Solomon Takes a Wrong Turn (1Kings 10-16)

 King Solomon became well known for his wisdom and his wealth. Kings and queens from all over would come to see these things for themselves. Once the Queen of Sheba came for a visit. "I heard all these stories about your wealth and wisdom." She exclaimed. "But you are even wiser and wealthier than I ever imagined."

 King Solomon was so rich, that even his drinking cups were made of gold! He also built up a huge force of Chariots and horses. Solomon had 1,400 chariots and over over 12,000 horses!

 The problem with having all this stuff, is that we tend to lose focus on what is important (namely God, others and eternity), and Solomon fell into the same trap. Not only did he amass large quantities of everything, he also began marrying many women. Most of them were from other countries and worshipped other Gods. God's clear instruction was not to marry foreign women because the women would lead their husbands to worship their gods. But Solomon had lost his focus. God became very angry with Solomon for his heart had turned away from Him. God appeared to Solomon twice to warn him about not obeying His commands, and now Solomon was doing exactly what God had told him not to do.

 Being away from God left a big empty space in Solomon's heart. He tried to fill it with possessions, women, parties, reading and many other worldly things... but he discovered that nothing can fill the place in our hearts that is meant for only God to fill. Solomon even wrote a book about all he had done in his life looking for fulfillment. It is found in the Bible. It is called the book of Ecclesiastes.
He finishes up the book of Ecclesiastes with this conclusion: "Obey God, for this is the duty of every person. God will judge all we do, even in secret, whether good or bad." Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

 Solomon died when he was sixty years old. His son Rehoboam became king. But because of Solomon's disobedience, the peace that Israel enjoyed for forty years was about to come to an end. Rehoboam got rid of his father's counselors and surrounded himself with advisers that were not very smart. They told him to be the strictest and toughest king that Israel had so far. So when the Israelites approached Rehoboam and asked him to lighten their harsh labor demand and reduce their heavy tax burden, he told them that the taxes would be even higher, and the labor more harsh!

 One of Solomon's labor leaders was named Jeroboam. He had been replaced by the new king with a man named Adoniram. But the people stood with Jeroboam and rebelled against the new king. The people made Jeroboam their new king. This split Israel. Now they had two kings. Rehoboam ruled over the southern kingdom which consisted the tribe, Judah. Jeroboam ruled over all the rest of the tribes in the north.

 Remember that God promised David that he would always have a descendant on the throne. Well He kept His promise. David's grandson Rehoboam ruled in Judah 18 years. During his reign, Judah drifted farther from God. Jeroboam was even worse! He made golden calves for the people to worship! Doesn't that sound familiar? Moses' brother, Aaron did the same thing when the Israelites got impatient waiting for Moses to come back down the mountain in Exodus 32.
 The next several chapters list the kings of the northern kingdom and the kings of the southern kingdom. Most of the kings didn't do what was right in God's eyes and there was a constant civil war between the two kingdoms. However, a king named Asa, a descendant of David, did what was right in God's eyes and Judah began to return to the one true God during his and his son Jehosaphat's rule.

 Solomon's sin had repercussions on all of Israel. Do we consider how our sin will affect others? We cannot foresee what the consequences will be, but we can know that the promises of God are true. Obedience to God's rules is not meant to rob us of our fun. It is meant to protect us and to fulfill our exciting purpose which God has prepared for us long before we were even born. If we fill our hearts with the things of God and not with things of this world, our lives will be amazing and exciting!

The 10 Plagues (Exodus6-9)

 When we left Moses last time, he was complaining to God that the Hebrews were worse off than when he arrived and asked the king to let them go.

God said to Moses. “Don’t worry Moses. This is all part of my plan. The king will keep refusing to let the Hebrews go, and I will keep demonstrating that I am God. By the time I’m done with him and Egypt, he will be very anxious to let you go.” Then God continued. “Go tell the Hebrews that I will free them from slavery. They will be my own special people. They will always remember that I brought them out of slavery to the country that I promised to Abraham years ago.”
 So Moses went and told the Hebrews what God had said, but they wouldn’t listen to Moses. They were still angry that they were being treated even worse now that Moses began pleaded to the king for their release. Moses went back to God.

 "Now go tell the king to let the Hebrews go.” God told Moses.
 “But LORD!” Moses exclaimed. “My own people won’t listen to me. How can I expect the king of Egypt to listen! I am not a good speaker at all. I stutter when I talk!”
 God responded. “Your brother Aaron will be with you. He’ll speak the words that I command to the king. Don’t be surprised if the king still refuses. He is very stubborn. When he asks for a miracle, throw your staff on the ground and it will turn into a snake.”

 Moses and Aaron went back to see the king. Moses was 80 years old by now. The king asked for a miracle. Aaron threw the staff on the ground and it became a snake. The king called his magicians and wizards. With their magic, they also turned sticks into snakes! But guess what. Aaron’s snake ate the magician’s snakes! But the king was not swayed to let the Hebrews go. He turned his back on Moses and Aaron and asked his guards to remove them from his sight.

