"TWO SIDES OF GOD"
TEXT: I KINGS 11-15
INTRODUCTION
If I were to hold up a coin and show you that one side had on it George Washington and that the other side had on it Our National seal. And then if I were to say that the coin has 2 sides to it -- and the side you are facing -- is what determines which side of the coin you see.
That is not too difficult to understand is it, that a coin has 2 sides?
Today, as we continue our study in I Kings we will look at some specific passages that we find in chapter 11 -15, passages that vividly illustrate two sides of God.
Now what these two sides of God are; are 2 of God’s qualities, 2 of His characteristics or natures, Qualities that many people (people in and out of Christ) have a hard time understanding.
These 2 sides of God are: GOD’S WRATH AND GOD’S GRACE. And as we study in first Kings today, as we look the lives of 2 individuals, as we talk about David and Jeroboam.... We will see these 2 sides of God clearly illustrated....
And as we learn about God’s grace and wrath we will want to ask ourselves this question, which side are we facing right now? God’s wrath or God’s Grace?
I. JEROBAOM WAS FACING GOD’S WRATH, AND WE LEARN FROM HIM -- "THAT WE’D BEST NOT MESS WITH GOD.."
Remember last week we mentioned that Jeroboam was rebelling against King Solomon. And we read where a prophet of God came to him and told him that God was going to rip the Kingdom out of Solomon’s hands and give him ten tribes.
Let’s pick up some of the reading in chapter 11 beginning at verse 31.... [31-33, 37-38]
God told Jerobaom that he would give him ten tribes and that if he continued to walk in the ways of God, that God would build him an enduring dynasty, like the one he had built for David. Sounds like a pretty good deal, doesn’t it?
Listen to what verse 40 of chapter 11 says, "SOLOMON TRIED TO KILL JEROBAOM, BUT JEROBOAM FLED TO EGYPT, TO SHISHAK THE KING, AND STAYED THERE UNTIL SOLOMON’S DEATH..."
Why did Solomon try to kill Jerobaom? Well for one reason Jeroboam was rebelling against him, and perhaps another reason is that Solomon had heard about what the prophet of God said to Jeroboam -- that Jeroboam was going to get ten tribes and that he (Solomon) was going down ... and perhaps Solomon thought that if he got rid of Jeroboam that he would get rid of his problem....God’s soon coming wrath.
But it didn’t work out that way.... Solomon dies and Jeroboam becomes King of the Northern tribes... You see, that was not the way to stop God’s wrath... was it? Trying to circumvent or out smart God... Brothers and sisters there is only one way to remove the danger of God’s wrath in our lives and David will teach us that later.
As Chapter 12 of Kings opens, Solomon is dead... And his son Rheoboam is the new King. And with Solomon dead Jeroboam hops on a camel headed northeast and returns to Israel from Egypt, and he leads a delegation from the northern tribes to Jerusalem to make a request of the new King, Rheoboam.
Apparently Solomon’s extensive building projects had put a heavy load on the tribes of the north .. heavy labor and heavy taxes. And so this delegation from the north requested that Rheoboam lighten the heavy burden that his father had placed on them and in turn they would serve him.
Now at least at this moment Rheoboam was smart -- he knew that to make a decision right then on the spot was a no win situation... To say yes to their demands would mean that he took his throne conditionally and would therefore never be able to really rule over the northern tribes, yet to say no right away would led to an immediate rebellion. So Rheobaom said that he needed three days to think things through.... (To take time to think when a big decision needs to be made is a smart way to go -- many times rash decisions led us into deep and troubled waters).
But unfortunately for Rheobaom this is where his smartness ends...
Rheoboam even though he had ask for 3 days to think things through -- had already made up his own mind what he wanted to do. But he went through he motions of asking advice from first of all the elders that had served his father.... And they told him that the request of Jeroboam and the northern tribes was reasonable and that if he gave then what they wanted that they would always be his servants. they said it was in his best interests to grant their request.
Well, that wasn’t what the King wanted to hear so he went and ask different advisers (advisers who tell him what his itchy ears wanted to hear)... Men that he had grown up with (the writer of Kings emphasizes this several times) -- these men that knew him and therefore they knew what he wanted...
And as we read of this encounter with the young advisers in I Kings 12:8-11 we can easily sense that Rheoboam came to them begging the question so they would answer him as he desired....
