Address—C. Hendricks
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Shall we be holding on thy throne and sit forever with me there? Then let the world approve or blame.
Triumph in thy glorious.
2/26.
And a dull gracious.
Life.
Shunted.
In all day, all my soul.
And take forest.
And let me.
Hear that light in our world.
Our lives are playing.
We'll try.
Again, I.
Glowed as many.
I am not allowed now.
Till.
Now.
What Transformers family?
Our hearts.
Are.
Last name.
I thought I heard the Time the Lord's sleep ourselves.
Are.
Our God and our Father, we thank Thee.
Turn to Deuteronomy 17.
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Deuteronomy 17.
Verse 14.
When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me, Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, Whom the Lord thy God shall choose one from among thy brethren, shalt thou set king over thee? Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt.
To the end that he should multiply horses.
For as much as the Lord hath said unto you, ye shall not ye shall henceforth return no more that way, neither shall we multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away, neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his Kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in the book, out of that which is before the priest the Levites.
And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life.
That he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law, and these statutes to do them.
That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turned out aside from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left.
To the end that He may prolong his days and his Kingdom, He and His children, in the midst of Israel.
Now let's turn to 1St Kings 10.
Verse 23.
So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
And all the earth sought to Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
And they brought every man his present vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armor and spices, horses and mules, a great year by year.
And Solomon gathered together Chariots and horsemen, and he had 1400 Chariots and 12,000 horsemen.
Whom He bestowed in the cities for Chariots, and with the king of Jerusalem.
And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones and Cedars, made he to be as the Sycamore trees that are in the veil for abundance.
And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt and linen yarn. The King's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and in horse for 150. And so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria did they bring them out by their means.
But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomite, Sidonians, and Hittites of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go into them, neither shall they come in unto you, for surely they will turn away your heart. After their gods. Solomon clave unto these in love.
When he had 700 wives, princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart.
Where it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, whose father. But Solomon went after Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Zeidonians, and after Milcombe the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
Then did Solomon build a high place for chimash, the abomination of Moab in the hill that is before Jerusalem?
And for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon, and likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel.
Which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods.
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But he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, For as much as this is done of thee.
And now it's not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded thee.
I will surely rend the Kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant notwithstanding in thy days. I will not do it for David, my father's thy father's sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son, Albeit I will not rend away all the Kingdom, but will give one tribe to thy son for David, my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
It's interesting that.
Everything that we read of the king being forbidden as Solomon did, he multiplied horses that would speak of natural strength, strength of his army.
The king of Israel was to look to the Lord for his strength, for his protection, not to his.
Courses or Is Great Harming multiplied Silver and Gold in Jerusalem?
It's so beautiful to see how he began.
He didn't ask for silver and gold. He didn't ask for power. He didn't ask for riches and for fame. He asked for wisdom that he might lead and guide that so great a people. And the Lord gave him that wisdom. As we read, the Solomon had wisdom exceedingly, and all the kings of the earth stopped to him.
But he allowed these other requirements to, especially his wives, to turn away his heart.
Now he was reading the word of the Lord every day. He was to read in it, to learn the word of the Lord, and to follow it, and to walk in it. And then there would be blessing.
It says that the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and we read when he was old.
That is, wives turned away his heart. There's four natural goals that motivate the natural man for goals that motivate the natural man.
Our riches, pleasure and faith.
Solomon had them all. He had power. He had the riches.
And he certainly had the pleasure with 700 wives and 300 concubines.
And he was the most famous of all the kings.
And yet, when we read the book of Ecclesiastes, he tells us that it's vanity.
It doesn't satisfy its emptiness. Vanity of vanity is always vanity.
Now it's interesting we're going to look at the division that came in for the nation of Israel. 10 tribes were rent from the House of David and give them to his servant Solomon's servant Jeroboam, who became his enemy. But two tribes were kept for Jerusalem for David's sake.
For David, his father's sake. Though David failed in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, you never failed. He's running away from the Lord, never allowed any to direct his attention away from the Lord Jesus, from the Lord himself.
But Solomon did. And so now the government of God comes upon Solomon, very solemn thing, The government of God. The principle of his government is whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
And as we read this history, we'll see that it wasn't just Solomon that.
