Great Texts of The Bible: The Twelve Tribes of Israel | 1 Kings 1-24 | Pastor William Hixson

back and forth on that

and uh we are continuing the great text

series this morning. So if you're

joining us, you can catch up online. Uh

we we uh started at Genesis and we're

moving through the Old Testament and uh

not verse by verse or chapter by

chapter. We do do that in our in this

church and we have done that throughout

the Old Testament and the books of the

Old Testament. But this is just a a

dipping into different sections of the

Bible that uh we believe would be

helpful for us and not only helpful for

us but the major sections the things

that are keys that these are keys to

open up other things. That's the idea

that if you get this, then you have uh

something to hang on to as you move

through the Bible and move on through

life.

Call your attention to First Kings

12 1

to 24.

First Kings 12

1- 24.

Here is a heartbreaking

chapter in the history of the Old

Testament theocracy.

A lot of hard things have already

happened, but to me this was a major

major

event.

And you remember that there's the what

we call the 12 tribes of Israel.

But here the 12 tribes

break up

and

the 10 northern tribes split off of the

two southern tribes.

The two southern tribes are tribe of

Judah and Benjamin. The 10 northern

tribes are all the rest.

And it's heartbreaking because when we

look at it from just a human level,

this was dumb and dumber. This was not

something that had to happen. And people

were not doing the right thing. And it

seems they were excelling in doing the

wrong thing on both sides.

And it seems like a schism that was not

necessary.

I want to define this just a little bit

just to help you know this. There's a

there what is the difference between

biblical separation

and schism?

Biblical separation is a separation

that's biblical

where you have a responsibility to

separate from this group or that person

or because of sin. you're protecting the

truth and you're living for the glory of

God and you don't reach out and hold

hands with the wrong people. Uh like

idolatry and that kind of thing, false

teaching, all that kind of stuff.

Uh as the apostle Paul wrote, be be not

unequally yolked with unbelievers.

And he's very clear about that. Even if

they call themselves believers, you

can't fantasize that some churches are

better than they are when they deny the

major doctrines of the faith. There is

such a thing as a biblical separation

that's required if you're going to

exist. Why? Because a little leaven

leavenvens the whole lump. But Paul said

both of false doctrine and false living.

He said it in Corinthians of false

living. He said it in Galatians of false

doctrine. Both false doctrine and false

living spread. That's what Levan does.

It doesn't stay where it is. It takes

over.

Takes over.

And so the Galatian churches were warned

that that that false doctrine they were

tolerating by the Judaizers had already

taken them over and was taking over

everything and they had to stop it.

And the same thing in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 with the man that had his

father's wife

that and the church was tolerating that.

Nope. Can't do that.

That's a that's a cause for

excommunication for someone who's

unrepentant

because a little lean leaven's a whole

lot.

And so

separations are painful

even when someone doesn't repent or and

they need to be disciplined. Church

discipline or separations are painful

when churches have to leave other

churches or these kinds of things have

to happen.

But sometimes they're necessary,

but they're not even the most painful.

Some are painful when

we think this didn't need to happen.

This was stupid. Everybody's taking

their stupid pills. Why did this happen?

That's really painful, right?

When there is something that goes on

that you think, well, this just this

wrecked everything. Why did that have to

happen? Well, we're going to see this in

First Kings chapter 12. And the

1 Kings 12 · chapter mention

applications to the church era are

multitude.

And I'm picking this out for two

reasons. This section here, I'm just

picking a key section out. I'm picking

it out for two reasons. Number one, you

will never understand the Old Testament

if you don't know about this.

You'll be reading it and all mixed up.

King who? King who? Who's this person?

Who's that person? What's all this

about? You'll be mixing up Israel and

Judah and you won't know why. You This

is This is critical to understanding the

Bible on just an intellectual level.

Let me let me um give you an example.

Could you understand the United States

history, the history of the United

States if you didn't know about the

Civil War?

You think you could understand the

history of the United States?

No. You'd be seriously deficient

in your understanding

if you somehow you just missed that.

