Address—Chuck Hendricks
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Turn with me tonight, please. The first Kings 11 verse one. But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonite, Zeta, Mites, Cydonians and Guttites of the nations, concerning which the Lord said, Under the children of Israel, You 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.
In love he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his lives turned away his heart. For 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 his father. For Solomon went after Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, 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 Chivas, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Anna. 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, 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 thou hast not kept my covenant in my statutes which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the Kingdom from thee, and we'll give it to thy servant.
Notwithstanding in thy days, I will not do it for David thy father's sake.
But I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. I'll be it. I will not rend away all the Kingdom, but will give one tribe to thy son, for David, my servant Satan, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
This is sad reading.
Solomon had such a wonderfully life beginning.
Didn't ask for power, riches, fame. He asked for wisdom that he might be able to lead his great people wisely. And the Lord granted him all these other things.
But here he's older.
And his wives, we read, turned away his heart when he was older.
And Deuteronomy 17 The king was not to multiply horses to himself speaks of power. He was not to multiply wives to himself, speaks of pleasure. He was not to multiply riches.
There are four natural goals for the man. For the natural man, power, riches, pleasure and fame. He had them all.
He had them all, and yet he tells us in his book of Ecclesiastes, it was all vanity and emptiness, pursuit of the wind. He had found that these things don't satisfy, though man pursues them. He has nothing else. The Christian has Christ. Christ displaces all these other things for us.
Well, Solomon's heart was turned away, and the people too, their hearts were turned away as well.
And the division we're going to look at that took place the history of Israel, which has never been healed, but it will be in a coming day.
The 10 tribes of the two will be reunited and there'll be one again, one nation under God.
In that coming day of glory down here in this world. But it hasn't been healed yet.
And having gone through a terrible division.
I am persuaded that it's probably the worst sentiment anyone could commit to be the leader in that kind of thing. To divide the Saints of God. Terrible. Divide families, divide assemblies, divide friendships. Very heartbrending. And I know those to whom I'm speaking tonight feel this scheme like we all have been made to feel it.
But the source of the division that took place in Israel was traced to the divine center, Jerusalem.
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And to the king that reigned there and to the people that were there, their hearts did not follow the Lord. Solomon allowed these other things to come in and turn away his heart. And it says the Lord was angry with song. The Lord was angry with song. I believe the Lord has been, and put it this way, angry with us because of our low state.
Our common ways, our worldly ways, our ways of self seeking.
Pursuing pleasure. We're living in a world that is pleasure, math pleasure pursuing, and we're guilty of filing along this line when we have something intimately better.
Went out to characterize us is prayer and fasting during the absence of our rejected Lord, Not feasting, not indulging in things here, but holding ourselves for Him and only for him. We haven't done that. I speak to my own self. We haven't done that and the Lord has been displeased with our state.
And so he has allowed these things to come in.
Says in verse 14, I didn't read it yet. The Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon. Hey dad, the Edomite, he was of the King's seed in Edom.
The enemy is allowed to attack, to be stirred up by.
The enemy and the Lord allowed it, and again in verse 23 God stirred him up. Another adversary reason, the son of Elijah, which fled from his Lord, had an easier king of Sova, and he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band which David Stew, when David slew them Soba.
And they went to Damascus and dwelt therein and reigned. He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Saudi, because beside the mischief that Adat did, and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Syria. When troubles come, as they do in our lives, sometimes they come because. Not always, but sometimes they come because.
The Lord is displeased with our state. He's trying to.
Get our attention, trying to teach us lessons that we cannot seem to learn any other way, and when he deals severely with us.
Now we read of another character that's going to be very prominent. He's going to head up the 10 tribes that would be taken from Solomon Solomon's son Rita Bullen, and given to him, given to Jeroboam, and two tribes would remain at Jerusalem.
Divine Center.
This was because of the sin of Solomon.
Verse 26 And Jeroboam, the son of Bebath, and epithet of Zarida Solomon 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 below and repaired the breaches of the city of David, his father.
And the Mandira bone 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 he came to pass. At that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, let the prophet Ahijah the shadow knight, found him in the way, and he had clad himself with a new garment, and they too were alone in the field.