[12:8-11]
And when Rheoboam 3 days later gave this advise to Jeroboam and the tribes of the north -- the Kingdom split in two. And God’s nation was divided...
Now Rheoboam immediately called together an army of 185,000 men to make war against the house of Israel (which is how the writer now refers to the northern tribes "Israel" -- the southern tribes being called the house of Judah) -- Rheoboam wanted to stop this from happening -- but Before Rheoboam was able to march to battle a prophet of God came to him and said:
[12:23,24]....
So they went home/they called off the war.... Did you catch the reason that God said Rheoboam shouldn’t make war against -- Israel "DO NOT GO AND FIGHT AGAINST YOUR BROTHERS!!" THEY ARE YOUR BROTHERS, DON’T FIGHT AGAINST MEMBERS OF YOUR OWN FAMILY -- CIVIL WAR AMONG GOD’S PEOPLE NEVER HAS GOD’S APPROVAL.
(IF MORE WOULD FOLLOW THIS RULE IN THE CHURCH -- THERE WOULD BE FEWER PROBLEMS AND LESS DIVISION IN THE CHURCH..) IT IS REALLY STUPID FOR THE CHURCH FAMILY TO GO TO WAR AGAINST EACH OTHER.....
Now remember what God promised to Jerobaom through His prophet? Remember he said that if Jerobaom continued to walk in God’s ways he would have an enduring Kingdom.... Now that’s a good promise don’t you think? And do you think that God could have delivered on that promise? So do I...
But Jeroboam didn’t really think that God could deliver. And he like many people (like us at times), felt that he had a better way a more logical way, than simply trusting in God to get things done.
You see Jerobaom began to worry about something... He began to worry about the fact that the temple of God was now in enemy territory... And he concluded that if his people made the prescribed trips to celebrate the various Holy Days in Jerusalem, that Rheoboam would win the people over to his side, and that they would give allegiance to him...
And Jerobaom was therefore faced with a dilemma -- you see, since he left God and His promise out of the equation everything now depended on him, he had to provide the answers to solve the problem... and that’s where he begins to get himself in trouble (like we do at times when we think everything depends on us)....
And as Jerobaom sat on his back porch swing, sipping ice tea and eating cheese crackers -- he started doing some hard thinking about this problem... "OKAY IF I ALLOW THEM TO GO DOWN TO JERUSALEM I WILL LOSE THEM.... BUT IF I STOP THEM FROM GOING TO JERUSALEM I WILL LOSE THEM AS WELL... SO WHAT DO I DO? AND JUST AS HE ATE HIS LAST CHEESE CRACKER -- AND EVIL LIGHT TURNED ON IN HIS HEART AND IN HIS MIND... I’VE GOT IT, I’VE FOUND THE SOLUTION!! I DON’T KNOW WHY I DIDN’T SEE IT EARLIER.. I WILL JUST CREATE A NEW WORSHIP CENTER UP HERE IN THE NORTH. NOW I HAVE TO BE CAREFUL TO SELL THEM ON THE IDEA... OKAY FOR ONE THING I’LL HAVE 2 PLACES OF WORSHIP ONE IN DAN AND THE OTHER IN BETHEL... AND I WILL TELL THE PEOPLE HOW MUCH MORE CONVENIENT IT WILL BE TO GO TO THESE RATHER THEN GOING ALL THE WAY TO JERUSALEM (JEROBOAM WAS BANKING ON PEOPLE’S LOVE CONVENIENCE -- HOW PEOPLE WILL SELL OUT THE TRUTH FOR CONVENIENCE; GO TO A CHURCH THAT TEACHES A FALSE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION BECAUSE THEY HAVE BETTER PROGRAMS OR BECAUSE FAMILY MEMBERS GO THERE).... AND JEROBOAM CONTINUED IN HIS DIABOLICAL PLAN "YES AND I’LL MAKE GOLDEN CALVES TO WORSHIP AT EACH OF MY NEW WORSHIP CENTERS, I’LL SAY THAT THESE ARE THE GODS WHO LED US OUT OF EGYPT -- AND I’LL BUILD SHRINES AND APPOINT MY OWN PRIESTS -- AND I WILL DECLARE MY OWN HOLY DAYS... AND HE LEANED BACK AND SMILED SMUGLY AS SAID TO HIMSELF, IF I BUILT IT (THIS NEW RELIGION) THEY WILL COME."
