[All
quotes are from The Message Bible unless otherwise noted.]
I Kings 11:1-5 King Solomon was obsessed with women. Pharaoh’s daughter was only the first of the many foreign women he loved—Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite. He took them from the surrounding pagan nations of which God had clearly warned Israel, “You must not marry them; they’ll seduce you into infatuations with their gods.” Solomon fell in love with them anyway, refusing to give them up. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines—a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God. As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful—he didn’t stay true to his God as his father David had done. Solomon took up with Ashtoreth, the whore goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites.
6-8 Solomon openly
defied God; he did not follow in his father David’s footsteps. He went on
to build a sacred shrine to Chemosh, the horrible god of Moab, and to Molech,
the horrible god of the Ammonites, on a hill just east of Jerusalem. He built
similar shrines for all his foreign wives, who then polluted the countryside
with the smoke and stench of their sacrifices.
9-10 God was furious
with Solomon for abandoning the God of Israel, the God who had twice
appeared to him and had so clearly commanded him not to fool around with other
gods. Solomon faithlessly disobeyed God’s orders.
11-13 God said to
Solomon, “Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of
keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the
kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for
your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime. It’s your son who will
pay—I’ll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won’t take it all; I’ll
leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my
chosen city Jerusalem.”
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Clearly,
Solomon disregarded God and chose the pleasures of sinful behavior instead. He
put his love for women above his love for God! He willfully disobeyed and
disregarded the God of his father, David!
AND THERE WERE CONSEQUENCES! The nation of Israel would be divided as a direct result of Solomon’s sinful behavior! Yet, out of respect for David, God promised that Solomon’s heir would retain control over one of the twelve tribes.
This was God’s declaration, and the following chapters give the details of these promised results.
Let’s be clear: God is willing to
forgive sin! He is not willing that any should perish! [II Peter 3:9]
However, we must often deal with the consequences of our sin!
This fact has been evident from the very beginning!
When Eve and Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, God cast them out of the Garden – never to be allowed to return!
Now we can assume that forgiveness was an option, although we have no record of them ever pursuing it. But it is clear that the consequences of their sin were real and had a dynamic impact on the rest of their lives!
Genesis 3:22 …God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they’d been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.
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There are plenty of other examples of Biblical characters who had to suffer the consequences of their sin.
§ Moses was not allowed
to enter the Promised Land because of his anger with the Israelites.
§ Samson’s remarkable,
God-enabled strength allowed him to do incredible things, but his love for
foreign women was his downfall and eventually brought about his premature
death.
§ The children of Israel
were chronic rebels and God eventually allowed them to be captured and carried
away by the Assyrians and the Babylonians.
§ Peter denied knowing
Jesus three times in a short period of time on the night of Jesus’ trial.
Although forgiven, imagine the reaction Peter had for the rest of his life when
he heard a rooster crow!
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However, even though we may frequently suffer the consequences of our sin, God has promised us resources to assist us with the friction that these consequences create.
Consider Hebrews 4:14-16 [NASB]
Therefore, since we have a great high
priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us
hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who
cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in
all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore
let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Never underestimate the power of God’s mercy and grace!
Jesus was tempted just as we are! He understands the power of our opposition! And He does not leave us without resources!
RECEIVING MERCY
The Hebrew word for mercy, chesed, signifies lovingkindness and covenant loyalty. God’s mercy is not earned; it is freely given out of His lovingkindness, even when people are unworthy or faithless.
RECEIVING GRACE
God’s grace is fundamentally His benevolence, love, and mercy extended to people who do not deserve it [that's us!]. It is not earned by human effort or good works but is a free gift from God, reflecting His loving character and generosity (Ephesians 2:8-9).
NOW – the above verse from Hebrews tells us that “…we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
As a result of this,…let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
SUMMARY
Even when we have sinned and are dealing with the consequences of our sin, we can still have hope because of the immeasurable goodness of a God who sympathizes with our weakness and – in spite of our sinful thoughts, words, actions – stands ready to offer us His lovingkindness [mercy] and patience [grace] to enable us to recover and restore His kingship in our lives!
Thanks be to God for
His lovingkindness and faithfulness in rescuing us from the powerful influence
of sin in our lives!
God sees us!
God understands our
weakness!
God forgives us!
God restores us!
AND,
God offers us mercy and
grace as we deal with the consequences of the dreadful impact of our
sinfulness!
MAY GOD’S NAME BE
FOREVER PRAISED!
AMEN!
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