Division, unrest, strife, infighting, rebelliousness. These are all the consequences of sin. Solomon's great sins at the end of his life, the sins of his son Rehoboam, and the egregious sins of Jeroboam, his challenger, all contribute to what happens to the unified Kingdom of David. God calls for unity and peace. Satan calls for rupture and discord. At the heart of it all is the unwillingness to humbly follow God's commands. These rulers--Solomon, Rehoboam, Jeroboam--all acted selfishly and blasphemously. And they got what they deserved. Not only was the kingdom split in two, but for generations afterward there would be crisis after crisis, until ultimately the kingdoms would be subjugated and destroyed by outsiders. Never again would there be peace and unity among God's people. Nothing could redeem this situation--nothing, that is, until God sent His Only Son to do what we humans could not.
It seems, too, that God wasted no time scourging the Israelites. As soon as Jeroboam is made king of the ten rebel tribes of Israel, he institutes idolatry. This is why the northern kingdom collapsed sooner. In an act worse than Solomon's, Jeroboam erects shrines to golden calves in the north and south of his kingdom. He is trying to win the favor of the people, which tells us that the people were no better than their rulers in falling away from God's commandments. This egregious slap in God's face foreshadows only doom. This, like many chapters of Scripture, can be disheartening to read. But we must remember it is all a reflection of the rebelliousness in each of us, and the need we all have of Christ's saving grace. From this point forward in the Old Testament, Christ's coming will be most ardently yearned for among the righteous.
No comments:
Post a Comment