When
You rose from Your grave
With
healing in Your wings,
Did
I live on in Your heart
As
you ascended to Your throne
To
seal my destiny?
Did
You carry us all in Your bosom
With
the crucible of the cross
Forever
etched in Your memory?
-
CATHRYNE ALLEN
Elijah was
called to preach repentance to one of the most evil kings of Israel. Not
only did King Ahab walk in the footsteps of his predecessor Jeroboam who turned
Israel to idolatry but he did one better than that, he married Jezebel, the
daughter of king of Sidonia, who worshipped Baal. Ahab turned worship of Baal
into the state religion and 'did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to
anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him' (1 Kings 16:33)
Baal, a Phoenician
deity of the Canaanites, worshipped as the god of storm who they believed had
power over water, is mentioned in the Old Testament 58 times. Because the
Canaanite vegetation was rich and the soil fertile, many Israelites were
deceived into thinking the Canaanite god Baal regulated the water supply needed
for the soil.
It is no
wonder then that Elijah, as a fitting punishment to Israel who worshipped Baal
believing he sent water to enrich their pastures and ensure their crops, sealed
up the heavens for three and a half years. You would think that during three
and a half years of drought, worshipping a god who was supposed to be a god of
water and rain, Israel would come to their senses and realise they were on the
wrong track but this did not happen. Sometimes I think we operate in mortality
on the intelligence level called stupidity.
From the
time of his proclaimed drought on the kingdom of Israel, Elijah was a wanted
man and spent much of his time in hiding. So severe had the drought become that
Ahab searched for him far and wide, among all nations, blaming him for the
misfortune that had befallen his kingdom (1 Kings 18:10). All the nations and
kingdoms Ahab searched had to swear an oath that they were not hiding him and
whoever reported seeing him would be executed if Elijah was not there by the
time Ahab's search party arrived (1 Kings 18:12).
Sealing the
heavens began Elijah's life on the run dotted with miracles. He was guided in
all his wanderings by the God of Israel who preserved his life. When the time
came for God to show forth his power by lifting the drought, Elijah was
instructed to return to Israel where he engaged in the most outlandish contest
with the false prophets of Baal who failed to show forth his power in igniting
the sacrifice they were offering.
And how did
the priests of Baal do? Their greatest offering was cutting themselves ‘till
blood gushed out upon them’ crying to their god for rain (1 Kings 18:28). One
ancient author recorded a similar scene he observed in Gaza in Roman times:
“They danced
along the streets to the sound of wild music, holding huge swords and bills,
with whips for scouring themselves….they flew wildly one past the other: their
heads sunk low towards the earth, as they turned in circles: their loose hair
dragging through the dust. Presently they began to bite their arms, and next to
hack themselves with the two edged swords they carried…..one of them, the
leader in this frenzy, commenced to prophesy, with sighs and groans, lamenting
aloud his past sins, which he would now avenge by the chastisement of his
flesh. He then took the knotted whip and lashed his back, cutting himself also
with his sword till the blood ran down.”
(Cunningham Geikie, Hours with the Bible, 3:399-400)
There is
only one deranged entity who would inspire such an ungodly practice and
persuade people of a sound mind to believe this could pass as a form of worship…..and
we all know who that is.
Elijah,
however, drew the hosts of Israel to him so they could properly see, repaired
the altar of the Lord that had been torn down with 12 stones signifying the 12
tribes of Israel and saturated the wood and the sacrificial animal with four
barrels of water, three times. He then appealed to Jehovah to show that He is
the true God of Israel (1 Kings 18:37). Of course, the fire came down and
consumed the whole altar with the surplus water that was in the surrounding
trench (1 Kings 18:30-39). He then instructed the astonished Israelites to
capture all 450 prophets of Baal, took them to the brook Kishon and slew them
there (1 Kings 18:22,40). Now that’s a man of conviction!
Because of
his un-daunting faith in the God of Israel, Elijah was blessed with power over
water like Moses and Joshua and divided river Jordan prior to his ascension
into heaven, never to taste death (2 Kings 2:6-11).
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art by AI)
As the stars in heaven
That burn with everlasting light
So is my love that burns for Thee
On the altar of my heart.
-
Cathryne Allen
There was a prolific and significant prophet of the Old Testament whose earthly mission was
divided in two time periods, before the first and second advents of Christ. His life warrants a lengthy consideration.
