When It All Falls Apart (2)

When It All Falls Apart

In one of Charles Schulz’ Peanuts cartoon strips - Lucy and Linus are sitting together while Lucy reads a story. ‘And so the King was granted his wish—everything he touched would turn to gold! Now, the next day …’ At this point Linus jumps to his feet and exclaims: ‘Stop! You don’t have to read any further! I know just what’s going to happen.’ He walks away bemoaning, ‘These things always have a way of backfiring!’

As we have made our way through the account of Solomon’s life in 1 Kings, and read about life in his kingdom – the golden age of Israel, when he sat on the throne. We see the gold and wealth and worldwide reputation and people celebrating and feasting …. And, maybe you felt like Linus: “This can’t last. This is too good to go on forever. Something has to go wrong.” And if you were feeling that way – we saw last week that you were right. In a world of sin, where the problems start here in our hearts - inevitably someone’s going to mess it all up. We do it in our own lives, don’t we?

1 THE END OF THE PEACE, 11:14-43

READ v. 14

As we’ve examined Solomon’s life - We’ve focused on the wisdom God gave the king who asked for wisdom above everything else. We’ve focused on the building of the temple and the wealth of the kingdom. Something that we haven’t talked a lot about but is massively important is the PEACE that Solomon enjoyed. If there’s no peace - there’s no building of the temple and there’s no wealth … the king would be consumed with fighting battles and protecting the people from danger.

God’s blessing has been poured out on Solomon in so, so many ways and peace is one of those ways. Solomon recognizes that before he starts the temple project, back in 1 Kings 5:4, “Now the LORD has given me rest on every side. There is neighter adversary or misfortune.” “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Solomon wrote that, himself, in better days, in Proverbs 16:7.

But Solomon has chosen a trajectory of life that has stopped passionately loving God and chosen instead to pursue the love of pagan women and their gods that are not gods at all.

The LORD is angry - Solomon has not only sinned and missed the mark- he has changed the target he’s shooting at. He’s aiming at a different bulls-eye. Somebody asked me this week - reflecting on Solomon’s life: “So, does that mean wisdom wasn’t enough? Solomon had more wisdom than anyone, ever - outside of Jesus Christ himself. He still ended up in failure.” The answer to that is that wisdom is enough. But wisdom is God’s gift - the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom - the foundation. You can’t step off of the foundation and expect to keep the wisdom. Solomon has stepped off of the foundation.

The LORD is angry - He pronounces His judgment in 1 Kings 11:11-13 - promises He’s going to tear the kingdom away. And one of the first things to go is the peace.

“The LORD raised up an adversary, Hadad the Edomite.” Verses 14-22 tell us about him. Then there’s a second adversary, Rezon, the son of Eliades. His story is in vv. 23-25. We don’t have time to spend on these two, because there’s a third, more significant adversary who shows up in v. 26, “Jeroboam, the sond of Nebat, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah a widow, (he) also lifted up his hand against the king.”

Jeroboam had success written all over him. He’s a hard worker, he’s responsible, effective … and - he’s a natural leader. He rises through the ranks of the civil service and ends up working for the king.

One weekend, he’s heading out of town, out through Jerusalem’s city gates he passes, headed up country to visit family.

As he walks, he catches a figure, out of the corner of his eye, approaching as though he wants to talk to him. The approaching figure is Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh. Ahijah catches up to him and motions Jeroboam off the road and into the shadows for a private conversation. As soon as the 2 are away from any potential prying eyes, Ahijah takes off his coat - brand new and fresh. He holds the coat up in both hands so Jeroboam can clearly see .... and he RIPS the coat in two.

Then he takes one of the halves and rips it again. The same with the other half. The prophet keeps ripping, counting after every tear … until the once complete coat is now lying on the ground in 12 pieces.

He nods to Jeroboam, “Take 10 pieces for yourself.”

READ vv. 31-39

So God says, “I’m going to punish Solomon.” Unrepentant sin has consequences. It’s not going to be full destruction here and it’s not going to be permanent. God has made promises of an eternal throne to David and GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES, CHRISTIAN. ALWAYS. That’ how Christ came to the earth - through the line of this fallen king. There is always hope for you.

But right now - it’s discipline time for Solomon.

And that means good news for Jeroboam - this nobody, from the wrong tribe, with no royal blood and to top it all off – he’s fatherless ....

Of all the people He could have chosen - God sends his prophet to this man and says, “Hold out your hand and let me give you a KINGDOM. I will make you into a dynasty. I WILL DO IT … all you have to do is obey, walk in my ways, do what’s right .... and then watch me bless you.”

