Solomon - the wisest man ever - is troubling to me. I think it is because his story doesn't end well. He disappoints me.
I Kings 11 tells the story of this great king's downfall. After leading Israel into a renaissance of sorts, he got distracted. His distraction? Women.
Well actually, his attraction to exotic women was only the beginning of his trail toward confusion. Solomon is reputed to have had one thousand wives and concubines ("concubines" is Bible for folks cohabiting without the benefit of marriage).
Maybe its because I'm getting older -but that just doesn't sound nearly as appealing as it once did. He would
have to be the smartest guy alive just to keep up with the anniversaries! He would need an entire clerical staff just to keep up with all the stuff he needed to pick up on the way home from the office each day!
No thank you! As for me, I'm just barely wise enough to keep up with one wife - and it is debatable as to whether my intelligence will even handle that.
Anyway, the problem was that many or most of these women were foreign and brought their idol worshipping cultures with them. In typical intellectual elitist style - Solomon was "open" and "tolerant" of their heathen practices.
What we call "God's Judgement" sometimes is just the natural outcome of practices that run counter to His will, and thus Solomon met with God's judgement. The price: David's dynastic heritage would be all but decimated under the watch of the first heir to his throne. Solomon would waste away God's promise in just one administration.
In the beginning, humans moved pretty quickly to mortgage away God's promise of life everlasting by their almost immediate decline into sin; in the same way, the promise of a strong Israeli kingdom under the rule of David's descendants was quickly frittered away.
Enemies on the Horizon
The trigger point for the fall of the kingdom began with three pesky adversaries that began to show up on Solomon's radar screen. Unlike his father, Solomon had enjoyed a very peaceful rule up until that point.
These three came from different geographical points and different persuasions. I want to talk about one of them because, like Solomon, he too presents a case for disappointment.
Jeroboam was a stalwart in Solomon's force; he was a "mighty man of valor"- a very elite group of warriors. I find some common ground with him in that it appears that -like me- he was in
Human Resources. That's right, he was over Solomon's labor force. While reading earlier passages regarding Solomon's kingdom recently, I was surprised to note that when constructing the magnificent temple, Solomon had people that were over his "labor force". Jeroboam was one of those guys.
The Promise of a Bright Future
One day an old prophet approached Jeroboam and presented an illustrated sermon in the form of a brand new sport jacket which he promptly ripped into a dozen pieces. The old man then handed ten of those fragments to Jeroboam and pronounced that God would rip the kingdom of Israel from Solomon's heir in like manner and 10 of the families of Israel would come under Jeroboam's rule.
How do you like that? From war hero to HR Guy to King... what a shrewd career move. Actually, it wasn't Jeroboam's strategy at all; the whole plan was God's. The prophet the told him that God was promising him a strong kingdom for himself and his family after him - a legacy like the one promised to David - if only he would stay true to God.
Some time later Solomon died and his son,
Rehoboam ascended to the throne. When his constituents pledged their undying devotion if he would only lighten up and go a little easier than his father did,
Rehoboam took it on advisement and counseled with his cabinet.
Rehoboam listened to the advice of the scholarly old sages that had advised his father and he listened to the advice of his buddies that he hung out with at the malt shop. Then he took the advice of his youthful counselors and dealt harshly with the people, pledging to be even more burdensome than his father.
Just like that the kingdom split and ten clans brought themselves under the rule of Jeroboam. Just as God had said . . . . and further proving His Word, God established Jeroboam's kingdom over Israel.
This is where the disappointment comes in.
Choosing the Wrong Path
Having arrived at the pinnacle of success through no strength of his own, Jeroboam promptly began to try and maintain his status through his own wisdom and he completely left God out of the equation.
You see, Jeroboam ruled over ten tribes but Judah - one of the tribes that did not join him in his rebellion - was the one in which Jerusalem was located.
Jerusalem, the heart of Israel's worship. Israelites would not stop traveling there for worship - his own people would go there often to worship.
So, being afraid that he would lose the hearts of these pious people when they returned to Jerusalem, Jeroboam established his own centers of worship among his clans - two of them - and set up worship to a golden calf.
He quickly forgot how he got to where he was and Who brought him there.
This rapid scuttling of one's devotion to God disappoints me. This failure to hold a very basic understanding of God's work and how His way
always is best - astonishes me.
Jeroboam would go on to make idol worship prominent in Israel and even to
transform that once godly nation.
He would have a legacy - but not the one God offered - instead he would often be called the one "that caused Israel to sin". According to
Dake's Commentary, he would be referred to in this light 23 times.
Does it Really Matter?
Jeroboam's story took place thousands of years ago - many years before Christ - what does it matter?
Though we now enjoy a freedom and redemption through Christ that wasn't available to Jeroboam, I think basic human nature hasn't changed.
And often the things that most disappoint us about others are the very things that we most dislike about ourselves.
I'm disappointed because I am like Jeroboam in that despite the blessings God has given me, I will sometimes allow fear to turn my attention from Him and focus instead on trying to fix things myself.
Inevitably this path leads me to the wrong answers.
Secondly, R. and I went through a couple's bible study group called
Married for Life a number of years ago and one of the lessons dealt with forgiveness. The study suggested that when looking at areas of
unforgiveness in a marriage, it helps to think of areas in which your spouse has "disappointed" you.
Even though Jeroboam ignored the path to God's blessings - it was the
natural thing to do. When people around me do likewise and disappoint me, I need to look to God again for strength - this time to forgive; an act that can feel very
unnatural at times.
People will disappoint us.... often just because they are people. Parents . . . teachers . . . brothers and sisters . . . friends . . . pastors . . . even spouses.
People will disappoint us and sometimes our biggest disappointment may be the guy or gal in the mirror.
That path leads to trouble - no doubt - but God, Who is rich in mercy, has provided the exit ramp of forgiveness that leads back to the path of His blessings.