Turned away from the Lord, but all those there at the Divine century.
We've just recently gone through a very grievous division.
And here that division in Israel was traced to those that were at the 9th center, Solomon and the rest.
The tendency of our hearts is to point to those that have left and say it's they didn't want to walk in the truth. Well, we can leave that with the Lord.
But here, the fault was right there with Solomon, you might say, If we lookout, if we go on and we'll see what Rhea Bone did, you might say it was his fault.
But it was from the Lord.
And then immediately we read that in verse 14 the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon. He died the Edomite he was of the King's seed in Edom. And again in verse 23 God stirred him up. Another adversary, reason, the son of Elijah, which fled from his Lord, had it easier, king of Soba.
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And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Soba.
And they went to Damascus and dwelt therein and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon beside the mischief that Hedad did. Then he abhorred Israel and reigned over Syria. But that God served him up an enemy. God stirred him up another adversary. This is the government of God because of the departure at the divine center, because those at the divine center, those in the most privileged place of blessing, didn't walk with the Lord as they should have.
They allowed their themselves to be drawn away by pleasure, especially Solomon and all these other things that motivate the natural man. Now we read of Jeroboam in verse 26. He was the one that God was going to give 10 tribes to. Now Solomon had been told very clearly here that God was going to take 10 tribes away from him from the House of David. He wouldn't do it in Solomon's life, but he would do it in his son's life.
He was told that it was because of his failures, because of his departure from the Lord, that it would happen. Did he submit to that hand of God's government? Did he bow to that? No, he didn't. And you'll see that as we read on.
When we failed and we all have failed.
And the government of God comes in, and a division such as we've gone through comes in.
And we it goes right through families, it goes right through assemblies, it goes.
It goes to the very heart and it's felt very cleanly and sure, we all feel this.
When we are under his governmental hand, he's chasing his discipline because of our worldliness and self seeking and living for ourselves.
We have to bow through his hand with government.
And own that he is righteous in all that has come upon us.
Jeroboam, verse 26. The son of Nebat and if apartheid of Zarida, Solomon's servant whose mother's name was Zerua, a widow woman. Even he lifted up his hand against the king.
And this was the 'cause that he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built Millow, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father. And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. And Solomon, seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the House of Joseph. And it came to pass at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah, the Shiloh knight, founded in the way, and he had clad himself with a new garment, and they too were alone in the field.
When I hide, you caught the new garment that was on him and rented in 12 pieces.
And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee 10 pieces, For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the Kingdom out of the hand of Solomon.
And will give 10 tribes to thee. But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. And then he tells Jeroboam the reason he's doing this.
It wasn't because of any faithfulness on the part of Jeroboam. Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor, as it says.
And Solomon noted that and wanted to take advantage of his skills.
But Jeroboam was not a man of God. He did not have the fear of the Lord before him, and he did not follow the Lord.
But he tells Jeroboam why he was doing this.
He says in verse 33 because that they have forsaken me. That's why I'm doing this and have worshipped Ashtaroth. Notice it's in the plural here. They have forsaken me, not just Solomon.
That's what God told Solomon, that he had done that. But now it expands to the nation of the of the Jews, those at the divine center. They have forsaken me and have worship Ashtaroth, the goddess of Mazidonians, Chimosh, the God of the Moabites, and Milcombe, the God of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my waves to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
Albeit I will not take the whole Kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him Prince all the days of his life, for David, my servant's sake, whom I chose because he kept my commandments in my statutes, but I will take the Kingdom out of his Son's hand.
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And will give it unto thee even 10 tribes. And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant, may have a light all way before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. Notice that hasn't changed. God had chosen that city, even though there was unfaithfulness in that city, on the part of Solomon. And those that lived there that were under Solomon's reign, they had all forsaken the Lord. They had all gone their own way. They had all done what was contrary to the word of God.
But he says the city, which I have chosen me to put my name there, and that's what made it so bad, that's what made it so serious, is God had chosen that place of blessing, and those who resided there didn't walk in the truth that had been committed to them. And that's true of us.
That's true of me.
Then I will take thee verse 37, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desire.