It's a vacuum. You didn't never study

that. You never heard that.

So the civil war was basic and I'm going

to be using that. Our civil war was

basic and I'm going to be using that as

an illustration. Well, here was a

division that took place in the

theocracy in the mediatorial kingdom of

the Old Testament when the 10 northern

tribes split off from the two southern

tribes. And it went on a lot longer than

our civil war.

And so when we're reading the Bible, if

we don't even know this happened,

you're a first-time Bible reader or a

second. What's going on here? You don't

you don't even you're trying to spot

read, read a little bit here, read a

little bit there. King of Watt, who's

this guy? Who's this person? And it it's

just all a big confusion. You have no

chronology. You have no geography. You

have no history to understand what's

going on.

So for that reason and for the reason of

the importance of biblical separation

and of the sin of schism because schism

is a sin.

Schism is an unjustified separation.

That's what it is.

Uh it's a separation that shouldn't

happen.

And so we have to be careful that we

aren't guilty of schism.

So there's biblical separation, there's

unbiblical schism. We've taught on that

many times in this church, but those are

important contrasts

to know.

Okay, let's read first Kings 12. And

where are we in history here?

King David has come and gone.

Excuse me. King Saul has come and gone.

King David has come and gone. And King

Solomon has come and gone. 120 years

since the these

were the first three kings of the United

what we call united monarchy when all 12

tribes were under one king.

But after this event,

there'll be two tribes with their king

in the south, and there'll be 10 tribes

with their king in the north.

The north is called Israel. The south is

called Judah.

So, this is basic Bible 101.

But at least hopefully we even on that

level, we'll clarify some things that

will help us kind of get our bearings of

where we are.

So,

and Rehab went to Sheckchham, for all

Israel was come to Sheckchham to make

him king.

Um,

and it came to pass when Jeroboam, the

son of Nibbat, who was yet in Egypt,

heard of it. He was fled from the

presence of King Solomon. And Jeroboam

dwelt in Egypt. So Solomon and and

Jeroboam were not on good terms. and uh

Jerobom

some of the stuff he pulls you see it in

earlier chapters

that they sent and called him and

Jerobom and all the congregation of

Israel came and spoke to Rahab saying

thy father that's Solomon made our yoke

grievous

now therefore make thou the grievous

service of thy father and his heavy yoke

which he put on us lighter and will

serve

In other words, life was hard under

Solomon. He was rich, had a palace,

had a temple, everything was good. But

boy, we everybody had to work hard and

he was hard on us.

And he said, this is uh Rehab,

"Depart yet for three days and come

again to me." And the people departed.

And King Rehab consulted with the old

men who stood before Solomon his father.

While he yet lived, and said, "How do

you advise that I may answer this

people?"

And they spoke to him, saying, "If thou

wil be a servant unto this people this

day, and will serve them, and answer

them, and speak good words to them, then

they'll be your servants forever." But

he forsook the counsel of the old men

which they had given him and consulted

with the young men who were grown up

with him and who stood before him. And

he said to them, "What counsel give you

me that I may answer this people who've

spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke

which thy father did put upon us

lighter?" The young men who were grown

up with him spoke to him, saying,"Thou

shalt speak to this people who spoke to

thee, saying, 'Thy father made our yoke

heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us.

Thus shall you say to them, my little

father's finger shall be or my little

finger shall be thicker than my father's

loins." And now, whereas my father did

burden with you a heavy yoke, I'll add

to your yoke. My father has chasened you

with whips. I'll chastise you with

scorpions.

You don't have to be Albert Einstein to

figure out how this is going to happen,

how this is going to go over, right?

That went over like a concrete cloud.

So Jeroboam and all the people came to

Rahab the third day as the king had

appointed, saying, "Come to me again the

third day." And the king answered the

people roughly and forsook the old men's

counsel that they gave him and spoke to

them after the counsel of the young men,

saying, "My father made your yoke heavy,

and I will add to your yoke. My father

also chastised you with whips, and I'll

chastise you with scorpions." Wherefore

the king hearkened not to the people,

for the cause

was from the Lord.

