The King Who Fell a Little Bit

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Have you ever been in your car listening to a sermon? Right, You're in your car, you're just driving along, listening to your sermon, listening to a sermon that you've chosen. You're just thinking about it, and you're like, everything's going great. It's a nice drive. The sermon is going along. You're okay, oh yeah, okay, I know that scripture. Oh wait, I forgot that that was in that scripture. Okay, and then all of a sudden, the pastor says something and you almost wrecked the car. Almost you swerved across five lanes and through a fence, and you're like, how did what just happened? Because you cannot believe what you just heard. I mean, everything was going great. You're listening to a sermon, you're driving, it's peaceful, it's nice, you're thinking about scripture, you're thinking about the things of God. It's such a spiritual experience. And then all of a sudden, the pastor says something and you're like, what just happened? Now? Maybe, maybe, in fact, this is probable, this is most most likely. This is the way it works for most of you. This is what's probably most likely, most probable, is that most of you probably just like, oh, okay, whatever, well I disagree with that, and you probably don't have such a strong reaction. I have a tendency to be very dramatic in the way I respond to things. It

1:33 doesn't matter if I'm reading a novel, it doesn't matter if I'm watching a movie. I have a tendency to yell back at the screen, talk to the book, pace, jump up and down. Yeah, I tend to be very dramatic. It comes across obviously in podcasting. Yes, so maybe most most likely, what's most probable for you is that you were like, oh, well, I don't know where you got that point, no big deal, and you just keep listening you. But for me, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no. When I hear certain things, it's an entire production. Ladies and gentlemen, I almost wreck the car. I want to stop the car and just start pacing around the car, going what just happened? Why? Why? Why? Why why why?

2:16 And I'm yelling at my device like why would you say that? Where did that come from? How did you come to that conclusion. Well, this morning, driving my car listening to a sermon, everything was going well until the pastor talked about a specific king and he described the king as good, but he just fell a little bit. He's a good king, but he just fell a little bit. Well, the king may have just fell a little bit according to this pastor, But I almost wrecked my car, not just a little bit, almost like I almost wanted to just drive into an oncoming semi and just say, forget this.

3:06 I don't understand anymore. If if that is a good king who just fell a little bit, then I literally don't know how we judge anything as Christians, or how we judge anything scripturally. I really was a little bit baffled. So obviously, obviously it has bothered me enough that as soon as I have arrived back at my house, I have come right up here to the studio to turn on the microphone because we need to talk about So we're gonna talk about the king that fell a little bit, and we're gonna be reviewing some audio to get there to where this pastor describes the king that fell just a little bit. Yes, you may think you know where I'm going. You may be right, We're gonna talk about a lot of different things here in the audio that we're going to review. Obviously, I did not review the entire sermon, and because see that's an issue I have sometimes when I hear one thing, I can't go any further.

4:06 I'm like, my brain's like, I've got to have a microphone and talk about this. So we're going to discuss it. We're going to talk about it. You can. The main thing is try to determine maybe why we see things this way. I think there's a lot of maybe there's a lot of points here we can make. But we will discuss all of that. But first let me go ahead and do this. Good morning everyone. It is Monday, October fourteenth, twenty twenty four. It is currently eleven forty four am Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, before we get to this sermon, before we get to the King who Fell a little bit, I do need to make a very important announcement. All right, Early this morning, I was contacted by our podcast hosting site, which is Spreaker.

5:01 Spreaker notified me that I don't know starting when, I'd have to look at I don't know if they gave a date. I think they just said starting soon. They are no longer going to be uploading our content to YouTube. There's some YouTube has changed its policy, so no longer is my content going to be automatically uploaded to YouTube. Now there may be a way that I could then find a way to upload it. I do know that when I record, whenever I do a broadcast on the Sermon's two point oh app and Church One Sermon audio platform, there is an archived copy that's in a video format, right, I mean it's it's a video format. It's weird because it's not actual video, but it's in a video format.

5:48 I could go to that, upload the video format to the Sermon's two point oh app the Church one app, then download it into as a video format, then delete it from that plat because there's no point in having the video file there when it's not actual video, then uploading it to YouTube. I have to make a decision if I want to put in all of that work and all of that effort simply to maintain the YouTube channel. Now I think we have more control. At one point, we didn't really even have any control. It was just our podcast hosting site just sending it to YouTube, and I didn't really have much control over it anyway. I don't spend a lot of time on YouTube. I don't really look at it. I try to respond to comments.

6:31 I think most of the time I see them. Sometimes I don't. But I haven't done a lot of work on the platform itself, just you know, so I don't know. I don't know if we're going to keep it. So here's what I would tell anyone who listens to us via YouTube. Here's what I would tell you. You need to either download the Church one app, the Sermon's two point zero app, or any podcasting app out there. Anyone, it doesn't matter which podcasting app, look for Theology Central, and be prepared to start listening to us via the Church One app, Sermon's two point oh app, or a podcasting app. Because there is a I think, I'm going to say a high probability that YouTube is no longer going to exist. I don't know if I'm going to put forth that much work and effort just trying to get the content there, since YouTube is not even I mean, the YouTube numbers, they're not bad. But they're nowhere. I mean, they make up probably less than two or three percent of our total numbers, maybe around five percent, if that I mean they, I mean the numbers are decent considering we're on a video platform and we're not video. But I just don't know, you know, I know I'm gonna get I'm gonna get people who listen to me on YouTube. Well, I discovered you on YouTube. I do know. YouTube does serve as a you know, as a search basically. Some people use it as basically a web search function, and that's how they search for things, and they find things