Oh Christian, hear this! God is a giver. you cannot GIVE to Him anything that He needs. You can only receive. And the way to hold out your open hand, so that it can be filled, is by trusting in Jesus Christ - and following hard after him. God isn’t stingy – “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it!”

The problem is us … our appetite is so often TOO small.

So God promises Jeroboam a dynasty! Somehow, Solomon finds out about the promise - and he gets defensive and protective – like King Saul had done a generation before – chasing after Solomon’s dad to protect HIS throne. Verse 40, “Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak, king of Egypt and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.”

So, of all the places in the world to hid out - Jeroboam goes to Egypt?! Isn’t that interesting. More about that later, but for now - this is the end of the Solomon story - the end of chapter 11 give us his death notice. And we stop and reflect: “What a sad ending to such a blessed life. It could have ended so much better than this!” Are you thinking about the legacy you’re going to leave behind, friend?

2. A FOOLISH KING LOSES HIS KINGDOM, 12:1-24

When Solomon dies, next in line to the throne is his son, Rehoboam. We’re introduced to him by name in 12:1, when he goes to Shechem to be anointed by all Israel. READ vv. 1-3

Now, why Shechem? Why not Jerusalem to crown the new king? The text doesn’t tell us exactly - but this is a place rich with history. Back in Egypt, when Joseph was about to die - after rising to the most powerful position in mighty Egypt - saving the lives of his family and the nation, from starvation - Joseph is about to die and he makes sure his family knows where his loyalty lies. He may be the great Prime Minister of this superpower, but he belongs to the people of God. Joseph makes the family promise that when they go back home - to their land - which he promises they will … he makes them promise to take his bones with them and bury him in their homeland. They did exactly that …and Joseph’s bones are buried here - in Shechem.

Shechem is the place where Joshua gathers the people of Israel, AFTER they have taken the Promised Land. God has given it to them - driven out their enemies and now they are gathered here in Shechem to take stock of who they are - and WHOM they will serve. What direction will they take in this land of abundant blessings, fraught with insidious temptations to stray. This is the place where Joshua charges them: “Choose this day Whom you will serve.” And the people renew the covenant with God. “We will serve the LORD.”

Shechem is also the place where Gideon, the Judge - gets too big for his britches and has himself made king, even though God hadn’t chosen him to take that honor for himself.

This is also the geographical centre of the northern 10 tribes of Israel. So, in many ways, this is the perfect place for a king over all Israel, to take his throne - to unify the whole nation and to declare what direction he’s going to lead the people in.

What a scene it must have been: colorful tents of the various tribes and clans, spread out across the valley. Excitement is in the air … people are mingling, the anticipation is thick as the smoke of the campfires of people who are treating this as a holiday.

Oh, but verse 2 tells us that Jeroboam is here. That’s important. The people of the northern tribes have called him to come from Egypt and be their leader. They have some concerns that they want him to take to the new king … some complaints before they acknowledge the crown:

Verse 4, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” Now, that’s interesting isn’t it. At the beginning of Solomon’s reign - the people were filled with joy: every man under his own tree. This is confirmation that, as Solomon got nearer to the end of his reign, he became less and less a ruler that ‘blessed’ his people and became more and more one who just looked out for himself … drenched himself in gold. The path of a selfish leader always leads to oppression of the people.

“Your father made our yoke heavy.” Where have we read about a ‘heavy yoke’ in the OT before? That’s what the Pharaoh of Egypt did to their ancestors (we’re going to see more and more of this connection with Egypt’s slavery in this passage). The people are saying, ‘You’ve taken us back to Egypt! And we’re struggling to figure out, ‘WHO ARE WE?’ Are we the people who God set free in the Exodus? Or, has our royalty turned out exactly as Samuel predicted - kings just like the other nations, who take from their people and oppress them?’

Well this certainly isn’t the adulation that this new king was expecting on his coronation day. He’s expecting clapping and gets complaint instead. That’s a real downer. So how is he going to respond?

Verse 5, “(Rehoboam) said to them, ‘Go away for three days, then come again to me.’ So the people went away.”

In other words, “I need to think about this - go back to your tents and I’ll let you know in 3 days.” So, the son of wise Solomon doesn’t want to make a rash decision, he needs to carefully decide what to do with this problem. That’s a good sign.

Verses 6 and following tell us that Rehoboam goes looking for wise counsel to help him think through the first test of his kingship. That’s also a good sign.

First he goes to his father’s counsellors - older men who have experience behind them. READ vv. 6-7.

