Transcript

"LIKE FATHER . . . LIKE SON"

(1 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 11, 12)

We return to our study from the writings of Jeremiah the prophet and Ezra the scribe. 

Our study this morning focuses on the lives of two men - two wealthy, powerful, kings who completely lost touch with people and, most importantly, kings who lost touch with God.

In 1928 at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, eight of the most powerful money‑magnates in the world gathered for a meeting.  These eight, if they combined their resources and their assets, controlled more money than the U.S. Treasury.  In that group we find such men as:

            Charles Schwab.  He was the president of a steel company.         

Richard Whitney - the president New York Stock Exchange       

Arthur Cutton was a millionaire wheat speculator. 

            Albert Fall was a presidential cabinet member

            Jesse Livermore the greatest bear on Wall Street in his generation. 

            Leon Fraser president of the International Bank of Settlements. 

            Ivan Krueger headed the worlds largest monopoly.

Quite an impressive group of people!  Newspapers and magazines heralded their achievements, holding them up for the youth as an example of  life worth living.  25 years later. . .

            Charles Schwab died penniless. 

            Richard Whitney spent the rest of his life serving a sentence in Sing‑Sing Prison. 

            Arthur Cutton, that great wheat speculator, died bankrupt.          

Albert Fall was pardoned from a Federal Prison so he might die at home. 

            Leon Fraser, took his own life.  So did Jesse Livermore . . . and so did Ivan Krueger. 

All of these men had learned how to make money, but not one of them had learned how to live.

We're about to look again at two men . . . Solomon and his son Rehoboam . . . two men who had everything, but life worth living.

As I studied these two lives, four words came to mind:

            defiance

            consequence

            opulence

            selfishness

Four words that, without the invasion of the Holy Spirit's control, four words that can easily characterize every one of our lives as well!

I want to go back for a moment into the middle years of Solomon's biography.  There were several things that revealed the spiritual and character erosion that was taking place in his life - things that sent out warning signals to people around him, but he would never see or listen - if you remember in our past studies, Solomon had become unnacountable - he refused to listen to counsel, he refused to heed his own writings!

Let me show you one of those events - it should have been a simple business transaction - turn to I Kings.  And while you're turning, I want you to see that, while the context of this exchange has changed over the centuries, it can still happen today.

I Kings chapter 9.  Let me set the scene for you.  Hiram, the king of Tyre had been a close friend of David.  Becuase of that friendship, Hiram honored and helped Solomon in providing labor and materials for the construction of Gods temple and Solomon's own palace.  After 20 years of committed construction, labor and material provisions, the work on the temple and then later, Solomon's own house is completed.

Notice verse 10.  And it came about at the end of 20 years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the kings house.  11.  Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold according to all his desire, then King Solomon gave Hiram 20 cities in the land of Galilee.  12.  So Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities with Solomon had given him, and they did not please him.  13.  And he said, "What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?"  So they were called the land of Cabul to this day." Cabul is Hebrew for "Worthless".  Solomon had given Hiram 20 overgrown Galilean villages - they had no value to Hiram - and Solomon knew it.

Do you see what happened . . . Solomon had the opportunity to express gratitude for 20 years of loyal service - and he brushed Hiram off - in business slang - Solomon stuck it to him.

But isn't the creed of commerce today - get as much as you can for as little as you can - and if you cut somebody out of the deal or rip somebody off; if you misrepresent your company or exxagerate the product slightly - if you can get away with it legally - you're the smart one; you're the shrewd business man or woman of the 90's.

Around the Kings dinner table the conversation ran, "Solomon, I heard you gave Hiram something for 20 years of faithfulness. . .what'd you give old Hiram for everything he's done for you?"  "Who Hiram - oh, I passed off to him some worthless real-estate. . .who cares about litle Hiram anyway - why should I do anything special for him?!"

Solomon refused personal responsibility toward a loyal business associate - he defied, implicitly Hirams right to an honest payback.  In fact, it's interesting that according to verse 14, Hiram gave Solomon gold in exchange - in other words, Hiram would not allow Solomon to consider the cities as gifts.