8:02 related to what they're looking for. I do understand that. I just I just don't know. I just don't know. If I want to put forth. Look, it's more work, it's more effort. Okay, So yes, I look, and I hate to sound this way, but I'm just going to be I'm gonna be somewhat blunt here for everyone who supports the ministry. I'm very grateful, very very grateful and thankful for everything, because basically, we've got just enough people right now that's basically covering the cost. We're doing pretty good with that, right Everything is is pretty good right now as far as covering the cost, and I am very grateful for that and thankful for that. But I'm just gonna be blot. It's not like I'm making any money off this, right, It's not like I'm you know, we're covering the cost. Right. So do I now dedicate more time, more effort, more energy simply so that I can maintain YouTube. When our content's available in every other platform on Earth, we will look and see if there are other ways to get it there. I think I think maybe Sermon's two point oh does allow it to be. Now, I think it only sends a preview. I don't think it sends directly the entire I think it'll send a preview video. It'll be like a clip to YouTube. I don't want that. So I'm gonna look and see. Maybe our pod page, I think they had a way to have things just sent directly to YouTube. I'm gonna look

9:33 and see. But then it may have to be in a video format. If it has to be in a video format, yeah, So just if you listen to us on YouTube, you may want to start looking for other options if you, I mean, if you want to continue to listen. If you don't, then you know, hey, you've got a million things on YouTube listen to and watch. Obviously you don't need this broadcast, but I just want to give you a heads up. We will see, so that's what's going on. I will probably do an hire, just a dedicated episode about it so that people will see it, because if people don't listen to this, then they won't know. But I just know we do have some people who listen to us via YouTube exclusively, so I want them to at least know what's going on. Now, are you ready to get to the King who fell a little bit? I'm having a hard time even saying that. Well, so this morning I grabbed the sermon's two point oh app looked for the very first sermon I could find, and the first sermon that I could find was a sermon entitled A Contrast of Kingdoms, A Contrast of Kingdoms, And I'm like, well, that sounds interesting. Let's hit play, and well this is what I found. We're gonna we're gonna go through this kind of systematically. We're gonna it's gonna take a while. It's gonna take a little while before we get to the King who fell a little bit, but we'll discuss other things as we get there. All right, here we go.

11:05 N let's turn to the Second Kings, and we're going to be in Second Kings fifteen. And you might also find Second Samuel in chapter number seven. So Second Kings, chapter number fifteen, we're going to read verses eight. Through twenty two. I was telling Kimberly this week that we're going to run through three kings today, you know, and I bet you can't guess whether they're considered good kings or not. But we're nearing the end of the nation of Israel, the Northern Kingdom in about fifty years. They're going to fall to Assyria. Six kings are going to reign during that fifty year period of time. Of course, none of them are good. So what we see from this is Israel is deteriorating rapidly. And so these three kings we're gonna look at today, Zacharai Shalom and men of him.

12:15 And what we're gonna do is we're gonna. There's a contrast that's very evident between the Northern Kings and the Southern. Kings, and that. Okay, so he wants to draw a contrast, and I'm sorry for the audio. The original audio is so, I mean, it's not loud at all, and you can hear it sounds very muffled, almost like there's something over his microphone, like there's a shirders or a jacket over the microphone. Sounds very muffled. I went in and artificially increased the volume dramatically, and yet it still sounds that way. I apologize. But he's going to draw a contrast between the kings of the North and the kings of the South. Right, specifically, he's going to look at these three kings Zechariah, Shalom, and Menehem. Right, those are the three he's going to look at. They don't there's not a lot said about these three, but he's gonna look at them and draw a contrast. Now I'm going to put forth I'm gonna probably kind of somewhat go against his hypotheses. So I'll just go ahead and kind of throw this out there.

13:22 A lot of times people will say, well, these kings are good, these kings are bad, all right, and so we're already making somewhat of a moral judgment good bad, good bad. But whenever the Bible, whenever the Bible, a pastor, a Christian. Whenever any of us we open our Bible, we say that person is good and that person is bad. How do we actually judge them? Right? I think when the Bible says these are good and these are bad? Are they good and bad based off action? Are they good and bad based off faith? Abraham Abram was to clar to be righteous because he believed Abram could not necessarily be declared to be righteous by his actions. Right.

14:08 I think we would see some of his actions and go that man had some problems. Agreed or not. That's the argument I'm going to put forth. And so I think when you draw this contrast between the kings of the North and the kings of the South. We sometimes draw the contrast as these were good and these were evil. And I understand that we can say that, but I think if we have to look at it from a much deeper way, and I will discuss this in greater detail. So he's like, these kings are bad, these kings were not good? Right, But is it going to be we're basing it purely off action, purely off action, I don't know what. I don't think we can look at it in such a surface level. I think we have to look at it in a deeper way. So we will look at it. Well, I'm gonna let him go a little bit, and then we're just gonna cover a whole lot of different issues and hopefully this will be beneficial. Again, I apologize for the volume. But so we're in second Kings, fifteen three kings, and he's already made I mean, I mean, from his perspective, all these kings are good, are bad, evil, and they're not good. All right, let's see how he takes this apart.

15:24 That's where we're going to look at. And the difference is. In Judah, the Southern kings, they all can trace their lineage to David, they all except Atheliah, but they all can trace their lineage through David. Over Here in Israel there is no lineage. And so that's where we're going. To recognize and we're going to talk about the importance of that. Now. I think, now I am I love the act, if I can speak correctly. I love the fact that he brings this up. This is a very critical point.

16:07 Now. I don't think he we may we may depart in our understanding of this, but to me, this is critical when you consider the kings of the North, they cannot trace their lineage directly back to David. But in the South, I think almost every king of Judah, he mentions one that he says, you can't, but almost all the kings of Judah can trace their lineage back to David. That is very important, right, very important, because maybe the contrast between these kings is their their their lineage being traced to David. Why because there is a specific covenant made with David. Maybe one side, maybe one side we'll say the Southern Kingdom Judah. Maybe that side is perceived concealed good more because of sovereign grace based off a covenant made with David and the Northern Kingdom. We see Gods not sovereignly giving them their grace and are giving them grace, giving them His grace and mercy because their lineage is not connected to David, so they're not part of that covenant promise. In other words, do we see when we see the contrast of the Southern and Northern Kingdom, Are we seeing the contrast of God's sovereign grace? Not so much?

