No God Like You (1 Kings)

 

July 26, 2020

Israel has been on the rise since the rule of David. No kingdom has been able to stand against them because God has helped David. The final words of David, found in 2 Samuel, set the stage for 1 Kings.

2 Samuel 23:2--7 (ESV) --- 2 “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. 3 The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, 4 he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. 5 “For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire? 6 But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away, for they cannot be taken with the hand; 7 but the man who touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they are utterly consumed with fire.”

This is a compact description of kingship. Those who rule justly with the fear of the Lord will find God's light shining on them in every battle. They cannot fail with God fighting for them. He compares the one who trusts in God with worthless men who are like thorns and are impossible to correct without killing. This is proven true in the book of Kings. At one point, Samuel was one volume, and Kings was one volume. But before that, it is believed that all four books were compiled into one volume. These books span hundreds of years, so one author could not have written the events. But multiple sources were combined to create this entire story about the monarchy of Israel. We see a continuation of the story of 1 Samuel in 2 Samuel, a continuation of 2 Samuel in 1 Kings, and we will see a continuation of 1 Kings in 2 Kings. These all flow together like many of the trilogies created nowadays.

Solomon (1-11)

Transition to Solomon (1-2)

The book of 1 Kings begins with a transition in leadership. Before David dies, one of his sons, Adonijah, tries to take over his throne. But the throne is given to Solomon, the son of Bathsheba. Solomon was much younger than Adonijah, but David made it clear that he had chosen Solomon.

In Chapter 2, Solomon appears to be a wise and gracious king. We see Solomon kill Adonijah, Joab, and Shemei to settle all of the conflicts that David did not settle. In establishing his throne, there is a stark contrast between Solomon and David. David seems to have acted foolishly by allowing his traitors to live, but Solomon does not tolerate rebellion.

The Rise Of Solomon (3-10)

In the next section of the book, we see what seems like a major issue. Solomon makes a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, taking Pharaoh's daughter to be his first wife. This is something that was warned against multiple times in the Law of Moses. But God does not strike Solomon for this. In verse 3, we read that Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the statutes of David.

The relationship between Solomon and God begins to develop. God promises to give Solomon whatever he wants, and he asks for wisdom. As a result, God gives Solomon great wisdom, riches, and honor. All the nations of the earth would send messengers with gifts to listen to Solomon and learn from him.

In Chapters 5-7, Solomon builds up the Temple of God with help from Hiram, king of Tyre. The temple was beautiful with cedars from Lebanon, costly jewels, and huge cut stones. He had men engraving images of cherubim, lions, and palm trees throughout. The pillars had 400 pomegranates of bronze on them. All of the pieces inside the temple were pure gold.

In Chapter 8, the priests brought the ark to the temple, and Solomon begins dedicating the temple to the Lord. This section is important because it officially transitions Israel from the Tabernacle Moses had constructed to a more permanent dwelling for God. Solomon asks God to make this temple into the place where his name would dwell. He asks God to make this temple a special place where God's people could turn and find forgiveness.

1 Kings 8:27--30 (ESV) --- 27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

1 Kings 8:33--34 (ESV) --- 33 “When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.

1 Kings 8:41--43 (ESV) --- 41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

1 Kings 8:46--53 (ESV) --- 46 “If they sin against you---for there is no one who does not sin---and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47 yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48 if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). 52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. 53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

Notice how the primary function of the temple was to find restoration of their relationship with God. If anyone turns from their wickedness, fears the Lord, and asks forgiveness, Solomon wants them to find that forgiveness at this temple. Even the foreigner should be able to turn to God at this temple, find forgiveness, and glorify God's name.

In Chapter 9, God appears to Solomon and responds to his prayer.

1 Kings 9:3--9 (ESV) --- 3 And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6 But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’ ”

God listens to Solomon's prayer, but he also provides conditions. So long as Solomon remains faithful, there will never lack a man on the throne of Israel, but if he rebels, God will judge the people and destroy this temple.

The rest of Chapter 9 and 10 describe Solomon's other acts and how wealthy he became.

1 Kings 10:23--24 (ESV) --- 23 Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 24 And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.

