Read the WHOLE Bible in just ONE year
2 Kings 7 to 9
We live in and expect the grace of God – we can always expect this because God is good and makes excellent promises to us.
However it is possible to become so secure in His grace that we forget that He treats us as Sons. David was a man after God's heart and God determined to bless him by giving him a son to reign after him.
1 Kings 11:9 The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD NIV
However there were rules about kingship and rules for all the people. There was the rule about not intermarrying or we would say not being joined unequally.
2 Cor 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. NIV
There were rules about wives and horses.
Deut 17:16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself 17 He must not take many wives , or his heart will be led astray.NIV
Solomon broke all these and above all he broke the first two commandments.
Ex 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol NIV
So why wasn't Solomon concerned about the anger of God? Maybe he thought he could get away with it? – Not such a wise thought!
Let's not think because He is slow to anger that he never gets there!
Ps 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger , abounding in love. NIV
God allowed resistance into Solomon's life – his reign became complicated and ran into trouble as a consequence of his disobedience.
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was dumb as he got older!
As we get older we ought to get wiser, not start to fool around.
It is good that the bible records how God gave wisdom to Solomon and how he became the greatest king on the earth. The trouble he caused is recorded too!
If it could be worse, then the dynasty of Jeroboam that Solomon's sin brought to prominence caused idolatry to be rife in Israel for generations to come. We should also remember that our disobedience and sin can have a generational effect that we are responsible for.
Jesus came to set us free from the curse of sin – even the generational curse.
Don't start it all over again. Recognise the holiness and righteousness of God and live the way he wants. He might be slow to anger, but we will not get away with it – and what's more we may hurt those to come too!
If you don't understand the commands of God, don't worry – just keep them. Keep close to Him, honour your conscience and keep the temple of the Holy Spirit (your heart) the holy place it should be.
We need to read the word to know what God has said, and we need to keep it in our hearts like God said to Joshua.
Josh 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. NIV
With all Solomon's wisdom he messed up in this because he gave sin a foothold in his life.
Better that we follow the command that God gave Joshua than the example of Solomon, because if we are careful to do everything in the Word then we will have great success!