Like Father Like Son

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

1 Kings 15:1-10

15:1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.   3 He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. 4 Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. 5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD's commands all the days of his life — except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 6 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout [Abijah's] lifetime. 7 As for the other events of Abijah's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 8 And Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Asa his son succeeded him as king. 9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10 and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.

NIV

Is this a case of like father, like son? Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, committed all the sins his father had done before him. We are told that his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD, his God, as his forefather David had been. There will be some kings that do what is right in the eyes of the LORD, but for now, we are with this son who was just like his father. This could be our story. We all have had earthly fathers, and some of us sons may take after our father in some way, while others find another path in life, yet our genetics still follow some pattern from our father. Some sons are fortunate to have had an earthly father who loved the Lord and brought his sons up in the ways of the Lord. Other sons had fathers who did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. However, in whatever situation we sons have been raised in, we still had to make our own choice to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, or reject Jesus and do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord. For those sons who decided to follow Jesus, they are adopted into the family of God and become sons of God. We are now back to that principle of like Father, like son. Of course, the daughter would fall under all the same plan as sons, but because we are with the son of Rehoboam, we speak of ourselves as children or sons of God. The question is whether we are like our Father. Have we taken on the qualities of our Heavenly Father? As a child of an Earthly father, we watched him, loved him, and wanted to be around him. Some may not have had that kind of experience and did not want to be like their father, but wanted something different in life. But once we have been adopted into the family of God, our Father wants us to be just like him, and that is our desire as well. We want to imitate our Father. We want to do what is right in his eyes. We may fail at times, as all men have, even David, in the case of Uriah, yet God still testified that he found a man who would do everything God commanded him to do, that he was a man after God’s own heart. That is our desire is to be known as a son who is after his Father’s own heart. We want to be like our Father. 

War or Peace

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

WAR OR PEACE

1 Kings 14:21-31

 

21 Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. 22 Judah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than their fathers had done. 23 They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 24 There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. 27 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. 28 Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom. 29 As for the other events of Rehoboam's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 30 There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31 And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.

NIV

What is it with the people of Israel that they should build sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill? They are the tribe of Judah, with King Rehoboam, who reigned in Jerusalem, where the temple of the LORD was. They did not need sacred stones or Asherah poles; they had the temple of the LORD. However, they could not engage in male prostitution in Jerusalem, so they created their own spaces, shrines, so they could do those detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them. The reign of Rehoboam was not peaceful, as he fought wars against Jeroboam and Egypt. The story here is about his unsuccessful efforts to rule rightly over the house of Judah. He did not lead his people in the ways of the LORD, but allowed them to practice those detestable behaviors and worship other gods. This is a warning to all believers, but also a harsher warning to anyone who serves in leadership within the church. What shepherd or pastor would give approval to the people of God to have detestable practices or lead them astray from the word of the Lord? We know about those false teachers and preachers who, with their silver tongues, spread erroneous doctrines. However, all of us who believe God should make every effort to stay the course, be true to His word, and follow Jesus. Those who believe God know about the Spirit and His gifts and fruit and have available the gift of discernment so they can know the difference between false teaching and the truth. Yet we wonder whether some have allowed worldly practices to infiltrate their lives. However, we know that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot serve the Lord and serve some portion of this world, or its ways. We do live in the world, and we do need to work in it, and be paid by its standards, so we can buy the things of life. But it is how we manage that, without being entangled by its web of deception, that matters. What we put value on is the key to life as a believer. When we value the Lord, we live in accordance with His ways. If we put any value on the world, we will live in accordance with its ways. We cannot value both or live in accordance with both; it is either one or the other. Rehoboam did not learn that lesson, nor did the people of Judah, and they had no peace, but rather war. If we do not learn that lesson, we too will live without peace, but if we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and do not have a divided heart, then we will have the peace of the Lord in our lives. If our hearts are divided between the Lord and this world, then we live with unrest or war. Giving our whole heart to the Lord brings us peace. 

Knowing God

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

KNOWING GOD

1 Kings 14:12-20

12 "As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. 13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the LORD, the God of Israel, has found anything good. 14 "The LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. This is the day! What? Yes, even now.   15 And the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their forefathers and scatter them beyond the River, because they provoked the LORD to anger by making Asherah poles.   16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit." 17 Then Jeroboam's wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the LORD had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah. 19 The other events of Jeroboam's reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. 20 He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his fathers. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.

