Tag Archives: hope

Solomon was Not the One: Refiguring Our Expectations

Posted on by

1 Kings 10: 14-17, 21, 26-27a; 11:1, 2-3

Now this may appear to be a simple biographical sketch of Solomon, but this is actually a very important text that is loaded with theological significance. This is a text about Solomon that was written for us. We really want to get this and so here’s the plan in three steps:

first start here and look at the context of 1 Kings to see what leads us up to chapter 10.
Then in order for us to really see the value of ch. 10 we’ll refer back to the Pentateuch for an appraisal.
And then finally we want to soak in what it means by an application for us right now where we’re at.

Again: context, appraisal, and application. But before we get into it we should start by talking a little about expectation and disappointment.

My dad likes baseball. He is an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. He likes the Cardinals, my mom likes the Cardinals, I grew up in a Cardinals household. My parents put Cardinals hats on me when I was a baby. It is the closet experience I have with paedobaptism.
I like the St. Louis Cardinals.

Last October was really exciting. The Twins and the Cardinals advanced to the playoffs. The Twins are an American League team and the Cardinals are a National League team. The World Series is always played by the winner of the American League and the winner of the National League. If they kept winning in the playoffs they would face each other in the World Series that would be played a short walk from where I live. Yes. This would be great. My dad would fly in to go to a game. It would be memorable. I’ll tell my grandkids about it one day. Everything was looking good until the Cardinals were beat three games in a row by the Dodgers. They were knocked out of the playoffs just like that.

Now that is not what I expected. Not at all. It was a disappointment. Disappointment and expectation work that way. We are disappointed when our expectations are not delivered. Unfulfilled expectations = disappointment.

Context of 1 Kings 10
Now about Solomon. 1 Kings begins all about Solomon. David dies and establishes Solomon as king over Israel and Judah (1:35). Go farther back now to 2 Samuel 7. Remember God’s covenant with David.

God told David,

“I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam 7:12-13).

It is clear. David will have a son who will build God’s temple and reign forever.

1 Kings begins and things are looking good for Solomon. He is David’s son and he is anointed King. He was the wisest man to ever live (ch. 3). And he actually builds the temple (5-6). Things are looking really good. They reach the all-time high at the beginning of chapter 10 when the Queen of Sheba (think Gentile) travels to Jerusalem to behold the splendor of Solomon’s kingdom. It is almost like Israel was fulfilling its missionary mandate to be the LORD’s witness to the nations. Yes, things are looking good. Until we come to verse 10:14.

Deuteronomy 17 Appraisal
This brings us up to speed on what’s been going on here. Before we look closer at this text again let’s turn to Deuteronomy 17. Israel’s monarchy was really no surprise to anyone who recalls the prophetic voice of Moses. In Deuteronomy 17 he gives laws concerning Israel’s kings that they would one day have. The laws for kings are found in vv. 14-20, but I specifically want to focus on vv. 15-17 where we find the negative stipulations. Deut. 17:15-17:

“15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.“

There are three negative stipulations here. What are they?
he must not acquire many horses (v. 16)
he must not acquire many wives (v. 17a)
he must not acquire excessive silver and gold (v. 17b)

The LORD has ordained that there will be a King over Israel, but there are three things he must not do. The true King of Israel will not have excessive gold and silver, he will not have many horses, and he will not have many wives. Clear enough.

Back to 1 Kings 10. The author of Kings is saying something. He is calling for the reader’s attention. “Hey everyone, here he is! yes, here is David’s son, yes, see his kingdom is established, yes, he has built the temple, yes, nations are coming to Jerusalem, but look, see this…”

16, “the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold”…
21, “All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.”
26, “And Solomon gather together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen.”
11:3, “He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines.”

Excessive gold and silver = not good
Excessive horses = not good
excessive wives = not good

The author doesn’t want us to miss this. He goes on, he doesn’t have to, but he does. Verse 6, “So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.”

