What Went Wrong?

Dear Friends,

I have recently been reading I & II Kings in the Old Testament. It struck me how many times these kings who started out so well, ended in such disaster. Early in the history of the nation of Israel King David’s role was to establish God’s kingdom over the nations and fulfill the promises of Abraham. As King David was growing old he recognized the need to name a replacement. About that time David’s son Adonijah decided to make himself king in place of his aged father.

Then Nathan the prophet went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, and asked her. “Do you realize the Adonijah has made himself king and our Lord David doesn’t even know about it? If you want your son Solomon to sit upon the throne you must go tell King David what is going on.” As soon as King David heard about this, which was confirmed by Nathan the prophet he decided to have Solomon immediately crowned as King to succeed him.

Solomon asked God for wisdom and began to rebuild the temple. So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king in all the earth. People from every nation came to visit him and to hear the wisdom God had given him.

So what went wrong? The Lord had clearly instructed his people not to intermarry with those nations around them because the women they married would lead them to worship their gods. Solomon insisted on loving them anyway and sure enough, in his old age they turned his heart to worship their gods instead of trusting only in the Lord his God, as his father David, had done. This was the beginning of Solomon’s downfall and was repeated over and over again by numerous kings after him.

After Solomon’s downfall Israel was split into two kingdoms: Northern Israel and Southern Judah. There were some good kings such as Asa and Joash who followed the Lord God only and rid the nation of all pagan worship. But the majority of them were evil in God’s sight and merely followed the example of their father’s before them committing the same sins.

However, as I was reading this I noticed that there were some kings that started out well and followed the Lord God. The problem was that though they were clearly instructed by God not to allow any pagan worship for some reason they compromised their faith and allowed some worship of other gods to continue. This was their downfall. Compromise!

This is likewise a major issue with much of the church in America today. We are willing to compromise much of our core beliefs. We have heard it said, “There are many ways to God.” Really? That’s not what scripture says. It’s okay to live together without being married, because we love each other. Really? That’s not what the Bible teaches. Same sex relationships and even marriage are acceptable. Really? That’s not what the Bible says. When the Gospel is presented even it is watered down so as to not offend anyone of other faiths.

So, what will happen if we continue to compromise our core beliefs? I believe we could see our nation go the same way many of these nations did in the Old Testament. A little compromise here and there and before long we have slid into a nation that no longer honors our Lord God. In the United States we have printed on our money, “In God We Trust.” If we look closely at our nation and how many are living this way, I don’t believe for much of the nation that is true.

So, what should we do? If we truly believe God’s word is truth and our desire is to follow God without compromise we must demonstrate the kind of love our Lord Jesus demonstrated to those around him. We are called to love them but that doesn’t mean to love everything they chose to do or the choices they make on how they want to live. Love is gently and graciously showing people by our words and actions how their ways of living and thinking can lead to destruction and death. We must lovingly show them how following God can lead to a life under the blessing of God, and one that will bring them into a relationship with this good and gracious God for eternity!

God bless,

Mike

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