WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.399 Super excited about what we're gonna talk about today. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:04.320 If you're brand new, my name's Justin. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:10.240 And this entire year we've been going through the whole story of the Bible, something we've actually called the whole story. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.039 And so what we've done is we've taken the whole story of Scripture and we've broken it down into 14 different series, and we're just going bit by bit. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:19.519 And right now, uh we've covered the first five. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:20.559 Those are done. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:24.879 Our last one was called So Much Blood, one of my favorite series that I've ever gotten to do. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:25.600 Just a good title. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:27.600 I think just a solid title. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:28.640 No one can argue with that. 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:30.559 So Much Blood, it grabs your attention. 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:36.320 And now we're in the sixth of 14 series, and it's called Messy Majesty. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:37.520 Messy Majesty. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:43.200 What we're doing is we're exploring the lives of some of the most prominent kings of the nation of Israel. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:54.079 In the time period where Israel has escaped from Egypt, they become a powerful nation, and this lasts for a little while, a few centuries before they end up being conquered by other more powerful nations. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:58.079 And the lives of these kings, if you know their stories, they're very interesting. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:03.359 They tell us hundreds of years of history, but but man, they're a mess. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.359 Like they are they are a mess. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:08.879 I'm talking like daytime TV drama level mess. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:14.400 And it's amazing that we get to read all of their mistakes, all their failures. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:19.040 You know, I say this so often that it's a little cliched for me at least, but but I believe this. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:22.959 The Bible is not the story of amazing men and women doing great things for God. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:29.920 It is the story of really broken, messed up people being used by God to do incredible things even in the midst of their brokenness. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:38.400 And so the Bible does this incredible job of recording the failures of the people who were its heroes or its kings. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:41.760 And you don't really see that in many places. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:02:00.719 Even in our world today, with the people that are in leadership, the people that everyone's supposed to look up to, I mean, their life stories, if you bought their book, it's a highly edited collection of their wins and maybe a few of their unavoidable failures that they have to address, but it's always addressed in such a way that ultimately makes them look good. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:02.560 That is not the case with Scripture. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:11.520 God made it, He made it painfully abundant for all of us that we as people, we are flawed, we struggle, and we can fail. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:18.080 But that failure does not, it does not disqualify us from being useful to God. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:21.199 And I don't know about you, but that's very encouraging for me. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:25.520 Now, the lives of the kings, they're kind of like messy on a whole different level. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:28.879 And very often their lives serve as cautionary tales. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:31.039 And so that's what we're really doing with this series. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:35.919 We're looking at the lives of these kings, and it's basically our chance to go, hey, don't do that. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:37.360 Don't do that. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:41.520 In fact, uh, very few of my messages have ever been titled don't. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.639 That's not really my bent is to tell you, hey, don't do this. 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:51.680 But in these these kings' lives, it's really the main takeaway half the time is hey, whatever you do, don't do this. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:53.439 Don't. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.039 And today we're gonna look at the life of a king named Solomon. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:00.800 Solomon is the third king in the history of the nation of Israel. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:05.280 And it's interesting because the first king is a man named Saul, and Saul's terrible. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:06.560 Saul's no good. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:11.199 Saul's life is pretty much 100% awful, bad, don't do any of it. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:13.280 And then we get to David and David's life. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:14.240 We looked at him last week. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:17.199 David's life is for the most part pretty amazing. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:23.039 There's a lot about David to be inspired by, and there's some pretty major failures that you want to avoid, but his was mostly good. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:34.159 So we went from mostly bad to mostly good, and then you get to Solomon, and Solomon is about as 50-50 as a person can possibly be. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:43.919 In fact, Solomon's life is really interesting because he starts as strong as you possibly could, but it ends really poorly. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:49.439 And I don't know if you can think about something that starts really strong but ends in a really bad way. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.199 Think like Super Bowl 51, 2017. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:04:03.680 The Atlanta Hawks at halftime are up 21 to 3, and keep in mind that no team in the history of the NFL has ever come back from a double def a double-digit deficit at halftime in the Super Bowl. