Chapter 12 opens on Solomon’s son Rehoboam. Rehoboam has inherited a kingdom in disarray evidenced by the fact that he needs to travel to Shechem to be crowned king.

Prior to the unification of the 12 tribes there was great rivalry between the tribe of Ephriam to the north and Judah to the south. Solomon had called on the tribes of the north to do heavy manual labor in the south. With the rise of a new king they wanted assurances that the forced manual labor would not continue.

The fact that the royal court is meeting in shechem and jereboam is called up out of Egypt indicates that the northern tribes are already ready to pull away from the new king. At the moment, the only thing holding the nation of Israel together is the worship of the LORD.

Rehoboam meets with Solomon’s advisors (how smart do you have to be to advise the wisest guy in the world?). He rejects his dads advisors and attempts to play a strong hand against the tribes that are threatening to withdraw.

Point: technically Rehoboam is in the right. He is the rightful king, he has the right to raise taxes and labor. His appointment comes from the LORD. The 10 tribes lead by Ephriam that are threatening to rebell are in the wrong. It’s not that Rehoboam made the wrong decision, he just made an unwise one in a seemingly impossible situation. He would gave done well to follow his fathers advisors, but most likely would have lost the 10 tribes anyway.

Jereboam was promised by the Lord that he would lead the 10 northern tribes if he would rule like David. The problem is he acts completely opposite of David. He Leads Ephriam in rebellion. David submitted to Sauls authority. David consolidated worship for the nation. Jeraboam divided it. Later Jeraboam will come to terms with his rebellion.

Note: this small chapter of scripture changes everything for the nation of Israel. The nation moves from a consoladated state with the largest boarder in it’s history to two smaller states who are not strong enough to defend themselves from their enemies. The worship of the Lord is further poluted as Jeraboam introduces idol worship in the North. Thus will ultimately bring greater consiquences on the North and the South.

Application: Solomon is credited with ruling Israel in it’s prime, however his sin and his quiet rebellion of idolitry lead to the weakened state of the nation. Solomon’s rule adversly affected every king who would rule behind him. Every step we take away from the Lord bot only effects us, but those around us and ultimately our children. What kind of legacy are you building for your children? Solomon was handed an united empire by his father, yet with all his wisdom he passed off a weakened state ready for civil war to his son.

The first 10 chapters of 1 Kings build an incredible resume for Solomon. However, in chapter 11 things take a turn as Solomon turns after the idols of his many wives. This is in clear violation of the agreement that Solomon has with the LORD.

To get the real tragedy of this it is important to understand a little geography. It is sad that Solomon builds temples to these false gods, it is a tragedy that he builds them overlooking the temple mount (1 Kings 11:7). This temple to a false god would be in plain sight of anyone going to offer sacrificed at the Temple on Jerusalem.

Also note that these false gods were often worshipped in the most terrible fasion including child sacrifices. That is human sacrifices of infant children. That Solomon would even build a temple to these false gods is a rejection of the LORD.

Here Solomon is guilty of many sins, the most important being idol worship. In Deuteronomy 17:14-20, There are certain commands given for the conduct if a king of Israel. You see Israel is not like the other nations. Other nations belong to their kings and the kings flaunt it. Israel belongs to the LORD. It is a God ruled government. As such the king is supposed to live much closer to the people than for himself.

Here we have seen Solomon living much for himself. He has violated the commands of God. He has gone against the law to marry many cannanite women and they have lead his heart astray.

Because Solomon has broken covenant with the Lord, the Lord raises up opposition for Solomon. A troublemaker arrises in the south, another in the north and finally God calls out a man from within Israel to cause problems for Solomon and eventually split the kingdom.

Application: How you start is not nearly important as how you finish. If Solomon the wisest and wealthiest man to ever live can blow it, so can I. He started out great, but lost focus in the end. Are you living in such a way as to finish well? Or are all your greatest days of trusting God behind you?

In 1 Kings 10 we read about how rumors of Solomon’s wisdom have spread all over the known world. The queen of Sheba travels over 1500 miles to verify what she has heard (in a day when travel over 1500 miles took months to accomplish). She first verifies Solomon’s wisdom and then gives credit to the LORD for loving the nation of Israel and blessing them with such a great king.