He is known
as the ancient prophet who performed many mighty miracles and who had power to
control the elements. Approximately 900 years before the birth of Christ, the
people of the northern kingdom of Israel had almost entirely forsaken the
worship of the true God under the reign of king Ahab and had become worshippers
of the Phoenician god Baal. Enter Elijah
the Tishbite who was called to lead Israel back to their forsaken God. He
boldly stood up to Ahab and said: “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom
I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to my word.”
(1 Kings 17:1)
And so
Elijah sat by the brook Cherith, before Jordan, and he drank of the brook and
was fed by the ravens sent by the very God in whose name he proclaimed the
draught that lasted three and a half years (1 Kings 17:2-6). When the brook
dried up, the Lord led him to Zarephath to be sustained by a widow whose son he
raised from the dead (vs 7-24).
Elijah's
boldness of character would be difficult to replicate. He stands as an example
of spiritual confidence of one who knows God on a personal level. Besides the
power that he was entrusted with he loved the God of Israel and did everything
he could to turn the people’s hearts to Him.
Elijah’s
difficult life has touched my heart to the core. He sorrowed and he suffered
through rejection, persecution and isolation and most of all he longed for
heaven. When fleeing Jezebel who sought to take his life, Elijah went into
wilderness and sat himself under a juniper tree and requested of God that he
might die (1 Kings 19:4). The Lord instead sent him an angel who fed him and
led him to mount Horeb.
Elijah
fasted for forty days during this trip. When he arrived and the Lord asked him
what he was doing there, he expressed the root cause of his sorrow: nothing
about his personal hardships but that the children of Israel had forsaken the
covenant and slain the prophets and that he was the only one left (vs 8-10). And
then the assurance and comfort from the God he loved: “Yet I have left me seven
thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every
mouth which hath not kissed him.” (v 18) In other words: Elijah, you have done
some good even though you can’t see it.
And then the
ultimate show of love and support……the Lord gave him Elisha. Another man of
God, who denounced all his wealth and followed Elijah into his ministry. A man who
became so great that a dead man cast into his sepulchre came to life again when
his body touched the bones of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21). Is this not greatness???
How
much You must love
Those
who serve Thee to the end;
Who
speak the words of truth
And
proclaim Thy holy name.
These
are Thy prophets,
Your
everlasting friends:
The
strong, the noble,
The
devoted who hear and obey.
These
are Thine angels who herald
Thy
gospel and Thy name ;
To
the ends of the earth they speak
And
their words forever remain.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Elijah by Djane Daviss)
Will
I be lost in crowds of heaven
When
my mortal shell at last I leave,
And
will this earthly life appear unreal
When
my true home is to me revealed?
Will
I come to see Thy face
I
so often sought on bended knee,
And
forget all the lonely moments
I
suffered with merciful help from Thee?
My
heart will rend within my chest
When
I kneel before Thy throne;
I
will weep with grateful heart
For
cherished truths that I have known.
-
CATHRYNE ALLEN
Teenage
years: Life is great and possibilities are great.
Twenties:
My Prince has come, not on a steed but in a small second-hand Toyota, but
that’s OK. I am about to sail off into the sunset of perfection and a glorious
thereafter.
Thirties:
The sunset faded all too soon and the prince has turned into a toad. I am
divorced with two children in tow.
Forties:
I am penniless but the tabloids tell me I am a superwoman and I can yet re-invent
myself and create another life because for women life begins at 40.
Fifties:
Still penniless and wrung dry by single motherhood. My mother is in her 70s and
she refuses to walk with a cane. What the heck is wrong with her? Doesn’t she
know how old she is????
Sixties: My body is breaking. The thought of having a shower fills me with fear and dread and actually having one that lasts all of five minutes is a monumental achievement. And no way am I walking with a cane!
I don’t
know if it happens to everyone but it seems that when we reach the last leg of
the journey, we start evaluating a lot and calculating the worth of our lives
by a very short synopsis. I was struggling with a very low number I
was coming up with until my friend recently confided in me the same struggle.
She felt she has not achieved much and therefore she herself must not be worth
much.
The thing
is, there is only one thing we take with us when we die….ourselves, therefore
our worth cannot be measured by earthly achievements but by the worth of our
souls. I have not attended one funeral where the financial worth of the
deceased was on display for everyone to admire. Who they were was always
remembered over what they have achieved and acquired.