Solomon, no! What are you thinking? He was not what they expected. What a disappointment! They may have thought Solomon was the one. But as it turns out, Solomon is not your man. He was a failure. He clearly did all the things that Moses clearly declared must not be done. This was not what they expected. Solomon was a disappointment. And the trend begins, one king after another, some are blatantly evil but all of them end up buried with their fathers. Would God’s promise to David come true? This is not what they expected. This is a disappointment.

Solomon was not the king that they expected. And here is the theological significance that the author wants us to get. Solomon is not ultimately the son promised in 2 Sam. 7.  Solomon is not the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.There would be another. Another son of David would come, there would be another King.

  • This king would not be delivered in a palace, he would be born in a stable.
  • This king would not have excessive silver and gold, he would be rich and yet for our sake he would become poor so that we by his poverty we might become rich (2 Cor 8:9).
  • This king would not own many horses, he would have to borrow a donkey to ride into Jerusalem.
  • This king would not have many wives, he would have one Bride and he would give His own life for her, that he might sanctify her and present her in splendor, holy and blameless before Him forever (Eph 5:25-27).

Here is your King, O Israel! Here is your king, O peoples! No, even he will not be what you expect–he will be more than what you have ever dreamed.

Jesus Christ would come, descended from David according to the flesh, the one Lord Jesus Christ the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages–God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God– He would come and be crucified, dead, and buried, and on the third day raised. He would ascend to the Father’s right hand and He will come again to judge and living and the dead, His Kingdom will never end. Here is your King. Not Solomon! Here is your King!

Application
This is precisely where it matters for us. We’re not too different from those in Solomon’s day. We have expectations, too. I don’t mean for kings or government leaders. And this goes way beyond Major League Baseball.

We are all here together. We are a people of expectations. We are all expecting something. None of us have come here to BCS thinking that it is our last chapter, we came here to be trained and to be sent. Maybe you’ve got that next step all squared away. You know where you’re going and what you’re doing. You have really good expectations. Or maybe you’re the opposite. Maybe like me, you do expect but then you don’t really know what to expect. You just don’t want to waste your life.

Where ever you are on the spectrum of expectation, I urge you more than anything else, to expect Jesus. Expect Jesus. Long for Him.

Your expectations may be great: a degree from BCS, a vibrant church in an urban context, a life-long ministry of faithfully preaching the Word and proclaiming the gospel, missional living among your neighbors, maybe a wife and some kids and great-great grandkids, maybe fluency in Chinese. Good things, indeed. But more than all of these things, we need to expect Jesus.

Now I am not saying treasure or love or value this time. I mean it when I say expect. What are you looking forward to? What do you envision?

Okay, here’s a test. It’s a little silly. But think ahead: future pastors, missionaries, teachers, whatever. Imagine you have finished your college and seminary, after eight years you have your degrees. Imagine the first service at the local church you’ve been called to pastor. The church looks to have a promising impact on your community. You are about to approach the pulpit and deliver your first sermon, took you 30 hours to write the manuscript, and just before you open your mouth, the trumpet sounds. Jesus returns, consummates His Kingdom, recreates the cosmos. Now is there any little teeny bit of disappointment in you? Even the smallest “ahh.” Is it there?

Have your expectations, brothers and sisters. Expect away, but also know the place and go there often where you say ‘take it all and just give me Jesus. I expect Him…’

Take the preaching, give me Jesus. Take the ThM, give me Jesus! Take successful fatherhood, give me Jesus. Take a healthy church and a faithful ministry, give me Jesus! I want Him! “As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness, when I awake I will be satisfied with your likeness.” Do you know that one day we will look into his eyes? We will touch his hands. We will hear his voice. Jesus! I just want Him! Everything else can go, just please give me Jesus Christ!

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalms 27:4)

Please, take everything else. Give me Him. Please, take everything else. Take it all. Please give me Jesus.

