In 1 Kings chapters 15 and 16, we go through two kings of Judah, Nadab (bad) and Asa (good) and six kings of Israel in four different families, and we introduce the seventh, Ahab:

• Nadab of Israel, son of Jeroboam. The end of Jeroboam’s dynasty.
• Baasha of Israel, killed Nadab and everyone in Jeroboam’s family.
• Elah of Israel, son of Baasha. The end of Baasha’s dynasty.
• Zimri of Israel killed Elah and the rest of Baasha’s family, was king for seven days! The army appointed Omri king, and they attacked and killed Zimri. Does a guy have a “dynasty” if he reigns only seven days?
• Omri of Israel, establishes Samaria as the capital of Israel
• Ahab of Israel, son of Omri

Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah. Ahab son of Omri was king over Israel for twenty-two years. He ruled from Samaria. Ahab son of Omri did even more open evil before GOD than anyone yet—a new champion in evil! It wasn’t enough for him to copy the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat; no, he went all out, first by marrying Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then by serving and worshiping the god Baal. He built a temple for Baal in Samaria, and then furnished it with an altar for Baal. Worse, he went on and built a shrine to the sacred whore Asherah. He made the GOD of Israel angrier than all the previous kings of Israel put together. (1 Kings 16.29 – 33, MSG)

But Ahab doesn’t get just a summary; he gets six chapters, killed in battle toward the end of 1 Kings, in chapter 22. Jezebel doesn’t meet her demise until 2 Kings 9.

Why all the press? Maybe because of his antagonist, Elijah, the prophet:

And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: “As surely as GOD lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought—not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise.” (1 Kings 17.1, MSG)

Elijah, a powerful guy, prototype for John the Baptist:

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1.13 – 17, ESV)

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. (James 5.17, ESV)

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. – Mark Twain

Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching…Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. … Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. (Proverbs 4.1 – 5, 10, 11, ESV)

My son Mark just put me on to part of a stirring speech by retired quarterback Tom Brady. The clip is less than two minutes and worth it:

Click the photo: “Everyone should play football…it’s hard.”

Here are some snippets:

I urge everyone to play football for the simple reason that it is hard. It’s hard when you’re young to wake up in the off season at 6am to go train and work out knowing that all your friends are sleeping in and eating pancakes…It’s hard to throw, catch, block and tackle and hit kids when they’re way bigger and way more developed than you. You go home that night bruised and battered and strained but knowing you have to show up again the next day for just the chance to try again. But understand this: life is hard. No matter who you are, there are bumps and hits and bruises along the way. And my advice is to prepare yourself because football’s lessons teach us that success and achievement come from overcoming adversity…To be successful at anything, the truth is you don’t have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren’t. Consistent, determined, and willing to work for it. No shortcuts. If you look at all my teammates here tonight, it would be impossible to find better examples of men who embody that work ethic, integrity, purpose, determination, and discipline that it takes to be a champion in life.

Good words, but I offer them with a perspective: the great basketball player Jerry West passed away this year at the age of 86. Jerry did everything that Tom Brady talked about: consistent, determined, willing to work for it, integrity, purpose, determination, discipline. However, Jerry West’s Lakers lost to Bill Russell’s Celtics six times in the NBA finals. Jerry was “champion” of the NBA only one time as a player.

Here are a few snippets from Jason Gay’s tribute in the Wall Street Journal.

He was basketball’s superstar survivor. Jerry West, who died Wednesday morning at age 86, is unquestionably one of the greatest NBA players ever, a 14-time All-Star in 14 seasons, an Olympic gold medal winner and champion, with performances that still strike awe today. (Averaging 40.6 points in the 1965 playoffs—how?) He excelled so much as an executive that the game is about to induct him again into the Hall of Fame, his third installation. (He was also elected as a player and an Olympian.) West’s drive is so indelible it is immortalized in the NBA logo—that’s a silhouette of the 6-foot-3 West blazing to the basket, a sinewy figure blasting between the blue and red. 

The NBA logo “is considered to be” a  silhouette of Jerry West (the NBA won’t confirm that officially)

[continuing Jason Gay’s snippets] He won often, but his losses were far more epic. West’s Lakers had the misfortune of sharing an era with Bill Russell and Red Auerbach; six times West and Los Angeles lost a title to the Green. West remains the only player to ever win a Finals MVP in a losing effort, doing so in 1969 against Boston. He endured brutal defeats and repeated injuries—a rough count of nine broken noses, his face taped like H.G. Wells’s Invisible Man. He played through the pain, because everyone did…

In 2011 West released a memoir entitled “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life” in which he detailed a chronic depression, a harsh upbringing and a father so abusive that young Jerry slept with a shotgun under his bed. West had an older brother, David, killed in the Korean War, and his death also haunted Jerry as his basketball profile rose, from high school to a stirring career at his home state West Virginia, where he led the Mountaineers to the 1959 national title game—but fell by one point. The losses ate at him…. 

