JESUS warned:
Mark 3:24
King James Version
24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself,
that kingdom cannot stand.
What makes GOD rend a kingdom?
What causes great wrath in GOD?
What caused Israel to be divided?
King Solomon had everything.
He had GOD, wisdom, and wealth.
And yes, the women.
The very thing which caused his downfall.
1 Kings 11:1-2
King James Version
11 But king Solomon loved many strange women,
together with the daughter of Pharaoh,
women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites,
Zidonians, and Hittites:
2 Of the nations concerning which the Lord said
unto the children of Israel,
Ye shall not go in to them,
neither shall they come in unto you:
for surely they will turn away your heart
after their gods:
Solomon clave unto these in love.
1 Kings 11:3-4
King James Version
3 And he had seven hundred wives,
princesses, and three hundred concubines:
and his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it came to pass,
when Solomon was old,
that his wives turned away his heart
after other gods:
and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God,
as was the heart of David his father.
1 Kings 11:5
King James Version
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth
the goddess of the Zidonians,
and after Milcom the abomination
of the Ammonites.
1 Kings 11:6
King James Version
6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord,
and went not fully after the Lord,
as did David his father.
1 Kings 11:7-8
King James Version
7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh,
the abomination of Moab,
in the hill that is before Jerusalem,
and for Molech,
the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives,
which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
1 Kings 11:9-10
King James Version
9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon,
because his heart was turned
from the Lord God of Israel,
which had appeared unto him twice,
10 And had commanded him concerning this thing,
that he should not go after other gods:
but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.
The result?
GOD's wrath.
And a divided kingdom.
Ten tribes went to Jeroboam, Solomon's servant.
The remaining two tribes, to Rehoboam, Solomon's son.
"The tribe of Judah, Rehoboam's own tribe, alone remained faithful to him. Benjamin was reckoned along with Judah, and these two tribes formed the southern kingdom, with Jerusalem as its capital; while the northern ten tribes formed themselves into a separate kingdom, choosing Jeroboam as their king."
Is everything lost?
GOD spoke through prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 37:21
King James Version
21 And say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord God;
Behold,
I will take the children of Israel
from among the heathen,
whither they be gone,
and will gather them on every side,
and bring them into their own land:
Ezekiel 37:22
King James Version
22 And I will make them one nation
in the land upon the mountains of Israel;
and one king shall be king to them all:
and they shall be no more two nations,
neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms
any more at all.
Ezekiel 37:23
King James Version
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more
with their idols,
nor with their detestable things,
nor with any of their transgressions:
but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces,
wherein they have sinned,
and will cleanse them:
so shall they be my people,
and I will be their God.
Best of all?
There will be "one shepherd".
Ezekiel 37:24
King James Version
24 And David my servant shall be king over them;
and they all shall have one shepherd:
they shall also walk in my judgments,
and observe my statutes,
and do them.
GOD spoke through prophet Hosea, too.
The house of Judah will be saved.
Hosea 1:7
King James Version
7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah,
and will save them by the Lord their God,
and will not save them by bow,
nor by sword,
nor by battle,
by horses,
nor by horsemen.
GOD spoke through prophet Ahijah, as well.
The LORD had plans for the tribe of Judah.
1 Kings 11:32
King James Version
32 (But he shall have one tribe
for my servant David's sake,
and for Jerusalem's sake,
the city which I have chosen
out of all the tribes of Israel:)
King David, Solomon's father, comes from the tribe of Judah.
Who else comes from that line of David, and Judah?
The LORD JESUS.
The promised "deliverer".
The "one shepherd".
The "great high priest".
Hebrews 7:13-14
King James Version
13 For he of whom these things are spoken
pertaineth to another tribe,
of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda;
of which tribe Moses spake nothing
concerning priesthood.
Priests come from the tribe of Levi.
But JESUS came from the tribe of Judah.
Don't you love GOD's quirky, unpredictable ways?
No matter what, Satan couldn't wipe out the LORD's line.
GOD made sure of that.
Related material:
The CONSEQUENCES of SOLOMON's sin
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