Now, Rayob was taking his stupid pills.

He didn't do the right thing. But that

was from the Lord.

God had a sovereign purpose

in him making the wrong decisions,

the wrong way,

that he might perform his saying which

the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Sheilonite

unto Jerobom the son of Nebot. And that

there was a prophecy to Jeroboam earlier

in this section.

God already planned

to split the kingdom

in judgment.

And so behind the human actors

was the hand of God in the glove of

history.

So when all Israel saw the king

hearkened not to them, the people

answered the king, saying, "What portion

have we in David? Neither have we an

inheritance in the son of Jesse, to your

tents, O Israel. Now see to your own

house, David." So Israel departed unto

their tents. So the 10 northern tribes

took off and said, "We're going to take

care of oursel. You take care of

yourself. That's it. We're done. There's

a divorce.

But as for the children of Israel who

dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rahab

reigned over them. These were some

people who'd migrated to the south and

they stayed down there. Then King Rahab

sent who was over the forced labor and

all Israel stoned him with stones that

he died. Wonder what he expected they

were going to do.

Therefore, King Rahab made speed to get

him up to his chariot to flee to

Jerusalem. So, Israel rebelled against

the house of David to this day.

That split was still in force when first

kings was written. And by the way, it's

still in force.

This split has not been healed and won't

be healed till Jesus comes.

That's a pretty big tragedy, isn't it?

And it came to pass when all Israel

heard that Jeroboam was come again, and

that's the 10 northern tribes, they sent

and called him to the congregation, made

him king over all Israel. That means the

10 northern tribes, not the two southern

tribes. There was none that followed the

house of David, but the tribe of Judah

only. And of course, the Benjamites were

in there, involved in there as well, as

you know a little bit later. And when

Rahab was come to Jerusalem, he

assembled all the house of Judah with

the tribe of Benjamin, 144,000,

180,000 chosen men who were warriors to

fight against the house of Israel to

bring the kingdom again to Rabbom, the

son of Solomon. They were going to fight

over this. You say, you mean Jews

fighting Jews? Yes,

that's exact. It was a civil war going

to start.

You say, "Well, the Jews wouldn't fight

each other."

Don't you remember what happened when

the tribe of Benjamin went woke

in the book of Judges?

All the other tribes ganged up on them,

slaughtered them, so there's hardly any

of them left.

That was earlier than history. They

already had a history of fighting each

other.

But how sad it is. You know, there's an

old saying, no church, no fight like a

church fight.

Well, that's true. Why is it true?

Because the devil gets in there.

Even if the person that starts it was

right, sometimes the devil gets in

there. Now, some fights need to happen.

I'm not saying that. I'm just saying no

fight like a church fight.

And this wasn't a church. This was a

theocracy. But these people went to war

and they were intending to kill each

other.

A force, a change,

that the 10 tribes would come back under

Rahobam.

And the word of the Lord came to

Shemiah, the man of God, saying, "Speak

to Rahab, the son of Solomon, king of

Judah, and to all the house of Judah and

Benjamin, and to the remnant of the

people, saying, Thus says the Lord, you

shall not go up nor fight against your

brethren, the children of Israel. Return

every man to his house. For this thing

is from me." He's talking about in his

sovereignty. There's a judgment going

on. The whole nation, this thing's from

me.

They hearkened therefore to the word of

the Lord and returned to depart

according to the word of the Lord. Then

Jerobom built Sheckchum in Mount Ephraim

and dwelt there and went out from there

and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in

his heart, "Now shall the kingdom return

to the house of David. If this people go

sacrifice in the house of the Lord in

Jerusalem, then the shall the heart of

this people turn again to their Lord."

That's pretty clear thinking. You got to

go down to the Jerusalem in Judea and

worship. You're going to get friendly

with everybody down there. So, we're He

set up This was a horrible thing.

He set up an alternate two two

alternative places of worship.

It's too far for you to go down.

