Year 1, Week 48, Day 2 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 48, Day 2

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 1 Kings 11; 2 Chronicles 9.

Today’s reading involves two passages that pertain to Solomon. 2 Chronicles 9 parallels yesterday’s reading of 1 Kings 11. 1 Kings 11 records a tragic statement concerning Solomon: “For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father” (1 Kings 11:4). With the influence of his wives, Solomon turned his love toward other gods: “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love” (1 Kings 11:2b; see also Deuteronomy 7:3-4). As a result, Solomon carried out evil: “So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done” (1 Kings 11:6). The Chronicler immediately notes Solomon’s death after the visit from the Queen of Sheba and the inventory of Solomon’s riches: “Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place” (2 Chronicles 9:30-31). The information about Solomon from today’s reading of 1 Kings 11 is not required for the Chronicler to accomplish his purposes. 

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the LORD raising up adversaries against Solomon: “And the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite…God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada…Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king” (1 Kings 11:14a, 23a, 26). We are told why the LORD raised up adversaries against Solomon: “And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded” (1 Kings 11:9-10). We actually should not be surprised over the LORD’s anger against Solomon’s idolatry: “You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 6:14-15). God was simply implemented His stated policy.

Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam were not random adversaries of Solomon that surprisingly surfaced from nowhere. The arrival of Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam, the timing of their arrival and the impact of their arrival was not accidental; their arrival, timing, and impact occurred by the hand of God. While we are told that the LORD’s anger was involved in the raising up of these adversaries, we should note that the anger of the LORD is not what we may associate with when we think of the actions of an angry person. Too often, in anger we say and do things that run counter to what we know to be good and right. However, when the LORD acts in anger, He does not act contrary to what is good and right; the LORD’s anger is always an expression of His goodness and righteousness, and the LORD’s anger is always consistent with what He has promised: “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him” (2 Samuel 7:14-15a). The LORD’s rods and stripes are faithful policies of the LORD, as He carries out what He has promised: “I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75). The LORD’s rods and stripes came to Solomon in the form of Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam. The LORD’s anger does not mean a suspension of His love; the LORD’s anger can actual be a stirring of His love: “My son, do not despise the LORD’S discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:11-13).

Solomon found himself the recipient of the LORD’s correction and chastisement, but the LORD’s grander promises to David were still intact: “Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen” (1 Kings 11:12-13). God’s promises to David would not be nullified even while God’s punishment upon Solomon would have lingering consequences. But the certainty of the LORD’s affliction would not give way to complete abandonment by the LORD: “And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever” (1 Kings 11:39).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe