June 2023
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 37
K I n g s .. The divided Kingdom 1
Jeroboam, had set up TWO places of worship, one in Bethel and one in Dan, (complete with altar of sacrifice and an idolatrous golden calf). He also set up a pseudo priesthood to conduct the rituals of worship, but they were not of the tribe of Levi. The purpose was so that the people of those northern tribes would not have to make the long trip to Jerusalem in Judea (the place where God had chosen, 1 Kings 9:3). Jeroboam was really concerned that if the people did travel to Jerusalem, they would not return. Our ‘reflection’ this week opens with Rehoboam standing by the altar of sacrifice in Bethel ready to burn incense. God was not pleased! He had spoken to a prophet from Judea with a message for Rehoboam … (vv 2,3). It is of great interest that the word spoken by that prophet of God, mentioned Josiah (a king who did not rule Judah until 300 years later, which is after the northern kingdom had been expelled from that land) specifying what was going to happen to that idolatrous shrine and the people who worshipped there.
When the prophet spoke, Rehoboam stretched out his arm and ordered the arrest of the prophet. Immediately, his whole hand withered!! At that point the altar split apart and the ashes spilled out as the prophet had said they would. What a mighty demonstration of the power of God. (It is often said ‘be careful what you wish for’ but I am often moved to think that such a mighty demonstration of the awesome power of God is needed today. And then I think .. God sent Yeshua. He died and rose again. The evidence and consequence of that is all around us, and STILL men refuse to listen. As we surely live in the last days, the question is, when will God say ‘enough”? Just as He said those words to Rehoboam.) The prophecy involving king Josiah, who, in his day restored right worship in Judea, is recorded in 2 Kings 23; 15-25. And all this provides warning for those wise enough to listen. Take time to read the outcome of this event in verses 6 to 32. Is there a lesson there for us today? Selah!
Alas, in spite of all that had happened, the Scripture tells us that Jeroboam “did not turn from his evil way”. It became business as usual … “And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.” … for him and for the people of the ten northern tribes, Israel. We know from history, that less than 200 years later , in 722 BCE, those northern tribes were ‘dispersed’ and are now generally referred to as “the ten lost tribes”. It truely is “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31). But as we return to the ‘reflection’ on this story, we find that there appears to be no end to the deviousness which had gripped Jeroboam. His son became sick, and remembering the prophet Ahijah who had accurately prophesied his own ascent to the throne, he decided to sent his wife, in disguise, to Ahijah in Shiloh (the original place where the tabernacle was set up in Joshua’s day) to find out if the prophet could tell him what would happen to his sick son. But God had forewarned the prophet of this encounter, and told him not only that the boy would not survive, but neither would the kingdom of Israel (the northern tribes). Our bible provides many warnings of the consequences flowing from neglect and outright disobedience to honour the covenantal agreement made with God.
The chart shows the names of the various kings and the prophets God used to warn and guide them. What the chart does not show is that of the 19 kings of Israel, there was not one ‘good’ king who followed the LORD. And of the 20 kings of Judah, only 8 are described in the scriptures as ‘good’ kings. By reference to the chart, one may have a clearer view of the identity of both king and region as we proceed. The division of the kingdoms resulted in continuous animosity way beyond the original kings, Jeroboam (north) and Rehoboam (south). A reading of 2 Chronicles 11 - 13 provides more detail of the relationship each had with the people and with each other. Neither of them ‘followed’ the Lord in the manner of David and Solomon (not withstanding their well documented failures) and both Jeroboam and Rehoboam were guilty of promoting idol worship. Never-the-less, the bottom row of the chart shows that even though both nations were eventually expelled from the land, Judah, where the temple was located, and where God had chosen to be worshipped, survived the longer in the land.