The article closes with this:

…West’s signature accomplishment may be his inner journey. He was a poor kid dealt a horrible hand, somehow blessed with outrageous talent and competitiveness to escape—and yet he was rarely fulfilled by the results. Riddled by torment, he kept searching for something to chase the sadness away, and it wasn’t until later in life he began to appreciate all he had. Entering his 70s, Jerry West described himself as “the luckiest person in the world.” His liberation offered hope to the struggling. 

That sort of honesty takes courage, and changes lives. His basketball contributions are stunning—but in the life of Jerry West, the survivor proved to be as important as the superstar. 

In short, Jerry West was a champion in life, just as Tom Brady’s discipline speech promises.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9.24 – 27, NIV)

…train yourself for godliness. (1 Timothy 4.7, ESV)

We’re beginning the back and forth narrative of the kings: “X was king in Judah, beginning his reign at age Y during the Zth year of the reign of W in Israel…” and so on. 1 Kings 14 records the death of Jeroboam’s son (an interesting story involving Jeroboam’s wife (see 1 Kings 14.1 – 20) and pronounced judgment on the house of Jeroboam because of his sin with the golden calves.

Chapter 15 starts the usual way:

In the eighteenth year of the rule of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah took over the throne of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Absalom. He continued to sin just like his father before him. He was not truehearted to GOD as his great-grandfather David had been. But despite that, out of respect for David, his GOD graciously gave him a lamp, a son to follow him and keep Jerusalem secure. (1 Kings 15.1 – 4, MSG)

Remember, the Kingdom of Judah has only one dynasty: David. Dynasties in Israel change regularly as we’ll see shortly.

But here’s the kicker, the account of Abijah adds an intriguing sentence from whence the title of this blog: “One-mistake Air Force.” That’s a slogan we all coined after years of observation. One major mistake, and your career is over, at least your upward mobility is over. Is God’s Kingdom a one-mistake operation? You’d think so, given God’s holiness and justice.

But look at what the scripture says about David:

For David had lived an exemplary life before GOD all his days, not going off on his own in willful defiance of GOD’s clear directions (except for that time with Uriah the Hittite). (1 Kings 15.5, MSG)

“An exemplary life before God all his days, not going off on his own in willful defiance of God’s clear directions…” Except, of course, for that little matter involving Uriah…” – adultery and murder!

That says a lot about God’s forgiveness, doesn’t it? We would have put David under the jail! Apparently God is not like the “one-mistake Air Force.” I’ve seen senior commanders relieved of duty for indiscretions involving young female airmen.

Of course there were consequences, and David repented:

Then David confessed to Nathan, “I’ve sinned against GOD.” (2 Samuel 12.13, MSG)

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight– That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. (Psalm 51.1 – 4, NKJV)

And God is a God of unimaginable grace:

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. (Psalm 86.5, NKJV)

The kingdom is divided, and we now follow separately the adventures of kings of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and the kings of Judah (the Southern Kingdom, David’s dynasty).

Jeroboam, first king of “Israel” starts off badly:

Jeroboam made a fort at Shechem in the hills of Ephraim, and made that his headquarters. He also built a fort at Penuel. But then Jeroboam thought, “It won’t be long before the kingdom is reunited under David. As soon as these people resume worship at The Temple of GOD in Jerusalem, they’ll start thinking of Rehoboam king of Judah as their ruler. They’ll then kill me and go back to King Rehoboam.” So the king came up with a plan: He made two golden calves. Then he announced, “It’s too much trouble for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. Look at these—the gods who brought you out of Egypt!” He put one calf in Bethel; the other he placed in Dan. This was blatant sin. Think of it—people traveling all the way to Dan to worship a calf! (1 Kings 12.25 – 30, MSG)

Keep this in mind. We’ll read again and again about the Northern kings, “He did not turn away from the sin of Jeroboam.” The golden calves stay in place until the end of the Northern Kingdom.