In sum, they expected Solomon. Solomon was not the one. Jesus is one. Expect Jesus.

Something is Better Than Eating With Pigs: This is My Plea for You to Come Home

Posted on by

It is not that eating with pigs is undesirable. The text is clear, “And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate…” (Luke 15:16). The kid really wanted some food. He wanted it so bad that he longed to share with the pigs. And it is precisely at this point that he “comes to himself” (v. 17). His eyes were opened.

But how did that happen? How did he move from kneeling shoulder to shoulder with pigs, grappling for their slop, to suddenly getting up and making his way back to his father? It was not his pathetic situation that led him there. He did not bemoan his condition until he considered another one.

It was not the sight of the pigs, the taste of the food, or the smell of air around him that made him come to himself. It was the reality that there is something out there that is better. The thought occurred: My father has hired servants who have more than enough bread. My father has a table that is loaded with good food, in the company of those who love me. And I am here? Here with the pigs.

It became obvious. He desired what is better. Something other than what he experienced was better and therefore he left the pig food and went back home. The impetus behind that journey back home was not the pigs, it was the superiority of the life that awaited him. It was just better. Just plain better.

Here is my plea to you. You will never look around you and see the pigs or notice the stench, unless your eyes are opened to realize that there is something better out there. Please come home. God has showed his love for you in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. He has made all the moves here and is eager to run and embrace and kiss (15:20). There is a table spread for you. There is a feast of celebration that is planned for you. Come home. Embrace Jesus Christ as your God and Savior. Enter the feast and belong to the one in whose presence there is fullness of joy, at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore.

From Death to Life

Posted on by

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness (Romans 6:13).

There is a disposition, a manner of existence, that we are admonished to have. This is something that underlies everything. It is fundamental to the way we live.

We have been brought from death to life. Death to life. Once dead, now living. All because of Jesus Christ.

So we come to every circumstance…

not like we are starving or gasping for merit, not like we can obtain anything in ourselves that would be pleasing to God, not like we are objects of God’s righteous anger against our sin, not like our destiny is destruction or that our living is a waste…

but like the freest people in the world, set free in Jesus Christ, like those whose punishment for sin has been swallowed by the righteous One who took our place, like we have a hope of a city which is to come, a city in a Kingdom where good and righteousness will forever reign because the LORD Jesus Christ, the Lion and the Lamb, will sit on the throne for eternity.

Please, Father in Christ by the Spirit, make us to live like that. Amen.

Drenched With That Rain, Please!

Posted on by

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;

when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Psalm 17:15

 

Sometimes I find myself in this fog. I realize that I am reading the Bible and have forgotten about God. I cannot see the forest. I do not sense the reality. But then this grace comes from a distance. I can see the sky darken and hear its encroaching volume as it moves closer to me. It is like the summer rains that appeared across the cotton field behind the North Carolina home where I grew up. A short and cool wind precedes the downfall verifying that it is rain indeed. My blurry vision begins to clear. And I stand drenched in the fruit of the clouds.

 

The Yes and No of Suffering: Job, 5

Posted on by

It’s difficult to get the conversations. Job’s friends say some good things but they just don’t help. Job responds and says good things, too. He says things that are deeply moving like in 12:13-16 where he attributes wisdom to God and highlights His sovereignty. But then Job also says other things about pleading his case and justifying himself like in 13:3, 15, 18. 

He is incoherent. And it is not strange. Job is a suffering man. He is in pain. There are his best moments of trust and faith, and there are also the bad moments. In chapter 17 Job is hopeless, asking:

Where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? (17:15-16a)

Later Job responds to Bildad’s accusations in chapter 19, declaring:

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth (19:25)

The reader sees both in our unique perspective, called to judge error and wisdom. We say “ahh” and “eww” and we do it gazing in light of God. We do it with sympathy.

Father, show us how to live, for your glory in Jesus Christ, amen.