And you know what?  Somebody was watching . . . someone was learning how to treat people  . . . a 20 year old prince named Rehoboam, and he will grow up and take his father's example of abusing loyal people like you've never seen a power player abuse. 

We'll get to him in a moment, but for now, Solomon was ultimately defiant against God.  Look again at chapter 11:4  For it came about when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.  (now it gets worse)  5. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.  6.  And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.

I liked the way one author put it - he explained the defiance of Solomon in the form of 5 attitudes that built one upon the other;

1) The first attitude says simply, "I want my own way."  This person isn't interested in your way or even God's way - it's their way!

2)  The second attitude says, "And I won't quit until I get my way."  This person says, "I want my way, and I want it when I want it and I won't quit until I get my way."

3) The third attitude that builds upon the first two is this, "I don't care who it hurts."  In other words, "I don't care if having my way hurts my husband, wife, peers, parents, kids, the team, the committee, the church, the company - I don't care. . .I'm gonna get my way.  These are the people who will claw their way to the top and behind them lie the bruised and bleeding bodies of people who got in their way.

By the way, this is reaching the danger point at this step or level of defiance.  When a person who is selfish, and we all are, but when he reaches the point where he no longer cares who he hurts - that person has become unnacountable.  Solomon must have said in his heart, "I don't care if I destroy years of friendship with Hiram - who'se he anyhow. . ."

But there's another step - it follows quite naturally:

4)  "I refuse to listen to counsel"  Solomon himself had written, "There is safety in a multitude of counselors!"  Since that is true, the opposite is true, "There is danger in the lack of them."  You are in danger when you say, "Yea, I know what God says; I know what His word counself; I know what my Christian friends are saying - so what - I'm not listening to them!"

The final step. . .

5)  "I am not concerned about the consequences."  That is "I don't care what happens - I'm going to do what I want to do anyway!"

You know what?  Defiance always leads to personal misery; show me a defiant man or woman; college student or teenager and I'll show you an unhappy person - whether they'll admit it or not.  Solomon himself wrote, "The way of the transgressor is hard."

I'll go one step further - personal defiance also leads to divine discipline!

PRINCIPLE:  The principle is this:  Defiance in the life of a believer will not be ignored by God!

And here's the prrof - let me show you how God dealt with Solomon

Look again at chapter 11, verse 9.  Underline in your mind and heart this ignored, overlooked, downplayed aspect of God's dealing with his own.  "Now the Lord was angry with Solomon becuase his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel."

 Simply put,   1) God became angry!

And He let his anger be known!  Look at God's choice of words in the following verses - God tells Solomon that he will tear the kingdom fron his hands.  The word "tear" appears three times in the next few verses as God tells Solomon that his son Rehoboam will never rule a united kingdom.  "Solomon, I'm going to tear (lit. rip) the kingdom away from you."  What strong angry words!

But God doesn't stop with anger

2)  God appointed adversaries!    

The punisment and discipline of Solomon's defiance came in the form of two men named Hadad and Rezon.  Notice verse 14.  Then the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite.  (skip to 23.)  God also raised up another adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada.  (skip to 24.)  And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band - lit. "men who killed".

Now just how long did they rob Solomon of his peace of mind and sense of safety?  Notice verse 25. 

So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad did.

When a child of God sins against God - God still loves that child - He will still forgive that grievance and restore fellowship with that child; but in the meantime a holy, jealous God is downright angry!

Read it again,  11:9  The Lord was angry with Solomon!

And imagine - God called these two pagans from the dark shadows to pester and plague Solomon until he repented - trouble is, Solomon never did!

Listen to the words of Chuck Swindoll who was writing on this passage; he writes powerfully:

            READ FROM SWINDOLL's BOOK

            (Stress Fractures: Chapter on Defiance - God calls the dogs out on Solomon!

Ladies and Gentlemen - this is a subject all but forgotten in our tolerant age - and age in which we have recreated GOD into a tolerant, doting old grandfather who sighs when his children sin and wishes they would just behave!

Solomon, has God changed?  Has He lost a little sovereignty over the years?  No!  But according to Solomon's actions God had changed - you remember at the beginning of Solomon's reign, he offers a 1,000 bulls as sacrifices to the one true God.  And now, at the end of his reign, he builds alters to other gods?!  HOW?!  Because according to Solomon's decaying theology, the only true God had grown small enough for Solomon to believer there could be room in the universe for a few more gods.

