was, it has all passed away!

It is still what comes after this life that has the greatest importance!

Luk 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Luk 12:28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Luk 12:29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
Luk 12:31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

King David’s Death

/ Bobby Mayfield / 3 Comments

David’s Death

Text: 1 Kings 1; 2; 1 Chronicles 23-29

Death!

Death is a reality!

Death is the enemy that cannot be put off!

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

We all have an appointment with death. We do not evolve, we just grow old and die, just as our world is growing older and will also die!

But the Word of God teaches us something different than the world does.

The Word of God teaches us of the physical death of the body but not of the soul.

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Death then is the end of our physical life through the separation of the soul and the body.

Jas 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead”, so faith without works is dead also.

We know that the life of our body is in the blood but life in our soul is in the hands of the God who made us!

Physical death results from sin and “No One” is exempted from it!

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, “and death by sin”; and “so death passed upon all men”, for that all have sinned:

For the unbeliever death means eternal torment.

Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

For the believer death means going home to be with Our Lord.

2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

The believer is looking forward to a far better life than the one here on Earth.

Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

After a long and fruitful life, David was nearing his death and would die, but David already knew even in his day that death was not a defeat but actually a victory for he was truly a man after God’s own heart.

1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

The most important thing we can know as Christians is that when we die, we will meet the Lord.

While living, we need to live for the Lord.

We can never be ready to die until we have lived for the Lord!

God has exposed to the world the life of David from a teenager throughout his years as King of Israel.

God has allowed us to see the sin in David’s life and some say how could those things happen to some one who said he loved the Lord.

But before we judge David, we need to take a hard look at our own selves.

The Bible still says:

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Before the story of David ends, God will show us how a man of God makes preparation for his own death having no fear of that death.

David teaches us some valuable lessons just before his death.

Because we do not know the time of our death, it is important to make preparations for our death as soon as possible so we can live fully prepared to die.

This begins with salvation.

*****1Ki 1:28 Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king.
1Ki 1:29 And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress,
1Ki 1:30 Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.

King David had already informed his sons and the elders of Israel that Solomon would be the next King of Israel but as he lie on his death bed he was informed that Adonijah, another son had decided himself that he should be king.

Not only that but Joab, the General of David’s army and Abiathar who shared the duties of High Priest with Zadok had taken the side of Adonijah.

Notice David was not in a panic this time as he had been with Absalom.

David knew he was redeemed.

David knew that the Lord had saved him out of all the distresses in his life and He would again.

David set things in order before he died!

David had already made all the preparations for the Temple.

David had already prepared Solomon.

David had already made obligations to the Lord.

And while he was still alive, David had to make sure these things were set in place.

We will all certainly grow old and feeble in our later years but as long as we have breath, we have an opportunity to serve the Lord in some way.

Even at the very end we can still pray, which is our greatest weapon against the evil of this world.

Besides all these things, David was still King of Israel!

David called Bathsheba and certain men he knew he could trust to him.

*****1Ki 1:31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.
1Ki 1:32 And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.

The way to stop Adonijah was to take action now and not allow this rebellion to grow. David had failed in this with Absalom.

By making Solomon king before his death, David knew that Solomon would rule at the bidding of his father.

In this we can see that Solomon would begin as a “type” of Christ Jesus, who will rule on this Earth at the bidding of His Own Father in Heaven.

We must also consider that all these problems would have been avoided had King David been the husband of “one” wife and not had so many sons from his many wives.

But even on his death bed King David knew exactly what to do.

*****1Ki 1:33 The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon:
1Ki 1:34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.

Mules were used by all the princes and Solomon would have had his own mule but there was one mule which was the state mule set aside only for the King.

There were three things that brought on the death penalty in Israel besides some of the Laws of Moses.

1) To sit on the Kings throne without permission would bring the penalty of death.
2) To handle the King’s scepter without permission would bring the penalty of death.
3) To ride on the King’s mule without permission would certainly bring the penalty of death.

All subjects, including the King’s own family were forbidden to ride on this state mule.

With Solomon riding the mule of the King for all to see, it was a public declaration that it was Solomon who had been chosen to be the next King of Israel.

This Gihon was a fountain near Jerusalem and also a very public place where many people gathered throughout the day.

From the birth of Solomon up to this time, Solomon had been educated by the prophet Nathan.

Both King Saul and King David had been anointed by the Prophet Samuel and it would be the Prophet Nathan who would anoint Solomon as the new King of Israel.

Since David had not yet died, Solomon would rule as regent to his father David.

