1 Kings: God’s Conditional Promises
God’s covenants, given in the Bible, are not like those of two parties in a legal agreement. God really loves his people and longs for them to follow his ways. According to the Bible, the Lord asks:
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” Isaiah 49:15
The Bible indicates a covenant is more like the ties of a parent to her child. If a child fails to show up for dinner, the parent's obligation isn't cancelled. The parent finds out where the child is and makes sure he's cared for. One member's failure does not destroy the relationship. A covenant puts no conditions on faithfulness. It is the unconditional commitment to love and serve. However a time does come when that relationship is broken, when the child refuses to acknowledge their parent and leaves home permanently. The parents love remains but the relationship is broken.
The book of 1 Kings begins with Solomon being appointed king of Israel. The elderly David said to Solomon:
“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ 1 Kings 2:2-4
David recognises that the promises of God are conditional on people living according to what God has said. This paragraph may be summarised as:
“Walk in obedience to him . . .that the Lord may keep his promise to me.”
Shimei had been party to an earlier rebellion against King David by his son, Absalom. Shimei was conditionally pardoned on condition that he never left Jerusalem and he gave an oath that he would live by this condition. However three years later two of Shimei’s slaves ran off to Gath and he chased after them on a donkey. He was subsequently summoned before Solomon who said:
“Did I not make you swear by the Lord and warn you, ‘On the day you leave to go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die’? At that time you said to me, ‘What you say is good. I will obey.’ Why then did you not keep your oath to the Lord and obey the command I gave you?” 1 Kings 2:42-43
Shimei was executed. The promise of the king was conditional, but Shimei had failed to obey and he paid the price.
At first all went well. Solomon’s close relationship with the Lord resulted in his kingdom becoming secure and affluent. The Lord gave Solomon great wisdom that many, such as the Queen of Sheba came to recognise. However these blessings remained conditional:
“And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.” 1 Kings 3:14-15
Sadly, in spite of these good intentions, Solomon was seduced by events. He forgot the warning the Lord had given to God’s people through Samuel:
“So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 7:3
Samuel had also warned about how kings would behave. These temptations were precisely what happened to Solomon:
“He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[a] and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” 1 Samuel 8:11-18
Solomon then built the magnificent temple in Jerusalem and palaces for himself and his wives. The Lord then again warned Solomon that his support remained conditional:
“The word of the Lord came to Solomon: “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfil through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.” 1 Kings 6:11-13
When Solomon dedicated the temple he reminded God of his promises to his father:
“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below - you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today. Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.” I Kings 8:23-26
The King clearly recognises that God’s covenant is two sided – his promises are only valid if his people remain faithful to him. Solomon recognised that the Lord is a gracious God and that if rebellious people return to him when they face the inevitable problems, such as defeat or drought, he will always be forgiving:
“When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors. When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. 1 Kings 8:33-36
God is concerned about people’s hearts and will do anything to help people return to a close relationship with him.
“. . . and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel - being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple - then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.” 1 Kings 8:38-40
It is so easy to forget what God’s intention is:
“. . . then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.” 1 Kings 8:43
Sin is essentially a rejection of God and his son, Jesus (John 16:9) and this is the plight of all people. It is this treason that angers God. This message about our sin is repeated throughout the Bible and Solomon realises this, yet God always wants people to know that he remains a God of love:
“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.” 1 Kings 8:46-49
Jesus explained that the temple in Jerusalem, with all its majesty and strength represented himself:
“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ They replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ But the temple he had spoken of was his body.” John 2:19-21
Solomon finished his prayer and stood to address the people. He reminded them that all they had depended on the promises of God:
“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.” 1 Kings 8:56
He recognises that even though God has made his promises there remains an obligation for God’s people to keep their side of the covenant.
“May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors.” 1 Kings 8:57-8
Solomon again returns to the fact that God is God and that it is his reputation that is pre-eminent.
“. . . so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.” 1 Kings 8:60-61
The truth is that God has chosen his people to be his forever. When the Messiah came his followers are still his people but, as in the days of the prophets, there will always be those who forfeit their privileged position of being members of the Kingdom of God by refusing him.
Solomon drifts away from the Lord
In spite of all the warnings and directions given in the Torah, Solomon decided to have other priorities. How often this happens today. Kings were warned:
“The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.” Deuteronomy 17:16-20
Solomon had started well but then forgot these priorities. Note that a long reign for him and his descendants was conditional on their obeying what God wanted:
“King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.” 1 Kings 11:1-6
As so often happens today an unsuitable marriage can lead to the downfall of many good people, men and women. What matters more than anything is to maintain our devotion to the Lord. This failure led to disastrous consequences for Solomon and his descendants:
“The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” 1 Kings 11:9-13
Yet the Lord had promised to King David:
“When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:12-16
This prophecy was partially fulfilled in Solomon, David’s son, who built the magnificent Temple (1 Kings 6:1). However, Solomon and later kings did ‘do wrong’, they refused to live as the Lord wanted, leading to the division of the Kingdom into the states of Israel and Judah and eventually to the Babylonian exile.