It shall be king over Israel now from this point on after the 10 tribes were taken, they were called Israel, sometimes Ephraim Israel. Ephraim was the head tribe of the 10 and the other two were called Judah, Judah and Benjamin.
So when we read in Israel in the Minor prophets it refers to the 10 tribes.
Often, anyway.
And it shall be verse 38 If thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee. Solomon had not, and so this this hand of God's chastening in government, came upon him. Now he says to Jeroboam, If you will hearken to all that I command, and will walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house.
As I built for David and will give Israel.
Unto thee Notice he promises him, He says, I will be with thee, I will build the assure house.
I will give Israel the 10 drives unfazed. These are wonderful promises that he holds out to Jeroboam had he walked in obedience to the Lord. But he didn't have that kind of a heart. He didn't have a heart to walk in obedience to the Lord.
You think that the very reason that God was taking these 10 tribes away from Solomon and those at Jerusalem because of their unfaithful you think it would have had a very powerful impact to Jeroboam, that he better watch out and not do the same. But he did worse. He did far worse. It didn't have any effect.
And what kind of a state are we in when God comes in in His government?
And disciplines us. And we don't even feel it. Oh yes, we feel it, but it doesn't change us. It doesn't result in repentance and a change in our ways. We cry, we weep. We shed tears. But our wings don't change.
What is wrong?
Solomon Jeroboam had ample warning, and he was told that if he had a walk in obedience.
He says, I will be with thee, I will build the assure house out here, Israel unto me.
And then he says in verse 39, and I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not forever we've gone through something which is God afflicting us.
Laying his hand in, chasing and discipline upon us because he's been displeased with our weight.
I will for this afflict the seat of David, but not forever. Now the Solomon bowed of this. Does he submit to this? Does he say that's the hand of God against us? He is righteous? I am sinful. I have failed. I have sinned, I have departed. I have done contrary to the word of God. I have taken all these foreign wives. Not only that, I've allowed them to worship their gods, and even built them places of worship for them.
How far removed had he gone from the path of obedience to the word of God? Now he doesn't submit to this governmental hand. Verse 40 says Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. He had been told. I'm going to give 10 tribes to Jeroboam.
Your servant now he seeks to frustrate that you can't do that. We can never change God's governmental hand and discipline. You sought to kill Jeroboam, and Jeroboam arose and fled unto Egypt unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon, and the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did in his wisdom. Are they not written in the book of the Acts of Solomon? In the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel was 40 years.
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If Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, his father and Reubon his son rendered this day, it's really solemn when we think of the how how Solomon began, how wonderfully he began.
And how sadly he had been.
Reminds me of an old brother that was with us in Oak Park and he used to say, pray for this old man that he doesn't die. A wicked old man, he realized the the capability of his heart and the tendency of our hearts to depart from the Lord in our later years.
But Solomon was old. His wives turned away his heart.
Given to pleasure.
This is one of the great ills and evils of it, of the Saints of God in this present day given to pleasure.
Henry Abbott, the son of Solomon, went to Shechem, chapter 12, for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
It came to pass when Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, for he was fled from the presence of King Solomon and Jeroboam throughout in Egypt.
That they sent, and called him, and Jeroboam, and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous. Now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke, which he put upon us lighter, and we will serve thee.
Jeroboam becomes a spokesman now for the 10 tribes. He had been told by the prophet that he was going to be the head of them, and he now presents this petition to Rehoboth. And he said unto him, Depart yet brought, Rehoboam said, depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed, And King Rehoboam committed, consulted with the old man that stood before Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
And they spake unto him, saying, If thou will be a servant unto this people this day.
And will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them.
Then they will be thy servants forever.
But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and consulted with notice this expression with the young men that were grown up with him, his contemporaries.
Those are the ones that he puts more confidence in than the older brothers, the older men.
He consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him. And he said unto them, What counsel give he, that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighters. And the young men that were grown up with him noticed that expression again spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee? Saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, But make thou it lighter unto us, thou shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
And now, whereas my father did laid you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboth the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the 3rd day. And the king answered the people roughly and forsook the old man's counsel, that they gave him, and spake to them after the council of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, But I will, and I will add to that your yoke. My father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. Wherefore the king hearken not unto the people, for the cause was from the Lord.