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:04.719 It's never happened before. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:08.639 And then Lady Gaga goes on and does her halftime show and everything falls apart. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:10.479 And to this day, I think it's Lady Gaga's fault. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:11.439 I blame Lady Gaga. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:13.199 I I no, I'm just joking. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:14.560 I won't go into that. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:16.399 That's probably too personal, right? 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.759 For many of us, that's too painful of a memory to experience. 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:21.360 It's still too soon. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:25.040 We need at least a decade before we can really deep dive into that. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:28.079 Um let me take something else from my childhood. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:30.480 Anyone grow up as like a big fan of movies? 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:33.360 Like you're like a yeah, like movies were a thing. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:36.639 So my kids watched kids' movies. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:38.959 That's what they watched as children. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:40.000 Their favorite movies. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:43.120 In fact, I have a friend from college who's an animator at Pixar. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:46.639 And my oldest son watched Cars One and Two. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:50.639 You know the movie with like the talking cars with eyeballs and all that, Lightning McQueen. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:53.920 He watched those movies so often that I literally reached out to my friend and said, Can you just make another one? 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:55.519 Can you please just make one more car? 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:58.000 I'm so tired of watching these movies on repeat. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:04:58.800 Just make another one. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:00.720 And they did all because I asked my friend. 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:05.680 Um I I didn't watch kids' movies growing up. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.319 I think in part because it was the 80s, right? 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:10.240 And the filters were just a little different. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:13.519 So we had this collection of VHS tapes at home. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:16.480 And I had a few that were like my my go-to. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:20.399 Like these were the movies that as a three, four, five-year-old, I'm watching very often. 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:22.959 One was Ghostbusters, the original Ghostbusters. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:26.399 That was like my that was my car's one, okay? 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:36.319 And and the one though that probably like stood out to me, like when I think about my childhood, this is the movie that I watched as much as any movie ever, was Raiders of the Lost Ark. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:39.920 The original Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:41.279 Has anyone seen this movie? 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:42.560 Most of us have, yeah. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:43.519 It's a great movie. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:46.160 It ends with people's faces literally melting. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:52.079 Um, just a good kid's, you know, honestly though, it taught me to honor God. 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:58.079 Because if you know the story of that movie, like they they open up the ark and whew, it is like, don't do that. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.759 And so I did learn at a young age, like, honor God. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:04.399 Um, no, it was an awesome movie. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:07.759 And that that movie for me was just epic and incredible. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:12.800 And then the second one, Temple of Doom, uh, you know, a little weird, but fine. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:16.240 The third one I thought was really good with Sean Connery, like, you know, that was good. 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:22.000 And then when I was in my mid-20s, I saw a trailer that they were bringing it back. 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:24.240 Indiana Jones 4. 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.680 Has anyone seen Indiana Jones 4? 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.800 Did anyone like Indiana Jones 4? 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:32.399 One person. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:35.120 And I'm not judging you. 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:36.160 I'm not. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:46.240 I was so excited because it was like a part of my childhood was coming back, and I thought, oh man, this is epic, this is gonna be awesome, and modern special effects, just imagine. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:53.199 I remember sitting in the theater, and no offense to the gentleman in the back, but I remember walking away, it was like as disappointed as a person can be. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:59.680 So much so that I saw that they just released a new Indiana Jones, the fifth one. 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:02.560 Has anyone seen the new Indiana Jones? 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.519 It's out in the theaters. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:07.040 Like you could go today. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:08.560 Does anyone want to? 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:11.519 I'm not inviting you to go with me. 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:14.480 I'm just saying, okay, Indiana Jones 4 is like, I'll go. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:15.279 Of course, of course. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:16.480 I mean, of course. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:18.000 Glutton for punishment, right? 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:19.120 We gotta, of course. 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:24.879 But no, like it's it's amazing how often that happens with things like movies. 