In the New Testament Jesus gives the queen of Sheba props for traveling to hear Solomon’s wisdom first hand (Matthew 12:42). Sadly he states the reality that he was greater than Solomon yet the Pharisees were demanding a sign from Him. If they only would have seen what was right in front of their eyes.

We live in a day and age where people pride themselves on being Intelligent, but few are actually seeking wisdom. I recently stopped by a blog discussing science and religion. Though I weighed in with some rational arguments early in the comments, I was saddened to see the debate was not at all about truth or wisdom but became focused on namecalling as theist (people who belive in a god) and atheist (people who don’t believe in a god) began insulting one another’s intelligence.

Near the end of the comments section it became apparent that the Truth about the existence or non-existence of God no longer mattered. Nobody was looking for God or wisdom about how we got here. Sadly some of my Christian brothers were blindly throwing scripture out of context and my athestic friends were calling us all dumb and making unresearched and unfounded ideas about the bible based largely on a recent work of fiction. Needless to say the pursuit of truth got lost in the shuffle or was never there to begin with.

On the otherhand I have had people come to me asking genuine questions about some of the same things. Being a skeptic by nature I’ve sought alot of the answers on my own and am always delighted to share. The difference was that one was pursuing truth and the other propigating that they were right in order to win an argument.

Application: how far will you go to get the truth? To gain wisdom? To know God?

How far will you go to live in the grace and knowledge of Jesus? Does your lifestlye provoke others to come to you for the truth?

Wow, a lot happens in 1 Kings 8. Perhaps the most important thing as it pertains to God’s character is that God keeps his promises (1 kings 8:20, 24 – 26, 53, 56). Many of God’s promises are contingent upon our willingness to trust Him and obey. For Israel to receive the promised blessings of God they needed to honor God and keep the covenant.

Just like a good parent gives good rules their children to protect them God established a covenant with Israel that bless them if they kept it. And just like a good parent, when Israel broke the covenant, God would discipline them to keep them from further harm.

Application: God loves us. He keeps His promises. Are you trusting Him?

In 1 Kings 7 Solomon builds his house. It’s not a small house and it is costly to build. Some commentators view this as the beginning of Solomon’s slide away from God. They assume that Solomon is in violation of Deuteronomy 17:17. Others assume that Solomons expression of wealth is to state that God is a great God and Solomon is a great king. Whatever the reason Solomon prominently displays his wealth at the expense of those who are being taxed and forced into labor.

Another notable theme here is that Solomon builds a rather large living area for his wife, Pharoh’s daughter. Her preferential treatment seems to indicate she was to be considered the Queen or at least demanded a great deal of respect due to her father’s influence.

Apparently something in Solomon’s relationship with Egypt changed after this point. Egypt will harbor a fugative who will cause a civil war in Israel and eventually attack while solomon’s son is reigning.

Application: ok admittedly there isn’t alot to go on here for application… Here is what I came up with 1. what does the way you manage money say about you and your relationship with God? 2. Are you giving your spouse enough space? (ok the second one isn’t really an application… But I couldn’t resist)

1 Kings 6 describes how the temple was built. To the modern reader it’s easy to get lost in the numbers and detail and wonder why these facts were even recorded (after all it doesn’t appear like this is super spiritual stuff)… But the numbers and details do remind us that these are actual events, this place was real. It’s not just a story, but history as well.

The Christian faith is built on the historical reality that the one true God of the universe interacts with mankind in such a way as to draw men after Himself. The reality of the temple that Solomon built (which is relatively small compared to some church campuses today) is that it represented God’s presence with His people. It represented the fact that God had fulfilled his promises and that Israel belonged in the land they were occupying. I find it no small coincidence that the Temple was built when Israel’s borders were as close as ever to the Abrahamic covenant.

This is a seal that God is with His people. He has delivered them from Egypt and has given the land completely over to the Israelites.

Application: Though Solomon builds an amazing temple, it is still a far cry from the way Adam walked with God in the Garden. Later Jesus would come and walk among us as God in the flesh. Now, for those who are Christ-followers, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God who allows us communion with God at anytime. There will come a day when we will be in the city of God and He will what illumines everything.

What does it mean that a God so holy and so just would choose to walk with a sinful people like us? What does that say about the character of God to love beyond measure?

God really loves us. We are made in His image. As one children’s Bible puts it, God is pleased to look at us and see a bit of Himself. He truly desires a relationship with you. Are you trusting Him today?