OT DAY 493 - The Wisest Man Becomes The Most Foolish Man (Please click here for English podcast)

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

       From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
          my vows I will perform before those who fear him.

                                     Psalm 22:25

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (1 Kings 10:1-11:6)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=列 王 紀 上 10&version=CUV

      14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 15 besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.

     26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28 And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders received them from Kue at a price. 29 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king's traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

      Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 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. 

                                         1 Kings 10:14-15;26-29;11:1-6

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

    My Listening

         The wisest man in the history of mankind becomes the most foolish man in the history of mankind! How can that happen? 

        Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 

            (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

            Once more the story's judgment is unstated or understated; alongside the comment on the way to exercise authority, we recall the Torah's explicit ban on importing horses from Egypt.

John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Kings for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.52.

              I have more examples showing how foolish Solomon was when he deliberately disobeyed God's command to the Israelites. There are three things God says when the Israelites have a king that that king cannot do. Solomon did all those three things:

    Deuteronomy 17:17b

     nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

     1 Kings 10:14-15
     14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 15 besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.

     Deuteronomy 17:16
     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.’ 

     1 Kings 10:26-29
     26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28 And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders received them from Kue at a price. 29 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king's traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

     Deuteronomy 17:17
     And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away.
      
      1 Kings 11:1-6
      Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 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. 

     Can you see that? The only three things God forbids a king to do, King Solomon did and enjoyed. Actually there is one thing God wanted the king to do. There is no record that King Solomon or any king did that. But, we have lots of people in Richmond Emmanuel Church have been doing since five months ago everyday. And, that is copying the Bible! We had almost forty people came to copy the Bible this morning at 6:30a.m. Read what God says in Deuteronomy 17:18-20:

18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them,20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

      You may be thinking, "Well, I am not a king, I don't need to do that." You need to know that what a king needs to do is to set an example for all people to do.  Lots of our people who have been joining us to copy the Bible to pray have been richly blessed. I sincerely hope and pray that you can come to join us everyday at 6:30a.m., if you are in Vancouver. If you are not in Vancouver or if you cannot make the time, please copy the Bible yourself at home.

      When we vividly see how the wisest man becomes the most foolish man, may we follow God's instruction to be more and more closer with Him through His Holy Word each day.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Help us not to do the things you command us not to do but to do those things you command us to do.  In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

Reflect on these questions:

    1. Why Solomon did all those things God commanded him not to do?

2. What is a better way for you not to do the things God commands you not to do but to do those things God commands you to do?

    3. What have you got from Jesus today?

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

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