 Moses returned to God. "The king is very stubborn. Go back to him and tell him that if he does not let the Hebrew people go, that I will turn the Nile river to blood.God said. “When the king says “No” point your staff at the river and it will turn to blood.”
 Moses and Aaron returned to the king and he refused to let the Hebrews go. Moses pointed his staff toward the river and it turned to blood, but the king still refused. All of Egypt was suffering because of the king’s hard heart. New well had to be dug for water and all the fish in the river died and it started to smell really bad.

 Moses got some further instructions from God. “Go back to the king and if he refuses to let the Hebrews go, that the whole land of Egypt will be covered in frogs. They will be everywhere, even in the beds and and kitchens and bathrooms.”
 Moses and Aaron did as God asked and when the king refused AGAIN, Aaron pointed Moses’ staff toward the lake and millions and millions of frogs came out and covered the land! This got the king’s attention. He called Moses and Aaron into his presence. "If you get rid of all the frogs by tomorrow, I will let your people go.” The king said.

Moses prayed to God and God caused all the frogs to die. The egyptian people had to sweep up all the dead frogs and pile them up in the streets and it really began to stink. The king was glad that all the frogs were gone, but he had lied to Moses and Aaron and still refused to let the Hebrews go!


 Trusting God is hard sometimes. Especially when we don’t see anything happening! But we have to remember that God is in control. "His ways are not our ways...they are better" :o) (Isaiah)

Moses is reunited with his brother Aaron.

 So Moses FINALLY obeyed God. He returned home and asked his father-in-law, Jethro, if the sheep could be cared for by someone else. “I need to go back to Egypt. I haven’t seen my family in forty years. They are still being held as slaves to the Egyptians." Moses said.
 “Don’t worry about the sheep Moses. Go with my blessing." Jethro replied.
 Moses packed up his stuff and his staff and loaded them on a donkey. Then Moses, his wife and his sons headed for Egypt. Moses was probably a little worried about the king and his men because when he left Egypt forty years ago, they wanted to kill him.

God knew Moses was a little worried and spoke to him on the way. “Don’t be afraid to return to Egypt, because everyone who wanted to kill you is dead.” Moses felt a lot better knowing that.

The journey took several days. As Moses and his family were making their way through the wilderness to Egypt, God spoke to Moses’ brother, Aaron. “Go out into the wilderness and meet your brother Moses.”
 Aaron  did exactly as God said and he met Moses in the middle of the wilderness! Moses told Aaron how God spoke to him through a burning bush and all that God had said to him.  Aaron believed every word. After all, God spoke to him too. In hundreds of miles of wilderness, God told him the exact place to meet Moses. And He told him the exact time too. He knew that God was up to something!
 When Moses and Aaron met with their own people, Moses threw his staff on the ground and it turned to a snake, then he picked it up by the tail and it turned back into his staff. Then he told them about God’s plan to free them from slavery. They were so amazed that God heard their prayers that they fell on their knees and worshiped Him.

 Moses was feeling a little more confident now as he and Aaron left for the king’s palace. Everything was going just as God had said.  When they stood before the king, Aaron did the speaking. He said to the king exactly what Moses told him to say. “The God of Israel says ‘let my people go!”

 “Is that so.” Retorted the king. “He may be your God, but he is not mine! I will do as I wish and since you have come here with such a ridiculous request,  I wish to make it even harder on the Hebrew slaves. From now on, the Hebrew slaves will have to make twice as many bricks as before! And the Egyptian laborers will no longer gather the straw needed to make the bricks. The slaves will have to go out and gather their own straw!” Then the king summoned his guards. “Remove these two Hebrews from the palace at once!”

The slave drivers were brutal on the Hebrew slaves demanding more and more, and when they didn’t make enough bricks, the slaves were beaten.
 One of the Hebrew leaders went to the king and said. “ You are demanding more than we can do. We are being beaten for something that impossible!”
 The king replied. “It is because you sent two of your people in here  and told me to set all the slaves free that you are being forced to do more.”
 The Hebrew leader left the palace. He knew the king was upset about Moses' and Aaron’s visit. On his way back home he ran into Moses and Aaron. “May God punish you for getting us into this terrible situation with the king!”
 Then Moses went back to God. “Why did you send me to the king! See now it is worse for the Hebrew slaves than before I got here! You haven’t even begun to rescue them!”

 Next time we’ll see what God has planned for Moses and Aaron.  God is always working behind the scenes. He did in Moses’ time and He does today. Did you know that God has a wonderful plan for your life? He does. God wants to use you for His purposes. Sometimes we can’t see or figure out what God is up to, but that’s OK. We know that He is working behind the scenes. That is where our faith and trust come in.  Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in God with all your heart. Don’t do things your own way. Look to Him for direction and He will lead you in the right direction.”