August 29, 2009

• Israel’s kings, high places, idols by Jerry Moore

  Pastor Jerry spoke about genealogies and how these were so important to who owned what land in Israel. He spoke about how the kingdom became divided and how the Israelites let idol worship into their midst.

  1 Kings 3:1-2 Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall all around Jerusalem. Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days.

  Notice that there was worship going on in the high places – that is where the idols were worshipped.

  1 Kings 3:3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

  That is a mighty big EXCEPT – that Solomon did most things like David did, EXCEPT he burned incense to the idols in high places.  These were groves, shady places with trees that were used to worship idols. 

  There was no temple built, so they worshipped in these high places, and that worship became a habit.

  1 Kings 3:14-15  So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” Then Solomon awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

  God told Solomon to keep God’s statues and commandments. 

  1 Kings 8:22-53 – This is the prayer that Solomon made to dedicate the temple.  I did not print it out for it is such a long passage, but have made a link for you to go to it if you desire. 

  God said that if the Jews prayed toward the Temple, God would restore them.  Now, since Jesus, we are the Temple of the Lord.  God wants us to be in the place where we are praying toward Christ.  The presence of God would be His Son, and God knows the heart intent of our prayers. 

  The Messiah will come when everyone God has called comes to the Lord, getting people back to the fold.  We need to examine our hearts.

  Verses 41-43 Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple,  hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.

  This is very encouraging for us Gentiles for this shows that God hears the prayers of foreigners, all nations.  The people of Israel can be conquered and taken out of the land because of their disobedience, but God will, after people return to Him with their whole heart, bring a remnant of the people back to the land. 

  1 Kings 8:54 And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, that he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.

  The posture that Solomon used to pray (on his knees) is the posture that we need to assume when we pray before God.  It is a point of contact.  Yes, we can talk with God anywhere, anytime, and connect with God no matter our posture.  But sometimes it is important to have us kneel in humbly before God.  The position we assume says something to our flesh.  Without God’s mercy and grace, we could never have reached a point where we seek God.

  It is difficult for people to see their own problems.  We tend to not look to carefully and examine ourselves, but that is important for it helps us to get in right position and in line with God’s will for our lives.

  We know how Solomon sinned, for he did not obey God’s commands or follow God’s instructions for kings.  What then happened is that his son Rehoboam refused to listen to the elders, and put undo pressure on the people of Israel, this caused the kingdom to be divided. 

  Rehoboam ruled Judah the Southern Kingdom, and Jeroboam ruled Israel – the Northern Kingdom.  Jeroboam was afraid that the people would go to Jerusalem to worship God at the feasts and he did not want that, for then he would lose his power, so his solution was the following – notice, he said it in his heart:

  1 Kings 12:25-33 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”  Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines^Godfather56