And the Hydra caught the new garment that was on him and wrecked it in 12 pieces.
And he said to Jeroboam, Take the 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. The same message is now told the Jeroboam that was told to Solomon by the Lord.
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.
Because that they have forsaken me tells Jeroboam why he's doing this. He says because they have forsaken me and have worshipped Asterisk. Notice they the plural now. Not just Solomon, but they those in Jerusalem, the people.
They have worshipped Asher at the goddess of the Zaidonians, Chius the God of the Moabites, and Milkham the God of the children of ammonia, and have not walked in my ways to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
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That's the reason he tells Derek on very clearly what the reason was. He was displeased with those there at Jerusalem for what they had done and how they had been carried away departing from the Lord. He's told this. He knows why these 10 tribes are being given to him, because God was displeased with those in Jerusalem.
Howbeit, verse 34 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 servants say.
Whom I chose because he kept my commandments and my statutes. But I will take the Kingdom out of his sons hand, and will give it unto thee even 10 tribes.
And under his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant, may have a light only before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. Notice that doesn't change, though. There was failure at Jerusalem, very serious, grievous failure, and the Lord was displeased and angry with Solomon because of it. He still speaks of Jerusalem. That I may have a light all way before me in Jerusalem.
The city which I have chosen, This is God's choice, not man's.
To put my name there. And so he was going to maintain a testimony there at the divine center, but rather the 10 kingdoms from Solomon's unreadable because of the sin of Solomon and the people that were there at the divine center. So this division we're going to look at is traced back to failure on the part of those who occupied the most privileged place.
On the face of the earth, and that's the place that we occupy.
The most privileged and the most responsible. Verse 37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign, according to all that thy soul desireth, and shall be king over Israel from them. From the time that the 10 tribes were read and given to Jeroboam, those 10 tribes are called Israel or Ephraim, who was that which was the head tribe of the 10, and the others Judah, Judah and Benjamin.
But the the the term Israel applies after the division to the 10 tribes.
Thou shalt be king over Israel, over the 10 tribes, and it shall be if thou will hearken unto all that I command thee. Notice the condition here. If Jeroboam had walked in obedience to the Lord, and hearkened to his work, and not done what Solomon had done, the Lord promises blessing to him.
If thou look, hearken unto all that I command thee, 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 ashore house as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee. Notice the promises that he gives to Jeroboam.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't have faith to appropriate these promises for himself.
He was not a man of faith. In fact, we have the formula repeated over and over and over again in the history of the kings. Jeroboam, the son of Kneadback, which made Israel to sin. Jeroboam the son of me, that which made Israel to sin. We're going to read about that serious sin that he committed. But he was offered the 10 tribes and the promise of blessing. I will make the assured house.
I will build the assure houses I built for David. We'll give Israel unto thee. I will be with thee.
He says to Jeremy, and then he says in verse 39, I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not forever. Every division in the church is an affliction upon everyone, especially those that are in the right place.
The right place, not the right state. And so he afflicts us in his faithfulness. In his faithfulness I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not forever. It won't go on forever. There will be an end to it. Is governmental dealings come to an end. Did Solomon profit by the warning that was given to him by the prophet that we looked at?
Earlier in the chapter.
Unfortunately, he did not. He seeks to kill Jericho. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. He was told that 10 tribes were going to be taken from his son and given to Jeroboam, and now he seeks to stop that. And yet he had the word of the Lord as to it. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam, and Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt unto Shishak, king of Egypt.
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Egypt until the death of Solomon, the solemn thing when we hear from God why he is dealing with us in his governmental ways, in punishment and chastening and discipline that we seek to.
Reject guilt and to oppose it and to thwart it. Can I do that? I think that's the whole problem behind these reunion movements in Christendom is the reason Saints are divided is because God has been displeased with their state and then they try to undo that and come together again as though.
Their state doesn't really matter.
Those that have been reunited are not in a more spiritual state than those that the Lord divided. We have not learned well the history, the lesson of history. As it has been said, one thing we learned from history is that we don't learn from history. Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeremiah. Jeremy rose and fled. Verse 41 and the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did in his wisdom, are they not written?