And they did, and the Northern Tribes turned their backs on God.
One day while Jerobaom was offering sacrifices at the altar he had built at Bethel, Ahijah a prophet of God came and warned him about what was going to happen to him because of the evil he had done... And this prophet said, "You’ll know my true when the altar you are worshipping your gods at splits in half and the ashes on it pour on to the ground....
When Jerobaom heard this he cried out to his guards "SEIZE THIS MAN." AND AS HE DID, HIS HAND SHRIVELED UP AND HE COULD NOT PULL IT BACK.... AND THE ALTAR AT BETHEL SPLIT IN TWO.
And Jerobaom then cried out to the prophet of God and said, "intercede for me so that my hand will be restored" and it was restored....
LISTEN TO HOW CHAPTER 13 OF KINGS CLOSES: [33,34]
JEROBAOM CHOOSE TO FACE GOD’S WRATH... HE CHOSE TO CONTINUE TO WALK CONTRARY TO THE WAYS OF GOD... AND AS WE WILL READ IN CHAPTER 14, JEROBAOM TEACHES US THAT WE’D BEST NOT MESS WITH GOD...
[14:1-11]
Jeroboam reined for 22 years and when he died his son Nadab became King... And Nadab was assassinated 2 years later by Baasha. And when Baasah took over the throne, I Kings 15:29 tells us;
"AS SOON AS HE BEGAN TO REIGN, HE KILLED JEROBOAM’S WHOLE FAMILY. HE DID NOT LEAVE JEROBAOM ANYONE THAT BREATHED, BUT DESTROYED THEM ALL, ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD GIVEN THROUGH SERVANT AHIJAH...."
Do you see a lesson for us here? can you see what the life of Jerobaom teaches us about the wrath of God? God’s wrath is coming upon those who do not walk in the ways of God. And nothing anyone can do can stop it (except what David did).
And we must not let the fact that God’s wrath does not come upon us right away -- lull us into believing that our actions or inactions do not have eternal consequences. How long did Jerobaom led the Northern tribes in this worship of false gods? 22 years.. And during those 22 years O’ Jeroboam was feeling pretty good, like he was in control, "LOOK I’VE BEEN DOING THINGS MY OWN WAY FOR 22 YEARS, AND I’M I STILL KING -- I STILL HAVE MY PALACE AND SERVANTS -- I DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT GOD!"
But Jeroboam was wrong he did have to worry about God, and God brought him down...
Was Jeroboam the last to turn his back on God and refuse to walk in God’s ways? No he was not!!
Jeroboam is not alone... There are still many Jeroboams today... Jeroboams outside of the church, Jerobaoms in false churches and Jerobaoms attending churches that proclaim the truth.
AND I AM AFRAID -- AT TIMES THERE IS A LITTLE JEROBOAM IN ALL OF US... WHEN PEOPLE THINK THEY CAN CREATE THEIR OWN RELIGION, MAKE THEIR OWN PATH TO SALVATION, MAKE THEIR OWN RULES, AND SET THEIR OWN REQUIREMENTS, WHEN THEY THINK THEY CAN IGNORE SO MUCH OF WHAT GOD’S WORD SAYS -- THEY ARE CHOOSING TO FACE GOD’S WRATH.
WHETHER THEY WANT TO ACCEPT IT OR NOT -- I’M SURE JEROBAOM DIDN’T REALLY BELIEVE HE HAD ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT -- DIDN’T REALLY BELIEVE THAT GOD’S WRATH WOULD AFFECT HIM..."
NOW, THEY LIKE JEROBAOM MAY SAY, "WE’VE DONE IT OUR WAY FOR YEARS AND LOOK HOW OUR CHURCH HAS GROWN (IT MUST NOT MATTER TO GO HE HAS DONE ANYTHING TO US), AND INDIVIDUALS CRY OUT: YEAH I KNOW GOD SAYS GIVE MY BEST, PUT HIM FIRST, BRING THE WHOLE TITHE TO THE STORE HOUSE, THAT I SHOULD NOT FORSAKE THE GATHERING TOGETHER OF THE SAINT IN CHURCH, THAT I SHOULD SERVE IN THE CHURCH, TAKE OFF SIN AND PUT ON CHRIST -- BUT HEY I’VE BEEN DOING THINGS MY WAY FOR YEARS AND I’M STILL HERE ... I DON’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT GOD... AND WHEN GOD SENDS THINGS INTO OUR LIVES TO BRING US TO OUR KNEES AND BRING US BACK TO HIM (LIKE HE DID WHEN HE TRIED TO WARN JEROBOAM)... MANY TIMES WHAT WAS SAID OF JEROBOAM CAN BE SAID OF US, "EVEN AFTER ALL THIS WE HAVE NOT CHANGED FROM OUR EVIL WAYS..."