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:28.399 There's this tendency where the first one is like, wow. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:32.800 And then, you know, by the time you get to the fifth one, you don't even want to go. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:37.680 And you almost have to like pretend like the new ones don't exist because it tarnishes the original. 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:43.920 So you just have to, in your mind segment, like that movie stands alone, it's on its own, and I'm gonna pretend like none of the else, none of the others ever happened. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:47.600 And there's lots of different, there's lots of different movie franchises like that. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:52.639 The first one, it started so well, it started so strong, and then there's this drift. 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:57.839 And by the time you get to four or five, no one even cares anymore. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:01.519 That's like Solomon's life. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:04.240 His life is a life of drift. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:09.759 In fact, the the title of the message is Don't Drift into Disaster. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:11.759 Don't drift into disaster. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:32.960 It's amazing how easy it is for us as people to start strong, to have really good intentions and pure motives and to desire really good things, but just subtly, sometimes subconsciously even, we we find ourselves drifting further and further from what we set out to do and set out to be. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:38.639 And if not careful, we can find ourselves in this place sometimes where we we literally look at ourselves and go, how did I get here? 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:41.600 Like, how did I get so off course? 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:50.000 And it may not be in every aspect of your life, but but I'm sure all of us can relate to this in certain areas of life. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:58.080 Maybe it's relationships that we've had that we used to be so close and we don't know how or when we drifted so far apart. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:04.000 It could be, you know, it could be your finances, it could be something in your career, right? 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:16.159 It could be your physical health, it could even be your relationship with the Lord, where you just don't feel that same passion and closeness that you used to, and you wonder why, how. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:20.000 And the simple truth is there's this thing called drift. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:30.080 And it's very, very easy, very easy to just subtly drift off course, and years and years go by and you find yourself in a place you don't want to be. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:33.840 Solomon's life is a cautionary tale about drift. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:41.840 But it gives us the opportunity to learn how to either course correct if there's drift happening in our lives, or hopefully avoid the drift altogether. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:50.559 So we can look at his life, we can look at his mess, and we can have the takeaway where we say, I don't want to drift into disaster. 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:55.919 So let's look at Solomon's life for just a second, and let's start with the uh incredibly strong start. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:59.200 He succeeds his father David as king. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:06.159 And there's this amazing story in 1 Kings chapter 3 of one of the earliest moments in his reign. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:15.840 It says that Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father David, except that Solomon too offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:22.399 The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:26.879 And that night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, What do you want? 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:28.799 Ask, and I will give it to you. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:30.000 Can we just pause there for a second? 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:31.200 Can you imagine? 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.639 Like God saying, Hey, whatever you want, you got it. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:42.080 I mean, honestly, a lot of you know the answer to what Solomon responds with, but but like what would you ask for? 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.600 It's an open-ended, tell me what you want, and I'll give it to you from God. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:47.039 That's that's crazy. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:11:00.240 And Solomon replied, You showed great and faithful love to your servant, my father David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you, and you've continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.759 Now, O Lord my God, you've made me king instead of my father David. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.600 But I'm like a little child who doesn't know his way around. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:12.639 And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted. 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:19.840 Give me an understanding heart, so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:22.879 For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours? 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:26.000 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:36.720 So God replied, Because you've asked for wisdom and governing my people with justice, and you've not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies, I will give you what you asked for. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:43.360 I will give you a wise and understanding heart, such as no one else has had or ever will have. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:47.120 And I will also give you what you did not ask for, riches and fame. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.879 No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:58.399 And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father David did, I will give you a long life. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.200 That is a tremendous start. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:02.320 Right? 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:04.559 That's a strong start. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:07.200 God comes to him and says, I'll give you anything you want. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:07.840 What do you want? 