The rest of the text of our ‘reflection’ provides much detail about dates and times, and moves between the kings of both northern and southern kingdoms. Five years into Rehoboam’s reign in Judah, he lost all the treasures which his father Solomon has accumulated to Shishak, king of Egypt. And thirteen years later he died and was succeeded by his son Abijam (also called Abijah in 1 Chron 3:10). He reigned for three years and the testimony of his life is .. “He walked in all the sins of his father … his heart was not loyalty the LORD his God”. After his death, Asa became king, (by which time Jeroboam had been king of Israel for twenty years) and reigned for forty-one years. Asa was the first ‘good’ king. Read the detail provided in vv 9-24. He banished many ‘perverted’ persons (sacred prostitutes) from the land. He rid the land of idols. He removed the corrupt queen mother and her obscene idol. He restored the ‘holy things’ to the temple. BUT, although he never engaged in idol worship, he tolerated the ‘high places’. So they remained, and were an obstacle for the future. And therein is another good lesson for us.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 36
K I n g s .. King Solomon dies1
The queen of Sheba had heard of the fame of King Solomon and decided to pay him a visit. Many commentators have had a guess at the location of the kingdom of which she was queen, and several additional (non biblical) stories are speculated about the relationship they developed. It adds nothing to know such things. What we do know is that the lady’s curiosity was ably dealt with by Solomon. He answered her many difficult questions. She was so impressed that she presented him with an ‘obscene amount’ of gold and precious stones, and was gracious in her praise of him. “Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” King Solomon was equally as generous to the queen when she eventually left, with her servants, to return to her own country, and that is the last we hear about her.
Solomon’s wealth and fame continued to grow seemingly without end. He built a fleet of ships (1 Kings. 9:26-28) which sailed the seas, returning every three years bringing valuable and exotic cargo to add to the opulence. One can only try to imagine the diversionary impact such wealth and status had on Solomon. Wise as he was, he was still very much a human being. And herein lies a salutary lesson for us all. As the Apostle Jude wrote “Stay always within the boundaries where God’s love can reach and protect you.” (Living Bible Jude 21) It is helpful here to remind ourselves of some of the responsibilities of kings which are specified in the Torah (Deuteronomy 17) given to Moses.
A king must be a citizen of Israel and must :-
not acquire many horses … relying on military strength
not take multiple wives … lest his heart turn away from the LORD
not accumulate much silver and gold … relying on wealth instead of God
write for himself a copy of Torah … Ensuring that he understands it
read Torah every day … keeping himself acquainted with it
observe all the commands … that he not be lifted above his brethren
That is a formidable list of requirements, and it is certain that Solomon did not comply with at least four of them.
Then we read that “Solomon loved many foreign women”. Compounding the matter, Solomon took wives of Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite heritage in direct disobedience with God’s specific instruction (Deuteronomy 7:1-4) regarding those particular groups of people.
This should provide a huge lesson for us today, and especially for those whom God has appointed as leaders. And the reason it is so important is because God looked on Solomon, (whom he had gifted above all men, and blessed the people with peace and harmony as a result) and said “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you, and give it to your servant.” (Jereboam , taskmaster of the northern tribes, see verses 29 to 39, and Reheboam, his son, to reign over Judah and Benjamin, the two southern tribes.). If God is willing to judge Solomon in that way and for that reason, then it certainly is “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31). Solomon, of course could not accept that judgment, and sought to kill Jeroboam, and thus frustrate the judgment of God. But Jeroboam fled to Egypt, and remained there until Solomon died in 931 BCE. He had reigned over a united Israel for 40 peaceful years.
Solomon’s son Rehoboam, was made king, in his father’s place, at Shechem, (modern day Nablus) a most important place in Israel’s history. (It is located in the valley between the well known Mounts of Gerizim and Ebal.) What happened then may be viewed as a monumental catastrophe, and for Israel it was. The new king Rehoboam was asked by the elders to provide relief for the people from the heavy tax burden which Solomon had placed on them. Rehoboam rejected that plea, and declared that he would actually increase their tax burden. But the Scripture presents a somewhat different view. “So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the LORD, that He might fulfil His word, which the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam.” (Chapter 11:29 - 39). So it was that the kingdom became divided again, as it was before David became king. The ten tribes of the north, called Israel, went back to their tribal loyalties under their king, Jeroboam. The two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, remained loyal to king Rehoboam in the south.