Is this happening today to Christians - Has our great and awesome God become small and insignificant?!

Donal McCollough thinks so as he writes in his newest book entitled, "The Trivialization of God."

            READ FROM BOOK  (opening comments from chapter 1)

It happened to Solomon - and it may be happening to you even today - perhaps you sit here with unconfessed sin, shoved under the carpet of your conscience - do you really want to follow Solomon - shall God raise up another adversary against you to break your will and bend your knee? 

NO!  Stop here and now and in your heart say, "O Lord, as your child, I've stubbornly clung to my way, my will - forgive me Father - I surrender all!"

Now while the drama between rebellious Solomon and God has been played out to it's final stages - and Solomon dies an old bitter man - something else has been happening - or I should say, "Someone else has been watching!"

A young boy, born to Solomon and one of his foreign wives, was taking mental notes - his character was being etched by a defiant father and and an ungodly mother. . .the ingredients for a disaster were already well mixed.

For 40 years, this boy named Rehoboam had grown up and lived in the palace of the worlds richest king.

Turn over to chapter 14:21 (I Kings) for a brief biographical sketch.  Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah.  Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king, and he reigned

17 years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there.  And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

Solomon reigned 40 years, and Rehoboam was 41 years old when he took his father's throne.  That means, Rehoboam's entire life was spent in the luxury of Israel's finest palace; with a Father who was the worlds richest man.

Now it's hard to fault Solomon with what must have come naturally - he had grown up under harder circumstances - as a young man, his father David was spending most of his career on the warpath - there wasn't much in the way of luxury - no palace - but NOW - Solomon was wealthy and able to give to his son what he had never received.

And Reheboam never lifted a finger - he had learned, as I'll show you in a moment, that other people were on planet earth to make his life easier and his path smooth.

By the way, there are few children who can survive affluence with balance and humility.

That's why for many of us, the reminder is appropriate that there is nothing wrong with our children having to work.  If you teenager is seen flipping hamburgers in the evenings, it's not a sign you are not providing for them as a parent - you may be providing just what they need.

If you child can't get work outside the home - make sure they work inside the home - teach them how to load the dishwasher; teach them how to do laundry -

they ought to be the ones taking out the trash

            all the father's said, "Amen"

                        they ought to cut the grass, "Amen"

                                    they ought to wash the car, "Amen"

Says it right here in III Kings.

LIsten, if adults struggle with opulence - with stuff, and we are living in the middle of it in this metroplex; if we struggle for balance, why do we think giving kids all the stuff they want will make them better people .  . . it won't!

Solomon himself wrote an interesting Psalm - it's numbered Psalm 127.  I'll paraphrase what Solomon sang, "Like arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior, so are children in the lives of parents."

I want to take a brief but closer look at that poetic thought - parents as warriors with bows; children as arrows.

Now when you think about arrows today, as I did, there are a number of different kinds;

There is the imitation/artificial arrow

This sort of looks like an arrow, but in battle, this arrow won't accomplish anything - it's plastic, not wood or steel; it won't hold up under much pressure - when held up against this bow, it's weaknesses are immediately apparent.

There is the illformed/unformed arrow

I got this out of my backyard this morning and I was in a hurry - like a parent who doesn't have much time for his children - I tried to shape this thing - if I went hunting for my supper with this in the woods, it woudn't accomplish anything, unless I got close enough to the animal to hit em over the head - I'd starve first.  Unformed arrows don't do well in battle.

Then there is the skillfully prepared arrow

Someone has taken time to prepare this arrow - the shaft is strong and straight, the head is sharp and balanced, the vein (feathers) are perfectly balanced and appropriate ot the need os this particular arrow so that when it is released, it will fly straight and true.

Now I'd like to demonstrate how straight this arrow will fly toward its target - hold up apple - I'd like a volunteer - where's John Cooper?

When you consider that Solomon referred to children as arrows - and you look at the life of Rehoboam, his own son - Rehoboam would be this arrow - the plastic one - at best, he was an imitation - there's no strong wood or steel in him - he will be ineffective in battle.