17:34 Of these guys are good and these guys are bad. I know it's typically preached that way, but maybe there's something deeper going on. The distinction between the South and the North is one set of kings. Their lineage goes to David, and there's a specific covenant made with David. Go listen to our series on eschatology. We're still in the dividic covenant talking about this. On the other side of the Northern Kingdom doesn't go to David. They're not part of that covenant promise. So the contrast between the two, if you want to say one is good and one is evil, one is good due to God's sovereign grace and covenant promise, and the other side is considered evil because God does not give them his sovereign grace, which goes to the idea that God will have mercy and whom he will have mercy, and he will judge whom he will judge, which is found in scripture, which we will discuss a little bit more So, I love the fact that he brings this up. This side can trace its lineage to David, the other side cannot. That to me, I think is absolutely critical to this. All right, let's see what he does.

18:42 With it, and let's. Let's remember the outstanding characteristics that's mentioned about these three kings that we're going to look at today. Second kings fifteen to eight. In the thirty and eighth year of as a Hi, king of Judah, did Zachari the son of Jeroboam, reign over Israel in Samaria six months. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father's had done. He departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Niebak, who made Israel a sin. And Shalam, the son of Jabesh, conspired against him and smote him before the people and slew him and reigned in his stead. And the rest of the acts of Zacharai behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

19:27 This was the word of the Lord, which he. Spake unto Jaehus, saying, my sons shall sit on the throne of Israel under the fourth generation. And so it came to pass. Shalam, the son of Jabash, began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Isaiah, king of Judah, and he reigned a full month in Samaria. For men of him, the son of Gaddai. Went up from Tearza, and came to Samaria and smote Shalem the son of Jabash in Samaria and slew him and reign in his stead. And the rest of the acts of Shalem and his see which he made behold, they were written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. Then Menahem smote Tiffsa and all that were therein and the coast thereof from Terza, because they opened not to him. Therefore he smote it. And take note of this, and all the women therein that were with child. He ripped up. In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah, king of Judah, began Menahem, the son of Goddi, to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. And that was his evil in the side of the Lord. He departed not from. He departed not all his days from the sins of Jerebon, the son of Nibat, who made Israel to sin and pull.

20:39 The king of Assyria came against the land, and Menaheim gave pool a thousand talents of silver that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver to give to the King of Assyria. So the King of Assyria turned back and stayed not there in the and the rest of acts of Minehem and all that he did, are they not written in the books of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. And Minihem slept with his fathers, and Pekahaiah, his son, reigned in his stead. So I want you to notice here the brevity of the record of these kings.

21:20 Okay, now, before he gets into this, he really wants to drive home this point that these kings, it's very brief, the account of these kings, and he feels that that's very significant. And the reason he feels that's very significant is because he's listening to some teacher or preacher who says it's very significant. Well, we'll discuss whether we think it's significant or not significant here in a minute, but I will say this this sermon. One positive thing from it is good. He draws a great distinction between the two kingdoms, the kings of the North, not from the lineage of David kings of the South, or from the lineage of David. I think that's absolutely critical showing the difference between these two is covenant and God's sovereign grace.

22:02 I'm gonna make that a major issue, Okay, and we'll get back to that. So that's already a positive thing. Great, I'm already grateful for it. Second, it gets us into Second King's chapter fifteen. I don't know when the last time you read Second King's chapter fifteen, or the last time you did any intensive study of Second King's chapter fifteen, but I think this just then, we'll use this today to say, hey, this week for the Sermon's two point oh, the Sermon's two point oh sermon app sermon challenge, just what you need to do for the Sermon's two point oh sermon app challenge. Here's what you need to do is you need to look up random sermons on Second King's chapter fifteen. Spend some spend some time this week looking up random sermons on the sermon's two point oh app on Second King's chapter fifteen. Again, don't worry about the type of church. Just do a search Second Kings fifteen.

22:51 Just look for sermons and start listening. Because why and the main reason is most likely if someone was to ask you about these three kings most likely, Yeah, I think this would be fair. You probably don't know much about them. You probably you may not know anything about them. So if we can spend a little bit of this week working on these three kings, Azariah, Zechariah, and Shalem. Well, actually, I'm sorry, Zechariah. Okay, Zechariah because he starts in second King. If we go through all of them, then we have Azariah Second Kings fifteen one, Zechariah second King's fifteen eight, Shalom Second Kings fifteen thirteen, and then Menehem Second Kings fifteen verse sixteen. So actually, and then if you go well, we could go to Peck and Ayah as well, but just all of these kings, not just the three he's mentioned, but all of them. You probably know very little about them.

23:46 So just make it a second Kings fifteen week. That's what we'll do, and maybe we'll review other sermons on this. So already this sermon has been beneficial. It's reminded us that the kings of Israe world I do not have a direct lineage to David, the kings of Judah do. All right, awesome, that connects them to covenant. I believe it connects them to God's sovereign grace, all right, So I think that's important. Second, it gets us into Second Kings fifteen, which probably has been neglected in your spiritual life, probably been neglected in my spiritual life. So we can do a little work this week in Second King's fifteen. So already the sermon is great, it's beneficial. But obviously at some point as I was listening to this, I almost wrecked the car. All right, So we'll get to the point where I almost wrecked the car. But for now, let's keep listening, and let's see. He's now going to draw that when you look at Zechariah, Shalom, and Menahem, there's not a lot there, and he sees that as being very, very significant. So the question we would have really is the amount of scripture devoted to each king in the Bible? Is it seen should it be seen as being significant? Now should we also consider the context and the purpose of the biblical narrative and interpreting that significance.

25:05 I think there are some points to consider when we consider the how much material is dedicated to a king. Do we immediately say it's significant or is there do we have to consider context, do we have to consider the purpose of the narrative? What should we On one hand, we should notice it, right because as a Bible student, observation is the key. So we should observe there's not much set about this king. There's a lot said about that one. That's observation. Now what do we do with that observation. Do we read significance and to it or do we find that their significance clearly shown in it? That's well, let's see what he does with it.