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:08.799 He says, Wisdom? 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.200 I mean, which means he had to have already been kind of wise. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:14.080 You've got to be wise enough to ask for wisdom, right? 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.519 And God is so pleased with him, and God makes him this bold promise. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:21.759 I'm gonna give you wisdom, I'm gonna give you wealth, a long life, fame, you're gonna have it all. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:27.840 I'm gonna give you more wisdom than anyone who's ever walked the earth has ever had or ever will have. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:31.840 He's the wisest man that ever walked the earth, not named Jesus. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:33.279 And it continues. 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:34.799 The success of his kingdom grows. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:39.759 In fact, the wisdom that he has is is on display in a really interesting story a little bit later in the same chapter. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:41.840 The situation is there's these two women. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:43.120 You may have heard the story before. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:44.240 It's kind of funny. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.639 It shows how practical his wisdom is. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:49.200 These two women come to him and they have a dispute. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.519 There's one baby, and each woman claims that the baby belongs to her. 00:12:53.759 --> 00:13:04.720 And the story goes: one of the ladies had rolled over at night and accidentally suffocated their own child, but now they're both saying that this other child is theirs, and and no one knows who's telling the truth. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:09.039 So they come to Solomon, and they're just bickering and fighting about whose baby this belongs to. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:11.039 And this is what Solomon says in response. 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:17.039 1 Kings 3 24, he says, All right, bring me a sword, which is an odd thing to say in the middle of this conversation. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:22.799 And so a sword was brought to the king, and he said, Cut the living child in two and give half to the woman and half to the other. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:28.960 And then the woman who was the real mother of the living child and who loved him very much cried out, Oh no, my lord, give her the child, please do not kill him. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:33.039 And so Solomon, you know, knows who the real mother is. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:38.399 And so 1 Kings 3.27, the king said, Do not kill the child, but give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is the mother. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:46.159 And when all Israel heard the king's decision, the people were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:48.399 Solomon is, he's wise. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:50.000 The people are in awe, they're blown away. 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.200 And this wisdom has amazing results for his kingdom. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:59.679 So in 2 Chronicles 9, 13 through 20, we get a window of how successful Israel was under Solomon's watch. 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:04.559 It says that each year Solomon received about 25 tons of gold. 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:06.320 25 tons of gold. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:10.480 That's an amount that is too, it's just too high to even worry about counting. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:14.240 This did not include the additional revenue he received from merchants and from traders. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:19.120 All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the provinces also brought gold and silver to Solomon. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:24.000 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than 15 pounds. 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:28.799 He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold, each weighing more than seven and a half pounds. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.240 The king placed these shields in the palace of the forest of Lebanon. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:36.240 The king made a huge throne, decorated with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:39.360 The throne had six steps with a footstool of gold. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:44.559 There were armlets on both sides of the seat, and the figure of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:48.000 There were also twelve other lions, one standing on each of the six steps. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:50.879 No other throne in all the world can be compared with it. 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:56.960 And all of King Solomon's drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the palace of the forest of Lebanon. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:02.080 They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon's day. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:08.879 So Solomon's so successful, the economy under him is so successful that people literally go, silver, eh. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:11.679 If it's not gold, it doesn't matter. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:15.519 Like that's how plentiful gold was in their kingdom. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:22.399 In fact, people have said that the temple that Solomon built is the highest concentration of gold that has ever existed in one place at one time. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:24.960 That's how financially successful things are. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:28.639 So if you're living under Solomon's Israel, you're doing pretty well. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:32.399 Because you look at silver and you're just like, ah, I don't even care about that. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:34.960 That's how successful he is because he's so wise. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:37.840 He's leading the people, and it's just it's amazing. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:42.799 In 2 Chronicles 9, there's this story of a queen that comes to visit. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:48.320 It says, when the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:55.120 She arrived with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, large quantities of gold, obviously. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.279 Apparently gold was just everywhere back then. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:59.600 It's just like people were picking up gold on the street. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:00.080 I don't know. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:01.519 It's all over the place. 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:03.120 And precious jewels. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.120 And when she met with Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:09.200 Solomon had answers for all of her questions. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:11.279 Nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:16.799 And when the Queen of Sheba realized how wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace that he had built, she was overwhelmed. 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:25.919 She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials, and their splendid clothing, the cupbearers and their robes, the burnt offerings that Solomon made at the temple of the Lord. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:30.639 She exclaimed to the king, Everything I've heard in my country about your achievements and wisdom is true. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:35.120 I didn't believe what was said until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.559 In fact, I had not heard the half of your great wisdom. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:40.879 It is far beyond what I was told. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:50.000 So Solomon is so successful, he's so wise that even other rulers come to see him just to marvel at everything that he does. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:54.000 I mean, this is as strong of a start as anyone could ever have. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.559 He asked the Lord for wisdom. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:04.559 He's responsible, he's wise, he he governs so well that the economy just soars and everyone is more prosperous than they've ever been. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:09.039 Other rulers are coming from other nations just to see how he does things. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:11.920 That's the strong start. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:14.559 And it's it's unbelievable. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:18.480 And the idea is that it's only gonna get better from here. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:22.319 But remember that that tendency of drift. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.880 Remember Indiana Jones 5, okay? 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:28.559 Because unfortunately, that's the direction that it goes. 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:39.920 So we get to 1 Kings chapter 11, and you're gonna your head might spin if you've never heard this, because the difference between this Solomon and the Solomon that we just read, it's it's almost unfathomable. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:44.880 1 Kings 11 says, Now Solomon loved many foreign women. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:50.799 Besides Pharaoh's daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and among the Hittites. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:56.559 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, you must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:59.920 Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:10.240 He had, who, this is not a misprint, seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:11.920 Yeah. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:15.440 Yeah, that'll do it. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:23.759 And in fact, they did not turn, they did turn his heart away from the Lord. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:30.880 In Solomon's old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods, instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:36.880 Solomon worshipped Astareth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:42.880 And if you know anything, if you want to research anything about their practices, it's oh, it's crazy. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:45.839 In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord's sight. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.039 He refused to follow the Lord completely as his father David had done. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:56.319 On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and if you know the story of the Mount of Olives, right, it's a place where Jesus spent a lot of time. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.920 So this all the geography here connects in a really interesting way. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:08.640 He even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:14.720 Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:22.480 The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:28.400 He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord's command. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:38.400 So now the Lord said to him, Since you have not kept my commands, you've not kept my covenant, you've disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:42.960 But for the sake of your father David, I will not do this while you're still alive. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:45.279 I will take the kingdom away from your son. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:54.960 And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom, I will let him be king of one tribe for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.079 That is some drift. 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:04.319 I mean he he goes from incredible, amazing start, he's a wonder kin, right? 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.880 He's just, everything he does is successful. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:09.519 Whatever he touches literally seems to turn to gold. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:18.319 And by the end of his life, he has drifted so far from the Lord that he's building shrines and temples to pagan gods. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.119 And he's worshiping those gods. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:32.640 Not the God who appeared to him that gave him all the blessings, but these gods of these foreign women that he's married, and it's it's crazy how far he goes. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:36.400 And here's what's really interesting Solomon wrote scripture. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:49.039 He's one of the few people who have ever walked the face of the earth that that wrote something that people recognize and say, this isn't just a person writing, this is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God inspiring this person. