September 24, 2021 — 1 Kings 11:14–43    

“…this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ʻLook, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomonʼs hand and I will give ten tribes to you. He will retain one tribe, for my servant Davidʼs sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. I am taking the kingdom from him because they have abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomonʼs father David did. I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules. I will take the kingdom from the hand of his son and give ten tribes to you. I will leave his son one tribe so my servant Davidʼs dynasty may continue to serve me in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home. I will select you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel. You must obey all I command you to do, follow my instructions, do what I approve, and keep my rules and commandments, like my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David; I will give you Israel. I will humiliate Davidʼs descendants because of this, but not forever.” Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.” 1 Kings 11:31-40

David reigned over Israel for forty years, and so did his son Solomon. That number forty has such significance for Judaism, that it must represent a perfect or special number. Today we think of thirty or forty years as encompassing a generation. Solomon began the construction of the Temple four years after he assumed the reign over Israel, and it was completed in seven years. The numbers of individuals forced into labor on the Temple are astounding – seventy thousand laborers, eighty thousand stonecutters, one hundred and eighty thousand in total. The exacting numbers that are given in the biblical accounts, from all of the numbers given to us in the book of Numbers, to the exacting details of the construction of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:10 – 22), to the Temple built by Solomon, the exacting details give us a sense of the importance and the significance of Israel’s religious life.

We are still a people fascinated by numbers. In sports, we track records and times and “at bats” in baseball and “running yards” in football, and the number of “Majors” won in tennis and golf. In all aspects of business, we worry about numbers – the bottom line, income verses expenses, sales numbers, etc. In the church, we look at how many people worship each week, how many bulletins to run, how many children attend Sunday school, etc. Numbers allow us to measure progress, trends, and statistics, but can they truly measure the significance of our religious life? Is it right to measure the church by the number of people on the membership roles in a church, or how many people the church is ministering to in the community? Shouldn’t the most important number be how many people hear about the Good News of Jesus Christ first – and then how many needs are being met through the church’s ministries? Something for us all to ponder….

Let Us Pray,

Lord Jesus, you offer us eternal life – without wondering about how many souls we have brought to you, or whether we have perfect attendance in Sunday school. All you seek is a contrite heart and open ears. Help us achieve that today – and every day. Amen.

Pastor Dave

September 23, 2021 — Kings 9:1–11:13              

“After Solomon finished building the Lordʼs temple, the royal palace, and all the other construction projects he had planned, the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, in the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him, “I have answered your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home; I will be constantly present there. You must serve me with integrity and sincerity, just as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations. Then I will allow your dynasty to rule over Israel permanently, just as I promised your father David, ʻYou will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.ʼ

“But if you or your sons ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods, then I will remove Israel from the land I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed among all the nations. This temple will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, saying, ʻWhy did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?ʼ Others will then answer, ʻBecause they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.ʼ” 1 Kings 9:1-9

Once the people of Israel had crossed into the Promised Land, G-d told them not to intermingle with the people who lived in the land – do not marry their people, do not worship their gods, do not leave anything in its place. Instead, they were told to destroy everything. Now, this sounds like horrible instructions, but no matter, the people did not always do as G-d instructed. Eventually, their hearts and their loyalty to G-d was weakened by their presence among the people of these foreign lands, and soon they would also be worshipping other gods. It seems that Solomon, as wise as he was, fell into the same trap and to the same temptations as those many kings who went before him – and it led him and his people to future problems.

The Lord does not like it when we place our loyalties and our time for worship and praise upon other things – and upon other gods. It is the very reason the first commandment deals with our loyalty to G-d. Remember, our G-d is a jealous G-d who seeks a personal relationship with us – one that is not divided by other gods or other things that we might worship. But there are so many distractions, so many enticements in this world that constantly call us to follow them. It is always good to remember that G-d does not give up on G-d’s people.

Let Us Pray,

Lord Jesus, you are the good news we need to hear every day: just like G-d does not give up on G-d’s people in the Old Testament, you came to remind us that G-d will not give up on us. G-d will continue to welcome us again and again when we come to our senses, drop our loyalties to other G-ds, and return to you with our prayers and praises. Amen.

Pastor Dave