When
God the Father showed Enoch His corrupted children that would be swept away in
the flood, He wept at the loss (Moses 7:28). Enoch was beyond perplexed when he
considered that God would sorrow over a ‘handful’ of His children compared to
the immensity of His creations (v 29-31). The Father simply answered that these
His children were ‘the workmanship” of His hands (v 32). The dictionary defines
‘workmanship’ as ‘the product or result of labour and skill, or work executed’.
I pondered on this some years ago and considered the work that went into
the making of us such as: 1. our spiritual creation which depended on the
Father’s rise to Godhood; 2. Our spiritual tutoring for eons of time; 3. The
creation of the earth for our mortality; 4. The overseeing of our earthly
tutoring; 5. The preparation of kingdoms for our eternal destination; 6. The
redemption of our souls through the sacrifice of another.
I also thought of our earthly lives and the scale of guidance,
protection, care, anguish and sorrow of our Heavenly Parents, the Holy Ghost,
our guardian angels, our ancestors, our departed loved ones and all the hosts
of heaven who know us….and not just what others have put into us but what we
have put into ourselves….in this life and before we even came here. Progression
is a long journey.
As I spoke to my friend, I said to her that I have come to the
conclusion that I would gladly repeat all the trials and hardships of my life
if it would bring me back to this time and place where I am the closest I have
ever been to the Saviour of the world. As I spoke, I became cognizant of my
worth and that I was my greatest asset. The height of my value I owe to Him who
has not only bled for my soul but who has fine tuned me like an old violin……..
“Twas
battered and scarred and the auctioneer thought it hardly worth his while to
waste his time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. “What am I
bid, good people”, he cried, “Who starts the bidding for me?”
“One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two? Two dollars, who makes it three? Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going, going for three.”
“But
no, from the room far back a gray bearded man came forward and picked up the
bow.
Then wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up the strings, he played a melody, pure and sweet. As sweet as the angel sings.
“The music ceased and the auctioneer with a voice that was quite and low said, “What now am I bid for this old violin?” As he held it aloft with its’ bow. “One thousand, one thousand, do I hear two? Two thousand, who makes it three? Three thousand once, three thousand twice, Going and gone”, said he.
“The audience cheered, but some of them cried, “We just don’t understand, What changed its worth?”
Swift came the reply, “The touch of the Master’s Hand.”
- Myra Brooks Welch [1877-1959]
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
I’ve written about the bad kings of ancient Israel and thought it might be unfair not to mention the few that were actually good. One of those good kings was Jehoshaphat, a faithful king of the Kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 15:24; 22). His story is one of unparalleled inspiration that cannot be overlooked.
The scriptures record that Jehoshaphat "sought the Lord God of his father David, and walked in his commandments and not after the doings of Baal worshipping Israel. Therefore, the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance" (2 Chronicles 17:3-5).
Jehoshaphat was presented with a big problem during his reign which he handled with immense wisdom. Upon hearing that the armies of Moab and Ammon and the inhabitants of mount Seir were coming against him, Jehoshaphat first declared a fast and then gathered his people and offered an incredible prayer acknowledging that they knew not what to do 'but that their eyes were upon the God of Israel' (2 Chronicles 20:3,4;12). In other words, 'we cannot solve this problem but we know that you can'.
And here is where it starts to get weird and wonderful. In answer to that prayer, the Spirit of the Lord came upon a totally unknown man in the crowd who prophesied that Judah need not fear and that the Lord God of Israel will fight that battle for them. He went on to say that they should do nothing when they confront the armies and that they should 'fear not, nor be dismayed but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 20:17).
Instead of questioning the sanity of this man, both Jehoshaphat and the whole congregation of Judah fell on their faces and worshiped and praised God accepting this as an answer to their problem. The following morning they rose early and went into the wilderness as if to fight but when they got there, instead of sharpening their swords, the king assembled a choir and instructed them to sing and praise God. Now, that is faith….
At that, the Lord stepped in and 'set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab and mount Seir' (2 Chronicles 20:22). How exactly that happened, the scriptures do not tell, but they do tell us that these armies turned on each other and slaughtered every man there so that there was nobody left to fight with.
Instead of slaughter, Judah collected the spoils of the attacking armies for 3 days. The riches and precious jewels that came into their possession was more than they could carry (2 Chronicles 20:25). It makes you wonder why an army would carry their precious jewels with them into battle, but that they did and the Kingdom of Judah was blessed for trusting in the God of Israel. On the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah and gave thanks to God following which they returned to Jerusalem with joy bringing 'psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 20:26-28).