Many times we (and we must not deny it brothers) we think we can do things our OWN way -- that what God say’s doesn’t really matter -- that he really won’t hold us accountable to what he says...And when we do, we like Jeroboam are dead wrong!.... the Bible says there is a way that seems right to man (it seems right to do this, believe this) but in the end it only brings him death --- because only god’s way is right!!... OUR GOD DOESN’T PLAY GAMES AND WE’D BEST NOT THINK WE CAN MESS WITH GOD.... OUR GOD IS HOLY AND HE SAYS WHAT HE MEANS AND MEANS WHAT HE SAYS!!
You know as I reflect on what happened to Jeroboam, it literally sends chills down my spine and ignites fear in my heart....
And rightly so, because the Bible says ,"IT IS A DREADFUL THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GO.."
God’s wrath is real -- listen to several passages that talk about it......
2 PETER 3:3-14 2 THESSALONIANS 6-11
GOD’S WRATH IS REAL!!! AND GOD’S WRATH IS COMING!! I FOR ONE WANT TO STRIVE TO ENSURE THAT I AM NOT STANDING IN IT’S PATH...
II. DO YOU WHAT? -- GOD’S GRACE IS REAL TOO....MAN IS IT REAL!!
FROM DAVID WE LEARN THAT "WITH GOD 3 STRIKES AND YOUR STILL IN"
As I was reading through I Kings to prepare myself for this study -- I came across a verse in chapter 15 that jumped right off the page at me... and like a neon light it flashed in my heart these words "GOD’S GRACE -- GOD’S GRACE!!"
Let’s read the first 5 VERSES TOGETHER ..
Did you catch the verse that glows so brilliantly with God’s grace?
"FOR DAVID HAD DONE WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE YES OF THE LORD AND HAD NOT FAILED TO KEEP ANY OF THE LORD’S COMMANDS EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF URIAH THE HITITE."
For a moment imagine that you have never read or heard about David’s sins in regards to Uriah the Hitite.
If that was the case, what would you think when you read I Kings 15:5 and those 8 words at the end, "EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF URIAH THE HITITE..."
We would probably think that whatever that sin was it must not have been a biggie -- after all it doesn’t sound here that God’s word is to worked up about it... You know maybe David one day at lunch stole Uriah’s Twinkie out of his lunch box....It had to something little like that.
Certainly we would never guess or imagine that David who God said, "HAD DONE RIGHT, AND HAD NOT FAILED TO KEEP THE LORD’S COMMANDS" would have committed adultery with a married women, and after getting her pregnant would have lied and tried to deceive her husband Uriah into thinking that the child was his... and then after this would have had this faithful soldier in his army murdered.. and then would have lied and hide this sin for over 1 year.
We would never imagine that God would have described David’s breaking of 4 of the 10 commandments (coveting, adultery, lying and murder) with just those 8 words...
"EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF URIAH THE HITITE.."
But you see that’s the power of God’s Grace...
David wrote in his 103rd Psalm verse [10-12]
God removed David’s sin in regards to Uriah as far as the east is from the west........... (IF YOU STARTED OUT HEADED EAST AT WHAT POINT WOULD YOU BEGIN TRAVELING WEST .. YOU WON’T THEY NEVER MEET AND THAT ’S THE POINT).
Because David repented of his sin (and Ps34/51 are his psalms of repentance) David was forgiven.
God’s grace is for all of us who fail, who fall short of what God expects of us ... but who desire to return and walk once more in God’s ways.
That’s why God sent Jesus Christ to die.... Mankind had sinned against the Holy God -- and God’s wrath was coming upon then in judgment. Jesus is the only way of escaping God’s wrath. Romans 5:9 reads, "SINCE YOU HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, HOW MUCH MORE SHALL YOU BE SAVED FROM GOD’S WRATH THROUGH HIM."