“If you will be a servant to your people, they’ll always be your servants.” That’s wise, Biblical advice.

Oh, but Rehoboam isn’t sold. So he goes to his contemporaries - younger men with the fresh, progressive ideas. READ vv. 8-11.

The younger men say, “Be a servant? Sure, if you want tread marks on your back as the people drive right over you. No way! You’ve got to show that you’re a man! Take a hard line - if you make the people fear you, nobody will dare mess with you.”

Sure enough - Rehoboam chooses the advice of the young men. I mean, the older men may have wisdom on their side, but the younger guys appeal to his manhood - and they have the killer one-liner. It’s the Arnold Swarzenegger, Clint Eastwood approach. “Go ahead, make my day.”

The people come back after 3 days, just as the king told them to do and he gives his decision in vv. 13-15. READ

“You thought my father made your yoke heavy … you haven’t seen anything yet … If he used whips on you, I’m going to use scorpions (probably a specially-designed, more vicious whip). Now, this isn’t just muscle-flexing – there’s more going on here.

This is another echo from slavery in Egypt. Remember when the people beg Pharaoh to lighten their load? They are struggling, trying to keep up with the unreasonable quota of bricks they have to make every day … and Pharaoh responds by saying, ‘Not only do you have to keep producing that quota … but now, on top of that, I’m going to make you go out and get your own supplies, too!” Do you see what’s going on here? This new king of Israel - has become a slave-driving Pharaoh to his OWN PEOPLE!”

Dale Davis: “He mistakenly assumed he was smarter than his father … But his self-appraisal of his wisdom was vastly exaggerated. His little finger might have been larger than Solomon’s waist, but his mind was not half the size of his father’s.” And you can almost hear this ‘hisss’ of the air slipping out of the kingdom. The ‘Golden Age’ of Israel, under Solomon, is officially over.

Sure enough, lets pick up the story in v. 16. READ vv. 16-20.

“To your tents, O Israel!” Rehoboam’s foolishness left him with a sliver of the once-great kingdom that his grandfather, David built and his father, Solomon made the envy of the world by his wisdom and godliness.

ILLUSTRATION: Young people - the world around you tells you not to value the wisdom of older generations. In the 1960’s a famous saying among the yippies and hippies was, “Don’t trust anyone over 30”. Pretty sure everyone who said that changed their mind the day they reached the end of their 20’s … but that philosophy lives on in - “Okay, Boomer” and that mindset … and it’s dangerous. The Bible says, “Honor your father and mother in the LORD (that’s key - ‘in the Lord’ - it’s not just blind obedience) and it is the first commandment with a promise … that it may go ‘well, with you’!” Let me urge you – don’t be a Rehoboam. For your own sake - recognize that you don’t know it all. With age and experience – and godliness … comes wisdom.

Here’s a guy who wanted to continue on in a lifestyle of power and glory that his father achieved through the wisdom God gave him … Rehoboam doesn’t have the wisdom, doesn’t have the heart … but he wants to enjoy ALL of the perks … and he ends up reduced to having to try and GRAB it by force … and ends up losing everything … everything, except for one, small slice.”

And we have the kingdom split into 2. Rehobhoam goes back to Jerusalem to amass an army to go war against his own people … just like Pharaoh, trying to get his slaves back, in Exodus. But God’s prophet steps in and stops him. And from this point on in history - there are 2 kingdoms, rather than one.

“Oh, foolish, foolish Rehoboam. It didn’t have to go this way. It shouldn’t have gone this way. This is your lack of wisdom.”

But as true as that is, it’s not the ultimate point of THIS incident. Did you catch v. 15, “So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that he might fulfill his word, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam ...”.

Again - back to Egypt. If you read the early chapters of Exodus, over and over again we read that Pharaoh HARDENED his heart .... because GOD hardened his heart - to accomplish His purposes. Again - Rehoboam is the modern day Pharaoh to his people and God won’t let him get away with it.

This is history pointing to God’s sovereignty. God is in control – even in the free and foolish choices of a Rehoboam.

3 FROM FREEDOM TO SLAVERY, 12:25-33

When we get to v. 25 of chapter 12, Jeroboam is riding high. This new ‘Moses’ who leads God’s people out of slavery ALSO has the promise that God has a dynasty for him. His future is glorious … IF, he just walks rightly by faith in God’s promise.

So, how is Jeroboam going to ESTABLISH his kingdom? What trajectory will he follow?

READ vv. 25-27.

Jeroboam builds some cities, including Shechem (builds up a capital city worthy of a king) for himself. There’s nothing wrong with that.