Next time you need a miracle, think of Jehoshaphat……
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
"As a
small boy in grammar school, I had a teacher who made King Arthur and the
knights of the Round Table come alive. She caused me to become so
obsessed with stories of knights that I played and dreamed that I was
one. One evening I dreamed that I was a white knight on a white horse
riding over the greens of England. Suddenly, without warning, a knight
dressed in black armour and mounted on a black horse appeared at the edge of
the forest. We measured each other carefully, lowered our lances, and
charged at full gallop. The lances struck target and both of us were
knocked off our steeds.
“I scrambled
to my feet knowing that swords would be drawn and that hand-to-hand combat was
imminent. Fear gripped my heart as I saw my opponent rushing toward me
flashing a long, gleaming sword. Instinctively, I reached to my side and
drew forth from the scabbard my weapon. That is when the dream turned
into a nightmare! For in my hand was a small, dinky dagger - not a long,
gleaming sword. I woke up in a cold sweat screaming for help.
“When the
Lord draws you forth as His instrument in combating evil forces, what does he
have in his hand - a long, gleaming sword or a dinky dagger?...The saving
virtue of a sword is related to its strength, sharpness, cleanliness, and the
hand which guides it. Is it not the same with people? I would pray
that you would seek strength of character, sharpness of mind, and cleanliness
of soul so as to become gleaming swords of righteousness. By doing this,
there will be no embarrassment, no disappointment, and no nightmare when He
draws you out in battling the powers of darkness" (Elder Carlos E. Asay,
"Instruments of Righteousness", New Era, June 1983)
There is a
battle we are all engaged in with the enemy that cannot be seen. This enemy is
cleverly disguised in many evils of mortality who carefully draws his bow and
fires his darts and arrows aiming to wound so we would slowly bleed to death.
Since the
battle is directed at the destruction of our souls, meaning both body and
spirit (D&C 88:15), Paul admonished the saints of his day to put on ‘the
whole armor of God that they might be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil’ (Ephesians 6:10-13). This armor
is one of obedience and commitment to the commandments we have been given.
Every act of
disobedience creates cracks in the armour that is supposed to protect us. And
it is just such cracks that the adversary targets. Many cracks make a loose
armour. A cracked and loose armour is sufficient to cause discomfort leading to
the conviction that the armour is useless and not needed after all. Think of
how many people regard the commandments of God to be inconvenient and
restrictive.
The full
armour of God that Paul admonished the Ephesians to wear addresses all the
vulnerabilities of mortality:
Loins
(reproductive organs): typifying virtue and chastity
Heart: in the
scriptures the heart is always used to typify our conduct
Feet: typify
objectives and goals in life which would take us to perfection
Head: a place the
thoughts are stored which lead to actions
"Well,
now, the apostle Paul went one step further. He didn't leave the man just with
the armour on and expect him to cope against an army, seen or unseen. He had
his armoured man holding in his hand a shield and in his other hand a sword,
which were the weapons of those days. That shield was the shield of faith, and
the sword was the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. I can't think
of any more powerful weapons than faith and a knowledge of the scriptures in
the which are contained the Word of God. One so armoured and one so prepared
with those weapons is prepared to go out against the enemy [and] is more to be
feared than the enemies of the light" (Harold B. Lee, "Feet Shod with
the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace", Speeches of the Year,
1954, pp 2-4, 6-7).
Don’t fear
the enemy, make him fear YOU…..
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
I kneel before Thy throne each day
Never knowing what first to say.
Then I remember what my soul foremost needs
Is my heartfelt devotion to only Thee.
My thoughts, my words, my earthly deeds
I consecrate as a memorial in prayer to Thee.
I spread my heart before Thy feet,
As the Sacrificial Lamb I come to see.
I see You smile, I hear You say:
You are in my heart today.
The sacrifice was mine to give,
Your soul I purchased that you might live.
-
Cathryne
Allen
There was once a king by the name of Ahab who ruled the northern kingdom of Israel from 885-874 B.C. He was the most wicked king Israel had ever had and in my mind, the most brainwashed man if there ever was one because he married the notorious Jezebel.
Jezebel was a Phoenician princess who brought with her the worst worship of Baal as the religion of state (1 Kings 16:30-33). Ahab and Jezebel killed God’s prophets and had Elijah on their hit list persecuting him to the point of madness. More of that when we study Elijah.