25:46 I mean when it comes to Zachariah five verses, Shallum four verses, Minehem six verses. Now their reiins are a little bit different. I mean, you know, Zachariah six months, Shalom one month, Menahem, how about ten years? But still a very limited amount of scripture is given to them. So this is a contrast. There's a contrast between these closing kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, the beginning of the kings of Judah. So when you think about David, when David became the king, all of Second Samuel, the entire book of Second Samuel is dedicated to David.

26:42 Is that more than four or five verses. That's a lot more than four or five verses. Right When you get to Solomon, his son, he gets eleven chapters, still quite a bit delving into the life of Solomon. Now I would ask this, we have to observe that they obviously they're getting chapters, chapters of information, right, chapters of information, or these other kings only get a few What could be some possible reasons for it? Right now, I don't want to read into it, but I'm just saying from a textual basis, Well, I mean, did Saul get a lot of chapters? I think there's a lot of chapters to Saul, right David, I think he gets a lot of chapters, and Solomon gets a lot of chapters.

27:32 What could be some reasons? Well, first, those are the kings of the United Kingdom, right right, This is them moving necessarily from just a kind of almost a pure theocracy to a theocratic monarchy. Right. So I think there's a reason why you would get more information. Obviously, you know why you would probably get more information from David, right, the Davidic Covenant Christ coming from the line of David. I think you can see why that could be pretty significant, correct. I think you could see why Solomon's connection to David. I think you could see why, right. I think you could see possible reasons. Once you get into the list of the of the kings of the North, they're not even connected to David from their lineage. Now, the kings are much more common because you've got the divided kingdom and you've got kings on both sides. So I think you could see just from a historical contextual reason and from you know, prophetic reasons, why some of these other kings would not quite get the same amount of attention.

28:36 I think that I think that would be fair, right, I mean you can you can draw your own conclusion. Let's see what he says, and. Let's also remember, as we go back to Second Samuel in chap number seven, what was the promise that David received concerning Solomony's son. Second Samuel seven, reading verses twelve and thirteen, it says, and when thy day's be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seat after thee which shall proceed out. Of the bios, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. So what don't we know about the promise to the lineage of David, the lineage of David. There's going to be a king from the line of David set upon the throne forever. Now, as you run through Judah and you look at all of those kings, they all trace their lineage back to David.

29:35 And I think that's very important. Right, So any kings, any king that's lineage is drawn back to David, I think, are going to play somewhat more significance. Why. Well, because it's demonstrating the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, correct, Right, And then you have another reason of following that lineage careful and maybe a little bit more detail, is because of the prophetic signals efficants of ultimately Christ's coming. Right. So I think that you could see some reasons why right. Okay, I'm glad he's bringing he's bringing up all of these very important issues, right, the kings of Judah lineage, He's brought up the Dividic covenant. These are all great things.

30:18 These are all great things. But let's see where this goes. Would you talk about the historical record in the scripture, though the scriptural record again David's second Samuel, the entire book Solomon, eleven chapters. But what about what about these other guys a few verses, So one of the guys that I've been looking to, listening to and studying after they make mention of when reading narratives, there's some things to pay attention to when reading a narrative. When the author slows down, you need to pay attention that he's slowing down. He's he's not he's slowing down his narrative discussion.

31:08 There's some things he wants you to take note of. And when he speeds up. His narrative, there's a reason why he doesn't have a whole lot to say. And so there's a point here, just by the volume of the verses that you have given to David, Solomon, zacharaih Shaloman Menahem, there's a there's a huge contrast between the writer of first Kings and the amount of material that the scripture gives to David and Solomon and the amount of material that is given to these kings. There's something to pay attention to. And we want to. Remember now that that the Book of First and Second Kings is not a biographical record.

31:52 It's not a history book of all that went on in Israel. As a matter of fact, you often read. This at the end of of one of these kings' lives, like verse fifteen back in Second Kings fifteen and the rest of the acts of Shalom in his conspiracy which he made behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. So there is a history book that tells a more intricate detail of the life of these kings. But it's not scriptural. The author of scripture is making a point. He's making a point that David, you know, we need to pay attention to David.

32:34 He's a man after God's own heart. Even Solomon, he's a good king, even though he fails a little bit. Pay attention. Okay, that's where I almost wrecked the car. That's where I almost wrecked the car. All right. So there's a lot of information about David. There's a lot of information about Solomon, because David was a man after God's own heart, and Solomon was a good king who fell a little bit. And I'm like, what in the name of bubblegum is going on right here. Solomon was a good king who fell a little bit. So we'll get back to that in just a second. But let's deal with this the amount of content, right, Well, no, actually, let's do this.

33:27 Let's do this. I want to get to but let's get to I mean, come on, can we ignore it? I don't think we can annoy it. Let's just get to the Solomon part. Right, Let's get to the Solomon part. Solomon was a king who fell a little bit. This was absolutely staggering to me. This was absolutely staggering to me. So I had to do a little work here and compile all of the sins and all of the failures of Solomon. All right, so his thing is, okay, look more spaces get into David and Solomon. Now he's almost implying because they were good. It's almost the implication. I'm not saying that's what he's saying explicitly, but it's kind of like, hey, there's more content given to these guys. Why, Well, David was a man after God's own heart and Solomon was a good king who just fell a little bit. Now, I don't think they're supposed characteristic their character or their attributes is the cause of how much space is dedicated to them. I don't think that that's the case. But even if you go with that case, can we really refer to Solomon from a practical human standpoint as a good king who fell a little bit? Because I guarantee you, if we were speaking of anyone in twenty twenty four who was supposedly a believer in God, a believer in Christ who did the thing Solomon did, we would not say he was good, and we would not say he

