Faithful to the Finish

Prayer

The Rise and Fall of Solomon

So we’re back in the story of 1 Kings, chapters 9-11 this morning. We’re in the midst of the reign of Solomon, David’s son. As we saw last week, Solomon has just had the temple built, dedicated it to the Lord, and the Lord responded wonderfully, consecrating the temple with his presence, putting his name upon it, along with that beautiful promise, my eyes and my heart will always be there.

Now along with the promise of his presence and care for his people, the Lord gives Solomon a word of warning, warning we’ve seen over and over again - to be faithful. 1 Kings 9:4-7 - As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ 6 “But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.

Now, in the rest of 1 Kings 9, we see a description of Solomon’s other activities, especially all of his building projects throughout Israel - which were extensive. I want to mention a couple in particular, in 1 Kings 9:15, where the author gives an account of Solomon building up three areas, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. And the reason I want to mention this is because of the archeological ruins you can find at these three places. Here’s an image of the ruins of Megiddo, including its fortifications - Megiddo sits at the intersection of two valleys, major thoroughfares, militarily, it was a strategic spot. Here we have archeological evidence of the construction that Solomon did during his reign (as well as at Hazor and Gezer). Fun fact, Megiddo is where we get Armageddon from (spot of the great battle in Revelation) - Har-Megiddo.

That brings us to 1 Kings 10. And there’s two words that sum up this chapter, wealth and wisdom. This chapter highlights (again) the wisdom of Solomon and all the wealth he acquired for nation of Israel.

In the first section of chapter 10 Solomon is visited by the Queen of Sheba (Sheba is in the southern tip of Arabia). The queen has traveled a great distance with a huge caravan, camels carrying goods of all sorts. The queen wanted to see for herself if the stories are true - the stories about Solomon’s wisdom and wealth. She is not disappointed, just the opposite, she’s blown away by how Solomon answers all the questions she asks him, and the immense luxury she sees throughout his palace.

In the second half of 1 Kings 10 we get an accounting of all the wealth that Solomon amassed, the vast amount of gold and other luxurious goods that came in from both trade and tribute. We get this summary statement from 1 Kings 10:23-24, King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.

So, that’s a brief description of 1 Kings 10, we then come to 1 Kings 11, and it’s here that everything goes wrong - the fall of King Solomon. This is not to say that he loses all his wealth or even his kingdom - rather, he falls into sin. Solomon moves away from faithfulness to the Lord into greater and greater unfaithfulness. Sadly he leads the nation into this. And it is this unfaithfulness that will mark the nation of Israel until its destruction. This golden era under Solomon does not last.

So, here it is, 1 Kings 11:1-6, King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. So, some things I want to point out here:

The most obvious thing, because it’s really unimaginable, the number of wives (700) and concubines (300) Solomon had. Now, to be clear, most of them were from political alliances - notice that the wives are described as being of royal birth. These type of marriages were common practices among kings - even David engaged in these types of marriages (though not nearly as many as Solomon did).

Problem was, as we see here - instead of Solomon staying faithful to the Lord, strong in his conviction, and therefore perhaps influence his wives toward the Lord, his wives influence him away from the Lord. This is exactly why the Lord had forbidden his people to intermarry - that’s the command we see quoted here from the book of Deuteronomy. He knew they would be lead astray.

To me the most tragic statement in all of this is verse 4: “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.” Now, we’ll come back to that in a second here, I want to take a moment to finish out the chapter.

Story ends with the Lord being angry with Solomon - and rightfully so. This is 1 Kings 11:9-10, The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.

Just to remember for a moment about how much the Lord had done for Solomon. He appeared to him twice! The Lord blessed him with peace from Israel’s enemies, tremendous wealth (so much so that other kings are envious). The Lord gave him greater wisdom than other man - and yet here he fails to live out that wisdom, Solomon does not stay faithful to the Lord.

The Lord tells Solomon that the kingdom will be torn from him and given to another. A couple of notes about this - we’ll see this play out next Sunday. It will not happen during Solomon’s lifetime, but during his son’s. And it won’t be the entire kingdom, but rather most of it, 10 of the 12 tribes will be taken from the line of David. They will be given to a man by the name of Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s officials.

Solomon learns of this and seeks to kill Jeroboam. Jeroboam manages to escape to Egypt. In spite of all this, Solomon does not repent of his idolatry. 1 Kings 11 ends with Solomon’s death after reigning for forty years. Next Sunday we’ll pick up the story of the nation of Israel dividing in two.

Finish the Race Well

So, I want to bring us back to Solomon’s downfall in faith, because it serves as a lesson for all of us. Because what we see in Solomon is someone so richly blessed in so many ways from God (peace, wisdom, wealth). ln addition to blessing him, the Lord warns him, makes clear what will happen if he disobeys the Lord. And yet, in spite of all this, Solomon becomes less and less faithful as he grows older. When the exact opposite should be true - he ought to be growing in greater faithfulness.

But what happened to Solomon can happen so easily to us as well - if we are too much in the world, then the world will be too much in us. Solomon got too entranced by the lure of wealth, of political influence, of the admiration of other kings. But most of all, by his wives. The passage makes clear that Solomon held fast in love to his wives - now, it’s absolutely not a bad thing to hold fast in love to our wife, our husband, our family members, our church family - except when that love supersedes our love and faithfulness to the Lord. The Lord always comes first.

Solomon gives himself over to his wives in a way that his love from them, his heart, is pulled away from love and devotion to the Lord. This is exactly the warning Jesus gives us in his sermon on the mount, Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” That which you treasure most, the things you value, those are the things that will grab a hold of your heart.