This means he would sit on the throne as judge, ride the state mule, use the King’s scepter but his father David would still make all the governmental decisions.

When that trumpet was sounded most of Jerusalem would have heard the sound and they understood it’s significance.

The trumpet was used to signal many things in these days.

There was the call to religious service, the call to fast, the call to the different feasts, the call to war, and there was the sound of the trumpet that came only every 50 years, when slaves would be set free.

Every slave would know this sound for sure!

The people of Jerusalem knew the different sounds of the trumpet.

We should take note.

When the Trump of God sounds, at the time of the Rapture, all God’s saints will recognize that sound!

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

After this it was Solomon who sat on the throne in stead of his father David as regent.

*****1Ki 1:35 Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.
1Ki 1:36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.

Benaiah was the son of the chief priest, Jehoiada but he had chosen to serve King David and was the commander of David’s personal body guard and one of the “Mighty Men”.

Benaiah said. “Amen”—Thus saith the Lord!

And the people agreed and said “God save King Solomon”.

King David knew his time was short and it was time to prepare Solomon to be on his own.

*****1Ki 2:1 Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
1Ki 2:2 I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

It seems that the rulers of today only concern themselves with their own time.

We will see that King David thought just as much about the future of Israel as he did in his own time!

From David’s teenage days, he had been the anointed son, he had the hero of Israel, and he had made the transition from a shepherd to a King but even with all these things and the riches he had obtained, David still knew he would die the death of man.

David understood “Creation” as it was written in the Word of God.

David was not an “evolutionist’!

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And we know that Solomon never forgot this time with his father because he also wrote these words for us.

Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Solomon also was a “Creationist.”

It is a fact, we will all reach this point in our lives and it is best to remember it is God who created us!

Our bodies of flesh will die but the spirit that God has given us will go back to Him!

It is during this life time given to us by the Lord that we need to make the decisions concerning our spirit.

Those that have not made salvation a priority while they lived, will hear these words from the Lord, when their spirit returns to the God who made them.

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, “I never knew you”: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Unless the “Rapture” comes, we will all go by the way of all the Earth!

The Apostles gave a similar message to the Corinthian church and to all believers:

1Co 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

Men of wisdom, which is given to us of God if we ask, will not be as children who are unstable and weak and not carried and tossed about with every wind of doctrine.

The Jews had a saying that goes like this: “In a place where there are no men, show thyself to be a man”! “when there are no wise men to teach you, then teach your self to be wise”!

They had the true understanding that all wisdom comes from the Lord!

This is the same message David gave to Solomon.

*****1Ki 2:3 And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

Solomon was God ‘s choice to succeed his father David but Solomon could never lead this nation without God.

David also gave these words to Solomon.

1Ch 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

For Solomon to succeed as King of Israel, he would have to be strong in the Word of God.

Satan knows our weaknesses and he will exploit them if we do not remain strong in the Lord.

We must know certain things:

1) A knowledge of God will include the fact that God exists. There is no beginning with God until we first believe that He exists.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

2) We must then be in constant fellowship with our Lord.

1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

3) We must have full confidence in the Lord.

Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

4) We must then be engaged in active service with Him!

Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

And David also gave Solomon a warning: “He will cast thee off forever”.

There is also a warning to the Church.

Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

A consuming fire burns until all fuel has been burnt up.

If Solomon would obey his own father then he would not have a problem with obeying the things of God.

*****1Ki 2:4 That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

David understood the things of the Messiah because guided by the Holy Spirit, he gave us these words.

Psa 89:3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
Psa 89:4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

Psa 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
Psa 89:28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
Psa 89:29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

Psa 89:33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
Psa 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Psa 89:35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
Psa 89:36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
Psa 89:37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

It was important for Solomon to understand all these things.

God had revealed to David, His desire to be behind the man that who sat on the throne of Israel.

Solomon could succeed if he allowed God to rule his heart as his father David had!

*****1Ch 29:23 Then Solomon sat on “the throne of the LORD” as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

We should be able to see here that Solomon was sitting on the Lord’s Throne!

The office of King of Israel never belonged to any human king but has always belonged to the Lord.

God has placed many men on His throne for many years until the day He returns to sit on His own throne.

But God also makes this promise to every believer.

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

These things come in two parts.

Solomon had to submit to the Lord and Israel had to submit to Solomon for these things to work.

*****1Ch 29:24 And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, “submitted” themselves unto Solomon the king.

What is submission?

Submitting meant that these men would make no decisions in the government of Israel but would only follow the wishes of King Solomon.