NIV

This is the rest of what the old prophet told the wife of jeroboam about what would happen because of the evil Jeroboam did in the sight of the LORD. Although this is history, and the people of Israel were living under the law given to Moses, God dwelt with them in accordance with their behavior regarding the law. This does provide us with insight into the character of God. This is one of the central truths within the scripture: knowing God. We know his word never fails to be true, and whatever he says will always be true and come to pass. When he passes judgment, it is final. We are incredibly blessed to live under the new covenant through Jesus Christ, by the grace of God. We also know the love of God, although his judgment is still final. We do not have to live under that old law, but there are still commandments of God we are expected to obey. We are not free to do evil in the sight of the Lord, although any sin, which we all still struggle with, is evil in the sight of the Lord. Any attitude we have that does not match those Jesus said we should have is sin. Any words or behaviors that are not in line with the teachings of Jesus are sin. However, even David sinned, yet he was known as a man after God’s own heart because he did whatever the Lord told him. This must be our story, as it was with David. We may still sin, but our hearts must be bent toward the Lord and do whatever he tells us. We know God will not punish us for our sins because of Jesus. As long as we are in Christ and he is in us, we are connected to him, and we will bear much fruit. Our lives are richer and fuller because of Jesus. We want to know more about Jesus and his love for us. We are blessed to live when we have the whole canon, the complete word of God, so that we can know him, love him, worship him, and follow his commands or his ways. We know our thoughts are not his thoughts nor our ways his ways, but that is why he wants us to know him, so that we can know his thoughts and his ways and change our thoughts and ways to be in accordance with his. This is our challenge, our calling, to follow Jesus, and then we know God. 

Behind Our Backs

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

BEHIND YOUR BACK

1 Kings 14:1-11

14:1 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, 2 and Jeroboam said to his wife, "Go, disguise yourself, so you won't be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there — the one who told me I would be king over this people. 3 Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy." 4 So Jeroboam's wife did what he said and went to Ahijah's house in Shiloh. Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. 5 But the LORD had told Ahijah, "Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else." 6 So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I raised you up from among the people and made you a leader over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. 9 You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have provoked me to anger and thrust me behind your back. 10 " 'Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel — slave or free. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone. 11 Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country. The LORD has spoken!'

NIV

It is not possible to thrust the LORD behind our backs if we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, or is it? Jeroboam not only thrusted the LORD behind his back, but he also turned to other gods he had made of metal, such as gold, silver, or bronze. He built high places and made all sorts of people priests to these gods. He had to pay a price for the evil he did in the eyes of the LORD. We also see his deceptive heart in that he had his wife try to disguise herself before the prophet Ahijah, but she was unsuccessful, as there is no way to hide oneself from the LORD. This is where we could learn that lesson. No matter how we might try, we can never hide from the Lord. He knows our hearts, our thoughts, and words, before we desire, think, or speak. If he were not able to know our hearts, then he would not be the Lord God Almighty. Whatever we try to do, even in secret, we are not alone. He knows when we are doing right in his eyes, and he knows when we are doing wrong in his eyes. We know, as we have known since our beginning to walk with him, that he has forgiven our wrongs, our sins, because of Jesus. However, that does not give us the freedom to either put God behind our backs or turn to another form of a god. He knows when we might become frustrated, upset, or even angry over either the situations we face or the people we live with, the community of faith. He knows our hearts, our weaknesses, and our strengths. He knows the plans he has for us, plans to bless us. He wants all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. He desires that we always turn toward him, race toward him, turning all else behind our backs. He wants us to forget what is behind and run the race, straining for what is ahead, to take hold, to press on toward the goal to win the prize for which the Lord has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. Because we run toward Jesus, we can never put God behind our backs.

No Downfall

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

NO DOWNFALL

1 Kings 13:23-34

23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25 Some people who passed by saw the body thrown down there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived. 26 When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, "It is the man of God who defied the word of the LORD. The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him." 27 The prophet said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me," and they did so. 28 Then he went out and found the body thrown down on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. 29 So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, "Oh, my brother!" 31 After burying him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true." 33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 34 This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.

