The Sin That Wrecked a King

My reading this morning focused on the time when Solomon became king. As I read about him, I realized that King Solomon is one of my least favorite Bible people, even though he was the wisest man who ever lived. 

One of his first actions was to make a political alliance by marrying the daughter of the Egyptian Pharoah. Granted, this was before God offered him anything he wanted. Solomon had not yet asked for wisdom, but a wife from Egypt? He didn't have to be the wisest man in the world to know that might not be a good idea.

In Deuteronomy 17, God told the people He would be their King, but He knew there would come a time when they would want a human king. (Leanna Paraphrase coming up) "If you're going to have a king, at least go by my rules about the king." 

God was very specific:

No foreigners could be king.

The king could not send to Egypt to buy horses.

The king could not have multiple wives.

The king was to work with a priest to make his own copy of the law and study it every day.

The king was to carefully obey God.

This section of the law did not say, "The king should not send to Egypt to get a wife," but it should have been obvious from what it did say. 

In his defense, Solomon was young. I don't know where his advisors were or why they didn't try to stop him, but the decision to begin his life of increasing disobedience was his alone. 

Solomon made an error at the start that set him up for a terrible fall. He married one pagan wife after another, and they led him astray. He sacrificed on the high places, even after the temple was built. He sacrificed to idols. 

He built a "high place" for Molech, and he worshipped the idol. His heart was turned away from God by his foreign wives. 

In case you've forgotten, Molech was worshipped with child sacrifices. The child was burned alive as an offering to the god. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, worshipped at the altar of Molech. It astounds me. (1 Kings 11:1-8)

His sin led to the splitting of the kingdom and the downfall of Israel.

Sin always carries a cost. No matter how much we want what we want, it doesn't come free. 

When I look back on my own life, I see how one bad choice led to another, and another, and many more. If I could redo my life, I'd choose better, but I can't. All that sin was costly to me, personally, and to those who love me (in terms of heartache as they watched). 

Solomon's first sin wasn't burning a child at the altar of Molech. That came later. It started, though, with one bad choice that led to many more. 

Today, let's take a careful look at our lifestyle and the choices we've made. Consider the price our choices have cost us, and what they will cost if we continue on the path we've chosen. Is that a price we want to pay? If not, let's ask God to forgive us, cleanse us, redirect us.

If Solomon had obeyed one simple command, he, and the nation of Israel, could have been spared considerable pain and sorrow:

"And it shall be with him (copy of the law), and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes." Deuteronomy 17:19 nasb

We may not have made the best choices in the past, but we can do better in the future, by the grace of God. If we do what Solomon was supposed to do, we will do better. 

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In case you missed it, here's the link for yesterday's post: The Wonder Dogs, Wandering, and Getting the Best Snacks 
(http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-wonder-dogs-wandering-and-getting.html)

#sin #sinhasaprice #obedience 

Delayed Consequences and the Price of Sin

The Chronological Bible reading this morning was the story of the rape of Tamar and the subsequent destruction that followed. As I read it, I considered writing about pulling weeds in my garden instead. (Yes. My own weeds were out of control. It took lots of weeding to get rid of them.) Weeds could symbolize the sin in our hearts. Pulling them out could symbolize repentance. It would work, I thought.

Pulling the weeds of sin out of our hearts is critical, because sin left to fester leads to action, often with catastrophic results.

David "took" Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. He let unbridled desire drive his actions. Lust turned to adultery which led to murder. 

As one of the consequences of his sin, Nathan brought a pronouncement from God. Evil would come against David from within his own house. The sword would never leave his house. 

Perhaps David was like a lot of us. Time went by. Nothing happened. He probably thought he'd gotten away unscathed, or relatively so. 

When he least expected it, his world began to unravel. It seemed as if a runaway freight train of disaster was barreling through his family.

David had a beautiful daughter named Tamar and a lust-filled son (Tamar's half-brother) named Amnon, who desired her. There were legal ways he could have had her as his life-long wife, but that was not what he wanted. He didn't want a delay or a commitment. He wanted desire fulfilled and nothing more.

Amnon tricked David into allowing Tamar to come to his house. He made an opportunity to get her alone, raped her, sent her out in disgrace, and refused to accept his responsibility to her.

Whether David saw Amnon's actions as similar to his own in taking Bathsheba is not known. David was "very angry" but he did nothing. 

Absalom was Tamar's brother. He was in a rage, too, and he would not be denied of his revenge. He took Tamar into his home and plotted vengeance. 

Two years went past. Amnon probably thought he had gotten away with his sin. Seemingly out of the blue, Absalom's plot unfolded. He killed Amnon with all David's other sons looking on. Absalom went a long way before reaping his own consequences for his actions. 

Newton's third low of motion says, "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." In a way, we could make a similar law about sin. Amnon's lust and sin triggered an equally intense hate and sin in Absalom. His sin triggered equally intense reaction in Joab.

Every sin has a consequence, and it is not usually one we like. That could be a law of sin-motion, too.

My grandmother used to say, "Your sin will find you out." I'm not sure about that wording, but even forgiven sin has a price.

This morning, I'm remembering the hours I spent weeding my garden yesterday and wishing David had pulled the weed of sin out of his heart before he took Bathsheba. Wishing Amnon had pulled the weed of lust out of his heart before he raped Tamar. Wishing Absalom had pulled the sin of hate out of his heart before he murdered Amnon. On and on.

But what about the weeds of sin in my heart? In your heart? Our sin, if left unchecked, will lead to action. That sin-action will lead to consequences, all too often in the lives of our children. 

My own sin has left more than enough destruction behind. Hasn't yours? Let's take a close look at our hearts today and ask God to help us remove every weed of sin that's growing there, before they bring forth costly action.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, 

and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10 nasb

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In case you missed it, here's the link for yesterday's post: Safest in the Battle. (http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2016/04/safest-in-battle.html)

There is still time to join the Hosea Bible study. The assignment this week is to read the intro (found at http://lessonsindiscipleship.blogspot.com) and read quickly through the book of Hosea for an overview. The first weekly lesson will be posted on the new blog site on May 1. It's deep. It's intense. It's worth it.

#consequences #sinhasaprice #disciple