It says in one passage in Chronicles the cause was of the Lord. That's a wrong translation. The vision is never of God. It could be. It is from God. It's of Satan. The vision is of the enemy. But here it's right, 'cause was from the Lord. He sent it in chasing, in discipline, in government.
But it's never of God. The cause was from the Lord that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by a hydra, the shallow knight unto Jeroboam the son of Nebel. So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them.
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The people answered, the king saying Now notice how they respond. What portion have we in David?
They don't say what portion have we and Rehoboam.
It was rehoboam that spoke roughly to them.
You might say it was reabones father. He's the one that caused the division because of the way he he answered the people.
He didn't hearken to the old man's advice. He hearkened to the young men's advice and he came down very hard upon them. You might say it was his fault, but that's not looking very deep.
That's just looking at the 2nd or the 3rd cause, but the real 'cause we have to be found traced back to the first first of Kings 11.
And Solomon his wives turned away his heart, and the people did not follow the Lord.
In obedience to the word that was the real source of the problem.
What we've gone through recently, it didn't just happen.
It's been building for years.
For a long time.
And finally, the lights. Eventually.
And he comes in and chases him.
He did it here. He's done it in his church.
And we velvet chemo.
They say what portion have we and David. Their response is altogether wrong.
What portion of we and David?
What wrong had David done?
David was the man of God that had kept the word of the Lord. It was Solomon.
They don't even say what portion have we in Psalm or in we both, but they go back to David.
It was for David's sake that God was going to maintain a light in Jerusalem.
David of course, Speaking of Christ. And oftentimes when these things come in, we go back and we even blame the Lord for it.
They were blaming David. Neither have we inheritance in the Son of Jesse. Why they were they were cutting themselves off for their pride from their from their chief blessings. We don't have any inheritance in the Son of Jesse. Why? The line of David was to be the to be the line by which the through which Messiah came and they were cutting themselves off from this line.
They were no longer they were no longer in the in the line of the path of blessing that God was going to bring in to the coming Redeemer.
Very serious to your 10th. So Israel now see to thine own house. David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
You never read of a godly king in the 10 tribes. Not one, not one. There were godly kings in the tomb, the two tribes.
But never one in the 10 traps, and the first was Jeroboam. And there's a point of that you hear repeated over and over and over again in the Kings and Chronicles. Jeroboam, the son of me, that which made Israel to sin.
Which made Israel to sin. But we see what he does Now let's follow up.
So Israel departed under their tents, verse 17. But As for the children of Israel, which dwelt in the cities of Judah?
Rehoboam reigned over them. Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram who was over the tributes in all. Israel stoned him with stones that he died. Therefore King Riebaum made speed to get him up to his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the House of David under this day, and it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam will come again, was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel.
There was none that followed the House of David but the tribe of Judah only.
And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the House of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin and 104 score 1000 chosen men, which were warriors to fight against the House of Israel, to bring the Kingdom again to Rehoboth, the son of Solomon. Now Rehoboth here is in danger of of also rebelling against God's governmental hand of discipline. He's going to try to, he's going to try to erase what God had done. He's going to try to bring the 10 tribes back. And that wasn't the mind of God.
That wasn't the governmental mind of God. He had said he was going to give 10 tribes to Jeremiah.
But the word of God came unto Shamaya, the man of God, saying, Speak unto Reabol.
The son of Solomon. This is verse 23, King of Judah, and unto all the House of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people. Saying, Thus saith the Lord, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren. The children of Israel return every man to his house, for this thing is from me.
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They hearkened, therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart according to the Word of the Lord. That's beautiful to read.
That we have all did submit through the word of God. When the prophet brought it to him, they said go back. You're not to try to bring the 10 tribes back. This thing is for me.
I've I've come in and divided you because of your unfaithfulness.
Do we realize that?
Do I realize that as I should Do I feel that? Do we feel that?
Verse 25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephriam and dwelt therein. And that went out from thence and built annual. Now notice what Jeroboam does. He's not a man of God, not a man of faith, Jeroboam said in his heart. Now shall the Kingdom return to the House of David. God had said, if you were walking my ways and obey me, I will make you a sure house.