Following up on his high taxation policy, king Rehoboam sent his finance minister, Adoram, to the north to collect the taxes. He was ‘stoned’ to death by the people of the north, and as the Scripture put it … “So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David (Judah) to this day.” King Rehoboam attempted to assemble an army to fight against the north, but again the word of the LORD came to him by the prophet Shemaiah saying “You shall not go up against your brethren because this thing is from Me.” Sadly, Jeroboam, king of Israel, then took it upon himself to establish two locations, Bethel in the south and Dan in the north, where he set up worship centres, complete with golden calves, so that the people would not have to go to Jerusalem to worship God, as He had instructed. So, the division of the people, Israel and Judah was complete. But that is not the end of the story.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 35
K I n g s .. King Solomon 1
The temple had taken seven years to build. The design was according to the instructions of the LORD, originally given to Moses (for the tabernacle) and verified to Solomon through his father David. In addition to this beautiful temple, Solomon continued building for a further thirteen years. There were various courts of meeting and halls included in the palatial home he built for his own household. It must have provided an imposing spectacle for the many national leaders who took opportunity to visit Solomon, since he had gained international status as a result of his wisdom and wealth. The whole of chapter 7 of our reading today describes the splendour and scale of this construction. “So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the LORD was finished, and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.” (Note:- these were not furnishings for the Temple, but items which David had dedicated to the LORD following various battles … see 2 Samuel 8:7-12).
It is of some interest then, that the temple was completed (ch 6:38) in the eighth month. But Solomon waited eleven months, until the feast of tabernacles the following year, before the Ark of the Covenant and other furnishings from the tabernacle of David were placed in the new temple. The calling of an assembly of the chiefs of the tribes, and other community leaders, at this particularly joyful eight day festival, ensured that there would be an exceptionally large gathering of people in attendance at the dedication of the temple.
“And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.”
What follows in our text is full of “quotable quotes”! It is worthy of being read a number of times, as also is the complementary account of this dedication in 2 Chronicles 6 and 7. See, in your mind’s eye, the king, the wisest man who ever lived, kneeling before that great assembly of people, arms spread wide in supplication and praise to YHWH Elohim .. “LORD God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts … You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day … Behold, heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! … And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray towards this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.” (And that is what happens to this very day, as orthodox assemblies of Jews, as well as many tourists, gather to pray at the western wall, generally referred to as ‘the wailing wall’ of the temple mount in Jerusalem). Then Solomon rose from his knees blessed the congregation of people. “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised .. through His servant Moses … may He incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgements which He commanded our fathers.” (So many times in the Scriptures, the blessing of the LORD is associated with conditional obedience to His commandments !)
After this joyous, emotional, time of dedication and prayer, the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time (1 Kings 3:5 being the first). On that first occasion, the LORD had offered Solomon a gift. In the event, Solomon was granted his desire to be gifted with wisdom to lead the people correctly. And honour and status as described in paragraph 1 above. So Solomon was well aware of God’s capacity and willingness to keep His word. So God spoke to Solomon. “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever.” And then the LORD gave Solomon the conditions under which He expected Solomon to order his life in order for God to keep that everlasting promise. Regrettably, we know that Solomon did not do as God expected.
It may also be noted that there were ‘countless’ sacrifices offered on this occasion. The last temple was destroyed about 70 CE by Titus of Rome, so there has not been any venue for sacrifices to be offered since that time. (There is a substitute practice, called Kapparot, operating today in some orthodox Jewish communities, whereby a chicken is ceremonially sacrificed, then donated to the poor in the community, in the hope of sin expiation) Many in Israel today are enthusiastically preparing for the establishment of a new temple and a new altar of sacrifice, to be built on the temple mount in Jerusalem, in order that the Levitical priesthood may resume the sacrificial system of old. The priests cannot function in this capacity, of course, unless they are cleansed themselves by the ashes of a Red Heifer. Such animals have been bred for that specific purpose and are now being examined by religious authorities in Israel to certify their authenticity. This is a matter of some importance to believers because when such an event happens (the building of a new temple), it will herald the end of this age and the imminent return of our Saviour Yeshua. BUT, friends, God makes conditions. Originally a covenant which the people broke. Trust me on this … there will be a new unbreakable covenant in place during the next temple period !!!!
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 34
K I n g s .. King Solomon 1
“So King Solomon was king over all Israel.”
