Episode 7: 1 Kings 11:1-25 God's Judgement
As we come to a close on our time in 1 Kings for now, we're finishing with one of the most sobering chapters of the Bible, charting Solomon's downfall.
-
How are we helped to see the nature of Solomon's sin in this chapter?
How does seeing God's judgement and mercy side by side make you feel?
How does this passage help you to give thanks for Christ even more?
-
This episode is sponsored by Stewardship
Stewardship is a UK-based charity that helps over 30,000 Christians be the best stewards of the resources God gives them.
Whether you’re supporting a friend in mission, your local church, or a cause close to your heart, Stewardship makes it easy to give wisely, generously, and in a tax-effective way. And if you don’t live in the UK, you can still support many UK Christian charities through their international partner network. Find out more at stewardship.org.uk
-
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Felicity: You're listening to the Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea podcast, the Bible Study podcast for everyday life. We're here for a 20 minute burst of Bible chat over a cup of tea and an English style biscuit as we make our way through a Bible book over the course of the season and drive it to our hearts. And this season we're in the first 11 chapters of First Kings. Whether you've been listening for a while or have just found us, we're so pleased you're here.
Sarah: This episode is brought to you in partnership with Stewardship, a UK-based charity that helps over 30,000 Christians be the best stewards of the resources God gives them. Whether you're supporting a friend in mission, your local church, or a cause close to your heart, Stewardship makes it easy to give wisely, generously, and in a tax-effective way. And if you're listening from outside the UK, you can still support many UK Christian charities through their international partner network. Find out more at stewardship.org.uk.
Felicity: Welcome to Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea. My name is Felicity. I'm here in the States. I'm here as ever with my sister Sarah. She's in the UK and we're excited to be getting into One King's Chapter 11 this episode. Sarah, you were just smelling the waft of your tea as if it had something special, special in there.
Sarah: Well, it's called Empress Grey. I was given it yesterday by somebody who came round for lunch. And I've actually put a slice of lemon in it rather than milk. So I feel like that's a nod to our step-grandmother who used to drink tea with lemon in.
Felicity: Yeah, very true.
Sarah: It smells very good.
Felicity: But a smell, mean, often a tea smell is stronger than the taste
Sarah: I know, but I think for me the zestiness and the lemon is gonna be a good thing, so I'm genuinely excited about that. Yeah.
Felicity: Good, good. So we are heading into chapter 11, the final chapter of what we're talking about in the course of this season. How has it felt reading this chapter after what's come before? Because, you know, we're up and down, major and minor, all the way through. So what's been your experience this week as you've been reading it?
Sarah: I mean there's no major here is there? I think, really interestingly, think having read this a few times on a Bible read through, you kind of read it like, yeah, I know what to expect and yeah, of course, this is the chapter where it all goes wrong. But having kind of steeped ourselves in it and kind of sat in this for months, it just hits in such a kind of louder more excruciating way. This however at the start of verse one just feels like a goodness because we've sat in the glories of the kingdom, we've sat and kind of witnessed the kind of rise of this king and how the Lord has used him and how he's blessed so many others and just all the things that have gone with this amazing fulfillment of the promises. This just feels like so much more painful to read this slower than it has done in the past I think so the kind of deep dive in this has really brought this to the fore a lot more yeah
Felicity: Yeah, I think that's right. I think because we've sat in the details and not just the details of the glories, but we've kind of followed Solomon from the moment that David kind of finally established him as the definite king and then you've been through and you see the Lord appeared to him this number of times all of that that stuff that when you as you say if you're reading it quickly and you move on to the next Kings Solomon just kind of fits into and did evil in the sight of the Lord and we moved on to the next one but because the narrator himself slows down with Solomon we've slowed down with Solomon and I think yeah you feel the impact all the more and you're so right about this However, shall we get into reading it so that we hear the however. I was just thinking, how am going to say that word so we feel, you know, the weight of it?
Sarah: So you're not reading the whole chapter are you? We're going up to verse 25. That's kind where we're stopping.
Felicity: Yeah, chapter one, no, one, chapter 11, verses one through to 25.
11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. 7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. 9 The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” 14 Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. 15 Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. 16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. 17 But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. 18 They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking people from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food. 19 Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. 20 The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh’s own children. 21 While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.” 22 “What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?” Pharaoh asked. “Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but do let me go!” 23 And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 When David destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. 25 Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward Israel.