The Fall of Solomon (11)

But unfortunately, the fear we had in Chapter 3 is realized in Chapter 11. Solomon goes on to marry 700 wives and 300 concubines, many of whom are part of marriage alliances with other nations. These women worshipped foreign gods, and Solomon was persuaded to build temples for them in Israel.

1 Kings 11:4--6 (ESV) --- 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.

God was forced to judge Solomon for breaking his law and failing to be wholly devoted to the Lord in his old age. But God was gracious and told Solomon that he would leave his son one tribe while tearing away the other tribes from him. God also took away the peace that Solomon had in the land. Enemies began to rise up, and nations that were once allies or subject to Israel started to look for opportunities to conquer Israel. At this time, God selected a man named Jeroboam to be the next king of Israel. When Solomon found out about it, he wanted to murder Jeroboam just like Saul tried to kill David.

The Legacy of Rehoboam and Jeroboam (12-16)

The chapters that follow show the impact that Solomon's foolishness had on his child Rehoboam. Solomon's failure at the end of his life seems to have influenced his son to throw out all of his wise instruction. Instead of reading Solomon's book of proverbs and listening to the older men's counsel, Rehoboam listens to his peers and loses the majority of the nation in rebellion. The kingdom is divided with Jeroboam leading the majority, and Rehoboam leading Judah.

The Northern Kingdom

In the north, Jeroboam feared to lose the people again to Judah, so he created new temples in Dan and Bethel for the people to worship. They no longer needed to go to Jerusalem. Instead, they could stay in their country and worship these golden calves that brought them out of Egypt. God warns him of this, but he wouldn't listen. He sends a prophet, gives him leprosy, and even kills Jeroboam's child to make his point crystal clear, but Jeroboam was stubborn.

This sin of Jeroboam becomes a marker for every northern king that follows him. No king of the north tears down these false idols. None of them encourage Israel to go back to Jerusalem for worship at the temple. They all selfishly desired power and keeping the kingdom within their control. But what we see throughout chapters 15-16 is that God tears the kingdom away from their families and gives it to someone else. God does the same thing he did with Saul repeatedly, but they never learn their lesson. First, Baasha comes in and murders all of Jeroboam's family. Then, Zimri comes in and kills all of Baasha's family. In Chapter 16, Zimri kills himself to keep from being murdered, and Omri takes his place.

The Southern Kingdom

In the South, Chapter 15 tells us that Rehoboam's son, Abijam, was just as bad as he was. But God remains faithful to his promise he made to David.

1 Kings 15:4--5 (ESV) --- 4 Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, 5 because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

The son of Abijam is Asa, and he becomes a great king over Israel. He follows in the steps of David and removes the cult prostitutes associated with idol worship. But he does not take away the high places and make Judah gather in Jerusalem for worship as they were commanded. He reigns for 41 years.

Ahab (17-22)

Ahab and Elijah (17-19)

The last section of this book takes us through one specific king of Israel, Ahab, the son of Omri. Ahab was described in the last part of Chapter 16 as being the worst king that Israel has ever seen. He marries Jezebel, the princess of Tyre, and they erect all kinds of idol worship for Baal and Asherah in Samaria, the capital of the north. They even go so far as to name Baal as the nation's primary God.

In response to this, God sends Elijah the prophet, and we read that Elijah informs Ahab there will be a drought until he gives the word for it to rain again. Chapter 17 describes the struggle of Elijah as he is on the run from Ahab and Jezebel. In Chapter 18, Elijah calls all the prophets of Baal to a showdown. Whoever can bring down fire on the sacrifices will win, and the losers will die. Baal's prophets do all that they can to get their god to bring down fire, but he cannot because Baal is a figment of their imagination. Elijah prays to Yahweh, and fire comes down from heaven. So all the people say, "Yahweh, He is God. Yahweh, He is God." It seems like the north might actually be heading in the right direction. But we find out in Chapter 19 that Jezebel doesn't care. She wants Baal worship to continue, and she will stop at nothing to kill Elijah.

Elijah escapes and asks God to take his life. He sees no hope in the northern kingdom ever being on the right track, but God reveals his abundant compassion and plans for judgment. He also allows Elijah to appoint another man named Elisha to follow him and serve him.