Book of the Acts of Solomon and the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years. So Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, his father, and read of all his son reign in his stead. Isn't that sad that the very last thing that's recorded to Solomon's history here?
Is that he sought to thwart the government the governmental hand of God chapter 12 and Rehoboth went to Shechem for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king and it came to pass via bones the son of Solomon there. He's the one that's going to retain the two tribes and lose 10 to to Jericho.
It came to pass when Terrible the son of Nevada, yet in Egypt heard it heard that Solomon was dead, for he was fled from the presence of King Solomon. And Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt, that they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel. Canes spake unto Reabolt, saying, Thy father made our yoke, Read us Now, therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us later, and we will serve thee. And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days.
Then come again to me. And the people departed, And King Riga Bone consulted with the old man that stood before Solomon his father, while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I answer this people? And they spake unto him, saying, If that 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 the young men that were grown up with him.
The old member of a different generation, not his contemporaries. Now he consults with his contemporaries, those that were grown up with him.
The greatest danger that you have young people is to.
Despise the Gray hairs of the older ones and to just.
Consult with those of your own age group.
Great danger, that's what Rita Moan did.
The old man had given him good counsel, but he forsook him.
And he said unto them, verse nine, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people? Now he's talking to the young men who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter. And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thou shalt thou speak under this people that speak unto these same. Notice how it says that we're grown up with him. Repeats that.
That's important. And they say, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people, saying, Thy father need our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us. Thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's annoyance. And now, whereas my father delayed you with a heavy burnt joke, I will add to your yoke. My father hath chastised you with whips, and I will chastise you with scorpions.
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So Jared Bowlman, all the people came to Reubol the third day, as the king had appointed, saying come to me again the third day.
And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him, and spake to them after the council of the young men, saying, My father made you yokevi, and I will add to your guilt. My father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
Wherefore the king hearken not to the people for them, because was from the Lord. It says in one passage in chronicles the cause was of the Lord. That's that shouldn't be, it should be from the Lord. If you look at it in Mr. Darby's translation, it's always from the Lord.
Division is not of God, it's of Satan.
But it might be from God, and it was so here because of his government with them. The cause is from the Lord. That's correct translation.
Verse 15 Wherefore the king hearken not unto the people, for the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by a hydrolysis. When all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we and David?
What a terrible thing to say.
What portion have we and David David had done nothing to cause this. His son had Solomon, but you can trace back there was friction. You can trace back when problems come in, the immediate cause of the problem isn't the real cause. The the one that you would see in in in near proximity to the to the problem caused.
Is it goes back? It goes back. If you read the book of Judges, you'll find out that there was friction between Judah and Ephraim, the tribes. There was friction, there were problems. I'm not going to trace that out. You could trace it out yourself, but usually you'll find that when something like we've just gone through happens, it goes way back.
There are problems back there.
Watching lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you root of bitterness. It might. It may lay dormant for years. You're not even aware of it. It never has been judged someone has done something to you, or spoken unkindly to you, or whatever it might be. I know there was a time in my life when every night.
I said, Lord, keep me from bitterness, keep me from bitterness.
Sometimes your brethren can say the unkindness.
The most cuddly and they don't need any money.
Thankfully, most of them don't need it. Sometimes they may. Whatever it might be, watch. Don't allow bitterness to lie there. Something will come up in a future time when that bitterness will arise. A root of bitterness will spring up, and then many will be defined by. We must judge these things.
Root and branch. If we don't, we are vulnerable.
To what happened here, What has happened amongst us?
Well.
Says verse 16. So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened unto them, the people answered, What had a portion of me and David. Neither have we inheritance of the son of Jesse to your tents of Israel. Now see to thy own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tennis. They were all together wrong in doing this, even though they had been spoken to so harshly. You might say we'll be a bone was wrong, and we talked to them, yes.
Not just real Solomon, his father. There is the that's the source of the problem.
But As for the children of Israel, which dwelt in the cities of Judah, we have all reigned over them.