I will bless you, I will give you the 10 drives Israel. Now he starts to reason. It's not faith at all, it's the human mind reasoning without faith. And he says, if this people go up to do sacrifice in the House of the Lord at Jerusalem, verse 27, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, And they shall kill me and go again to Reubone, king of Judah, the very thing that God said he would not do.
Is what he reasons what happened.
If we have all had, if Jeroboam had obeyed, said the Lord said, I will build you with your house.
I'll give you the 10 tribes. I will be with you.
But he didn't have faith to appropriate that, to take it home to his own soul and act upon it. Instead, his mind gets to working and he says if they go down to Jerusalem, I'm going to lose them all, They're going to rebel against me, I'll lose my life, he reasons on it. He had no faith.
Whereupon verse 28 the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And where does that come from? Remember, when Moses was up on the mount, he heard this noise down in the camp, and he came down, and the people were.
Dancing around the golden calf but Aaron had made. Now Jeroboam makes two of them.
He took and he made, He took counsel, and he made two calves, whereupon the king took counsel notice that he counseled probably with the young men that had given the advice, men of that kind. The young men, of course, were with Rehoboth, but men of this kind he he took counsel with the 10 tribes, and he made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to us.
But to go up to Jerusalem, behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
What an awful thing to say. A fire can 1 depart in his thoughts from the truth. And he set up the one in Bethel and the other put he and Dan Dam's a very northern part of the land, Bethel's down in the southern part of the 10 tribes. And so they were all covered so they wouldn't have to go too far, and they certainly wouldn't have to go to Jerusalem.
So he sets up his own system of worship. This is exactly what's happened in Kusundo. What man has done. Instead of walking in obedience to the Word of the Lord, he set up his own system of things.
And this is what Jeroboam did.
The king took counsel, and that's what man has got.
Going to establish church and we're going to set up an order for it and so on.
And he set the one in Bethel the House of God, what it means, and the other put He and Dan, which means God will judge.
And surely God will judge cerebral what you have done.
Legal judges.
And this thing became a sin where the people went to worship before the One even unto Dan.
And he made an House of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people.
Which were not of the sons of Levi, the order that God had established that was to be followed, He could totally ignores it.
He doesn't read as a king should have in the word of the Lord. He doesn't take his guidance and his instructions from that, but from his own mind and from the counsel of those that were round about him, that were like unto him.
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And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the 15th day of the month, like under the feast that is in Judah, the tabernacles within the 7th month and the 15th day of the month, that he changes everything.
So did he, and he offered upon the altar. And he was not a priest. He had no business offering anything. He was a king.
So did he and Bethel, sacrificing under the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the 15th day of the 8th month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart, and ordained A feast under the children of Israel. And he offered upon the altar and burned incense. Just think when the 10 tribes said, what portion have we and David to your 10th? So Israel see to thine own house David.
They did not realize when they said that.
What they were giving up.
Talking to a young man very near to me.
My son-in-law, he's left.
Is gone with the other party. He came to me and he said I have lost so much.
I have lost so much.
And he's finding it hard to come back.
Difficult.
He wakes up at night.
Can't sleep?
Stress in his soul. No, he's wrong. You know he's gone wrong.
How can you find this way back that?
Much easier to leave than to return. Much easier.
Into these 10 tribes, they left the denying sentence.
There was sin at the divine center, Yes, it was Solomon's fault and those that throughout there, Yes, that's where the fault was.
That they left the place that God had chosen to put his name there.
And all the failure at the center didn't change the fact that God had put his name there.
Expecting the time in the history of things and in the government of God that even God left.
But this hasn't visited that far yet.
Now Chapter 13.
And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah.
By the word of the Lord unto Bethel. Notice that expression. By the word of the Lord he comes down from Judah.
To prophecy against the altar that Jeroboam has set up at Gafa.
And it's striking that there was an old prophet of Bethel that dwelt there, but God couldn't use that man because he was.
Dwelling in complicity with the evil, he was in fellowship with it.
And so God had to send a man of God out of Judah from the divine center down to.
Death out the word of the Lord. He came by the word of the Lord unto Bethel, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. It wasn't his business to burn incense. He wasn't a priest. He was a king, and he was a bad king, a sinful king, a wicked king.
