Prayer: Father, I am prepared to listen and learn. Teach me from Your holy Word. Amen.
Reading: 1 Chronicles 3 key: vs. 5-10a “These were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were from Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel; and the other nine were Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet. All these were sons of David, besides his sons by the concubines. Tamar was their sister. Solomon’s son was Rehoboam.” TLV
Attention: The 3rd chapter of 1 Chronicles, set some things straight for me. Somehow, I was under the presumption that Solomon was born earlier in David’s kingship. The writer establishes that David had six sons born to him in the first six plus years of his reign in Hebron. When he and the throne transferred to Jerusalem, it was still years later when he met Bath-shua (another name for Bath-sheba). We are told that David and Bath-shua had three sons before having Solomon. In Hebrew culture, the first born is typically the son of heritage. If you read 1 Kings, you read of the struggles between sons as David’s reign is nearing the end. Bath-sheba, Solomon’s mother has secured David’s promise that Solomon will ascend to the throne following David. It is quite a story.
In the chapter 3 lineage, we are given the name of the son of Solomon who ascends to the throne following Solomon’s death, Rehoboam. Rehoboam means “he enlarges the people.” Have you ever met someone who lives down to their name? Rehoboam takes the throne to a United Kingdom. He proceeds to take a tough stance regarding a tax issue which the Northern Kingdom feels strongly about. He is advised to relax the tax burden on the people. Instead of following the advice of the elders, he declares, “‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! So now, my father laid on you a heavy yoke, and as for me, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but as for me, I will chastise you with scorpions (1 Kings 11:10b-11).’” His actions led to the fracture of the Kingdom which his father Solomon and his grandfather David had reigned over. The Norther Kingdom went their own way and appointed their own King, Jeroboam.
Rehoboam responded poorly to the good advice of the elders and embraced the advice of the young men who counseled him. His actions fractured a nation and Israel was never the same. They even waged war against their own brothers. His actions caused Jeroboam to set up shrines or worship centers so that the people would not go to the Temple in Jerusalem. No longer was Israel worshipping one God. The opportunity for all kinds of false god worship crept in.
Our nation is being challenged currently to remain United under one flag. Today there are many challenges to the concept of one God and the embracing of one god as that of all gods being the same god. There is only One God, Adonai of the Hebrew, and the scriptures. Yahweh was the uniting factor in Israel. They are His nation; He is their God.
Action: I choose to embrace Adonai as the One God of all nations.
Yield: I choose to submit to the God of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob (Israel).
Engage: I choose to engage with Holy Spirit in the worship of Adonai.
Relationship: I choose to live in holy, intimate, obedient relationship with Adonai.
Prayer: Father, I choose You! I choose to worship only You. I love You with all my heart. Amen.
Memory Verse: Psalm 139:1-4 “For the music director: a psalm of David. Adonai, You searched me and know me. Whenever I sit down or stand up, You know it. You discern my thinking from afar. You observe my journeying and my resting and You are familiar with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, Adonai, You know all about it.” TLV
Music Video: Michael Ketterer—Spirit Lead Me https://youtu.be/ABWnLjXer10?si=ZeCyApUkJkYw8v7C
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”