Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14; 1 Kings 12:1-20; 2 Chron. 10:1-19; 1 Kings 12:21-24; 2 Chron. 11:1-4; 1 Kings 12:25-33; 2 Chron. 11:5-17. For less flipping back and forth, Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14; 1 Kings 12:1-33; 2 Chron. 10:1-19; 2 Chronicles 11:1-17.
For a sermon on 1 Kings 12 ( and 2 Chronicles 10), see The Great Divorce by Bob Deffinbaugh.
There were a couple of things that spoke to me in the passages for today. A brief word about the passage from Ecclesiastes - I think everyone, Christian or not, feels at least at times that life is meaningless, that our efforts are wasted, that most of us will not be remembered (at least not for long) after we are gone, and therefore nothing we do or don't do really matters a whole lot. I would say it must be worse for those who are not believers, but I can't really know that for sure. I know that there have been times where I have felt that way, and I don't remember a time when I didn't believe in God. But I can imagine for someone who doesn't, it must seem that there is little, if any, purpose to their lives whatsoever.
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
What is our purpose, if not to love and serve God and keep His commandments? He's given us each a unique and individual role in building His kingdom - what a responsibility!
Moving on to the next passage, we see Rehoboam is to take over for his father Solomon. Right off the bat, he jumps off a cliff (figuratively speaking). The people ask a reasonable request of him. The prophesy of Samuel had come true (remember, way back when the people were asking for a king and Saul was chosen? 1 Samuel 8:10-18). King Solomon had built an incredibly wealthy kingdom, but in order to accomplish this the people had been deprived of sons and daughters, servants, the best cattle, donkeys, sheep, and birds from their flocks, and then some. It cost them dearly. They asked, respectfully, that the burden be eased a bit. Rehoboam asked for time to think about their request. Then he did something we often do - he asked for advice. He asked his father's advisors, who gave him very good advice. But then he asked his friends, who gave him very bad advice. And just like all the rest of us do at least occasionally, instead of chosing to listen to the wiser advice, he chose to listen to the advice that best suited his own ends.
Now of course our listening to the advice that suits us best usually doesn't result in such dire consequences as the division of a nation, but if any of you are like me, you sometimes ask advice of someone you know will tell you to do what you really want to do, even if deep down you know it's not the BEST thing you could do in that situation.
As far as giving advice goes, it's just as important to take care in the advice we give others as in the advice we receive. Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm a great one for giving advice. I don't necessarily expect people to follow my advice, but I give it anyway. Probably something I should work on.
So now Rehoboam has decided to make the burden for the people heavier rather than lighter, and not unexpectedly, they aren't impressed. The nation is divided, 10 tribes against 2, and the 10 tribes choose Jeroboam to be their king. Jeroboam goes on to create idols for the people to worship, leading them astray right out of the gate. All of this was according to God's will, for we read:
But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.' " So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered. (emphasis mine)
God hardened Rehoboam's heart to deny the people's request. We're back to God's sovereignty vs. man's choice here. This is an excerpt from the commentary:
The major problem that most people face in dealing with the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man is that they assume it must be all one way or the other. They assume that if God is sovereign, then man must not be free to make choices. The only other option for many is that men are free agents, causing God not to be in complete control of human history. How, they reason, can God hold any man accountable for choices that he was predestined to make? The fact is that God gives men the freedom to make choices, but He is always in complete control of human history.
When I seek to be in control of my children, I must do so by restricting their freedoms and by limiting their choices. I cannot let them out of my sight, or I lose control. God’s sovereignty is far greater in nature and scope. God is so great that He can give men the freedom to make choices, yet these “free choices” can never contradict, hinder, nor thwart God’s purposes or promises. The relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility is never an “either/or” issue; it is a “both/and” matter. We see this very clearly in the division of the nation Israel.
Tomorrow's reading is all over the place or not so all over the place.
4 comments:
I have to admit, I've often wondered why Ecclesiastes was included in the Canon of Scripture. It always seems like he's building to a hopeful message, but he never does! He'll list a bunch of things and you sort of expect that his next comment will be an encouragement to remain in God or hold to the truth or something like that, but it just all comes crashing back down with the, "this too, is meaningless" statement over and over and over again! The book concludes with some wise advice, but I always kinda wonder how it even ties into the rest of the book. That might be one we'd consider studying a little more in-depth in the future, I guess!
I love that look at predestination vs. free will, Miriam. Thanks for posting that quote.
I would love to study Ecclesiastes more too! There is a great sermon series on bible.org that covers every chapter and, what I read I found to be very encouraging. I need to take time to read more of those sermons yet.
It's a pretty human tendency to listen to the advice we want to hear isn't it? Everybody could be saying the same thing, but if it's not what we want to hear, we keep looking for that one person that says what we want to hear and then take that advice instead. And really, if that's the approach, there's not much point in asking for advice!
I too would be interested in spending some time looking at Ecclesiastes in more depth. It kind of seemed like one of those billboards you pass too quickly to finish reading but you really wanted to know what it said.
No, there's not much point in asking for advice if you're only going to listen to the advice that you really wanted to hear in the first place. But often we want validation or approval from somebody to do something we think maybe we shouldn't, or not do something we think we probably should. If someone else agrees, then it makes it seem like a better idea than it may actually be.
I agree, and had the same thought. The other reason I'd like to go back to it is because it is such a deep book! There is a lot I don't think I'm absorbing as well. I think I may need to make a book mark with sections I'd like to go back to in deapth later on.
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