Sermon on the decline and fall of Israel, the effects of sin and sustaining spiritual life, by Owen Rogers
Introduction
This week’s readings cover the heights and the depths for the people of God. The heights politically of David and Solomon and nationally under their reigns. The heights religiously of the splendid temple built and dedicated by Solomon. The depths personally of David’s adultery and Solomon’s idolatory. The depths nationally of Israel’s apostacy, decline, defeat and exile.
The nation of Israel enjoyed 80 years of unity, strength and peace under the reigns of David and Solomon. But, by the time Solomon died the rot had set in and Israel was progressively dismantled first by internal strife, disunity and civil war and then by conquering nations as God withdrew his protection. God did this because the people refused to worship him and, for the most part, refused to repent. Every so often a good king turned the people back to God and God delayed the final end because of these kings, but, as with the judges, the people only behaved while the good king reigned.
David
David was a good king. He is described as ‘a man after God’s own heart’. In other words David was very like God – hearts in tune. Most of the time David was in tune with God. But one year he set himself up for a fall. He should have been leading the army out to war but instead he sent them out under Joab, his military commander, while he stayed home. His Prime Minister was quite capable of running the show so David had too little to do and we all know the saying about the devil making work for idle hands.
So it was that David saw Bathsheba, desired her and, because he was king, he got what he wanted. But then it got tricky when she told David she was pregnant. Her husband, Uriah, was away in the army so it was going to be pretty obvious he wasn’t the father. And there were enough people who could make the connections and point out the real father. David tried to get hubby home to obscure the facts and cover his affair, but Uriah was too conscientious and the trick didn’t work. Uriah’s dedicaiton cost him his life. It was not coincidence that he was killed in battle.
David clearly was not in tune with God at this time for he showed no sign of repenting. God had to get Nathan the prophet to talk to David and get him back on track. David repented (when prodded) and he and Bathsheba were forgiven and restored. “The Lord forgives you; you will not die. But because you have shown such contempt for the Lord in doing this, your child will die.” Adultery and murder are serious crimes and David and his family suffered the consequences for generations.
Solomon
Solomon was a lot like his father. Although he managed to avoid committing adultery, he was prone to making political alliances by marrying princesses from neighbouring countries. Not only princesses but numerous non-Israelite women. These wives brough their own gods with them and Solomon allowed them to continue to worship their gods and even dabbled in such practices himself. God was so angry at this deliberate disobedience that he vowed to break up the kingdom and did so when Solomon’s son took over after his death.
No one is sinless. That’s just how people are. Even David, the man after God’s heart, fell. Even Solomon’s great wisdom couldn’t keep him from sinning. These two were such shining examples of righteous, wise men but they were as human and fallible as anyone else.
Sin matters
But does it matter? Why should we care? Because God cares. The Bible is all about showing us that God cares about our behaviour. Jesus’ death is proof that God cares that we sin. It cost him dearly to set us right.
Sin matters because it spoils our relationship with God and with other people. Some say, “What I do in my private life is no one’s business but my own.” Not so.
You are an example to someone.
God sees even when no one else does.
There is no such thing as a victimless crime.
The state of your heart affects your relating with others.
If you believe you can do whatever you like and live like that, people suffer.
If you are humble and loving, people benefit.
Be sure your sins will find you out. It seems like every day someone else is being accused of something they did. So many people have been apologising lately for all sorts of errors. Often the apology has come after a period of denial while the perpetrator thought his sin was still hidden, but each one has had to face the truth in the end.
Moses knew about people’s propensity to stray from the good life. It’s all covered in the covenant and laws he wrote in the first five books, Genesis to Deuteronomy, the law books. Solomon knew about it and covered it in his prayer dedicating the Temple. “When your people sin, and there is no one who does not sin, and you punish them, then when they turn back to you, forgive them.” (1 Kings 8:46ff) God’s promises were conditional on their faithful worship and obedient lives.
The punishment is for sin, more so for sin without repentance. Forgiveness is triggered by repentance. What’s going on in our hearts is important, eg; Jesus said we will be forgiven as we forgive. Matthew 6:14. we pray it in the Lord’s Prayer.
Keeping the faith
If it all sounds a tad negative thus far let me add that it is possible to sustain a life of faithful obedience to God. The good kings I mentioned earlier mostly managed to do so, although some struggled to keep faith over the long haul. A good example is Elijah. Elijah wasn’t a king. Elijah was a prophet. When Elijah was doing his work Ahab was king and Ahab was married to Jezebel who did not worship the God of Israel. Elijah had an uphill battle dealing with these two and the evil they perpetrated. But Elijah stayed true to God and prevailed over the evil ones.
Elijah didn’t fall into sin; he did well on that account, but there was a time when he lost out to fear and fled for his life. I’m sure we all remember how Elijah challenged the priests of Baal to a contest on Mount Carmel. (1 Kings 18). The 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah each prepared a sacrifice and called on their god to put fire to it. The offering to Baal just sat there but God produced fire that burnt the offering Elijah had prepared. It was obvious to everyone that day that Baal was nothing and that Elijah'[s God was the true God.
Anyway, after the competition, Elijah ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way from Carmel to Jezreel. That was quite a few kilometres and, although God gave Elijah the strength to do it, I suspect he was exhausted after that. So when Jezebel threatened to kill him Elijah made himself scarce. In fact he threw in the towel, resigned from being prophet, and God had to take him through rehab to get him back on the job (1Kings 19).
Conclusion
Avoiding the sins of David and Solomon and the exhaustion of Elijah and sustaining a life of faithful obedience can be done. It takes frequent refreshment from God. Refreshment comes through time spent with God – daily Bible reading and prayer and regular worship. It is our hope that those of us who do the E100 challenge will develop habits of Bible reading and prayer that will build and sustain our lives in tune with God. And being in tune will show in our worship. For worship is not about doing certain rituals, about the mechanics of religion, about going through the motions. Worship is about relating with God. That’s what we’re here for. Has God met you today? Has God spoken to you? What are your expectations when you’re around Him? It is right to expect to meet God in our worship times and in our Bible reading and prayer times. It’s that meeting that makes and sustains the spiritual life.
Open yourself to God. Lord, fill us with yourself. Make us to know your presence. Reveal yourself to us. Sustain us with your power. Make us to walk in all your ways. Keep us tuned in to you. For Jesus Christ’s sake and in his name we pray. Amen.