Ahab teaches us, however, something profound in the manner of his death. When he led his army against the forces of Syria, he took every precaution to avoid being injured, even disguising himself so that the Syrians would not recognise him to focus on his destruction. The only thing he didn’t do was wear enough protection so someone drew his bow at random and hit the king between the sections of his armour. By night-time he had bled to death (1 Kings 22:30-35). Random indeed…..
Ahab’s manner of physical protection from danger equalled the negligent spiritual protection he provided for himself. So it is with us…..The degree of protection we have from the adversary is proportional to the diligence and heed we give to the Lord's commandments. The extent and strength of our armour is a good indication of how valiant we are in our testimony of Jesus. We cannot afford to choose which commandment we will obey and which we will let slide because each commandment provides a section in our armour against sin.
If you ever wanted to be a hero, this is the time and the place. Examine the cracks in your armour and sharpen your sword of righteousness. President Ezra Taft Benson said: "You will never have a better opportunity to be a greater hero in a more crucial battle than in the battle you will face today and in the immediate future. Be warned that some of the greatest battles you will face will be fought within the silent chambers of your own soul. David's battles in the field against the foe were not as critical as David's battles in the palace against a lustful eye. We will each find our own battlefield". (Ezra Taft Benson, "In His Steps", 1979, Devotional Speeches of the Year, 60).
The most important battlefield we will ever get to fight on is in our souls. The adversary will use every tactic to bring us down. When Joseph lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon manuscript, the Saviour told him that if he had been faithful and not feared man He would have supported him against all the fiery darts of the adversary (D&C 3:7,8). The foundation of our faith in Christ and our obedience to Him is the strength of our defence. When the war is over and the battle won, whose side will you be found on?
He is the Captain of our souls:
His
arms are our shelter,
His heart is our home,
Our only hope
For protection
from battle’s storm.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
I wrote my 350th poem the other day. I was quite stunned at that number because I have been writing them for a relatively short time. They are expressions of my heart and soul so they come easy. According to the scriptural record, Solomon spoke or compiled 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs (see 1 Kings 4:32). I am so grateful he did that because his wisdom was a gift from God so the spiritual substance in them is something I value.
When I was doing my degree some years ago I was really excited to
take a subject on philosophy because I thought studying the ‘wisdom’ of the
ancient Greek philosophers would make me wise. After all, their words are
recognised and revered the world over. It was my worst subject. So much so that my
professor called me up and asked me if I had trouble understanding the course.
Frankly, I found the theories of the meaning of life by these
philosophers incomprehensible. They stood in stark contrast to the plain and
simple truth of the Plan of Salvation as per the LDS theology that I lived by. It
taught me something valuable. Never trust in the theories of the world. Now
when I hear something ‘meaningful’ I have to find it in the scriptures to
verify it before I believe it is true.
If you want wisdom, you will find it in the scriptures because
true wisdom must encompass knowledge, understanding and moral conduct. The
wisdom you follow must comply with your inner spiritual compass and religious
beliefs. It must produce a positive outcome, protect you from the negative and
be in alignment with the witness of the spirit. This to me is true wisdom. (see
also Old Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings – Malachi, p 13)
It is impossible to come away from the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes with
one major or common theme for they deal with application of wisdom in so many different
facets of life, as per Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, which so aptly teaches ‘to
everything there is a season’. One can, however, always walk away from them
having found something of vast importance particular to them to correspond with
their 'time and season'. Wisdom is not wisdom if it lacks application and
application of all things cannot happen all at once. Progression is a journey
which requires patience and repentance when the heart is ready.
The greatest wisdom of Solomon is found in chapter 3 of Proverbs. The
advice it gives is invaluable: to have peace in this life means to know and
trust God, to keep His commandments, to hold onto His mercy and truth, and to
write it on the tables of one’s heart (vs 1-6).
God's wisdom would tell us that the sacrifice of the moment is
worth the blessings of eternity. Trusting in God means trusting in our eternal
destiny to which we were committed from the beginning. It means knowing who we
are and using wisdom to honour that spiritual identity. It means standing firm
in our convictions at all cost.
I knelt before Thy throne today
Asking for the words of wisdom
You had to say.
They fell with ease from Thy tongue
Coated gently with holy love.
My heart was opened
The heavens wept
Our union, a divine sacrament.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
You opened my heart
And searched for what
You there did not see;
My feeble faith and lack
of trust
Stood in contrast to your
will for me.
