Heralds Digest

  “ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin.”” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭14‬:‭7‬, ‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The justification of Jeroboam for making Israel to sin is that the splitting of the kingdom of Israel was God’s idea. In his mind, Israel must feast and worship on his own making of high places to keep a good distance from any idea that can reverse the ‘order from above’. Arguably, he was serving God’s interest here, wasn't he? Likewise to many, if God creates a supposed ugly scenario and we decide to use it, that should not be a problem, should it? Unfortunately, Jeroboam’s sins became the standard for the people’s unrighteousness, idolatry, and corruption in Israel. The problem is that the blessings of God, the opportunities, and His privileges in life are presented for the promotion of righteousness or th...

  “‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord.” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭12‬:‭24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In the splitting of the kingdom of Israel into two, the contest between the Will of God and the ambition of man collided. The context revealed that both the resolution of Rehoboam and the justification of Jeroboam are strictly against the purpose of God. While Rehoboam would fight in high places to resolve the splitting of the kingdom, Jeroboam would feast on high places to justify or secure the splitting of the kingdom. It does shows that what we do outwardly does not really matter, as long as our hearts are neither right with God nor inclined to do according to His words. Thankfully, the word of the Lord came through Shemaiah the man of God against the Rehoboam resolution; and everyone obeye...

  “But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In spite of the inspiring presentation of Solomon’s relationships with the Lord before this chapter, “ But King Solomon loved many foreign women …” implies a loose qualification on his love for the Lord. We know that this unfortunate scenario started when Solomon began to love what the Lord forbad: “ You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods ”. But how is this scenario possible for someone whose love for the Lord attracted many people, affluence, prosperity, and even those who were forbidden as marriage materials? It is a...

  “Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭10‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The summary of the Queen of Sheba’s statement after her assessment of King Solomon’s wisdom is simply that the wisdom is a service spirit from the Lord…’ because the Lord has loved Israel forever ’. How easy would it have been for all of God’s children to access and manage the gift of wisdom, if the service focus could be perpetually retained? For Solomon, his wisdom at its service was observed in the display of happiness by the people of Israel, the orderliness and motivation of the service men around the cities and palace, and the general welfare of the citizenry through the service of justice and righteousness. If the potency of Solomon’s wisdom ...

  “Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The fact that the ark of the Lord or covenant represents the presence of the Lord among His people is an open secret even to the enemies of Israel. But when the scriptures say that “ Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb ”, it begs the undeniable attention on the correlation between the two tablets of stone and the prevailing presence of the Lord. Since the two tablets of stone contain the commandments of the Lord or God’s ordinances, statutes and the words of God, it implies that...

  “Now therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians. So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, for He has given David a wise son over this great people!” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The cordial relationship between the Sidonians and the Israelites started with friendship between king David and king Hiram. And after the demise of king David, it was doubtful to king Hiram if the relationship could be sustained by king Solomon, who succeeded his father on the throne. But he was greatly impressed after receiving the words of king Solomon, making requests for continued collaboration towards the temple building project. It is important to note that words either break or make relationships, depen...

  “The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ While there has been no time where self-centredness produced good things, there are several accounts of blissful breakthroughs through the blessed burden. For king Solomon, he had a blessed burden of how to provide righteous judgment to God’s great people. And not how to be the richest man on earth; or how to be the undisputed number one on the Forbes magazine or the Guinness book of record. Fortunately for him, he got these secondary life’s achievements as...