They swore allegiance to Solomon!

This is what every believer does when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Our Savior.

We must submit to the King, King Jesus!

*****1Ch 29:25 And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

The reign of King Solomon began. King Solomon would set the standard for all kings to come both in Israel and throughout the world.

Until the time of Solomon, Israel had lived the simple life and had little contact with other nations unless threatened or attacked.

Solomon would bring Israel in contact with the world especially through Pharaoh and Hiram.

Israel would become the center of commercialism.

Israel would become rich and take part in the luxuries of this world.

Silver and gold would become as common as the rocky landscape.

Agriculture, commerce, architecture, arts and sciences, would become part of the national life.

And with all these things, worship of the One True God would take a back seat.

Peace would come but by national alliances, and by corruption and by inter-marriages that go against the Word of God.

Solomon did not know the life of the Shepherd nor the life of the Servant, and though wiser than any man that did not know God, Solomon would place himself above God.

Solomon was magnified because the Lord magnified him.

Solomon was regal and had majesty because it came from the Lord.

Solomon was illustrious because the Lord made him that way.

As the reign of Solomon began the life of King David ended.

*****1Ch 29:26 Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.

We do know a whole lot about Jesse the father of David.

In the life of David, his Heavenly Father took priority!

Jesse was the son of Obed, who was the son of Boaz and Ruth of the Book of Ruth.

Jesse’s entire wealth seems to have consisted of a flock of sheep and some goats.

What is the greatest thing written of Jesse in the Bible?

Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the “stem of Jesse”, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

Isa 11:10 And in that day there shall be “a root of Jesse”, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

This rod was not King David.

This root was not King Solomon.

This was written of Jesus.

Mat 1:5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
Mat 1:6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

This ensign of the people was the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself.

*****1Ch 29:27 And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

If we just use the numbers mentioned in this verse we see the number 7.

7) Seven is the number of completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual). It derives much of its meaning from being tied directly to God’s creation of all things.

3) The number 3 pictures completeness, though to a lesser degree than 7. The meaning of this number derives from the fact that it is the first of four spiritually perfect numerals (the others being 7, 10 and 12).

30) The number 30 can symbolize dedication to a particular task or calling.

The number thirty can also represent the sacrificial blood of Jesus. He was betrayed by Judas for 30 silver coins.

In 30 A.D. Jesus suffered and shed His precious blood as God’s sacrificial Lamb for the world’s sins.

40) The number 40 generally symbolizes a period of testing, trial or probation.

The number forty can also represent a generation of man.

Jesus, just days before his crucifixion, prophesied the total destruction of Jerusalem.

Forty years after his crucifixion in 30 A.D., the mighty Roman Empire destroyed the city and burned its beloved Temple to the ground.

The Bible says:

Ecc 5:15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

And the Bible says this:

Rev 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

In Ecclesiastes that One man died and had nothing for his labor.

In Revelation the other man died and was blessed.

The choices we make while we are yet alive determine whether we are blessed or go to death empty.

King David died blessed!

*****1Ch 29:28 And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

David had lived enjoying good health, having lived as long as living was desirable.

David had lived till he saw everything that he lived for accomplished, except maybe the Temple and he knew that the building of the Temple, was in the hands of his son Solomon.

David had lived the life of a shepherd but he had also lived the life of a king with great riches.

David had lived full of honor.

Up till his time ended his warrior skills and his ability to organize was known throughout the world.

David lived knowing he had passed something special on to his son.

David died knowing that the best was yet to come!

This is the death of the believer!

*****1Ch 29:29 Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
1Ch 29:30 With all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

We may live life one moment and one day at a time but our life is broken down in “times”!

There is the time we were born.

There is the time until we could walk.

There is the time until we can leave home to be one out own.

There is the time when we can support ourselves.

The time we have a family.

The time we enjoy life or not enjoy life.

The time we grow old.

And there will be the time we die.

Our lives are broken down in “times”.

These “times” had went over David, more good than bad, and he had reached that time to die and many good men had written down the things that David had accomplished in his “times”.

Each of us have our own “times”.

If David had only been King Of Israel, he would have still been remembered but David was also a song writer and he also made many musical instruments.

If David had just done one of these things he would have been remembered here on this Earth.

We have spent may days seeing the things David did wrong but praise the Lord, God will never remember us for any of those things and nor was David in the eyes of God.

What will we be remembered for?

I want the world to know I was “forgiven”!

The world may remember us for many things.

But God will only remember the good things!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!