The Bible says that, Through faith, repentance, confession and immersion into Christ -- we are cleansed of our sin and rescued From the soon coming wrath of God.."
Jerobaom teaches us about God’s wrath and that we’d best not mess with God. At one time Jerobaom was doing okay walking with God.. and he was promised and enduring Kingdom if he continued to do so. But Jeroboam turned away and he never turned back... An the bible says, "HE WILL PUNISH THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW GOD AND DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST..."
And David teaches us that with God "THREE STRIKES AND YOU ARE STILL IN, AND THE ONLY STIPULATION IS THAT YOU STILL WANT TO BE IN.."
THAT YOU WANT TO LEAVE YOUR PATHS OF SIN AND WALK AGAIN IN THE PATHS OF GOD.
TWO SIDES OF GOD, HIS WRATH AND HIS JUSTICE -- BOTH VERY POWERFUL AND BOTH VERY REAL....
WHAT WE NEED TO TAKE HOME TODAY
FIRST THAT GOD’S WRATH IS REAL AND INEVITABLE, YOU CAN’T MESS WITH GOD, HIS WRATH WILL BE REVEALED.
AND SINCE GOD’S WRATH IS REAL WE SHOULD BE COMPELLED TO DO 2 THINGS.....
1. MAKE SURE THAT IN OUR OWN LIVES WE ARE NOT FACING GOD’S WRATH. IF THEIR IS SIN IN OUR LIVES (O AND CO) THAT WE ARE IGNORING OR DON’T THINK IS A BIG DEAL -- WE NEED TO THINK AGAIN AND BE CAREFUL FOR WE ARE MAKING LIGHT OF THE WRATH OF GOD.
PAUL SAYS, "we must continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.."
AND THE HEBREW WRITER SAYS, "IF WE DELIBERATELY KEEP ON SINNING (HABITUALLY -- W/O REPENTING) AFTER WE HAVE RECEIVED THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH, NO SACRIFICE FOR SINS IS LEFT, BUT ONLY A FEARFUL EXPECTATION OF JUDGMENT AND OF RAGING FIRE THAT WILL CONSUME THE ENEMIES OF GOD."
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE ARE WALKING IN THE WAYS OF GOD...
2. 2ND GOD’S WRATH SHOULD ALSO COMPEL US TELL OTHERS WHO WE SEE STANDING IN GOD’S WRATH, CHRISTIANS AND NON CHRISTIANS -- WHERE THEY ARE STANDING. LET THEM KNOW THEY ARE IN DANGER.
AND THIS IS NOT EASY TO DO -- WE NEED TO BE BETTER AT IT.
IF YOU AND I WERE STANDING AND TALKING AND A MACK TRUCK THAT YOU COULD NOT SEE WAS ABOUT TO RUN YOU OVER.... WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO TELL YOU...... WOULD YOU BE UPSET IF I DIDN’T?
GOD’S WRATH IS MORE POWERFUL THAN A MACK TRUCK -- AND WE NEED TO REMIND OURSELVES AND LET PEOPLE KNOW JUST HOW REAL IT IS -- AND IF THEY ARE FACING IT THEY SHOULD CONSIDER MOVING.... SOMETIMES LOVE IS TOUGH.
THE SECOND THING TO TAKE HOME IS THAT GOD’S GRACE IS ALSO REAL AND IT IS AVAILABLE....AVAILABLE TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US.
IF YOU ARE FACING GOD’S WRATH RIGHT NOW... IF YOU ARE WALKING IN THE WAYS OF JEROBAOM... DOING THINGS YOUR OWN WAY; MAKING YOUR OWN RULES; DECIDING FOR YOURSELF WHAT GOD WANT’S...
OR IF YOU ARE FACING GOD’S WRATH BECAUSE YOU HAVE NEVER SUBMITTED THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST...
YOU HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE RIGHT NOW
THE FATHER IS ON THE PORCH WAITING FOR YOU TO COME HOME... JUMP OUT THE PATH OF THE ONCOMING TRUCK AND INTO THE GRACE OF GOD -- WITH GOD 3 STRIKES AND YOU’RE STILL IN -- IF YOU WANT TO BE.