Up to this time, Israel had three kings, Saul was the choice of the people because he was of impressive stature and presence. He was far from perfect, and was deposed because of his lying and duplicity. David was the Lord’s choice. He was described as “man after God’s own heart”. He was certainly blessed by God and united the kingdom (Judea and Samaria) as ONE. But he too was far from perfect. His later life was blighted by animosity and bloodshed. Solomon, was chosen by David, and approved by God, who gifted him with an amazingly wise and compassionate heart. BUT he too was far from being perfect. God blessed him with great wisdom, wealth, and reputation. Peace and prosperity was enjoyed by all Israel during his time on the throne. The government, appointed by Solomon, (read the detail in chapter 4) was orderly, faithful to the king, accepted by the people, and fully compliant with the commands of the king. “And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan (in the north) as far as Beersheba (in the south), all the days of Solomon.” To get a complete understanding of the situation, read chapter 4 many times, and get a new appreciation of the wisdom with which Solomon had been gifted by God. “And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore.” Another measure of Solomon’s wisdom may be gained as we are told “he spoke 3000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.” Ponder this. “And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.” A quick lesson here. If God Almighty could gift a man like Solomon with such wisdom and understanding, how much MORE was our Saviour Yeshua, the very embodiment of God, empowered to bring enlightenment, life, and salvation to men through all ages by His time on this earth.
In trying to envisage Jerusalem’s size in Solomon’s time, present day visitors to Jerusalem are often surprised to discover that the City of David lies entirely outside the old city walls of today. And the Temple, Mount Moriah, is on significantly higher ground, which slopes down to the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley. The topography only adds to the enormity of the task Solomon faced in constructing the Temple. It is a testament to the wisdom and understanding he had as we note the way he went about the work, and completed the task in just 7 1/2 years. Huge volumes of materials were brought more than 100 miles by sea and land to the construction site. Modern day archaeologists have exposed the foundation areas of the Temple, revealing the massive blocks of stone, comparable in size to those in the pyramids of Egypt, on which the whole platform area of the Temple Mount stands. King Hiram of Tyre was a willing provider of those materials and negotiated a wise, co-operative, arrangement of ‘food for materials’ which lasted at least for the years of the construction of the Temple, and probably for the following 13 years it took Solomon to build a house for himself ! Solomon, devised the first “fly in fly out” labour force. Using the great wisdom with which God had blessed him, he arranged for 30,000 workers, drawn from all the tribes of Israel to spend one month on and two months off on rotating work periods in Lebanon. In addition to this, work was provided for a further 150,000 workers in the quarries of Lebanon. The whole labour force was under the oversight of some 3,300 men ‘from the chiefs of Solomon’s deputies’. This gives rise to a conclusion that the 150,000 workers were non-Israelite inhabitants of the land. But in any event it was period of great prosperity and peace for the people of Israel and Lebanon.
God Himself gave David the plans of this Temple (1 Chronicles 28:11-13), which he passed on to Solomon. Interestingly, the dimensions of the Holy place are identical to those specified for a Temple yet to be built (Ezekiel 41:1) which is generally referred to as ‘Ezekiel’s Temple’. A temple that is very much in the news today as elections in Israel have returned Benjamin Netanyahu and a ‘far right’ religious party to government as I write this ‘reflection’ (2022). It is an important development for believers who trust Yeshua. A careful study of the Scriptures reveals that it will be the abomination of the ‘man of peace’, also called ‘the Beast’, (Revelation 19:19,20) one generally known as ‘Antichrist’, who will demand to be worshipped in this future Temple, (Matthew 24:15) which will herald the return of our precious Lord Yeshua just 42 months later, to reign and rule.
We note the importance of the Temple being constructed by Solomon. Just like the tabernacle, ‘the tent of meeting’, the Temple was the representative ‘home of God’ among the people. It was there that the people, represented by the High Priest, made atonement for their sin, and presented offerings to the Lord. The Lord spoke to Solomon “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgements, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel. So Solomon built the temple and finished it.”