34:58 fell a little bit. We would probably be crucifying him, at least verbally, at least with all of the podcasts and videos being made about the man. Let's just go. Are you ready to go through everything Solomon did? Are you ready? He married foreign wives? All right? This is a violation of Deuteronomy chapter seven, verses three through four. He married foreign wives Deuteronomy seven, three through four. He's violating that scripture. So that means you can't say this is an opinion, it's actual sin. This happens in First Kings, chapter eleven, verses one through three. Solomon married many foreign women from nations that God had explicitly commanded that Israelites not to intermarry with these nations included Moab Ammon, eat them side on and hit tight tribes. This God had commanded in Deuteronomy seven three through four that israel should not intermarry with foreign nations because they would lead the Israelites away from God to worship foreign gods. Solomon's foreign wives turned his heart after other gods, causing him to stray from his exclusive devotion to Yahweh. So he violated Deuteronomy seven three through four. I want you to write the now. Solomon explicitly violated Deuteronomy seven seven, verses three through four. He married four and wives. And he didn't just marry one. He didn't just marry two. He didn't just marry three. He didn't just marry four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen. Okay,

36:36 he married hundreds. So it's like he violated it once, then twice, then three times. He violated it hundreds of times. Wasn't a one time thing, wasn't a five year thing. It was a lifetime thing. Number two idolatry. He violates Exodus chapter twenty, verses three through five and Deuteronomy chapter five, verses seven through nine, Where does he do this? And First Kings eleven four through eight. As Solomon grew older, his foreign wives led him to worship their gods, including Asterith, Milcom, and Kemash, and I can go all the other gods.

37:19 He even built high places and altars for these gods. He worshiped multiple gods and even built altars for them. This is First Kings eleven four through eight. This violates the first and second Commandment, which requires exclusive worship of Yahweh and forbids idolatry. Solomon turned to idle worship and marked a significant departure from his faithfulness to God. He listen, he was. He married foreign wives, which is a direct violation of scripture. He violated the first and second commandments and becoming an idolatr. But he just fell a little bit. He just supposedly fell a little bit. Number three, he amassed great wealth and horses. This is a violation of Deuteronomy seventeen verses sixteen through seventeen. This is a violation of Deuteronomy seventeen, verses sixteen through seventeen. Solomon amassed extraordinary wealth, including gold, silver, and horses, and quantities that went far beyond what was needed for the kingdom. He imported horses from Egypt and accumulated vast treasures and Deuteronomy seventeen, verses sixteen through seventeen. God warned Israel's kings not to accumulate large amounts of wealth, horses, or wives, as these could lead them away from reliance on God. Solomon disobeyed this command by indulging in all three wealth, horses, and women.

38:44 He had violated all three. So what did Solomon do again? He was just referred to as a good king who fell a little bit. Number one, he married foreign wives, a direct violation of Deuteronomy seven three through four. Number two idolatry, a direct violation of Exodus chapter twenty, verses three through five. Deuteronomy chapter five, verses seven through nine. He was an idolatry, and he even he He even built high places and altars to these false gods. Number three, he amassed great wealth and horses, which is a direct violation of Deuteronomy seventeen sixteen through seventeen. He were given specific commands that the Israel's kings were not to do this, so he indulged in three things. He was told not to wealth horses and wives direct violation Number four. Excessive building projects and forced labor violation of Deuteronomy twenty four, verses fourteen through fifteen. Where does this happen? This happens in First Kings Chapter five, verses thirteen through eighteen, Chapter nine, verse fifteen through twenty two. Solomon undertook massive building projects, including the construction of the Temple, his own palace, and various fortifications. To accomplish this, he imposed force labor on the Israelites and other people. While building the temple was ordained by God. Solomon's use of forced labor and the heavy burden he placed on the people to lead to unrest.

40:16 The exploitation of the people violated the principle of justice and compassion and the Mosaic law. Mosaic law, including the requirement to treat workers fairly. This is Deuteronomy twenty four fourteen through fifteens and also foreshadowed the eventual division of the kingdom due to Solomon's harsh policies and First Kings Chapter twelve, So number four. Basically, his forced labor was a violation of Deuteronomy twenty four fourteen through fifteen, but he supposedly was a good king who just fell a little bit. Number five pride and self glorification. This is a violation of Proverbs sixteen eighteen. Where does this occur? This occurs in First Kings Chapter ten eighteen through twenty.

41:00 Second Chronicles nine seventeen through nineteen. Solomon's wealth, power, and accomplishment eventually led to a sense of pride and self glorification. He built a magnificent throne for himself, adorned with gold and ivy, and surrounded himself with splendor that reflected his own glory rather than God's. Pride is consistently condemned in scripture. Pride goes before destruction. Solomon's self glorification contributed to his spiritual downfall, as it distracted him from reliance on God and obedience to commands. So I mean, do we need to go through all of these again? He married foreign wives, a direct violation of Deuteronomy seven through chapter seven, verses three through four. Idolatry worshiped idyls, built high places and altars to these idols, a direct violation of Exodus chapter twenty, verses three through five and Deuteronomy five, seven through nine.

41:52 Number three. He amassed wealth and horses, a violation of Deuteronomy seventeen sixteen through seventeen. Then there was excessive building projects with forced labor, a direct violation of Deuteronomy twenty four fourteen through fifteen. Number five. There was pride and self glorification, which is a violation of Proverbs sixteen eighteen number six. He tolerated false worship, This is a violation of Exodus thirty four, verses twelve through sixteen. In addition to participating in idolatry himself, Solomon tolerated and facilitated the worship of foreign gods by his wives and others in Israel. He allowed the construction of shrines and alters two false gods within the land. The Law of Moses commended Israel's kings to remove any trace of idolatry from the land Exodus thirty four, twelve through sixteen. By allowing idolatry to flourish in Israel, Solomon directly violated the command, and it weakened the nation's covenant relationship with God. So, I mean, we're up to six things that he's done wrong. We still have more to go. But he was a good king who just fell a little bit number seven, failing to remain fully devoted to God. This is a violation of Deuteronomy chapter six, verse five. We see about this in First Kings eleven four. As Solomon age, his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God. This is First King's eleven four. His spiritual decline was marked by a gradual distancing from God. The greatest commandment in the laws to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your solom, with all your mind