Here’s my hope and prayer for us - that the conviction of our hearts, our commitment, would be to, as Paul puts, it finish the race by keeping the faith - 2 Timothy 4:6-7, For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. You can hear in Paul’s words that it has not been easy. He’s poured himself out, it’s taken a lot out of him. This was a fight, a long race. But he did it. And now the crown awaits. The crown that comes to all who stay faithful to Jesus Christ, who trust that he will keep his promises.

And it’s my hope and prayer that not only will we keep the faith, but as we grow older that our last years would be our best years in regards to who we are in Jesus Christ. That we would keep seeking after him, keep growing in him, becoming more like him. That we would become more and more the best versions of ourselves. That we would experience more of the peace of Jesus in our lives - and less worry and anxiety. That we would be able to grow in our delight of all blessings in life, especially the small ones. That we would be wiser. And able to bear struggles and wrongdoings and difficult people with more grace. That our hearts would be more fully surrendered to Jesus, we would be more in love with him and full of his love - and therefore, able to be more loving and generous toward others.

I hope that resonates with you, I hope that, in your own heart, you’re very much, “Yes, please! I do want that.” And as I share those hopes I can’t help but think of June, who exemplified that well. What encouragement to see her fight the good fight, finish the race, to keep the faith until the very end.

So the question is, how do we do it? How do we finish the race? Keep the faith? There’s a passage in Hebrews that offers a sound three-fold strategy to do just that, Hebrews 12:1-3, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

First is simply the support of other believers. Notice that the passage begins with “therefore” - it’s a reference to Hebrews 11, a litany of God’s people who remained faithful to the end - a lot of them we’ve looked at their stories: Noah, Abraham & Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David (interestingly, Solomon is not in the list). That’s the cloud of witnesses that surrounds the people the author of Hebrews is writing to - and us. They’re cheering us toward the finish line.

The other thing I want to point out here is that everything is in the plural - since we are surrounded, let us throw off, let us run. The assumption of the New Testament writers is always, always, the church. The community of believers. The idea of trying to by a believer on your own (or with minimal connection) - unthinkable. Would have made no sense.

We need each other. Jesus intended for us to do this together. His new commandment from John 13:34, Love one another as I have loved you. How are you going to do that if you are not in community? If you’re not gathering with other believers, worshiping together, praying together, serving together? We help each other stay faithful - that was Solomon’s problem, surrounded by too many wives who were not faithful to Yahweh alone (needed a good Jewish girl in there).

So that’s first, support of other believers. Second, we’re encouraged to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” This is recognition that, like Solomon, there are constant dangers. We need to be wary about the things that will trip us up, that will slowly and subtly claim the devotion of our hearts away from Jesus. I want to share this from CS Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, because it’s such a insightful description of how, over time, we can stray from faithfulness. To be clear, The Screwtape Letters are written from the perspective of a senior demon giving counsel to a junior demon, teaching him how to keep someone from being faithful to Christ):

The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather. You see, it is so hard for these creatures to persevere. The routine of adversity, the gradual decay of youthful loves and youthful hopes, the quiet despair (hardly felt as pain) of ever overcoming the chronic temptations with which we have again and again defeated them, the drabness which we create in their lives and the inarticulate resentment with which we teach them to respond to it—all this provides admirable opportunities of wearing out a soul by attrition. If, on the other hand, the middle years prove prosperous, our position is even stronger. Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is “finding his place in it,” while really it is finding its place in him. His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home on Earth, which is just what we want. You will notice that the young are generally less unwilling to die than the middle-aged and the old.

Lewis’ point is that, either way, it happens subtly and gradually, to the point that we often don’t even notice. Whether that’s because of adversity, we’re worn down because of the difficulties of life, or because of prosperity, life’s been too good to us, and we want to hang on to that. To persevere is hard. That’s the challenge, to endure, to finish the race. And so we must be wary of the dangers - that if we’re not careful, intentional, we will stray.

So, we need the support of other believers, we have to be wary of - and toss off - any hindrances that keep us staying faithful to the finish. Final part of this three-fold strategy: Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (note, everyone’s race is going to be different) - and here it is, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

Jesus is the prize. He’s the treasure. We keep aiming at him, eyes fixed. He’s the one who can give us peace. Who can restore relationships. Who can heal our hearts. In him we find the fullness of love. There is no greater prize, nothing greater to race towards in life. He - and he alone - is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

And notice how the writer of Hebrews points not just to Jesus as our prize, but one who help us to persevere - “consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” As we look toward Jesus, we’re reflecting on all that he endured, what he had to go through (shame of the cross) in order to obtain the victory (sitting on the throne, taking his rightful place as king, right hand of the Father). Jesus faced opposition, he had adversaries, but for joy, because he knew what he was achieving, what it would bring us, he endured it. That’s our encouragement in those difficult times. I’m sticking with you, Jesus, because you stuck it out for me. You finished the race, you won the victory, so can I. And so we fix our eyes on Jesus.

Spiritual Disciplines - As we finish here today, I want you to consider which of these three areas you might be more intentional about, in order to stay faithful to Jesus to the end.

More intentional about being connected to the community of faith...

To ask yourself the question - am I more or less faithful than I was 5, 10, 20 years ago. Am I growing in faith - or staying stagnant, even fading? What may be hindering me? What has a hold of my heart?

Finally, what are you doing in your life to fix your eyes on Jesus? How are you being intentional about spending time with him daily - as a priority of your life?