You sorrowed for the
tears I shed
With every step I was led
to take
To find You in my hour of
agony.
How patiently You stood
waiting
With open arms hoping I
would come to Thee;
How patiently You hoped
I would give You all that
was lacking in me.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
How easy it would have been for the Saviour to wash his hands of the children of Israel when they rejected Him and asked for a king to rule and preside over them. How easy it would have been to turn his back on them and to walk away, but the Saviour who is full of 'grace, equity and truth', did not forsake the children of the covenant and sought to still be their king through the best men He could find, that His watchful eye might be over them 'with a stretched out arm; for his mercy endureth forever' (Alma 13:9; Psalm 136:12).
Because under the kingship of Solomon, they disregarded the power and might of the God who delivered them, and put their trust in the arm of the flesh instead, Israel faltered and stumbled in its prosperity and spiritual welfare. Worst of all, they lost unity as a nation. Following the death of Solomon, under the leadership of his very unwise son Rehoboam, who sought to increase the burdens of his people rather than decrease the oppression with which his extravagant father afflicted the people, the house of Israel became divided, never to be the same again.
Rehoboam refused to heed the counsel of his father’s wise old counselors, 'to serve the people and be their servant, then they will be thy servants forever' (1 Kings 12:6,7). Rather than serve, he sought to elevate himself even further causing the Ten Tribes of Israel to break their alliance with the House of David and appointed Jeroboam as their king. And thus began a new nation referred to as the Northern Kingdom consisting of 10 tribes while the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained under the reign of the House of David, a house which was preserved by the hand of the Lord to ensure the prophesied lineage of the Messiah.
Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, had been a military leader in the army of Israel under King Solomon. He was an administrator over the territorial districts of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, two of the most powerful tribes in Israel. Ahijah, a prophet of that day, revealed to Jeroboam that he would become the ruler of 10 tribes which would be 'rent' from the house of David. He demonstrated this by rending Jeroboam's robe into 12 pieces and giving him 10, saying: "...thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee" (1 Kings 11:31).
When this prophecy was made known to Solomon, he sought to kill Jeroboam who fled into Egypt and lived there in exile until Rehoboam ascended the throne and the 10 tribes who were dissatisfied with Rehoboam's 'attitude' brought him back and anointed him king. And thus began a history of darkness for the Northern Kingdom of Israel as Jeroboam established a state religion of idolatrous worship. (1 Kings 12:25-33).
And here is an insight into Jeroboam’s insecurity and floundering faith in God. He feared that he would lose the kingdom to Rehoboam if his subjects travelled to the temple in Jerusalem and decided to defect. Instead of securing his position by endearing the people to him, he foolishly used religion to serve his political purposes’ (see Adam Clarke, Commentary, 2:437).
The question begs to be asked, why would his subjects want to go back to Rehoboam and his oppression which they rejected? You cannot help but wonder if Jeroboam at all possessed a logical mind. To keep the 10 tribes away from Jerusalem, he made 2 calves of gold, installed them in cities of Bethel and Dan and told the people: "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" (1 Kings 12:28).
It blows one’s mind…in one fell swoop, he replaced Jehovah as Israel’s God in the minds of the people and he rationalised it by using the same wording as Aaron back in the wilderness suggesting this form of worship was nothing new and was used by their fathers in the desert (Exodus 32:4). And how did that work out for them???
And so the Northern Kingdom was led into idolatry by their very first king from which they never repented and which contributed to their downfall. Twenty monarchs ruled the Northern Kingdom from its beginning until its destruction by the Assyrians in 724 B.C. and all of them were characterized as evil or wicked by scriptural records (Old Testament Student Manual 1 Kings-Malachi, p. 33).
Of the twenty rulers who reigned over the Southern Kingdom, from the death of Solomon to the fall of Jerusalem and the Jews' captivity at the hands of the Babylonians in 605 B.C., twelve are characterized in the scriptural records as evil or wicked. Only four advanced their nation economically and religiously.
In response
to Israel’s wish to have kings, the words of Jehovah to Samuel echo loud and
clear: “Hearken unto
the voice of the people…for they have not rejected thee but they have rejected
me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
Did You count me amongst
Your valuable host
As we met in the councils of heaven?
Did I stand strong and ready
To defend Your godship;
To smite the enemy,
To secure Your path to my eternity?
