6 “But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 9 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’” 1 Kings 9:6-9, NIV
The above passage and accompanying recap (further down this post) really spoke to me. As part of my self-reflection in this season, I’ve become much more aware of not only the magnitude of my sin (even in the midst of others’ sins against me) but also my helplessness, without the Lord’s help, to overcome it. This does not mean that we should give in to the victim mentality, but rather that we should be trusting in and embracing God’s sovereignty.
Over the last few years, the prevailing opinions of those close around me have included cleverly-disguised self-sufficiency and a no-excuses attitude, which is great for refusing to settle for less than what is acceptable (whether it relates to holiness or to pursing something greater in life than where we currently are), but can push up against an attitude of self-reliance disguised as “walking by faith,” because after all, faith requires action. Worse, there’s an expectation not only that action is taken, but also that certain types of expected actions, taken a certain expected way, is done. I’m deliberately being vague here, as the above has applied across multiple different types of situations.
Before I proceed to the below, I say all the above because I’ve noticed how my thoughts and thought patterns have changed due to dealing with these challenges nonstop over the last few years. Regardless of what goes on in front of me, I still bear responsibility for my thoughts. And the reason that I say this at all – let alone share the below – is that I believe God shared these things with me in a dream a few years ago, well before these challenges began. He’s sovereign; He knew. And I think one of the most comforting things about the God of the Bible that I’ve needed to hear lately is that, as bad as sin is, and as necessarily bad the consequences of sin need to be, God looked ahead and came up with an “out” strategy – an “out” for the eternal consequences of sin, even if not an “out” for its temporal consequences. I need that. I need His mercy and His forgiveness.
The passage from the Book of 1st Kings takes us to a time during Solomon’s reign as king, to the point after he had finished building God’s temple as well as a house for himself and his wife. It was a 20-year process, and he and all of Israel capped it with a dedication ceremony and a feast. This moment in time was in a lot of ways, a checkpoint in history, where a major promise was fulfilled, and also where Israel finally seemed to settle in completely to the land that God had promised their ancestors dating back to the days of Moses. The years of rebellion even after they were finally allowed to enter the promised land within Canaan culminated in Solomon’s father, King David, capturing the rest of the land that previous generations hadn’t captured, and driving out all idolatry that had similarly plagued previous generations for centuries. David finally made Israel right with God for the first time, really ever. Building God’s temple (He previously lived in a tabernacle, again since the days of Moses when He first expressed His desire to be close to His people) was finally something that was able to be done, and Solomon was appointed to the task, which he saw through to completion. Like I said – checkpoint. As long as Israel walked with God and obeyed all His commandments and were careful to walk with Him in obedience in all their ways, they would flourish.
However, as the Bible goes on to describe in future chapters, it doesn’t happen. Israel falls right back into their sinful habits, and after another several centuries of bad kings followed by even worse kings, the majority of them were slain and the remnant taken into exile in Babylon as punishment. But right now, we’re not there yet. Right now, as of 1 Kings 9, Israel is in a sense at its pinnacle in all senses of the word: spiritually, economically, militarily, etc. But even the wisest king governing over Israel at its pinnacle has passed on wisdom, guidelines to pay attention and adhere to (the entire book of Proverbs is considered guidelines for right living, but not necessarily hard-and-fast rules, something that I had never known before) to try to ensure that God’s people might not fall again like every prior generation had done.
Nonetheless, I reiterate what I stated before: without God, man’s plans fall to ruin. We need the Lord; everyone needs Him. He knows that you and I and everyone else are going to screw up. Jesus was the only perfect individual who ever lived in the human flesh. And because God knew this, He had a plan ready, because we so need it.
[The Bible says that] the simple will be destroyed. This all happens. God knows. We know. But Solomon probably didn’t know. In that moment, [we] wonder what he thought about God. It’s easy to think of God as harsh here. … But that’s not what we see here, for two reasons:
First, God has already laid out the plan of redemption and restoration for them. Solomon himself spoke about it on Consecration Day [a short while earlier in Scripture]. A selfish god doesn’t act like that! A selfish god is unyielding and vengeful.
Second, God’s compassion and priorities are evident, even in these harsh words, because He always points back to the relationship He has with them. He rescued them. He brought them into this land. He came to dwell in this house with them. The whole conversation is peppered with reminders of their relationship. We see, again and again, He’s not just after their obedience; He’s after their heart!
I’m glad God has rules and a right way for things to be done. We’re broken, and we need that. And I’m also glad that He's forgiving. We inevitably fall short, [so] we need that, too. And I’m grateful [that] He even tells us in advance how He’s going to operate in this relationship with us. What a gift that we never have to wonder where we stand with Him!
If [we] have a problem with this passage, it should be with the wicked hearts of men, not with God’s response to their wickedness, because wickedness deserves punishment. Yet God still gives mercy. He’s righteous and just and loving and compassionate in all His ways.
Tara-Leigh Cobble, on The Bible Recap
Recently, I came across a video on YouTube of Cliff Knechtle answering the question whether Judas Iscariot was in hell for betraying Jesus. The short answer is, yes, Judas is in hell, but Cliff’s response contrasted him with Peter. Both Peter and Judas betrayed Jesus. But Peter’s response was to turn back to Christ and re-engage their relationship by asking His forgiveness. Judas gave into despair, never gave Christ a chance to forgive him, and, well, ended his own life.
Sin is bad. Its consequences are real, both temporally and eternally, but the eternal consequences can be avoided simply by recognizing one’s need for Jesus and one’s need for that relationship with Him. I’ve been praying for a simpler faith after not only having dealt with the challenges I’ve dealt with, but also the toxic, Pharisaic teaching that basically dumps the entire weight of responsibility on a person if they happen to be considered “lesser” in any way that is even remotely hinted at in the Bible (a prime example of this: “lesser” as “younger”). I know what I will stand for and what I will not stand for. Heads will not roll, but relationships will not be maintained either.
Forgiveness is indeed required [For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15, NIV] but reconciliation without boundaries and expectations is not. But while I must do my best to handle this in as Godly a manner as possible, He already knows how this is going to play out. All I can do is do my absolute best and continue to learn to trust God for the rest.