God views the sin of idolatry seriously. It is a violation of the first commandant given by God through Moses. The first commandment stated unequivocally in Exodus 20:2, “You shall have no other gods before me.” For God had brought Israel out of slavery to be His covenant people. As far as the LORD was concerned, idolatry was the one sin that had the capacity to devastate the covenant relationship He had with them. It, therefore, was no surprise to read that God became angry with Solomon for worshipping other gods. In 1 Kings 11:9-13, the LORD specified how He would judge his kingdom because of his failings.
God
had appeared to Solomon twice in a dream. The first time was in the
early days of his reign recorded for us in 1 Kings 3. In that first encounter,
the LORD granted him wisdom and added riches and honor although he did not
request for it. But God expected him to walk faithfully according to His statutes
and commandments as David, his father did. The second time God appeared to him
was in 1 Kings 9 right after the dedication of the temple. In the second
appearance, God reiterated saying, “As for you, if you will walk before Me
as your father David walked, in the integrity of heart and uprightness, doing
according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My
statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish the throne of your
kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying,
‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel’” (1 Kings 9:4-5).
Despite the two gracious encounters, Solomon chose to turn his back on God
and went after other gods.
In
1 Kings 11:9-3, God gave the reason why he was punishing Solomon and also
specified the judgment that He would be bringing upon Israel. Because Solomon
had chosen to violate His clear instruction, God would tear the nation of
Israel into two and give one part of it to his servant. In consideration
of His promise to David, the LORD would not do it during Solomon’s reign but
during that of his son. However, God would keep Judah, Solomon’s tribe, and one
other tribe for his son to rule. We know later that the other tribe was the
tribe of Benjamin. It is interesting also to note that the tribe of Judah had
absorbed the tribe of Simeon. In verse 13, God made it known that He was
granting this concession in consideration of David and Jerusalem, God’s chosen
city.
These
verses tell us how serious the sin of idolatry truly is. But what is an idol in
our context? A broader definition of an idol for us would be anything or anyone
that replaces our love for God. Our idol can come in the form of a spouse, a
son or daughter, a friend, a hobby, a career, etc. Anyone or anything which we
want, love, desire, treasure, enjoy and glorify more than God has become our
idol. Idolatry always begins in the heart. It begins with our craving for
that someone or something more than we crave for God. Idolatry is a tendency of
our fallen nature. The best way to avoid idolatry in life is to work on our
relationship with God. We must fall in love with Jesus again and again, leaving
no room for anything to take His place in our life. Let Him take first place in
everything, our family, career, and relationships and leave no room for error!
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