Divided Kingdom

Today's reading brings us to the end of Ecclesiastes, which closed out with some sound theology. Basically, Solomon is saying enjoy life, especially while you are young, but don't leave God out of it. All of the things we seek out in our youth, pan out to be meaningless in the end, and we will be judged for the choices we have made. The Jewish religion was and is a very works-based religion, bear in mind, so Solomon very literally meant that good and bad deeds would be weighed out before out God. We know that God is interested in our heart's affections and will be concerned only with how well we loved Him and His son. Nonetheless, Solomon did not have that revelation yet and was operating only on what he knew at the time. His final conclusion is sound..."Fear God and obey his commands, for this is man's all.". No pursuit of happiness will satisfy unless one has followed this advice. I haven't noticed anywhere else in the book, but Solomon says "my child" as the preface for his final instructions. Perhaps this was a father's letter to a son. But nowhere in the book does it say "thus saith the Lord", which is why it can be considered truth, but not God's truth. Sometimes man's truth lines up, but not always!

Next we jump back into Israel's history, with the beginning of the divided kingdom. God set up the circumstances that would incite the northern tribes of Israel to revolt, leaving Judah and Benjamin alone to follow the house of David (Rehoboam). The remaining 10 tribes sided with Solomon's servant Jeroboam. The Levites all sided with Judah and those living within the northern tribes relocated to that land. To ensure that the people of the northern tribes did not lose affection for him while traveling to Jerusalem to make sacrifices, Jeroboam set up his own temples and gods within his territory. So essentially, in order to solidify his power and position, he sold the souls of all within his kingdom. They never returned to the Lord and suffered a much quicker demise than did Judah.

Tomorrow's reading: 1Kings13:1-15:34, 2Chron. 11:18-23, 12:1-16, 13:1-22, 14:1-20, 15:1-19