Sarah: Thank you so much, Felicity. Wow, as we get into this, it's just a really kind of sharp reminder of the heart that's at play here, isn't it? As you were saying at the beginning as you were reading those first few verses that he held fast to his wives and that language of holding fast has only ever been used of his relationship with the Lord and in fact in Deuteronomy it's hold fast to Yahweh, hold fast to the Lord and here those same words are now in relation to his wives and the way that his wives then lead him astray it's very sobering, isn't it?
Felicity: Isn't it? And he says, must not, you know, he's talking about the command that was given, because they will turn your heart after their gods. And that is what has happened. And we heard it in the warnings back in chapter nine. And we have here, the heart is turned and the disobedience then follows. And really, the course is set. There's very little that is gonna be done here. And verse six is so stark, isn't it? So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And if you've read on and you hear that phrase again and again throughout first and second Kings, suddenly Solomon's no better than anyone else.
Sarah: Yeah and he's put in steep contrast to his father David, we get that mentioned twice here within a couple of verses don't we? And we've kind of had that all the way through haven't we, the kind of the benchmark of Deuteronomy and David and now we kind of see it very sharply here. And I think also what was striking, just the old age thing. So David at the beginning of one Kings he was old and he was struggling to kind of remember the covenant wasn't he and he was bit complacent and here it's in Solomon's old age and Philip Ryken just had a really helpful quote on this and where he says Solomon never explicitly decided to stop loving God yet the more he loved other things the less he loved God until one day he was not living for God at all Solomon started falling into sin long before he ever fell into disgrace. And just that reality that it was a gradual thing, that actually his heart gradually turned and was not fully devoted to the Lord. But actually by the end of this we get him worshipping and sacrificing two detestable gods on the hill where he would have seen the temple that he's built over those years ago in full view. He would have just in full view. And yet here he is worshipping any god that any wife says come on this is this is the way to go and that's he did all the same for all his foreign wives it said
Felicity: I mean really rife, isn't it? The sin is rife, the heart turning is rife because there's so many wives and so many... I love... I don't love but I feel like the narrator tells us all the details of the different idolatries and the different nationalities because he kind of wants us to hear detestable and abomination and he's helping us see the nature of the sin here and then in verse seven as you said on a hill east of Jerusalem and then we hear it in verse nine, the Lord became angry with Solomon and it's just so heavy, isn't it? The Lord's anger has arrived.
Sarah: Yeah. But he gives us the reason, doesn't he, again? Like, it's not just a kind of arbitrary anger. The Lord became angry because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel who had appeared to him twice. Like, do you know, like, there's righteous judgment here. And I think it was Woodhouse who really helpfully said, Solomon's sin demands judgment here, like it is right, righteous anger isn't it? But God's promises demand mercy and what we see here in verses 12 and 13 is that for the sake of David your father, for the sake of David my servant, there will be one tribe that remains and will be given to your son and that the promises will continue and that is beautiful mercy in the midst of yeah such big judgment to come isn't it?
Felicity: I think that's it, it? Because you hear all the language, and as we've said, the narrator is helping us see the horrors of what Solomon is doing. And in the midst of that, it should be surprising that God's mercy is still in play. But if we have any understanding of what's been happening in scripture before this and all those promises and the mercy that we've seen repeatedly, then this is exactly how God operates, even for those who are doing this. That with 700 wives and 300 concubines. mean, yeah.
Sarah: Yeah, yeah. But it doesn't mean that the consequences don't happen, does it? We say there's mercy, but the consequences of the sin are here and actually in this second part of what we read. I think we shouldn't lose the shock factor that this kingdom is a kingdom that is no longer at peace. So we've had the kind of glories of peace being on all sides for the first time in this kingdom and the wonder of that for the people, for the king, for the nations around them. And suddenly we've got the Lord raises up against Solomon an adversary in verse 14 and then verse 23 God raised up against Solomon another adversary. And just the reality of this piece is shattered. It's gone. Judgment is real. Consequences need to happen. And this figure, this Edomite, Hadad is raised up and Egypt is mentioned a lot. There's kind of echoes of echoes of kind of Moses language of let me go, let me go, but he's actually going to defeat God's people in Israel and it's a very, oh it's very crafty isn't it?
Felicity: Crafty’s the word, absolutely. And we've known it from like the moment that we heard that Solomon had married Pharaoh's daughter, Egypt has been in play. so that minor undertone, it's like it's just getting a big crescendo at this point and it's coming crashing down. And I think you're right, the judgment is real. And we see that pattern throughout scripture that judgment comes, mercy comes after judgment. God's people get pulled through the refining fire of God's justice and mercy is then the result at the end of that.