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:50.319 It's Scripture. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:53.680 He wrote the book of Proverbs, he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:56.799 There's other stuff that he wrote as well. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:08.000 And he's the only person that has ever penned Scripture that you could actually have a serious debate about whether or not his heart truly belonged to the Lord. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.039 Like, he's the only one. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:17.759 There's not one other person that is an author of Scripture where if you said, hey, do you think that they really, like, are they a genuine follower of the Lord? 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:18.799 You'd be like, absolutely. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:28.240 I mean, I know they had some rough moments, I know they they had some mess-ups, but I mean, overall, you look at the trajectory of their life, and it's clear that the Lord was their top priority and they love the Lord passionately. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.200 Solomon, you can't quite say that. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.160 And yet he even writes scripture. 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:43.119 I don't think there is a person in all of the story of the Bible whose life makes a turn like this and doesn't really seem to recover. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:47.119 It's really interesting and it's deeply tragic. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:49.519 And it doesn't happen overnight. 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:53.039 I mean, you can't marry 700 women in one night, right? 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:56.480 Like there has to be some type of long process there. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.079 It doesn't happen overnight. 00:21:58.400 --> 00:21:59.759 It's a long period. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.519 Of drift. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:04.960 But like I said, it's drift that we can learn from. 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:11.759 And so what I want to do for the rest of our time, pretty quickly, is I want to go through five different categories of drift. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:17.279 And I'm going to apologize on the front end for my use of alliteration, which is when you start everything with the same consonant. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:21.039 I'm going to, it's too much alliteration today, but it'll help you remember things, I bet. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:21.839 So here we go. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:30.880 We have the drift of disobedience, the drift of disillusionment, the drift of deceit, the drift of distraction, and the drift of darkness. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:41.839 And these are all aspects of drift that if we're not careful, we can experience in our own lives, but we want to avoid at all costs because we, unlike Solomon, do not want to drift into disaster. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.680 So let's start with disobedience. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:50.799 Solomon, for all of his wisdom, seemed to think that the commands of God were more like suggestions. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:53.279 And I get that because I have a teenager. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:23:04.079 And any of you who have teenagers, or maybe have been teenagers in the past, know that there's this certain mentality where very clear commands, very clear commands, are suggestions. 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:10.559 And let's be honest, we're all like that because we all drive cars and we all see speed limit signs, and we know what speed limit signs are. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:15.920 Hey, you might want to think about going somewhere within this range of speed, right? 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:22.480 There's something about the human heart that disobedience is easy for us. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:27.839 And Solomon, for all of his wisdom, was incredibly disobedient to God. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:37.440 And so if we go back to 1 Kings chapter 3, it says that Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and he married one of his daughters. 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:44.079 He brought her to live in the city of David until he could finish building his palace and the temple of the Lord and the wall around the city. 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:50.480 At that time the people of Israel sacrificed their offerings at local places of worship for a temple honoring the name of the Lord had not yet been built. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:52.319 Solomon ends up building that temple. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:58.480 But before he has seven hundred wives, when he picks his first, she's the daughter of Pharaoh. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:10.880 Now, God had foreseen the fact that the people of Israel would one day have kings, and he had given some very explicit instructions to the people who might become kings one day in Deuteronomy 17. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:17.119 It says this the king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:21.119 For the Lord has told you, you must never return to Egypt. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:30.559 So if you're not supposed to like go to Egypt to buy a horse, if God is like, hey, you guys used to be slaves there, and I rescued you from Egypt, I don't want you going back to Egypt. 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:32.400 I don't even want you to go back to Egypt to buy a horse. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:37.759 I think we can go ahead and say that getting a wife probably probably counts with that. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:41.440 And in case that's not clear, God goes on and just makes it extra clear. 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:44.799 The king must not take many wives for himself. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:47.759 And you might be like Solomon, go, well, what is many? 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:48.960 That's a relative term. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:50.880 I mean, 700 many? 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:51.839 I don't know. 00:24:53.359 --> 00:25:01.680 Because they will turn his heart away from the Lord, and he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:04.319 Which again, Solomon clearly did. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:12.480 So Solomon, for all his wisdom, he repeatedly disobeys the Lord. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:16.640 Repeatedly disobeys the Lord. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.400 He views the commands of God as suggestions. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:25.839 And disobedience, it causes us to drift away from where God may have us be. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:27.920 It just does. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:32.160 You know, we just finished this series called So Much Blood. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:34.640 And we talked about the seriousness of sin. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:51.119 And the cool thing about us, because of Jesus, and maybe you've never heard the core of the gospel before, the message of Jesus, that his sacrifice on the cross has paid the price for your sins, and now through faith in Jesus, you have a restored relationship with God if you put your trust in him, and it's no longer about what you've done and what you haven't done. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:54.799 It's no longer about how much sin you have either done or avoided. 00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:59.359 See, because of Jesus, our sin no longer divides us from God. 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:05.599 But our sin is just as destructive in our lives as it ever has been. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:13.839 So our sin no longer divides us from God because of Jesus and because of the cross, but our sin can still destroy our lives. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:15.920 Sin is a destructive force. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:19.359 That's why we talked about that for several weeks, that we have to take it seriously. 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:21.279 To disobey the Lord is to sin. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:23.680 And we all know this about disobedience. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:25.839 It's easier to do it the more you do it. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:32.160 Like the more times you you disobey, the easier it becomes to do it again. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:42.799 And disobedience, it becomes this slow pull away from God or away from the things in life that we should be pursuing, and we drift away. 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:45.279 And we end up somewhere we didn't want to be. 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:50.480 Now the nice thing about it is the remedy is pretty simple. 00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:53.680 It's just repentance and obedience. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.000 Repentance and obedience. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:05.839 If you find yourself saying, you know what, yes, I have I have treated some of the commands of God like suggestions, and I've said, thanks for the advice, Lord, I'll consider it. 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:07.359 And then I've gone a different route. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:08.720 You're not alone. 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:10.640 Everybody does that. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:18.880 And all that we have to do to remedy that, to sort of remedy the drift and get back on course, is to pray and repent. 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:21.039 Repent means to change the way you think. 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:25.839 It just means to say, Lord, I recognize that I've gone the wrong direction. 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:27.359 I'm sorry. 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:30.240 Give me the strength to turn around and go the right direction. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:39.279 And so if you find yourself saying, you know what, I think I may have experienced some drift in my life, maybe in my relationship with the Lord or some other area of life, because I haven't been obedient. 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:41.839 I haven't been committed to doing things God's way. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:42.799 I just haven't been. 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:45.039 I've been more committed to doing them my own way. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:46.400 Well, just repent. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:47.920 Recognize that. 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:49.119 Change the way you think. 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:51.359 Ask the Lord for forgiveness because you already have it. 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:52.799 He's already forgiven you. 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:58.319 I think it's helpful for us to ask for forgiveness, just to be reminded that He has forgiven us. 00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:01.359 And commit to just simple obedience. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:03.519 Just simple obedience. 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:07.519 I have this thing with my kids, and those of you with kids might understand this. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:16.000 And it's like one of those father pet peeves, but I really want my kids to understand like when they're doing something they ought not do, which happens enough. 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:22.000 And I and I go to them, and this is especially true of my youngest ones, and I go to them and I say, Hey, you need to stop. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:23.759 Like this needs to stop. 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:28.720 Very often, they will they will say to me, I'm sorry. 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:32.400 I'm sorry, and they're trying to like they can sense that a consequence is coming. 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:36.799 And so they'll just start going, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:38.960 And I'm like, I don't need you to say I'm sorry. 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:41.680 I need you to change what you're doing. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:42.559 Right? 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:46.559 So instead of instead of yelling, sorry, just stop. 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:49.200 Stop what you're doing. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:54.400 Pick up the trash you just threw in the floor and put it in the trash can. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:55.599 It's ten feet away. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:56.000 Right? 00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:57.680 Don't apologize for the trash. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:28:58.799 Pick the trash up. 00:28:59.039 --> 00:28:59.680 You know what I'm saying? 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.559