It was however fully fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is called the Son of David (Matthew 1:1, Luke 1:32-33). His reign is eternal, – “His kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:33
David was promised that his offspring will reign for ever, yet Solomon was told that the kingdom would be taken away from his offspring because of his rejection of the rule of God. However, about 40 generations later Solomon’s descendant Jesus was born and his kingdom is everlasting. God did keep his word even though individuals who rejected the Lord’s rule were punished for their treason against God. This is how God always keeps his word. Many Jews rejected the rule of Jesus and the temple building was destroyed, yet Jesus who claimed to embody the temple is now succeeded by those who have faith in him and they also have become the temple of God, the place where the glory of God shines out.
Jeroboam starts well but also turns away from the Lord
Toward the end of his reign Solomon faced increasing opposition. Jeroboam was an able young man who Solomon put in charge of his labour force. A prophet of God, Ahijah, then met Jeroboam, took off his new cloak and tore it up into twelve pieces.
“Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. I will do this because they have forsaken me . . . and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.” 1 Kings 11:31-33
Thus the Lord always keeps his promises but not in the way we think he means. Thos who turn away from God will always face the consequences. God said of Solomon,
“But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. I will humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.” 1 Kings 11:34-39
God’s promise to Jeroboam was an enduring dynasty but again there was a condition, ‘If you do whatever I command you.’
Jeroboam had to flee to Egypt after Solomon tried to have him killed and he stayed there till Solomon died. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son then became king of Israel and Jeroboam returned and asked the new king to make the load on the people lighter. The first advice from his elders was wise,
“If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favourable answer, they will always be your servants.” 1 Kings 12:7
What great advice for any in senior positions. Rehoboam however followed the advice of his young friends and went in the opposite direction, increasing the burdens on his people. This resulted in Jeroboam and the ten northern tribes rebelling and as a result, the independent state of Israel, based in Samaria began whilst Rehoboam remained in control of Judah and Benjamin. This division took place in 930BC.
Jeroboam then took his eyes off obeying the Lord:
“Jeroboam thought to himself, ‘The Kingdom is now likely to revert to the house of David.” 1 Kings 12:26
Returning people to himself and to the house of David had always been the Lord’s plan but Jeroboam had different ideas. He made two golden calves and had them set up as places of worship in his kingdom.
“Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt . . . Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. . . He instituted a festival on the fifteen day of the eighth month like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar.” 1 Kings12:28-32
Jeroboam instituted a false religion that had some similarities to that of the Lord. A prophet from Judah came and warned Jeroboam that he was acting in opposition to ‘the word of the Lord’ and that a subsequent King of Judah, Josiah, would come and destroy these new altars and their priests. Jeroboam hated this and ordered that the prophet be seized. However his arm, pointing at the prophet, shrivelled and the altar split in two. It was only when Jeroboam asked the prophet to pray to the Lord that his arm was restored. Unfortunately the prophet himself then disobeyed the ‘word of the Lord’ and was killed by a lion. In this chapter ‘the word of the Lord’ is mentioned 9 times stressing the danger of disobeying or distorting God’s word, even for prophets. The chapter ends with this conclusion:
“Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.” 1 Kings 13:33-34
In 732 BC, Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria, attacked Israel and took parts of its territory (2 Kings 15:29). In 722 BC, King Shalmaneser V and later Sargon II besieged Samaria, Israel’s capital, for three years and finally conquered it (2 Kings 17:5-6). Many Israelites were deported to Assyrian lands, and the nation of Israel was no more.
It took David and Solomon 80 years to establish their nation but it only took 80 days for Rehoboam to destroy the nation. With the exceptions of kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah many of the kings of Judah rejected the rule of God and eventually that state was destroyed by the Babylonians and their temple left in ruins finally in 587BC. The promised land was no more.
Yet 70 years later Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, defeated Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to rebuild Jerusalem. Eventually a small temple was built to be replaced by King Herod’s magnificent temple which was the one Jesus visited. The Jews revolted against Rome in 66AD and this temple was destroyed in 70AD, never to be rebuilt again.
God has always been faithful to his chosen people, but the question is who are the descendents of Abraham. The Bible is clear, to be a descendant of Abraham a person must share the personal faith in and relationship with God that Abraham had. All who have faith in the Son of God, in Christ are Abraham’s spiritual descendants.
“Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7
“It is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.” Romans 9:8
“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29
Many Jews have become followers of their Messiah, Jesus, and God’s promises are still fulfilled in them. It is obvious that God’s commitments about his people and his land need to be understood as part of the covenant relationship. It is apparent from the book of Kings that this covenant requires the involvement of two parties. ‘I will be your God and you will be my people’ must involve a commitment by God’s people to follow him. If they don’t both they and their land will be taken from them.
BVP