He had made these two golden calves. He had changed the order of things totally for the children of Israel, and they went right along with it.
There is not a word that we read of anyone voicing an objection to what Jeroboam was doing. They followed it. They followed it.
Followed him in his sin.
And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, this man of God. Out of Judah. He cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, And said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born unto thee, unto the House of David, Josiah, by name.
And upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt on thee. He's pronouncing judgment against that altar that Jeroboam had set up. There was only one altar that God owned and that was down in Jerusalem. He didn't own this altar.
And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken.
Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. They came to pass, when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in death out.
That he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, lay hold on him. He was angry. Who is this then, this prophet that dares to come down and prophecy against what I have established?
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And his hand, which he had put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. Immediately God judges Caribou for his iniquity. The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
And the king answered and said unto the man of God, intrigued, now the face of the Lord thy God, And pray for me.
That my hand may be restored me again. A moment earlier he was ready to kill Jeroboam.
Now he's asking him to pray for him.
And the man of God, who sought the Lord and the King's hand was restored him again, and he came as it was before. Here you have remembered mercy in the place of judgment.
Man of God was sent not to condemn Jeroboam, but to pronounce judgment against the altar which he had set up.
And so he shows grace mercy to Jeroboam. And now the king said unto the man of God, verse 7 Come home with me and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
Here's the power of the Israelite Kingdom. 10 tribes, the kings that was placed as head over the 10 tribes he now offers him who he was. A worldly, worldly reward.
Notice how faithful the man of God is.
When the man of God said, verse 8 under the king, if thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee.
Neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place.
In other words, you wouldn't have any fellowship there. He had been sent there to pronounce judgment against it, not to dwell there, not to eat there, not to drink there, not to have any fellowship, and to go back another way. For so it was charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, you've no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou penis.
So he had to go back another way so that it wouldn't look by any that might see him coming back. Seen him coming back, they might have said, well, he he had the fellowship down there, you know, he had no fellowship there.
So he went another way and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel. So he faithfully resists this overture from the world representing represented by Jeroboam. So now he's going to be subjected to another test.
Much more, much more subtle, and one which we often failed to pass.
Now verse 11 There dwelt in Old Profit in Bethel.
And his sons came, and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel, the words which he had spoken unto the king. Then they told also to their father. And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah? And he said unto his son, Saddle me the ***. So they saddle him the ***. And he rode there on, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oath. And he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that came us from Judah?
And he said, I am Then he said unto him, Come home with me and eat bread. Another man of God answers very faithfully. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee, neither will I eat bread, nor drink water with thee in this place. For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest, the answer is the same question that the king Jeroboam had put to him.
The answers are very faithfully by the word of the Lord, but now the old prophet starts to reason with him.
And he said to him, verse 18, I am a prophet also as thou art.
And an Angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord. Paul says to the Galatians.
Though an Angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which I have preached unto you, let him be a curse.
An Angel from heaven. There's a religion that has been built up in this country.
Has millions now.
That came from an Angel spoke to a man, so it was said.
Moroni is the angel's name, and this man, Joseph Smith, established this great apostate religion.
So here this old prophet of Bethel appeals now to the man of God by saying an Angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord. He uses the very same expression that the man, the man of God, out of duty, used by the word of the Lord. He spake to me by the word of the Lord, saying, bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water, just the opposite to what he'd been told by the word of the Lord. But he lied unto him.
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He lied unto him.
Why did we do that?
Because he felt.
His conscience was reached by the fact that God had to use another prophet, not him.
To testify against the evil that dwelt there in Bethel because he couldn't use him, because he was dwelling in fellowship with him.
And if we walk in fellowship with the evil, our testimony against the evil is null and void. And that's why the man of God out of Judah wasn't to have any fellowship there. He wasn't to eat bread or drink water, or even return the same way that he had come, so that it wouldn't look as though he had any fellowship in that place. He was to deliver a message of judgment against it.
The man of God was faithful up to this point, but now we read sadly verse 19, so he went back with him.
He went back with this old prophet of Bethel and did eat bread in his house and drank water. Now the very next word, a sentence. The very next verse says that God now uses the old prophet of Bethel who had enticed him and seduced him back to compromise the truth and to go back and eat and drink there to pronounce judgment against him, came to pass as they sat at the table that the word of the Lord came under the prophet that brought him back.