King Riabon Santa Dora, who was over the tribute in all Israel, Stony with stones, that he died. Therefore King Ribon made speed to get him up to his chariot completed Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the House of David unto this day. As I said before, this division hasn't been healed yet. And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent him, called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel.
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Now they prophecy behind you.
Is coming past there was none that followed the House of David but the house tribe of Judah only. And when ring of home was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the House of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin and 100 and fours 4000 chosen men which were warriors to fight against the House of Israel to bring the Kingdom again to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
Now that was contrary to the word that the Lord had given to Solomon. He told told Solomon, I'm going to take 10 tribes from they give it to Jeroboam. And now Rehoboth tries to get them back by force, but listen. But the word of God came unto Shamaya the man of God saying, Speak under Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the House of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people saying, thus saith the Lord.
Ye 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. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord and returned to depart according to the word of the Lord. That's a real plus for readable. He hearkened to the word of the Lord. He stopped what he was doing. He didn't try any more to bring back the 10 tribes. He bowed under the governmental hand of God.
You got to.
Submitted to it.
Realize that this thing has happened because we've sinned.
Have you done that? Have you done that?
Connection with what has just happened amongst us and we got before the Lord and said Lord, it's my fault, it's my fault. Well, Rita Ball listened to the prophet.
And that's a very nice thing to read.
Verse 25 that Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim, that dwelt therein, and went out from thence and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart.
Now he starts to reason. He's not a man of faith. The Lord said, I will be with thee. I will build thee a sure house. I will give Israel unto thee. That he had believed God, He wouldn't have gone to this reasoning process and to all the things that he did now and later. He is typical of what man has done in Christendom in implementing his thoughts and his ways and his procedures and his order.
In God's house.
Very serious thing to do when God has given strict instructions, explicit instructions, ordering his house, even as He did in building the Tavern animal. Everything had to be followed to the letter, and so it is in God's house. But man, just like terrible, he says in his heart. Now shall the Kingdom return to the House of David, if his people go up to sacrifice in the House of the Lord at Jerusalem.
Then shall the heart of this people turn again, until their Lord.
Even unto read a bone king of Judah, and they shall kill me.
The very thing that man's reasoning results in is that if I do it my way, I'll escape this, but if I do it God's way, they'll kill me. Just the opposite is true. Just the opposite is true.
And go again to Rehoboth, king of Judah, Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, That goes way back to the to what Aaron did. He made a cap of gold, and the people danced around him a golden calf, except Jeroboam. In imitating he makes 2 caps. He puts one in Dan, the northern part of the land, the other in Bethel, the House of God, southern part of the land.
So that all the 10 tribes would have a place that they could go to worship and not go to Jerusalem.
He made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem, Behold thy gods in Israel which brought thee up, and surround him a golden calf. Except Jeroboam in imitating he makes 2 cats. He puts one in Dan, the northern part of the land, the other in Bethel, the House of God, southern part of the land, so that all the 10 tribes would have a place that they could go to worship.
And not go to Jerusalem.
He made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods in Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
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He convinced the sin doubling of what Aaron did that brought such judgment upon the people of Israel when the law was given initially and he said the one in Bethel, the House of God, and the other put he and Dan, God will judge. He surely will, he surely will.
God will judge.
And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. That's the 2nd way up in the northern part of the land. And he made a House of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. Levi he changes the order that God had laid down, the strict order that he laid down to be observed.
In his house. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the 15th day of the month. The feast of Tabernacles was on the 7th month. And he changes the month like unto the feast that is in Judah. And he offered upon the altar. He offered upon the altar. Only. The priest was to do that. He was not a priest.
So did he in Bethel, sacrificing out of 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 in his own heart, and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel. And he offered upon the altar and Saints.
That's the stage that's been set now for this next chapter 13.
And behold, there came a man of God, and out of Judah by the word of the Lord. Notice that expression. He comes by the word of the Lord. He's guided by the word of the Lord. His directions are by the word of the Lord. Our directions are by the word of the Lord. We have the word of the Lord here in this blessed book. We're not not to allow once we have the word of the Lord for what we do, or not to allow any after voices to turn us aside.
We'll see what happened to this man of God, of Judah.