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 33
K I n g s .. King Solomon1
“Now King David was old, advanced in years ..” One might have hoped that the scheming and subterfuge would be ended, but it seemed to multiply when there was a ‘successor’ to be annointed king after David’s days. Adonijah was the fourth son of David, and the three who were older, Amnon, Daniel, and Absolom, were all dead. Adonijah was a man used to having his own way (v 6) and was very good looking. Since his father appeared frail, he decided, with the help of both Joab, commander of the army, and Abiathar, the priest, that he would have a big celebration to appoint himself king. But he had not reckoned on the loyalty to King David of the prophets Zadok and Nathan, nor of Benaiah and other ‘mighty men’ who served David faithfully over many years.
David had evidently told Bathsheba (1 Kings 1:30) that his successor would be their son Solomon. Nathan was aware of this and quickly went to Bathsheba to get her to make the frail David aware of this new development. “Did you make this arrangement with Adonijah ?” Was the question he wanted put to David, knowing full well that it was not. The events are described in 1 Kings 1 15-35. “Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the Tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said ‘long live king Solomon’.” And so it was that the plotting of Adonijah was thwarted, and Solomon became king over all Israel and Judah. (A favourite memory of mine is that on one of my visits to Israel my small tour group were taken by a quite young Israeli tour guide down tbe steep hill and into a large cave down in the Kidron Valley, in which was the Gihon Spring. As we stood there looking down into the spring below, the young guide became loud and animated as he jumped from one place to another shouting “I don’t know if it was here .. another jump .. or here …another leap … or here! Then he stopped, waved both arms in the air indicating the whole area, BUT IT WAS HERE” he proudly proclaimed, “THAT SOLOMON WAS ANNOINTED KING OF ISRAEL.”)
There was great merrymaking and celebration in the city so that “the earth seemed to split with their sound”. Adonijah was also celebrating and he heard the sound and enquired “Why is the city in such a noisy uproar?” The reaction when news was brought to him was immediate. “So all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid, and arose, and each one went his way.”
The day grew near that David’s would die. And he knew it. So he summoned Solomon and said to him; “I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His judgements, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Torah of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; that the LORD may fulfil His word which He spoke concerning me.”. They are almost the identical words (Joshua 1:7) with which the Lord encouraged Joshua when he was commissioned to lead the Israelites into the land of God’s promise some hundreds of years earlier. They are wise words of counsel from a father to a son. Any father to any son. And all the more so because this particular son had been anointed leader of his nation. As David continued, he had kindly recommendations regarding the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite who had been faithful to himself. But he also had cautionary words about others, specifically his nephew Joab and Shimei, the follower of Saul who had cursed him as he fled Jerusalem away from Absolom, against whom stern and decisive action should be taken.“So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David.”
Solomon took up his kingly role, and was soon called upon to take punative action against his brother Adonijah. Next, Abiathar the priest was removed from his duties (fulfilling a prophecy against the sons of Eli, ‘1 Samuel 2:22-31’), and re-establishing the priestly line of Eleazer/Phineas in Zadok. Since Joab had defected to Adonijah, so he was the next to go. Shimei, was instructed to remain in Jerusalem where Solomon could ‘keep his eye on him’ on pain of death. Regrettably for him, he didn’t remain in Jerusalem. He died. So king Solomon established himself as a strong, decisive and authoritative figure. Chapter 3 opens with a simple statement about a treaty (and the politically significant marriage of Solomon to the daughter of the Pharaoh) with Egypt. This indicates that Solomon had established himself as an important figure on the world stage of his time as well as with Israel.
Reading 1 Chronicles 1 will add to our understanding of Solomon’s encounter with the Lord at Gibeon, which is described as a “high place”. The Tabernacle was there, but the Ark of the Covenant, signifying the presence of the LORD, was in a tent on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. God appeared to Solomon and invited him to ask for a gift from the Lord. There is no indication that there were any limits placed on that offer. I find myself wondering, as I ponder for a moment, what I might ask of God, were I to receive such an offer. Selah! In that moment, Solomon asked for wisdom as he became conscious of his inadequacy to perform the task set before him, probably as he compared himself to his own father King David. And so it was that God said to him … “I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. AND I have given you what you have not asked; both riches and honour, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.”. But that did not make Solomon perfect, as we shall see as we continue our study.
Shabbat Shalom
RS