Sun.’s Devo - Solomon’s Downfall

Read: 1 Kings 11:1-12:19; Acts 9:1-25; Psalm 131:1-3; Proverbs 17:4-5 Solomon was warned two times by the Lord not to worship other gods and he continued to marry foreign wives who brought their gods into his house. He ended up building shrines and temples to their gods and worshipping them himself. He even built a shrine for Chemosh and Molech on the Mount of Olives. To worship them you had to give children to sacrifice which makes it even more powerful that that was the place Jesus would go to to pray. God came to Solomon again and told them that since he disobeyed his decrees, He would tear the kingdom away from him and give it to one of his servants after he died. The Lord raised up three adversaries: Hadad from Edom, Rezon from Damascus, and Jeroboam, one of his own officers. God sent the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam to tell him that God was going to divide the kingdom and give 10 of the tribes to him and leave the other two to Solomon. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to Egypt where he stayed until Solomon died. When Solomon died, his son, Rehoboam became the king. He went to Shechem to be crowned and Jeroboam came also. The leaders of Israel summoned all the people to be there to speak with Rehoboam. They asked him what kind of king he was going to be. His father had been a hard master, taxing the people with labor and money. They told him that if he would lighten their burden, they would serve him loyally. Rehoboam told them that he needed three days to decide and then he would let them know. He went to the elderly counselors of his father and asked them how he should respond. They told him to respond favorably to the people, then they would serve him forever. But then he asked his peers. They told him to tell the complainers that he would be even harder than his father had been. Sadly, Rehoboam took the advise of his peers and gave the people a harsh answer. The kingdom split and 10 of the tribes rebelled against Rehoboam and didn’t accept them as their king. Jereboam had to flee for his life to Jerusalem. In Acts, Saul became blood-thirsty after watching Stephen’s death. He requested permission to bring more Christians back to Jerusalem in chains. As he on his way to Damascus to persecute more Christians when he was stopped by a light that shone from heaven. A voice spoke his name twice and asked why was he persecuting him. Saul asked who the voice was and was told it was Jesus. Jesus told him to get up and to go into the city where he would be told what to do. Saul went to get up and realized he was blind and had to be led into the city. He was blind for three days. In the meantime, God spoke to a believer in the town whose name was Ananias. He told Ananias to go to Straight Street to the house of Judas. There he would find Saul who was praying. He was to place his hands on him and pray that he would regain his sight. Ananias argued with the Lord about Saul, but the Lord said that Saul was his chosen instrument to take his message to the Gentiles and to kings. He was showing Saul how much suffering he would have to go through for his name’s sake. Ananias obeyed and found Saul where God said he would be and prayed for him. Saul regained his sight and was filled with the Holy Spirit. He stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days, preaching about Jesus in the synagogues. The people were so shocked to see the transformation in Saul but some of the Jews plotted to kill him. The friends of Saul snuck him out of the city through a hole in the wall. Rehoboam was a type of leader that refused to repent and it cost him most of his kingdom. Saul gave up his kingdom on earth to gain an eternal kingdom. He gained a kingdom family who would lay down their lives for his safety. Saul chose wisely. Lord, help us to choose wisely. May we put your kingdom first and be willing to die for You.