There came a man of God out of Judah. The reason he had to come from the divine center is because there wasn't anyone. Well, there was someone there at the false two centers, Dan and Bethel, but he was disqualified to be a faithful prophet because he was living in complicity with the evil. He was in association with him, not separate from it.
The man of God out of Judah was separate from it. He was there at the divine center. With all the failure that had happened there, it was still God's center.
So he comes out of Judah, by the word of the Lord, unto Bethel, the House of God.
And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. He had no business doing that. He was sitting and doing that. And he cried. The man of God cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O alter altar. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born 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 upon thee. We'll read later where that was literally.
Still the king Josiah named by name here many years before he ever was born.
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. And it came to pass, when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand.
From the altar saying lay hold on him.
At his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again.
Immediate judgment executed against this wicked king Jeroboam.
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. Again notice the expression by the word of the Lord. And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of God for me.
Face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the King's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. Mercy is extended and shown to this wicked king Jeroboam, who had set up these idolatrous altars at Dam and at Bethel, disobeyed the word of God, disobeyed the word of the Lord, and he had he had learned that.
Judgment had come upon the 12 tribes, upon Solomon because they had not walked in obedience. And now he does the same thing. He's given 10 tribes on the condition and that he would be blessed on the condition of obedience, and he fails right away. No Fear of God before his eyes whatsoever.
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And the king answered and said unto the man of God, and treat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.
And the man of God who sought the Lord, and the King's hand was restored, and again became as it was before. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. The man of God faithfully responds to this. He said unto the king, If thou will give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee. Neither will I be bread nor drink water in this place.
For soul was he charged me by the word of the Lord, saying he'd no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that The Alchemist.
So he went another way and returned. Not by the way that he came to Bethel. The reason he didn't go back the same way was that those that saw him go down didn't see him return. They didn't say, well, he spent some time there and he had fellowship there. He ate and drank there. No, he was to go down, deliver his message, pronounce judgment against the altar that Jeroboam had set up, and then return another way so that it wouldn't look to any that he had had any fellowship.
In that place he was to deliver faithfully the message against that place and then go back another way and he discharged it faithfully. And these overtures from Jeroboam, who was the king, who was the world leader of the 10 tribes now.
He rejects. He has the word of the Lord to tell him, and he refuses. He said you could give me half your Kingdom. I wouldn't eat or drink or have anything to do with that place.
So he went another way and returned, not by the way that he came to Bethel, but now he's going to be subjected to a more subtle trial. Now they're dwelt an old prophet in Bethel.
Why didn't God use him to pronounce judgment against the altar? Because he was in fellowship with it. He couldn't speak against it.
That's where he lived. That's where.
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 would 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 settled in the *** and he rode there on, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak beautiful.
Type of Lee Cross.
Wonderful place to be sitting meditating. And he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that came from Judah? And he said, I am. And he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 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 be 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 canest.
He said unto him, I'm a prophet also. Is thou art?
I'm a brother, I'm a sister. We're going to spend eternity together in heaven.
Let's have fellowship.
In this place I have another prophet just like you.
This is a different kind of trial. It's not the world offering us something that we can reject, but a fellow believer. And he was a believer. Both of these men were. We'll see when we look at the chapter of Josiah that they were both Lords.
But.
Your profit of battles in the wrong place.
He said unto him, I am a prophet also, as thou art, and an Angel spake unto me.
By the word of the Lord, the apostle Paul says to the Galatians, Though an Angel from heaven, preach any other gospel, and that which I have preached unto you, let it be accursed.
An Angel from heaven, one of the fastest growing religions in this country, started with an Angel called Moroni appearing to a prophet, a false prophet.
Though an Angel from heaven preach any of the gospel, let him be accursed, so he says.
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An Angel spake unto thee by the word of the Lord. He even uses deceitfully that formula, the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. The enemy is a liar, he's a deceiver. And if the man of God would hearken to this, and he did, sad to say so he went back with him to eat bread in his house and drank water.
He had been so faithful in refusing the overtures of the world and the person of Jeroboam, but now the religious element comes in and he is seduced to compromise the testimony. And what did he do in doing that? He rendered null and void his testimony against the evil that he had pronounced upon that place.