Chapter 13 is a strange one that I won’t begin to try to explain. It starts simply enough: God sends a “holy man from Judah” to warn Jeroboam:

And then this happened: Just as Jeroboam was at the Altar, about to make an offering, a holy man came from Judah by GOD’s command and preached (these were GOD’s orders) to the Altar: “Altar, Altar! GOD’s message! ‘A son will be born into David’s family named Josiah. The priests from the shrines who are making offerings on you, he will sacrifice—on you! Human bones burned on you!’ ” At the same time he announced a sign: “This is the proof GOD gives—the Altar will split into pieces and the holy offerings spill into the dirt.” When the king heard the message the holy man preached against the Altar at Bethel, he reached out to grab him, yelling, “Arrest him!” But his arm was paralyzed and hung useless. At the same time the Altar broke apart and the holy offerings all spilled into the dirt—the very sign the holy man had announced by GOD’s command. The king pleaded with the holy man, “Help me! Pray to your GOD for the healing of my arm.” The holy man prayed for him and the king’s arm was healed—as good as new! (1 Kings 13.1 – 6, MSG)

A warning which Jeroboam ignores. The rest of the chapter involves the holy man declaring he’s not supposed to eat or drink until he gets back home to Judah. An “old prophet” lies to him, telling him that God changed his mind. The holy man eats with the old prophet and is subsequently slain by a lion. After which the old prophet, remorseful(?), fetches the body of the holy man and buries him in his own family tomb. (You can read the whole story in 1 Kings 13.)

Weird. Part of the lesson may be related to Tuesday’s Ewellogy about God appearing to Solomon only “twice.” God had already appeared to the holy man. That should have been enough for him to refuse to listen to the old prophet.

At any rate, the holy man did his job, warning Jeroboam with the result that:

After this happened, Jeroboam kept right on doing evil, recruiting priests for the forbidden shrines indiscriminately—anyone who wanted to could be a priest at one of the local shrines. (1 Kings 13.33, MSG)

Sometimes we’re called to speak truth with no expectation of its “effectiveness.” I heard Billy Graham say on the radio something like, “I don’t pay any attention to statistics. I don’t know how many people actually came to Christ as a result of my preaching. I do know that no one in New York City or Los Angeles or London or any of the great cities where I preached will be able to stand before God and say, ‘I didn’t have a chance.’ They did have a chance. I told them!”

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.” (Isaiah 6.8 – 12, ESV)

We left Solomon with the “promise” of a divided kingdom beginning with his son:

GOD said to Solomon, “Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime. It’s your son who will pay—I’ll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won’t take it all; I’ll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem.” (1 Kings 11.11 – 13, MSG)

And it happens in 1 Kings 12. Solomon dies at the end of chapter 11, and the whole nation comes to crown Rehoboam king at the beginning of chapter 12. The people asked that he be a little easier on them than Solomon was – all those building projects! Rehoboam rejects the counsel of the elders who encouraged him in servant leadership, listening instead to arrogant young men like himself:

King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: “What’s your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?” They said, “If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they’ll end up doing anything for you.” But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he’d grown up with who were now currying his favor, “What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, ‘Give us a break from your father’s harsh ways—lighten up on us’?” The young turks he’d grown up with said, “These people who complain, ‘Your father was too hard on us; lighten up’—well, tell them this: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!’ ” (1 Kings 12.6 – 11, MSG)

And the kingdom is split:

Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. GOD was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh. [See 1 Kings 11.26 – 39] When all Israel realized that the king hadn’t listened to a word they’d said, they stood up to him and said, Get lost, David! We’ve had it with you, son of Jesse! Let’s get out of here, Israel, and fast! From now on, David, mind your own business. And with that, they left. But Rehoboam continued to rule those who lived in the towns of Judah. (1 Kings 12.15 – 17, MSG)

From now on, as we read the rest of 1 and 2 Kings as well as the parallel passages in 2 Chronicles, beginning with 2 Chronicles 10, we’re reading about two different kingdoms. Here is an important summary to keep in mind:

Northern Kingdom: “Israel”

• Capital city: Samaria (beginning in 1 Kings 16)
• Many dynasties
• No good kings
• Scattered by the Assyrians, as recorded in 2 Kings 17

Southern Kingdom: “Judah”

• Capital city: Jerusalem
• One dynasty: David (see 1 Kings 11.13, above)
• A few good kings
• Taken to Babylon in captivity, as recorded in 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36)

Back to Rehoboam, it appears that his father, Solomon, hadn’t mentored him as David had Solomon OR he tried to mentor him without success (after all, Proverbs is filled with instructions to listen to your father). At any rate, Rehoboam had no fear of God, no humility. Back to instructions for kings which Solomon and then Rehoboam ignored:

