(1 King 9:1-9) Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all that Solomon desired to do, 2 that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 4 As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”
Here the LORD repeated His covenant/promise that He made to Abraham, Isaac and David and its conditions... BUT King Solomon's weakness was women, and because of that and the gods that they worshiped, he drifted away from God... It seems that this was the last time the LORD appeared to a king.
(1 Kings 11:9-13) Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
King Solomon's sinful actions affected the entire country. After the death of Solomon, the country was split in half. Then, as one reads through the Old Testament, you see that when an Israelite king obeyed God - they experienced peace, but most of the kings disregarded God - and the people experienced the consequences. You see these events/stories repeated in the rest of 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, as well as in the books of the minor prophets (which give other perspectives from different authors/eyewitnesses).
As well, after this point, God began sending prophets to the kings and the people in order to speak for Him. THE angel of the LORD (Jesus of the Old Testament) still manifested Himself a few times, like in 2 Kings 1:15 (to guide the prophet Elijah), and in 2 Kings 19:35 (to punish the people).
I think often we wonder, would we not obey sooner or better if only we could VISIBLY see Jesus. Well, the Israelites proved that this sort of arrangement does not necessarily prompt one to do so. And often we wonder, would we not obey sooner or better if only we were rewarded for our good behavior??? Well, the Israelites proved that this sort of arrangement does not work particularly well. We tend to take God for granted when things are going well.
Interestingly, the churches that are growing faster and stronger are in countries where persecution is highest... THEN people tend to look to God and depend on Him for everything!!! (It's that or be angry at Him, which does nothing to help. Quite the opposite.) So - we have choices. Challenges arise. We will be tested. How would we know that we are trusting in God if we are not tested? How can we be a testimony to others if we say, "God is always there for me" if we've never gone through anything? Not to say that God never blesses us when we obey. Quite the opposite. There are blessings when we live in obedience, such as love, peace, joy, contentment in all things, etc. (see also Romans 8).
(Romans 5:1-5) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Our biggest reward will be given to us in heaven when we meet Jesus. It is at the Bema Seat where He judges the good deeds of Christians (since our sins are forgiven and remembered no more - the impure is burned away leaving only the pure). When we serve God and others with pure motives - these things will be rewarded. But even more so, we can have the confidence and real HOPE - KNOWING that we have eternal life!
(1 Corinthians 3:11-15) For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
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