43:25 Deuteronomy sixty five. Solomon's failure to maintain wholehearted devotion to God was a fundamental breach of this command, which led to other sins. So he failed to remain fully devoted to God. Number eight. I'm telling you it's crazy. All the things Solomon did wrong. He disregarded God's warnings. First Kings chapter nine, verses six through nine. After the dedication of the temple, God warned Solomon that if he or his descendants turned away from following him, the temple would be destroyed and Israel would be exiled. Despite this clear warning, Solomon did not heed it and continued in disobedience. It was a perpetual, lifelong disobedience. It happened year after year after year after year. This is again a violation of a First Kings nine, six through nine. All right, and then wait, there was more. So that's that's eight. Here's number nine. All right, you're ready, here's number nine. Polygamy.

44:23 This was a violation of Deuteronomy seventeen seventeen. Where does this occur? First Kings eleven three. Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Polygamy and Israel, though practiced by some figures in the Old Testament, was never presented as God's ideal for marriage. God's ideal for marriage is given in Genesis two, with one man is to be united to one woman and a lifelong covenant. Deuteronomy seventeen seventeen explicitly commands that israel kings shall not acquire many wives, lest their hearts be turned away. Solomon's many wives, especially those from foreign nations, or the direct cause of his spiritual downfall, leading him into idolatry and disobedience to God.

45:05 His excessive polygamy violated God's commands for kings and disrupted the covenant faithfulness required of him as a leader. So he was a serial polygamist all right. Next, he was a serial adulterer. This is a violation of Exodus chapter twenty verse fourteen. Right, this is a violation of Exodus chapter twenty verse fourteen. Where does this happen? First Kings, Chapter eleven, verses one through three. Now, while Solomon may not have committed adultery in the sense of taking another man's wife, the sheer number of his wives and concubines, along with his engagement in sexual relations outside of the bonds of a singular covenant marriage, amounts to serial adultery.

45:49 His relationship with concubines were particularly problematic and as disinvolved sexual relations without the full covenantal commitment of marriage. So basically he's violating the seventh Commandment. So Solomon's excessive polygamy and relationship with concubines represent both serial adultery and serial polygamy. That's all the things Solomon was doing. We probably could even find a little bit more. But yet we were just told he was a good king who fell a little bit, A good king who fell a little bit. Now, come on, now, why do we do that? Why do we do that? What is it inside of us? As believers?

46:41 Sometimes to go to the bar it's so weird. We'll treat someone in front of us. We'll treat someone we hear about in modern times in our lifetime, and we will treat them like we'll brand them with the scarlet letter. We'll throw them out of everything. We say they're disqualified from basically doing anything because they committed a sin. Yet when it comes to Solomon, well he was a good king who just fell a little bit, fell a little bit a thousand women and he just fell a little bit and idolatry. He just fell a little bit forced labor, but he just fell a little bit pride, self, glorification.

47:25 But he just fell a little bit. I mean, I mean amassing wealth and all the things he was not. Just fell a little bit a loud idolatry. I mean he just was violating. He's violating specific commands, was warned and didn't even listen. Yet he just fell a little bit. Well, ladies and gentlemen, if Solomon just fell a little bit, the next time you hear of someone in Christianity doing something, I want you to say, well, you know, if Solomon just fell a little bit, can this this this sin doesn't even register on a scale? Okay, can anybody's sin come close to being that which is Solomon. And yet even though Solomon was committing all of this sin early on, he started amassing wives early on, he started committing polygamy early on, right, so early on he was not following God's you know, we talk about God's plan for marriage.

48:25 Solomon was making an absolute mockery of God's plan for marriage. He was literally saying I can do whatever I want. Right, and yet he starts that early. Yet we open our bibles and say a proverb a day, we'll keep the devil away. Oh, the Song of Solomon, what a beautiful book. And the Book of Ecclesiastes. Now people will try to say, well he wrote those three books are all being written during his time of sin. There's no way to get around it. Wait, wait a minute, wait a minute, why how does that even work? But he was a good king, he fell a little bit. David was a man after God's own heart. Now look, I understand you can see.

49:24 But these men are viewed in scripture as being good. Are they being viewed as being good based off their life? Are they being view good because they believed in God and that was accounted unto them as righteousness? Are they not examples really of imputed righteousness in spite of their moral fellings? So, therefore, is this an example of God's sovereign grace being shown well to the kings of Judah because God was going to preserve Judah because there was prophetic reason to preserve them, because there would come the Messiah.

50:06 But yet he preserved that line of sinful men based off sovereign grace. Is that really the message we should obtain from this? Let's see where he goes at that point, I almost wrecked up. The car went off the road, I flipped it three times, okay, and I got out, like what just happened? Right? Okay? Let's see. I don't remember anything after this because you know, I blacked out. Okay, maybe that's a little bit hyperbole, but I was just like of all the kings in the Bible, you said more good and just fell a little bit. And here's what I want you to think about. I want you to compare Solomon. I went through all of that, right, I went through all of it. You mean to go through all of those sins again? Marrying foreign wives, idolatry, amassing wealth and horses, excessive building projects, and forced labor, pride and self glorification, tolerating false worship, failing to remain fully devoted to God, disregarding God's warning, a serial polygamist, and a serial adulterer. Now, I want you to take all that Solomon did and I want you to compare it unto these other kings that are getting ready to be mentioned here. I think we're in Second Kings chapter fifteen. Right, Zechariah, Shalom, and Menahem.

51:26 Now why is it that their sins are seen as very different than the sins of David and Solomon. Now what people will do, they will look for some practical Well, it's because of this? Was it because of this? Because a lot of times we say it's because of this, and we don't really have any record of that. Here's what I know. There was sin, sin, sin sin. Why is that sin viewed differently than that sin? Is it because of God's sovereign grace? Is this more about God's sovereignty than it is anything else. Let's see how He's going to handle this. These guys, you know, there's not much to them.