I want you to notice how he's described - turn to I Chron. 29:1

I Chron. 29:1  David is speaking about his son Solomon - "Then King David said to the entire assembly, "My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is great." 

note the words, young and inexperienced!   Solomon, by the way was around 19 or 20 years of age at this time.

Now turn over to 2 Chron. 13:6  2 Chron. 13:6  Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master, and wrothless men gathered about him, scoundrels, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when he was young and timid and could not hold his own against them."

The Hebrew words used to describe the immaturity and inexperience of a teenage Solomon are the same words used of a 41 year old Rehoboam!  Rehoboam was a 41 year old boy.

The spoiled, pampered, selfish son of Solomon, had grown old, but had never grown up.

Now go back to I Kings 12 and I'll show you where this is made clear.

In I Kings 12, Solomon has just died and Rehoboam assumes the throne.  verse 1.  Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.  (skip to 4. - where Jeroboam serves as the people's spokesman)  4.  "Your father made our yoke  hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."  (skip to 6.  And King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, "How do you counsel me to answer this people?"  7.  Then they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to this people today, will serve them, grant them their petition (that is, lower unbearable taxes and lessen the forced labor demands) then they will be your servants forever.  8.  BUT he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him and consulted with the young men who grew up with him.

Ha - that's it!  Look in enough places for advise and you'll eventually find someone who agrees with you - now Solomon's hardly in his grave for a day, and notice the way his son allows these young spoiled counselors to direct him - middle part of verse 10.  "But you shall speak to them, "My little finger is thicker than my father's loins."

In other words, "You think Solomon m father was great - you think he was wise - I've got more in my little finger than my father had in his entire body."  Can you imagine such audacity?!

Notice verse 13.  And the King answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had given him and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke (that is I'll increase your taxes and labor);  my father disciplined you with whip, but I will discipline you with scorpions (a cat of 9 tails).

Talk about a ruler who'se completely out of step - selfish and immature - plastic . . . I can just see the old elders shaking their heads in dimsay.

Now notice the tragic words of verse 16.  And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them the people ansered the king saying, "What protion do we have in David?  We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse." (that's kind of like saying, "Listen, with the way we're being treated, who cares if we are related to David - what good does it do us?)  To your tents, O Israel, now look after your own house David.  So Israel depared to their tents."

In other words, Rehoboam, you're on your own.

Now at this point the unified kingdom experiences something it hasn't experienced for nearly 150 years - civil war - brother against brother.

There is a principle here; defiance against God develops into personal division and painful differences between people.

2 Chronicles informs us that Rehoboam will alter send a man to gather the labor crews, as if nothing has happened - the northern tribesmen will stone that man to death.  Rehoboam doesn't have a clue how to lead the people - he's an imitation arrow sent into battle!

With that act of bloodshed, the nations rift is settled in concrete; and the nation will live in a state of civil unrest and separation for the next 400 years!

Defiance against God creates an incredible waste - a waste of years; a waste of hopes; a waste of potential. . .defiance always destroys.

We'll pick it up here next time!

In 1928 at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, eight of the most powerful money‑magnates in the world gathered for a meeting.  These eight, if they combined their resources and their assets, controlled more money than the U.S. Treasury.  In that group we find such men as:

             Charles Schwab.  He was the president of a steel company.         Richard Whitney - the president New York Stock Exchange        Arthur Cutton was a millionaire wheat speculator. 

            Albert Fall was a presidential cabinet member

            Jesse Livermore the greatest bear on Wall Street in his generation. 

            Leon Fraser president of the International Bank of Settlements. 

            Ivan Krueger headed the worlds largest monopoly.

 Quite an impressive group of people!  Newspapers and magazines heralded their achievements, holding them up for the youth as an example of  life worth living.  25 years later. . .

            Charles Schwab died penniless. 

            Richard Whitney spent the rest of his life serving a sentence in Sing‑Sing Prison. 

            Arthur Cutton, that great wheat speculator, died bankrupt.           Albert Fall was pardoned from a Federal Prison so he might die at home. 

            Leon Fraser, took his own life.  So did Jesse Livermore . . . and so did Ivan Krueger.