Ahab's Heart (20-22)

In the next section, we jump back to Ahab. His story is very odd after Elijah's sacrifice. In Chapter 20, the king of Syria, Ben-hadad, comes to take everything from Ahab, but God helps Ahab defeat him. Maybe God sees something in Ahab. But at the end of the chapter, God gives Ben-hadad into Ahab's hand, and he lets the king of Syria go in exchange for a few cities. God sends his prophet to convince Ahab of his evil.

In Chapter 21, Ahab wants to buy his neighbor, Naboth's, vineyard, but Naboth refuses. Apparently, Naboth still believes that his land is an inheritance from the Lord. Ahab is sad because he can't get what he wants, but Jezebel has Naboth killed and gives the vineyard to Ahab. God once again uses Elijah to condemn Ahab for this. In verse 27, we read that Ahab felt convicted over his sin. He knew that it was wrong and had remorse over it.

1 Kings 21:27--29 (ESV) --- 27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”

In Chapter 22, Ahab wanted to fight against Syria and take back Ramoth-Gilead. Interestingly, he looks for help from Judah's king Jehosophat, who agrees. Jehosophat tells Ahab to inquire of the Lord before going out to battle, so Ahab brings in a bunch of his prophets who tell him what he wants to hear. Jehosophat asks again for a prophet of the Lord, but Ahab says that Micaiah, the Lord's prophet, only tells him bad news. He doesn't want to listen to Micaiah. Micaiah tells Ahab that he will be killed in battle. So Ahab tries to avoid being killed by dressing up in disguise. But that does not work. Israel loses the battle, and a Syrian fires a random arrow that hits Ahab, leading to his death.

The last little bit of Chapter 22 tells us that Jehosophat was actually a good king in Judah and that Ahaziah took over in the northern kingdom of Israel.

What's The Message?

Of course, the story will continue into 2 Kings, so I hate to break here and do a summation at this point. But there is an undeniable message in this book. What is the message? Idolatry is the path to destruction.

Solomon went after idols because of the evil influence of his wives. Jeroboam made the worship of God into idol worship, and Ahab blatantly set up the worship of Baal as the official religion of Israel. What happened in all of these cases? Did God prosper the work of their hands? No! God was gracious and patient with them. But God brought about judgment for their rebellion in the end.

Throughout this book, the message is the same message that Moses' commanded Israel in Deuteronomy: "Don't worship idols like the nations around you!" God is continually delivering the curses that he promised in his law because the people are continually rebelling against the covenant. Throughout this book, we see God trying everything to get the kings of Israel to remain faithful. He sets them on the right path and provides them with riches, peace, and honor. He shows them his power, but they give up the relationship they could have with him to pursue the idols of the nations around them.

They needed Solomon and all of his descendants to have a heart like David's heart. Wisdom was not enough. God does not judge the greatness of a nation the way man does. We may look at the vast riches, architectural accomplishments, or the size of their army. But God looks at the heart to see if it is entirely devoted to him or not. This is the only thing that determines whether God will bless or curse.

Consider how this fits into our story as a whole. God creates man and blesses man, but man sins and loses the blessings. God then judges mankind but saves Noah. Then, he promises blessings to Abraham: 1. That he would make his descendants into a great nation, 2. give them the land of Canaan, and 3. through their offspring, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. In a sense, God delivers on those promises with Solomon. But what did Israel do with those blessings? They sinned again. How depressing is this? God blesses mankind beyond what they deserve, and they turn against him repeatedly. But God is faithful. He keeps loving Israel because he has more in store. He's not finished yet. He has plans for a perfect king who will rule forever in righteousness and justice, and fear/serve the Lord with his whole heart.

Application

How do we fit into this story? God wants to see the heart of David inside of us. He wants to see great faithfulness and loyalty. We are the Israel of God, and we are always tempted to follow after the idols of the nations around us. The failure of the kings is our failure. But when we fail, God is hoping to see a willingness to turn from our sins and be wholly devoted to God.

There are several idols out there that people put their trust in. Our neighbors believe that they can trust money, government, jobs, weapons, or people to provide them with all of the blessings that they need in life. But we see that God is the provider of everything we need. These idols can do nothing without God working through them. We must not bow the knee to Baal because "The Lord, He is God." There is no god like our God.

We are blessed to be able to pray toward God's temple and find forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. Lay your idols down, and find the blessing God offers you today.1

 
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