52:06 So again, there's more history that could be written about these guys. But we want to remember the reason the writer wrote the Book of Kings. He wrote the Book of Kings to the captives in exile. They're saying, how did we get in exile? Well, just look at the kings at the end of the history of the nation of Israel, and he's pretty evident they're pretty wicked men. They've turned away from God. See, now, how did we get into exile? They were wicked, they turned away from God. Well, wait a minute, are you telling me Solomon? See but in his mind, see Solomon was good. What now? I looked up at least one source and it said there is a tension and how the kings of Israel and Judah are judged, especially in light of the fact that even righteous kings like David and Solomon were deeply flawed and sinful. David, despite being described as a man after God's own heart, committed serious sins, including adultery and murder. Solomon, despite his wisdom, ultimately fell into idolatry and disobedience and influenced by his foreign wives. So is it simply well, these guys were good and these guys were bad. Now I'm going to go let him go a little bit further here. I think I think there's a deeper and I've already alluded to it now multiple times, and I will circle back

53:38 to it. I wanted to get into the whole thing about how much space is given to each king. I had a bunch of notes on that, but he already he already mentioned Solomon. Once you mentioned Solomon, the other stuff becomes insignificant at that point. But he's drawing this contrast. See, basically, David and Solomon were good and these kings were bad. Well, then that led to them going into captivity, and these other kings well, you know, see they were good. Oh, I just don't know how that works in any practical standard, So I think we have to look at it deeper. I'll just let him go a little bit further, and then I'll just kind of throw out my hypotheses.

54:21 Everyone that turns away from God does not experience the blessings of God. The nation shall be turned into hell, and every nation that for the wicked shall be turned into hell, and the nation that forgets God. We need to understand that there are no blessings turning away from God, and here in just these short verses we find that is the case. Now I understand that there's a general principle that if we turn away from God, there are no blessings. But I'm going to challenge that. Wasn't Abraham Abram. Abraham blessed countless times in spite of his disregard for his own wife, him lying deceit. That wasn't there they still blessed. Oh many cases after Abraham or Abraham lied, they came out richer than they went in. They were blessed materially, and God continued to preserve them and take care of them even of disregarding God. I mean, over and over David, was he not? Was there still not blessings to David? Yeah?

55:32 You know why? Because there was a covenant made, and even though David was unfaithful, God remained faithful, so there were still blessings. Solomon was unfaithful in every way known possible. Was there still not blessing? I don't know if it's that simple to say, Hey, if you do good, you get blessed, and if you do bad you don't. Is blessing always based off behavior or is blessing sometimes based off God's sovereign grace? I am blessed with all spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus, even though my action would say I should not be blessed, I should be nothing but cursed. Is there not a tension and scripture about this? I think when we look at this contrast between the supposedly good side and the bad side, I think we have to look at it deeper. Right. I think it's clear this is what I think that Judah was preserved in part because of God's covenant promises to David. God had promised David that his descendants would reign forever, and his promise is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, who is from the line of David. Judah's preservation, despite its own sins and failures, can indeed be seen as a part of God's plan to bring the Messiah through the Davidic line, rather than as a sign of Judah being inherently more godly than the Northern Kingdom. I think the reason they are blessed is because of God's faithfulness to his promise, not because of their supposed good behavior, because they're just as sinful, in many cases more sinful. Fine me a king on the north that is as bad as Solomon. You can

57:03 probably find some that did some horrible things, but you take the totality of Solomon's life, idolatry, tolerating idolatry, violating scripture here not fully devoted to God, polygamy, adultery now he may not be doing now. I think once again we could get into a subjective argument on which one is worse than the other. Well, from God's perspective, how are you going to judge it? They say, But God viewed Solomon differently. Yeah, he viewed the entire Southern Kingdom differently. Why because of God's sovereign covenant. Because of God's sovereign grace. The Northern Kingdom, after the division following Solomon's reign, was ruled by kings who did not come from the Dividic line. Jereboam, the first king of the Northern Kingdom, was not from David's line, but from the tribe of Ephrium. His reign and the subsequent subsequent kings of the North are often characterized by idolatry and rebellion. Again God's covenant, the Northern kings established alternative places of worship to prevent the people from going to Jerusalem. In contrast, the Southern Kingdom had the Davidic dynasty and even though many of Judas kings were also sinful, they had periods of reform under kings like Hezekiah and Josiah, who sought to return the nation to covenant faithfulness. The Davidic kings were held to a unique standard because of the promises God made to David, and their reigns were often evaluated with reference to David's faithfulness.

58:31 Even though David himself was flawed, but David was counted as righteous, his sins were not held against him because of imputed righteousness. Isn't that why? Wrote Paul, uses David as an example of imputed righteousness. Judas preservation until the Babylonian exile and its eventual restoration was a part of God's plan to fulfill bill has promised to David, culminating in the birth of Jesus. The Northern Kingdom, having no such covenantal promises regarding a Messianic line, was not preserved in the same way. The distinction between the two kingdoms reflect not just their differing political and religious trajectories, but the unfolding of God's redemptive plan through Judah's line. The difference in them is God's sovereign grace. I don't think there's I don't think there's any way to get around that.

59:38 I think we have if we look at it any different. I think I think we're missing the whole point here. I think we missed the whole point here. Let's listen to a little bit more and then we'll bring this to a conclusion. So the author is helping us understand some thing about these kings. He's saying, the acts of these kings prove their wickedness. Israel is being reminded of a lesson. And the lesson is this, you tied your actions to the actions of your kings, and so therefore your end is going to be like the end of your kings. Now, who you make allegiances with, If you tie yourself to someone, you may you may find yourself suffering their fate. So we need to we need to be careful who we tire ourselves to. But what do we find out about this point in the history of Israel. Israel's in disarray again.