Because he went back and kept fellowship there. He went back with him, and he rented his house and drank water. And now God uses the old prophet of Bethel that had lied to him, and said an Angel had spoken unto him by the word of the Lord to bring him back. He uses him now to pronounce judgment on the man of God out of Judah.
Verse 20 It came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back, and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judas, 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. Unto this step occurred thy fathers. It came to pass after he had eaten bread, after he had drunk, but he saddled for him. He asked to whip for the Prophet whom he had brought back.
And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and sued him, and his carcass was cast in the way and when he asked to buy it, and the lion also stood by the carcass.
He lost his life, he lost his testimony because he compromised and didn't follow the word of the Lord. Ever. Allow an after voice to cause us to deviate from the word of the Lord once we've done it, and that's what he did.
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 but from the way hurt thereof, he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord.
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 carcass cast in the way, and the *** and the lion standing by the carcass. The lion did not eaten the carcass, nor torn the *** completely contrary to nature, that that line did only one thing, to kill the man of God and Judah.
Didn't didn't need his car, just didn't tear the ***. The *** is still standing there unharmed and the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God and laid upon the *** and brought it back.
Lion doesn't touch the old prophet with hell either. 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, the old prophet of Bethel was a true child of God.
God, the man of God, allowed this one who was in a false position, religious position to cause him to compromise and to.
Nullifying his testimony against the The altar that Jeroboam had set up came to pass after he had married him, and he stayed to his sons, saying what? I am dead? Then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the men of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. He recognized him as a true brother, that he was true also.
But judgment he had to pronounce it, and in pronouncing judgment on the man of God, who had pronounced judgment upon what he was an association with.
He was condemning himself to.
For the same which is he 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 does Jeroboam profit from all this? No, not addicted. After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people.
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Priests of the High places, whosoever would be 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.
So Jeroboam didn't profit by any of this. He stretches out his hand to lay hold upon the man of God out of Judah. His hand shrivels up and kept drawing again.
Grace is extended to him, it's he's healed and still he hasn't prompted by all that's come about. Now we'll turn to 2nd to Kings 23 to complete the story. Second Kings 23 we have Josiah in his zeal for the Lord.
Dealing with the evil that existed there. Verse 15. Moreover, the altar that was at death battle and the high place, which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, and may both that altar in the high place, he break down and burn the high place and stamped it small to powder and burn the Grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchre.
Sepulchers that were there in the mount it sent. It took the bones out of the sepulchers.
And burn 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 is that that I see? And the man of the city, 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 has done against the altar of death out. And he said, Let him alone, that no man move his Lords. So they let his bones alone with the bones.
Of the prophet that came out of Samaria. So these two, the men of God of Judah and the old prophet of Bethel, they didn't partake of the judgment that came upon these ungodly prophets will never partake, even though if we fail in testimony and compromise the truth as God has given it to us to remain separate from that which is.
Set up according to man's will, independent of the Lord's will.
We will lose something that of God lost his life.
But he didn't lose his soul, and we'll never lose our souls because they are secure if we're his. But our life of testimony can be lost if we fail to walk in obedience to the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord would have kept him as it did when Jeremiah pronounced, offered him all that reward. And he come back and he'd eaten and drunk with him, and he refused it. But it was.
The IT was the subtlety, the the argument that.
Came from a fellow prophet that he listened to. He lied to him.
An Angel spake to me. He said that wasn't true.
Even use the word of the Lord and in seducing the man of God of Judah and in doing so he pronounces judgment against himself, position that he was in and then he's the very one used of God. Once the man of God compromises, goes back and eats and drinks with him. He's the one used to God to pronounce the judgment upon the man of God. The wonder he says alas.
My brother, and then he says everything that he has said that will happen to this altar will come to pass.
He recognized it as the word of God. He recognized that he was an association with evil and he should have separated from it himself. Well, these are solemn lessons. They have their application for us in this present day. The things that were written before time were written for our learning, that we through comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. So these Old Testament passages.
Principles of truth that are important to guide us in our pathway here. Just remember everyone, young people especially, you're never wiser than Scripture.
Never.