NIV

Once again, the word of the Lord is always true. The man of God did not follow the word of the Lord, and he paid for it with his life. Interestingly, he was not mauled or eaten by the lion, but was simply killed by it. Although he was a man of God and had cried out against the false altar that Jeroboam had built, which was split in two, he still defied the word of the LORD by returning to eat and drink with the old Prophet who had lied to him. The LORD dealt harshly with the man of God because he defied the word of the LORD. He did something the LORD told him not to do, and that was not acceptable to the LORD, so he had the lion kill him. It is good that the Lord does not treat us the same way he did to men who lived under the old covenant. We cannot say that we have never done anything the Lord said we should not do. If we become impatient with someone, we have defied the word of the Lord. If we have gossiped, or become bitter, or not forgive someone, we have defied the word of the Lord. Any sin whatsoever is against the Lord, and it is a form of defying his word. However, we do not live under the old covenant with all its commands and laws, but under the new covenant in the blood of Jesus. Of course, that does not mean we are free to defy the word of the Lord any time we desire. But we also know that we will not be able to attain perfection as long as we are captive in this body. Someday we will exchange this corruptible for the incorruptible and this perishable for the imperishable, but for now we are here with the corruptible, yet we do not need to be afraid of a lion killing us whenever we fail to heed the word of the Lord, because Jesus paid it all. We are aware that our enemy, the devil, prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour, but because of Jesus, he is a toothless lion, yet we still need to be self-controlled, which is one of the fruits of the Spirit. However, even if we lose control of our “self” and fail or sin, Jesus took all our sin upon himself, and we are forgiven and declared innocent in the eyes of the Lord. Jeroboam refused to listen to the word of the Lord, and it was his downfall. We do not refuse to listen; we want to know the word of the Lord, and we desire to fulfill his word, but we fail. Thank you, Lord, for Jesus. He paid it all, so we will not meet our downfall. 

Beware of the Lie

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

BEWARE OF THE LIE

1 Kings 13:11-22

11 Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12 Their father asked them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" "I am," he replied. 15 So the prophet said to him, "Come home with me and eat." 16 The man of God said, "I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the LORD: 'You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.'" 18 The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: 'Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'" (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house. 20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, "This is what the LORD says: 'You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.'"

NIV

We are not told the name of the man of God; however, when asked by the old prophet if he was the man of God who came from Judah, he replied, “I am.” Interestingly, the “I AM” is referred to as the Lion of Judah; a lion ultimately killed this man of God who came from Judah. But the point of this story, at least, something we think would be a point to ponder on, is that the old prophet lied to the man of God about having a visit from an angel that the man of God was supposed to come back and eat and drink. Then he does have a word from the LORD against the man of God. Why would the old prophet lie? Why would he say and act in a manner that was of his thinking rather than wait to hear a word from the LORD? We know that every word of the LORD always comes true. We know that not every word a person says is always accurate; in fact, we are told that the old prophet lied. We know he was a prophet, an inspired man, as the Hebrew word for prophet denotes. However, he still lied to the man of God and caused him to defile the word of the LORD, as he did not keep the LORD's command. First, we need to recognize that not every word from the heart of man is accurate; therefore, we have been given the Holy Spirit, who provides the gift of discernment. Second, we should be careful before we speak about the Lord’s command so that we do not deceive anyone, as the old prophet deceived the man of God. There are some silver-tongued purveyors of deception today whom we need to be careful not to listen to. Let us test everything against the word of the Lord, listening to the Spirit who also leads us into all truth. Beware of the lie. 

By The Word of The Lord

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

BY THE WORD OF THE LORD

1 Kings 13:4-10

4 When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, "Seize him!" But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5 Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD. 6 Then the king said to the man of God, "Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored." So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king's hand was restored and became as it was before. 7 The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift." 8 But the man of God answered the king, "Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9 For I was commanded by the word of the LORD: 'You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.'" 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

NIV

Jeroboam had built the two golden calves, made priests from men who were not Levites, and offered sacrifices on false altars; everything he was doing was against the word of the LORD, and this man of God cried out against him by the word of the LORD. Did Jeroboam repent? Nope! Instead, he rebelled against the word of the LORD and stretched out his hand, and ordered the man of God to be seized. However, the LORD did not allow this to happen, but shriveled Jeroboam's hand, and the altar was split in two. It never goes well to rebel against the word of the LORD. We should learn this lesson well, put it deep within our hearts, because the word of the Lord will always be truth, and our words may at times contain some truth, but they can also contain untruth. It is not that we outright lie; it is just that we are convinced that we are not always right in thought, words, and deeds. When we live by our own ideas, even religious or spiritual ideas, they are still our thoughts, which drive our words and deeds. As followers of Jesus, we should be living by the word of the Lord. Sometimes, this might seem complicated because there are so many views or doctrines as to how the word of the Lord is interpreted. We also have to separate traditions from the truth of the word of the Lord. Our lives should be based solely on the word of the Lord. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, who guides us into all truth. He is always faithful to His own word. The Spirit will never guide us to our thoughts, words, or deeds, but only to the thoughts, words, and deeds of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and the Spirit. Truth is always truth and is not open to discussion or interpretation, unless we interject our thoughts, words, and deeds. That is what makes life so complicated. We want what we want, rather than what God wants for our lives. Let us remember the word of the Lord is always right, all the time, in every situation. Let us bend our will, just as we pray that His will be done in our lives, just as His will is done in heaven. When we live following Jesus, then we are following; He is leading. Then we will be living by the word of the Lord.