1:00:49 When you study the lineage of the kings of Judah, what do you find? You find? They're all tied to David, the dynasty of David. Never see, like I said, except for Athaliah, and she usurped authority. She's the only leader which doesn't come from the lineage of David. But she wasn't king. Every king of Judah traces their lineage. Back to David. And that's the answer is not action. The answer is covenant. They're a part of the lineage of that covenant. It has to be preserved because of God's covenant. And therefore God demonstrated sovereign grace to them. Because God will have mercy and whom he will have mercy, and he will judge in whom he will have mercy. In fact, he will have mercy and whom he will have mercy, and he will judge whom he will judge. The contrast between the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom can be understood as a profound example of the sovereignty of God's mercy and grace. God's preservation of Judah despite their sin and failures, highlights that his dealings with them were not based on the merit, on their merit or their right sciousness, but on his sovereign choice. It's not like, hey, wait now, if you do this or if you do this, no, look, I have all blessings in Christ Jesus, and those blessings are my blessings, irregardless of what I may or may not do. Is the Judah was connected to David and were chosen by God to be the line from which

1:02:21 the Messiah was come, and they were a part of that, no matter if their actions were sinful or not sinful. I'm not saying there's never negative consequences. I'm just saying we draw this contrast between these were the good guys and these were the bad guys. No, the contrast was there was a good God who sovereignly chose them, made a covenant with them, and then sovereignly gave them grace. Or on the other side, they were not sovereignly chosen to be a part of this covenant and therefore were not sovereignly given that grace. The difference, I think is the sovereignty of God. I think we can see this that the distinction here between the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom can be under stood as a profound example the sovereignty of God's mercy and grace. God's preservation of Judah despite their sins and failures, highlights his dealings with them were not based on their merit or righteousness, but on his sovereign choice. Judas's survival unto the exile and their eventual return from exile to pave the way for the coming of Christ was about God's sovereign will and his unfolding redemptive plan than Judas's superior godliness. The Davidic Covenant, which promised a perpetual kingship through David's line was an act of divine grace. I'm going to say sovereign grace.

1:03:33 God chose David's lineage for the sake of his own purpose, ultimately leading to the Messiah, and he remained faithful to that promise even when the kings of Judah were disobedient. Even when they were disobedient, he remained faithful. Look at the Davidic Covenant. We talked about this. We don't have time now, we're already over an hour. Go look at it and contrast. The Northern Kingdom's fate being conquered and scattered by Assyria can be seen as a dimasged of God's sovereign judgment. Yet even in their judgment, God's sovereignty over the entire history of his people is evident he allowed Israel's on faithfulness to run its course, but that did not negate his larger plan for redemption. Paul echoes this theme in Romans nine, where the emphasis God's sovereignty is bestowing mercy. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. It does not therefore depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. The principle applies when considering the distinct paths between Israel and Judah. The contrast between Israel and Judas serves as a reminder that God's plans are not contingent upon human faithfulness, but are rooted in his sovereign will.

1:04:44 Judah's preservation of the eventual coming of Christ of the Davidic line is a testimony to God's gracious and unmerited mercy. And this way, the whole narrative of Isral and Judah were underscores a sovereignty of God in both mercy and judgment. That's the contrast, that's the distinction, and you don't make the distinction by saying, well, Solomon was a good king who just fell a little bit. He wasn't a good king who just fell a little bit. He was an absolute, idolatory, polygamous, cyrial, adulterer, pride, arrogant, ungodly. I mean, you can go on and on and on and on. You said, but the Bible describes him as good. Well, if it may describe him as good, we can look for versus that do that, but it doesn't matter they are good. Well, it does matter because it tells you that the goodness being attributed to anyone in the Bible.

1:05:36 Most any case, any man that's being viewed as good, it's because of an imputed righteousness. Because and they may point to certain actions, but those actions does not make them good. They are declared good because of imputed righteousness. I think this is the entire point. I think this is the entire point of it. Is it? Chapter three? Is it? Chapter three? Yeah? Chapter four? Romans, Chapter four, Verse one. What shall we say then, that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found. For if Abraham were justified by works, he had wherewith to glory, but not before God? For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that were, now to him that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. David describes the blessedness of the man who God imputes righteousness without works. It is the man who God imputes righteousness who is blessed. Blessing comes because of imputed righteousness, not because of practical obedience, because our practical obedience is never any anywhere close to perfection or

1:07:09 perfect Even as David also described the blessedness of the man and too whom God imputed righteousness without work, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessing then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision. Also, for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness it is. It is reckoned by faith, not by works. What is the distinction between the North and the South. The South is connected to the dividic covenant, and those kings, their lineage goes to David. Therefore they will be preserved not because of what they do or don't do, but because God made a covenant promise with him. And therefore God demonstrates to the South sovereign gris where the North or not linked to that. So they are gone away. But then ultimately God has made a covenant with Israel at large, and so he makes a new covenant with the South and with the North, and that one day they will all be regathered and be restored and be redeemed, not because they deserve it because of their works, but because of his faithfulness. Solomon a good king who fell a little bit, or Solomon a very sinful king whose fall

1:08:42 was great, but who was given and shown the sovereign grace and mercy of God. We'll stop there. Second King fifteen, make it that your priority. Go look at those three kings. He never got to actually describing these three kings. At this point, I don't know how much of the sermon is left, but go look at them. And second, Kings, I want you to do this. I want you to take all of those things I just gave you about Solomon because I went into great detail. I had to go through that quickly because I could have turned into, you know, a couple of hours. But I want you to look at Azariah, Zechariah, Shalom, Menahem and Pekaniah. Right, and I want you to look at their lives. Now you're going to see them doing some pretty horrible things, but I want you to consider that in light of everything Solomon did and and and then are you going to pass some subjective judgment that one was better than the other? I mean, Solomon dies an idolater. All right, thank you for listening. Everyone, have a great day. God bless