But there is a fear driving him - and that’s a problem. Jeroboam has a fear that his kingdom isn’t going to last - that the people are going to end up going back to Rehoboam and that HE is going to end up dead. The centre of this fear is the Jerusalem temple.

The temple is a natural draw for the people. It’s a magnificent centre of worship. I mean - the architecture, the stone, the gold, the great bronze sea and the pillars - with the Holy of Holy and the ark, safely housed inside … how can you NOT recognize that God is ‘THERE’ in that place? You want to go there, to meet with the King of heaven. You feel closer to heaven, like you are on holy ground - when you step foot into those temple courts.

And of course, when you make your pilgrimages there for the feasts throughout the year – especially Passover, you get caught up in the grandeur, you’re in a good mood, because you are feasting, you’re celebrating and worshiping with family and friends. When you are at the temple, you are also, literally right next door to Rehoboam’s palace and you remember the ‘Good old days’, when the nation was united and Solomon was ruling from his golden throne. Why wouldn’t the people be drawn back to his kingdom and his son who occupies that throne?

So Jeroboam’s insecurities aren’t empty fears. In the ancient world, royal power and temples are bound together and for a king to survive - he has to be recognized as having the support of whatever god or deity that particular nation worships, just as a leader in our day, needs the support of the media if he or she is going to last

In our day, too many people see a division between ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’ between ‘worship’ and ‘work’ - what you do on Sunday and what you do the rest of the week. God doesn’t see it that way - all of life is lived in His presence. The ancient world didn’t have that division either. Kings need the whole infrastructure of religion for the people to see them as legitimate, divinely-sanctioned leaders - with the power of their gods behind them.

Jeroboam looks around and sees that the temple, the priests, the worship - all of that is in Jerusalem. Now, he does have the promise of God - that if he just walks obediently, if he lives by faith, the LORD is going to work everything out. But come on, we’re humans here - you can understand his fear, can’t you? So what’s this king going to do?

VERSES 28-33 tell us exactly what he does. READ

Jeroboam builds two calves of gold. Does that ring a bell? Of course it does - we’re back to the Exodus days - except that now - this modern-day Moses, leading his people to freedom and blessing, has turned himself from Moses into a modern-day Aaron. Moses is up on the mountain, in the very presence of the All-Powerful, Living God of the universe - getting instructions from God Himself for how the people that God has chosen for Himself are supposed to live.

And .... there’s Aaron, down in the valley below, like a kid who’s dad leaves him in charge of his little brothers and sister. Dad says, “I won’t be gone long - just take care of everyone and make sure nobody does anything dumb, while I’m away.” And it’s big brother himself who plays with matches and starts the house on fire.

Aaron makes a golden calf - and when Moses comes down from his mountaintop experience - there’s Aaron - watching as the people are engaged in a riotous orgy, dancing and carousing around the calf. Aaron gets busted and says, ‘I just collected the gold, threw it in the fire - - - and would you look at what popped out! I’m as surprised as you are, Moses!”

Now that incident went down in history as one of the most foolish, disastrous failures of God’s people - - -ever! They are literally DAYS into their freedom - having seen God’s mighty hand plucking them out of slavery, going before them to split a sea in two so they could walk through on dry ground … they’ve seen God ring water out of desert rocks and food fall from the sky .... they’ve tasted and seen that God is good and He takes care of His people in the most impossible of circumstances. Now, here they are … days later, dancing around a piece of artwork?!

We know that story clearly, even 3,500 years later, on the other side of the world. How much more clearly does Jeroboam know this story from his family history.

Did you notice the very words he says at the dedication of the calves. At the dedication of the Jerusalem temple, Solomon offers sacrifices so many that they couldn’t be counted and he falls on his face in prayer for God’s blessing, keenly aware of his need for the Lord’s presence if the temple is going to have any significance.

Now, here’s Jeroboam, he presents not one, but 2 golden calves and declares, in v. 28, “Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

That is word for word what Aaron said in Exodus 32:4! There is no possible way that Jeroboam doesn’t know that.

Oh, the irony here - Jeroboam leads the people to freedom, only to lead them right back into a slavery that he’s initiated with his own hands. It doesn’t stop with the golden calves, either. In v. 31, he also makes temples - plural - multiple temples on high places, to replace Jerusalem’s temple. He makes up his own priesthood, v. 31 tells us, from among ALL the people - even though God was very clear that priests could only come from the descendants of Aaron.

Verse 32 also tells us that he even makes up his own feast - not in the 7th month, as God instructed for Passover - but in the 8th month.

