The Fall of a Dynasty
Posted by Dion Todd September 20th, 2020 6,399 Views 0 Comments
The Fall of a Dynasty from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.
It took Solomon seven years to complete the first temple. When the work was done, all of Israel was invited to Jerusalem, and they had a long feast that lasted for twenty-two days. Solomon prayed a beautiful prayer of dedication. When he was done, the fire of the Lord came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices on the altar. His Shekinah glory filled the temple so that the priests could not even enter. There were musicians playing worship music, and priests constantly offering sacrifices at the new altar. It was a gigantic celebration. When it was over, the Lord appeared to Solomon at night:
(2 Chronicles 7:12–14 NKJV) Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
The Lord made this promise to His People, who are called by His name. If you consider yourself one of His people, then these promises affect you (2 Chronicles 6:32–33). As with many of the Lord's promises, they are conditional and contain a big "if."
He promised that if we: Humble ourselves, pray and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. He would: Hear our prayers, forgive our sins, and heal our land.
This was the second time the Lord had appeared to King Solomon. The first appearance was when Solomon had asked for wisdom in 1 Kings 3:5. It was a rare and incredible visitation, and came at a dangerous point in Solomon's life. He had completed twenty years of massive building projects, including the temple and his new palace. Solomon was rich and comfortable with outstanding accomplishments. He was the King.
The Lord gave the King some advice and promised Solomon that if he walked before Him as David his father had, He would bless his reign and his descendants' reigns. The dynasty of David would endure forever.
Solomon's father was King David, and he was certainly not a perfect man. David had secretly gotten Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, pregnant, and then had her husband Uriah killed. David failed many times, but he always repented, threw himself on the Lord's mercy, and tried to be a better man.
God was not expecting perfect obedience from Solomon. He was just asking for his heart to never turn away from Him. David made many mistakes, but he did love the Lord with all his heart. Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). The Lord gave Solomon a solemn warning:
(2 Chronicles 7:19–21 NASB) “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. “As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’
Sadly that is what happened. Solomon's heart turned away from following the Lord. He began to chase after the pagan gods of his many exotic wives. He had 700 of them and 300 concubines. Solomon became a world champion womanizer who was always seeking to improve and diversify his harem:
(1 Kings 11:1–4 NASB) Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
As a result, Solomon's son Rehoboam lost the kingdom. The nation of Israel became divided and warred against each other. Then when they grew weak, they were invaded by the surrounding countries and taken over. The people living there were taken into exile. The beautiful temple, palaces, and cities, which Solomon had built, were all looted and destroyed. Everything he had worked so hard for was gone. All of the Lord's promises to Solomon came true. Both the positive and the negative were fulfilled to the letter.
The choices which King Solomon made affected his life, his descendants, and his country. It was not just his sin that caused Israel's nation to be destroyed; it was that of all the people combined. The problem was the people followed him, and he led them into darkness.
Our leaders directly affect the behavior of our countries and what happens to them. When we have God-fearing leaders, it creates a God-fearing nation that is showered in blessings. When we have wicked leaders, then wickedness abounds and becomes normal.
Today there is widespread pestilence, wickedness, wildfires, storms, and riots in the streets. We are divided and nearing a precipice. We desperately need the Lord to heal our land. We need God-fearing leaders who will rise up and unite us.
Let us humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our own wicked ways. Pray for the Lord to give us the right leaders and to bring healing to our land.
You can pray this with me if you like:
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray for mercy over our nation and ask that You raise up righteous leadership in all areas of our government. Only You know a politician's heart, so please purge and expose all corruption and wickedness in our government offices immediately. Show us clearly who to elect, remove our blindness, and turn our nation to You. May Your will be done on the Earth, in our nation, and in our government, just as it is in heaven. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!