This is what must be done: When he sits down on the throne of his kingdom, the first thing he must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation on a scroll, copied under the supervision of the Levitical priests. That scroll is to remain at his side at all times; he is to study it every day so that he may learn what it means to fear his GOD, living in reverent obedience before these rules and regulations by following them. He must not become proud and arrogant, changing the commands at whim to suit himself or making up his own versions. If he reads and learns, he will have a long reign as king in Israel, he and his sons. (Deuteronomy 17.18 – 20, MSG)

This is as good a paragraph as any on the importance to all of us of daily Bible reading so that we may:

• Learn to fear God
• Live in reverent obedience to the Word
• Not become proud and arrogant

Back to 1 Kings, we left Solomon at the height of his glory marveled at by the Queen of Sheba, but ignoring Moses’ commands to future kings including:

And make sure he doesn’t build up a harem, collecting wives who will divert him from the straight and narrow. (Deuteronomy 17.17, MSG)

And how does 1 Kings 11 start?

King Solomon was obsessed with women…He took them from the surrounding pagan nations of which GOD had clearly warned Israel, “You must not marry them; they’ll seduce you into infatuations with their gods.” …He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines—a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God. As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful—he didn’t stay true to his GOD as his father David had done. (1 Kings 11.1 – 4, MSG)

God’s response is predictable and also instructive:

GOD was furious with Solomon for abandoning the GOD of Israel, the God who had twice appeared to him and had so clearly commanded him not to fool around with other gods. Solomon faithlessly disobeyed GOD’s orders. (1 Kings 11.9 – 10, MSG)

I get the furious part, but what jumped out at me was “the God who had twice appeared to him…” Twice is not a lot: once when Solomon asked for wisdom, and once when God warned him after the temple was built. Two dramatic encounters with God, and God expected that was enough.

We love our “mountain-top experiences”! I talked with a fellow once who had a dramatic encounter with Jesus when he was playing the part of a Roman soldier at the foot of the cross in his church’s passion play. Every year thereafter, he played that same part, looking in vain for that same encounter. But I’m sure God is thinking, “I met with you once. Now go carry out what I told you to do.”

Appearances and mountaintop experiences are great things, but faith must sustain us for the long haul.

God pronounces judgment on Solomon which begins to play out in chapter 11 and finds its full fruition in chapter 12. Stay tuned:

GOD said to Solomon, “Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime. It’s your son who will pay—I’ll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won’t take it all; I’ll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem.” (1 Kings 11.11 – 13, MSG)

In the meantime,

Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” – Moses, Deuteronomy 32.45 – 47, ESV

Continuing yesterday’s observation on evangelism, there’s probably something worse than not communicating clearly. Have you ever heard of “Net Promoter Score”? Me neither although I’ve answered the Net Promoter Score question many times as I’m sure you have too. I received this one within the last week:

“How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” It’s today’s go-to question for many companies. Here’s a full explanation by company who sells it. Basically, the interpretation is that if you answer 9 or 10, you’re a “promoter;” 0 – 6, a “detractor;” 7 – 8, “passive.” Subtract the detractors from the promoters and voila! a net promoter score.

But Seth Godin shoots all that in the head:

More than two-thirds of the companies surveyed said that they used NPS methodology with their customers. Some are using it to measure employee satisfaction as well.

The P stands for “promoter”, but of course, it doesn’t actually measure promotion.

If that many of your customers are actually promoting and recommending your business to others, you would be so busy you wouldn’t have time for a survey. – Seth Godin, The Net Promoter Score, April 29, 2024

Seth went on to explain and drop a bomb into my comfortable Christian discipleship at the same time:

“Would you recommend” is not the same question as, “how many people have you told?”

Do you love Jesus? Yes! Absolutely! He’s the best! Would you recommend him to others? Of course! How many people have you told?

Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age. – Jesus, Matthew 28.19, 20, MSG

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. – Paul, Colossians 1.28, ESV

I should not fail to mention one of the biggest sports stories going around right now. No, not University of Oklahoma’s winning its fourth-in-a-row national championship in Women’s Softball, as monumental as that is. I’m talking about the US defeating Pakistan in…wait for it…cricket.