So Jeroboam is invited to put his trust in God when he’s not sure how it’s possible for his throne to survive: “Trust the covenant God and His promises” God says, ‘As you trust my Word and follow my commands - I will give you security and I will bless you. You don’t have to secure your own throne and blessing … just trust.” It’s the same message that Jesus gives us today. In

Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness … and all these things WILL BE ADDED to you you as well.”

Jeroboam’s response to God, by his actions? “I DON’T trust your word.” So, this king with a promise, turns away from the GLORY OF GOD and builds a couple of idols - trying to capture the image of the Invisible, Infinite God who can’t be captured by the entire universe - representing Him by a couple of golden copies of grass-eating animals - as if He was just one more fertility god on the level of the surrounding nations; he builds counterfeit temples, a counterfeit priesthood and introduces a counterfeit festival.

From now on, there are 2 parallel dynasties in what used to be a united nation. There’s the Southern Kingdom of Judah - ruled by kings of varying degrees of faithfulness

And there’s the Northern Kingdom - Israel - which will have king after king, without exception, who is evil in the eyes of the LORD … until the kingdom falls, Israel is destroyed and the people are dragged off into exile. The Southern Kingdom lasts a little longer and the royal house of David survives - because of God’s faithfulness to His promises.

And from now on – every king that is judged to be a success – is judged successful because he followed in the way of David. Yes, sinful David – but David who had a heart for God.

And every king in the North, who’s declared a failure – is judged to be evil … because they followed in the ways of Jeroboam.

Oh Jeroboam – you could have had so much … but you threw it all away. Why?! Because he couldn’t believe God’s Word and His promises.

As we sing in the old hymn: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

This isn’t just history, friend - don’t miss the application for us today:

When you don’t believe in the God of the Bible -it’s not that you STOP believing in anything … NO - you just START believing in a lesser God. You fall into idolatry.

God says, “Trust me. Believe in Me.” Jeroboam says, “I can’t believe in your promises - I’ve got to take care of myself.”

And he ends up with cheap counterfeits - fake gods, fake temples and fake priests. Everything he does is a rip-off. And it accomplishes nothing.

We see it in our day … So many of my atheists friends: “I just can’t bring myself to believe in a God I can’t see. Some people feel the need to have faith. I can’t live by faith - I need evidence.”

Oh, but that’s just not true, friend. EVERYBODY lives by faith. If you don’t have faith in God – you will trust in your money, Or in government – or some other idol.

G.K. Chesterton: “It is only by believing in God that we can criticize the Government. Once abolish God, and the Government becomes God. The truth is the IRRELIGION is the opium of the people. Wherever the people do not believe in something beyond the world, they will worship the world. But, above all, they worship the strongest thing in the world.”

Etienne Gilson, ‘The Terrors of the Year Two Thousand’: “There still remains only God to protect Man against Man. Either we will serve Him in spirit and in truth or we shall enslave ourselves ceaselessly, more and more, to the monstrous idol we have made with our own hands to our image and likeness.”

That was the rich young ruler’s problem in Jesus’ day. The young man, loaded with wealth, comes to Jesus and asks, “What do I have to do to be saved?” Jesus says, “Keep all of the commandments”. “Already done. I’ve been doing that since I was a kid.”

“Okay then, smarty pants (Jesus doesn’t actually say that, but I’m pretty sure that’s what He was thinking) … go sell everything you have - liquidate all of your assets - give all the proceeds to the poor … then you’ll have treasure in heaven - I’ll bless your socks off … and you can come and follow me.”

Oh, but that’s too much to ask. Jesus is asking him to give up all of his security and trust God to provide? There’s just no way. And in one of the saddest images in the Bible - we see the young man, so enslaved by his need for sham security - that he turns his back on the God of glory in human flesh - the source of life and ONLY TRUE security - and he walks back to his bank account.

All of his savings, all of his wealth will do as much to save him in a day of trouble – as a handful of confetti and glitter will help to stop a tornado.

Meanwhile, Jesus says, “Nobody gives anything to me in this world who doesn’t get back ONE HUNDRED TIMES AS MUCH … IN THIS LIFE! …. Not to mention in the life to come.”

When you look at the world around you today – and it seems to be all falling apart – let me ask you, as we close – How firm is the foundation of your peace?

Do you see God in control of everything? If you are living 900 years Before Christ – you look at your world and it is literally all falling apart – you have a kingdom that has split and two kings who are both failures. Can God be trusted? The answer then, as now … is yes. God is fulfilling His promises, working out His purposes … and bringing His Son to earth to save us … right on time.

And whether it’s the 10th century BC or 21st Century AD – God does not change.