Was I brave and willing to carry the cross
Some of the way to Calvary?
Did I weep with you in the Garden
And held You as You bore the burdens of
mortality?
Did I wipe the sweat of Your brow
As I wept for You and weep even now?
Did I promise to bear Your name
Etched in my mortal heart for all to see?
Am I now worthy to carry Your sacrifice
With me into eternity?
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
Solomon's is the ultimate story of corruption. His wealth was
staggering. The scriptures suggest that Solomon received annually 666 talents
of gold (1 Kings 10:14; 2 Chronicles 9:13). At today's prices that is $3,051,800,000
USD (over $3.05 billion). And herein begins Solomon's downfall. The riches turned
him into a man of excess. The description of his wealth and extravagances is
astonishing (1 Kings 10:14-23).
Solomon's reign enforced great economic changes in the kingdom and
his massive building projects created serious problems: “He taxed the people
heavily and used forced labour to complete his projects. The people began to
complain and a deep resentment, especially in the northern tribes, began to
fester......For the first time in Israel's history, there began to be a
distinct difference between 'rich' and 'poor'. The king and his household were
rich; the common people were poor. In between were the salaried civil servants
and the merchants and artisans, many of whom had organised craft guilds by that
time. Such class separations had not been known in the Israel where a shepherd
boy like David could be anointed king - only 50 years earlier" (Great
People of the Bible, pp 192-93, Old
Testament Student Manual Vol 2., p 8).
Solomon’s riches were just the beginning. Where
is the end for a man who has everything? Is everything ever enough? Such riches
would turn you into believing you are limitless and invincible. In the end you
would believe there is nothing that should be denied you and Solomon proved
this to be true For all his wisdom,
Solomon became incredibly unwise for 'one was not wise, regardless of his vast
learning, if his actions did not comply with his righteous beliefs' (Old
Testament Student Manual, Vol. 2, p. 13).
Following the dedication of Solomon's
temple, the Lord appeared to Solomon for the second time and acknowledging the
dedicatory prayer, accepted the temple which Solomon dedicated to Him. At the
same time, however, he issued a grave and serious warning to the king of
Israel. He warned Solomon that if he and his children do not keep his
commandments and if they go and serve other gods and worship them, that He will
cut off Israel out of the land which He had given them, that He will destroy
the temple which was built, and 'Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among
all people' (1 Kings 9:1-9).
Imagine the Lord himself appearing to you
and warning you about a calamity that will befall you if you stray, and you go
and do exactly that. The beginning of the end came for Solomon when he made a
marriage alliance with Pharoah and took his daughter for his wife. This marriage alliance was the greatest act of
Solomon's foolishness. It was the beginning of him marrying many idolatrous
women out of the covenant and his many political alliances which signalled that
he had more faith in them than in God who was willing to fight and win Israel's
battles. You might say he was beginning to lose the plot.
Marrying foreign women who led him and all
Israel into idolatry aborted Solomon’s ability to endure to the end and changed
the course of Israel's history. This is the damage that one king can do to a
whole nation. By introducing idolatry to the children of Israel, the history of
Israel became a losing battle fought by prophets against the forces of
disloyalty to God.
The greatest mistake Solomon made was that he went to his grave
unrepentant, unlike his father David. He who loved the Lord, and even saw Him
twice (1 Kings 3:5; 9:2), forsook the integrity of his heart and came to
worship false gods who had no power to give him any of the blessings he
received from the God of Israel. He who had the greatest wisdom ended up
being the most foolish.
So it is sometimes with us. We overlook what the Lord has done for
us and what He is capable of giving us if we stay the course so we become
foolish and dabble in sin. And this is the outcome of sin:
“…..sin makes you stupid, stupid because when we sin we become
'deaf, dumb and blind to the ways of the Lord. Stupid because habitual sin
drives the Spirit away, leaving us outside the protective influence of the Holy
Ghost. Stupid because it makes us incapable of drawing upon the powers of
heaven. Being stupid costs a lot. Sin costs a lot too. It can cost time, money,
peace of mind, progress, self-respect, your integrity and virtue, your family,
the trust of those you love, and even your Church membership. Sin is just plain
stupid. And the cost is off the charts. So repent now. Repent daily. If you
want to be sanctified, repentance is not optional'. (Sheri L. Dew, You Were Born to Lead, You Were
Born for Glory, BYU Speeches, Dec. 2003)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