And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, For as much as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord.
And has not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but came us back, and hath eaten bread and drunk water, in the place of the which the Lord did say to thee, eat no bread and drink no water, thy carcass shall not come under the sepulchre of thy fathers. So when pronouncing this judgment against the man of God out of Judah, this old prophet of Bethel was pronouncing judgment against himself as well.
Verse 23. It says it came to pass after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ***.
To it for the Prophet whom he had brought back.
And when he was gone, a lion met him, the enemy.
By the way, and slew him.
And his carcass was cast in the way, and the *** stood by it. The lion also stood by the carcass. And behold, men passed by and saw the carcass cast in the way. And the lion standing by the carcass, and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, it is the man of God who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord.
When the man of God ate at that place that he had pronounced judgment against, when he ate and drank and had fellowship there, he rendered null and void his testimony against him.
But still what he had pronounced by the word of the Lord would come to pass in spite of his unfaithfulness.
But he loses his life.
He loses his testimony.
Very sound. He loses his life slain by the lion, because he listened to another voice, a voice of a of a fellow prophet that was in complicity with evil, indwelling and fellowship with it, One whose voice he should not listen and have listened to.
Because he wasn't walking in separation from evil.
Verse 26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, it is the man of God.
He was disobedient unto the word of the Lord. Where therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him, And he spake to his son, saying, Saddle me the ***. And they saddled him, And he went, and found his carpets cast in the way, and the *** and the lions standing by the carcass. The lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the *** contrary to nature.
The lion had been sent for one purpose, to kill the man of God. And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God and laid it upon the *** and brought it back. And the old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him.
And he laid his carcass in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, alas, my brother, now both of these men, both of these prophets, the man of God out of Judah, and the old prophet of Bethel, they were, they were truly the Lords, no question about that.
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He Christ is the last. My brother one was a picture of the old prophet of Bethel. One was a picture who was a true believer, but dwelling in fellowship with evil, not separate from it. And the man of God out of Judah was in separation from that evil. He came down to witness against it, and when he ate and drank there he lost his life and lost his testimony.
Alas, my brother.
Verse 31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his son, saying, When I am dead.
Then bury me in the Sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones, for the same which he's cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass. Now he's owned, Now he owns in his very mouth that the that that was evil that he was in fellowship with.
Did this have any good effect on Jeroboam? Did he benefit from it? Did he gain anything from it? Did he cease from his evil ways and now start to follow the Lord? Not a bit of it. Notice what we read in verse 33. After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places. Whosoever would he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
And this thing became sin under the House of Jeroboam, even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
Jeroboam didn't change. Now let's turn to 2nd Kings 23.
Then we close.
Second teams 23. Here we read of Josiah, this godly king of Judah.
He was mentioned.
In our chapter that he would burn the bones of the false prophets on the altar.
We'll just start at verse 14. Second Kings 23 and he break Josiah, break in pieces the images, and cut down the Groves and fill their places with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel and the High Place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made.
Both that altar and the high place. You breakdown and burn the high place, and stamp it small to powder and burn the Grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mouth, and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed who proclaimed these words.
Then he said, What title is that? That I see. And the men of the city told him it is the Sepulchre of the man of God which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, let him alone, let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. So these two prophets, though they were both ultimately unfaithful.
They were the Lords, and so they don't take part. They don't participate in the judgment that comes upon the false prophets, the judgment that comes upon the world.
They're scared that their bones remain in the tomb.
And so though we have failed.
If we're the Lord's will not partake of the judgment that overtakes the world will be taken home, taken out of this world to be with himself.
And you'll never case any of the judgment that comes upon the ungodly world around us. But alas, what has happened to our testimony if we fail to walk in separation from the evil that has been set up in the energy of man's will, and not according to the word of the Lord, to lose that testimony?
Solemnly.
Let's close by singing.
224.
Oh, that we never might forget what Christ has suffered for our sake to save our souls and make us need of all his glory to partake. But keeping this in mind, press on to glory and the victors crown.
All that will never.
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My forget.
Why Christmas?
Fall.