Cricket?! I didn’t even know the US had a cricket team. Someone asked for an analogy for the importance of the US defeating Pakistan. Answer: Pakistan defeating the US in basketball. You can read all about the match in the ESPN article: USA outclass sloppy Pakistan in thrilling Super Over finish. You can read it, but if you’re like me, you won’t understand much of it. I don’t even understand the headline. Here are a couple of sample paragraphs:

Thanks to the extras and other acts of fielding indiscipline from Pakistan, USA made 18 off their Super Over

If this already seemed a tough ask for Pakistan to better, Saurabh Netravalkar made their job even more difficult. He had been outstanding for USA in regular play, taking 2 for 18 from his four overs. His Super Over was outstanding too, as he conceded just one boundary.

Thanks to four leg byes off the penultimate delivery, Shadab Khan had the opportunity to send the match into a second super over if he clobbered a six off the last ball. He could only hit it to deep point, all along the ground.

Huh? How can something written in plain English be that unintelligible?

Answer: I don’t know anything about cricket.

Do some of our presentations of the gospel sound like that to an unbeliever who’s never given God much of a thought? Randy Newman, writing in Questioning Evangelism, opens with a story of his attempting to share the gospel using the well-known Four Spiritual Laws with a Ukrainian student.

I read the first point: “God loves you and created you to know Him personally.” I don’t remember pausing at that point. I don’t think I even breathed. But somehow Artyum interrupted. “What do you mean when you say the word God?” he wondered aloud. “And what do you mean when you say the word love? And, most importantly, how do you know all this is true?” – Questioning Evangelism, Randy Newman, page 23.

The Apostle Paul knew that effective communication is non-trivial, requiring careful thought and much prayer:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. (Colossians 4.2 – 4, ESV)

A lot of 1 Kings 4 – 9 is devoted to describing Solomon’s wealth (plus the building of the Temple). Chapter 10 is the last such chapter, beginning with the visit of the Queen of Sheba:

The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon and his connection with the Name of GOD. She came to put his reputation to the test by asking tough questions. She made a grand and showy entrance into Jerusalem—camels loaded with spices, a huge amount of gold, and precious gems. She came to Solomon and talked about all the things that she cared about, emptying her heart to him. (1 Kings 10.1, 2, MSG)

The queen was a wealthy woman in her own right, but…

When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself Solomon’s wisdom and saw with her own eyes the palace he had built, the meals that were served, the impressive array of court officials and sharply dressed waiters, the lavish crystal, and the elaborate worship extravagant with Whole-Burnt-Offerings at the steps leading up to The Temple of GOD, it took her breath away. She said to the king, “It’s all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself; they didn’t exaggerate! Such wisdom and elegance—far more than I could ever have imagined. (1 Kings 10.4 – 7, MSG)

The chapter ends with a description of Solomon’s wealth (see 1 Kings 10.14 – 29). Here’s a summary:

• 25 tons of gold annually
• Shields of gold
• Throne of ivory
• Gold chalices – nothing made of silver
• A fleet of ships
• Wiser and richer than all the kings of the earth
• 12,000 horses “brought in from Egypt”

Wow…except there’s an oops in there – do you see it? Look at Moses’ instructions about their future kings:

When you enter the land that GOD, your God, is giving you and take it over and settle down, and then say, “I’m going to get me a king, a king like all the nations around me,” make sure you get yourself a king whom GOD, your God, chooses. Choose your king from among your kinsmen; don’t take a foreigner—only a kinsman. And make sure he doesn’t build up a war machine, amassing military horses and chariots. He must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because GOD told you, “You’ll never go back there again!” And make sure he doesn’t build up a harem, collecting wives who will divert him from the straight and narrow. And make sure he doesn’t pile up a lot of silver and gold. (Deuteronomy 17.14 – 17, MSG)

• No “war machine, amassing military horses and chariots”
• No going to Egypt to get horses
• No harem (we’ll get there shortly, but here’s a sneak peak: 1 Kings 11.1 – 3)
• No piling up a lot of silver and gold

Solomon did what the Law of Moses told him not to do, and there’s no record that he did what the Law told him to do:

This is what must be done: When he sits down on the throne of his kingdom, the first thing he must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation on a scroll, copied under the supervision of the Levitical priests. That scroll is to remain at his side at all times; he is to study it every day so that he may learn what it means to fear his GOD, living in reverent obedience before these rules and regulations by following them. He must not become proud and arrogant, changing the commands at whim to suit himself or making up his own versions. If he reads and learns, he will have a long reign as king in Israel, he and his sons. (Deuteronomy 17.18 – 20, MSG)

It’s tough. God promised him wealth, but the wealth became a distraction.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8.36, ESV)

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