Sarah: Yeah. And then I think it's an interesting one, isn't it? So then how we can bring this to Jesus, because all the way through we've been saying, well, we've been using Jesus's own words, haven't we? Somewhat greater is here. I mean, there's no doubt that Jesus is someone greater at this point. But actually I think what, yeah, the value of seeing how Jesus is greater is here, that actually Solomon was never gonna be able to deal with the deepest need and the deepest problem of the heart. He was a king who had sin wrestles which came to a fore in a massive fallen disgrace here. Actually we need a king like Solomon, but someone who is so much greater, who can actually deal with our sin once and for all and that's the beauty of then coming back into this passage and seeing glimpses and shadows of Jesus, isn't it? We see on this hill, east of Jerusalem, that actually this very same hill where Solomon would have worshipped all these detestable idols and made sacrifices to them, actually Jesus is the King who offers himself as the sacrifice for his people in full sight of the temple, this time honouring and obeying the Lord giving himself for his people.
Felicity: It's just beautiful, isn't it? It's just beautiful the knowledge of that being able to trust that and knowing that we don't have to trust in the imperfect King that we, it's confirmed that Solomon is. And yet, as we trust Jesus, we know that the kingdom that he brings by his grace and through the sacrifice on the cross is infinitely better. And I think that one of the things that struck me all the way through as we've been going through One Kings is the reality that wisdom is not a fruit of the Spirit. To have the wisdom that Solomon had is such an immense gift and worthy of the Queen of Sheba's kind of wow and all of that. But the King who perfectly bears the fruit of the spirit is the King who we therefore worship and Solomon who has been like a foretaste, a foreshadow, picture of Jesus at this point he's almost an anti-type isn't he of Jesus and as we see how he crashes and how he falls we love all the more that Jesus is not like him and yeah
Sarah: Yeah, so, so helpful that. And just the, yeah, the reality that actually Jesus is the one who had, yeah, as you say, of perfectly bore self-control amidst all the temptations, the excruciating nature, being in the Mount of Olives, being on that mount and desperately wanting to the cup of wrath to be taken away from him, but actually knowing in love that he would endure that and that in his endurance he would then bring peace, everlasting, eternal peace, something that again this fallen king could never do. His kingdom was going to rise, it was going to fall and here we see the fall in spectacular fashion and it's a very sobering. It's a very sobering end to our season in One Kings isn't it? Because we're kind of hinting towards the fact that this makes us long for Jesus but my word there's a lot to go in One and Two Kings and we're not gonna get there in this season but we will at some point and we hope. But just to kind of end on the sober tones is big isn't it?
Felicity: I think it is and I think it as I've been mulling on it this week then that phrase at the start, holding fast, Solomon's affections have changed, he's holding fast to his wives and their gods rather than to the Lord and it's been just a prayer of mine and a prompt to pray that I would be one who holds fast to the King who is better, to the Lord who is worthy of my held fastness if you like. Should we pray? Do you want to pray, Sarah, as we wrap it up?
Sarah: Let's, yes, I'd love to. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much that this is written here. We thank you that the author slowed down to really show us Solomon's heart, to show us what was at stake. And Lord, it grieves us to see this in, and yet we just praise you so much that within the sin here, within the righteous judgment, we also see your mercy. We praise you that that mercy and that judgment lead us to the cross. We praise you that we have the better King, the one who would sacrifice himself for the sin of his people. Lord, we praise you so much that as we kind of end our study in One Kings for now, we praise you that we end looking and gazing at Jesus, knowing that he is ultimately the one who holds fast to us for all eternity. And we praise you for that truly glorious hope that we have in him. In your name we pray, amen.
Felicity: Amen. Well, I can't believe it, Sarah, that we've got one more episode left where we're going to review and look back and consider a bit of how this all lands as we get to the end of chapters one through 11 of First Kings. We would love it if you were to rate and review the podcast. That helps other people hear about it. It gets recommended to them. Word of mouth, but also pop on your Apple podcast, Spotify, wherever it is. Do rate us and review us. That would be really helpful to and we will look forward to seeing you next week for our final episode in this season. We'll see you then. Bye bye.
Sarah: Yes indeed, we look forward to seeing you then. Bye bye!
This episode has been sponsored by Stewardship.
We’d love to connect with you!
Find links to our social media below. Or sign up to our mail list to stay in the loop.
