June 15
1 Kings 14:1-15:24 | PS 133:1-3 | Prov 17:7-8 | Acts 10:1-23
Chuck Swindoll said, "We live in a culture that regularly confuses humanity with deity. It's the kind of sloppy theology that suggests God sits on the edge of heaven thinking, wonder what they'll do next? How absurd! God is omniscient. This implies, clearly, God never learns anything, our sinful decision and evil deeds notwithstanding. Nothing ever surprises Him. From the moment we're conceived to the moment we die, we remain safely within the frame of His watchful gaze as well as His sovereign plan." Do you believe this? Whether we be all alone in a dark closet or in the midst of a huge crowd our Father's eyes are on us, nothing is hidden and nothing surprises Him. Knowing this we need to know Him. We can only know Him if we spend focused time in the entirety of His Word. With this in mind, with His Word emblazoned within us we can then move forward transparent before Him.
We read of one who believed he could fool God, as we read in 1 Kings 14:1-2, "At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became very sick. So Jeroboam told his wife, “Disguise yourself so that no one will recognize you as my wife. Then go to the prophet Ahijah at Shiloh—the man who told me I would become king." Though the prophet of God was nearly blind in his old age and was not forewarned by anyone, God, who sees and knows everything forewarned the prophet, as we pick up the interaction in 14:6-9, "So when Ahijah heard her footsteps at the door, he called out, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else?” Then he told her, “I have bad news for you. Give your husband, Jeroboam, this message from the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I promoted you from the ranks of the common people and made you ruler over my people Israel. I ripped the kingdom away from the family of David and gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David, who obeyed my commands and followed me with all his heart and always did whatever I wanted. You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made other gods for yourself and have made me furious with your gold calves...". King Jeroboam did what made sense to him in his own mind, in his own strength, even though it was clearly against God. He seemed to get away with it for awhile, but God sees all, and He allows free will. He doesn't simply zap us every time we step out of line.
For Solomon's son Rehoboam we see a similar judgment, as we read in 1 Kings 14:22-24, "During Rehoboam’s reign, the people of Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, provoking his anger with their sin, for it was even worse than that of their ancestors. For they also built for themselves pagan shrines and set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. There were even male and female shrine prostitutes throughout the land. The people imitated the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites." As we go through the various kings of Judah and Israel (20 each) we will see that they are often compared to David (with God), or Jeroboam (against God). So it is with all of us. We can't point to the leader of our nation, our boss, or even our pastor. All humans can err. We are all responsible for our own actions. Each day, in fact each moment, we are making a decision to align our actions which are pleasing to God or are unpleasing to Him. Through it all, God is sovereign and already knows, but He allows us free will to honor Him, confess to Him, etc. May this realization humble us all. This realization should remove all pride from us, as we all know the sinners that we are, and but for His never-ending grace and mercy we would otherwise all be rendered utterly hopeless.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: