For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. – 1Kgs 11:4 KJV
Consider The Consequence 06072020
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King Solomon had inherited a great kingdom from his father with good foundation on the fear of God – 1Kg. 2:2-4. He actually started the journey recognising God as the source of everything that he has and does not have. He quickly acknowledged his deficits and asked God to help him with this deficit as it is required for him to succeed in his new role as a king. With the offer of a sacrifice, the type that has never been offered before him and possibly after him, God responded by not only granting him his request but also blessing him in a manner that no one before him or after him was going to have – 1Kg. 3: 3-14. This made him very comfortable and enjoyed a peaceful reign such that people were coming from several locations to confirm God’s glory in Solomon’s life.
Solomon probably out of the peace and comfort that he enjoyed decided to marry several wives and acquire several concubines with no evidence of God restraining him from these acts – 1Kgs. 11:1. While he was still young, it seemed he was able to control the women especially the ones that he married in contravention of the instruction of God regarding his non-approval of marriage of Israelites to strange women (women who were not worshipping the God of Israel) – 1Kgs. 11: 2-3.
He seemed to have successfully gotten away with this non-observance of the directives of God until he became old and the possible reason for God giving that instruction became evident. The scripture today highlights two points that came up when he got to an age where he was no longer active and capable of controlling the negatives he had gathered into his life.
1. His wives turned his heart towards other gods.
2. His heart was no longer perfect with God.
In this new position he performed many atrocities (1Kgs. 11:5-8) which were all against the instructions of God for him on the two occasions that God has appeared to him – 1Kgs. 11:9-10.
As a result of this act of worshipping other gods as led by his wives, the Almighty God decided to;
1. Stop recognising him as a king – 1Kgs. 11:11a.
2. Reduce the boundary of the royal influence of his lineage – 1Kgs. 11:11b.
Most Christians today have broken the rules of God by gathering strange things into their lives and since there is no immediate consequence that seems like a repercussion for their negative acts, they either conclude that God does not exist or he has no ability to punish for contravening his instructions. What they fail to understand however is that not all laws of God have direct and immediate effects when contravened. Some of them are God’s way of saving us from ourselves and when we go ahead and contravene them, we should have the ability to also avoid the consequence else it will be the Achilles heel of our relationship with the Almighty God. Are you currently enjoying an act that is obviously against the Will of God and because it seems there is no obvious consequence, you concluded that those were either no laws or the Lord is incapable of enforcing His laws? You may be living in a fool’s paradise. Adam and Eve thought they were going to die physical death but after eating the fruit and discovering that instead of dying, it seemed they had more knowledge, they probably felt they took a right decision just as you may be thinking, but today we can see where that smartness has left them and their generations after them. You better repent of those acts today before the repercussions catch up with you.
If you are however experiencing the consequence of disregarding and contravening God’s instructions, there is still hope for you. God in the case of Solomon considered the activities of David who was Solomon’s father and mitigated his punishment by ensuring that the punishment was not implemented during the tenure of Solomon and he still will retain some level of royalty within his family – 1Kgs. 11: 12-13. You have a better personality that can hand you total forgiveness and restoration. That personality is Jesus Christ. If you accept him today as your Lord and Saviour, God is able to forgive all those transgressions and restore you.
Above all, we need to understand that not all God’s laws have anything to do with Him or can affect His personality in any way. Most of His laws when obeyed are to our advantage, if not in the short term then, in the long term. May God grant us all the ability to walk in his laws so as to remain guided by them in Jesus name. Amen.