He didn't tell the people his real

reason.

it's too far for you to go down

and so we have something closer for us.

And he put one in the north that was in

Dan and we're going to read where he put

the others and stuff. So he he uh was

afraid that if he went down there that

the schism would be healed and he tried

to manipulate events.

And so that's what was going on.

Uh and so let's pick it back up in First

Kings 12 and verse

uh 29.

Well, verse 28. Whereupon the king took

counsel and made two calves of gold.

Where did we see that the last time?

This doesn't sound too good.

And said to them, it's too much for you

to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods,

O Israel, which brought thee out of the

land of Egypt. Now, he had a prophecy

that he was going to be a king and he

could have a future, but he wouldn't

trust what God said. He was doing his

own thing.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not to your own understanding. In

all your ways acknowledge him, he'll

direct your paths. He didn't do that.

And he set one in Bethl

and the other he put in Dan.

Now Bethl was in the south

and Dan is in the far north

and this thing became a sin for the

people went to worship before the one

even unto Dan.

So some were going to worship worship in

Bethl, some were going in Dan. They had

go one golden calf in each one.

Now, by the way, this is an aside.

There's no charge for this. This is

extra.

Do you know archaeologists recently

found

the the place where this setup in Dan

was.

You can go see it. I've been there.

Linda's been there.

It's in the far north. They found it.

And there's even a Dan inscription

that they found as well.

And people,

archaeologists and historians were

saying David is just David's just a

myth. He's like he's like uh King

Archer. There's no real king of David or

archaeology just blowing that idea out

of the water. And the thing at Dan is

one of them.

It lists it lists it talks about David.

You can't have a

you can't have a dynasty if you if you

don't exist. Fairy tale people don't

make dynasties, right?

It's a fascinating thing. Look it up

online.

And he made a h made a house of high

places and made priests of the lowest

people who were not of the sons of Levi.

This guy's going off the rails. He's not

even close to being biblical. And

Jeroboam ordained a feast in the 18th

month of the 15th day like a feast that

is in Judah. And he offered on the

altar. So did he in Bethl, sacrificing

the calves he made. And he placed in

Bethl priests in the high places which

he made. He offered on the idol which he

made in Bethl the 15th day of the eighth

month, which is the month which he

devised in his own heart, and ordained a

feast unto the children of Israel, and

offered on the altar and burned incense.

This is where idolatry in the north

started with this guy

and the calf worship.

Don't go down to Jerusalem.

We're making it real easy for you. Go to

Dan. Go to Bethl.

That's where we are.

So, it's a kind of a heartbreaking

chapter in the history of the theocracy,

isn't it? You get to this place and say,

"Oh,

120 years

of united monarchy."

Saul 40 years, David 40 years, Solomon

40 years, 120 years they'd been

together.

And then there's this split

between the southern tribes, Judah and

Benjamin, and the northern tribes.

And so if we know that when we're

reading in Chronicles, Kings, or we're

reading in the Old Testament, reading

some prophet, who's he talking to? Who

are these people? Where with read names,

he came from the south and ministered in

the north. Oh yeah, I understand. You've

got to have this to hang your thoughts

on.

It's extremely important if you want to

understand the Old Testament.

And so, uh, it's sad was sad when the

unity and the southern states succeeded

from the union in America. They had 85

years of unity from the signing of the

Declaration of Independence and then

they broke off and then the South

succeeds from the North. Abraham Lincoln

becomes president of the North and

Jefferson Davids in the south. But in

this case it was the south that

succeeded

the north that succeeded from the south.

But it's very very similar

and in the Bible 930 BC

it something's happened and it it the

succession happened in 931 BC

and the northern kingdom lasted to 7:22

BC. Remember, you got to count backwards

when you're in the BC

years before Christ. And the northern

exile finally took place in 7:22 and the

10 northern tribes are taken into exile

and they've been there ever since.

And that left the two southern tribes.

These are Bible basics. Bible basics.

And so very very important.

Now, when you read First Kings and

Second Kings and you read uh Chronicles,

the stories are going back and forth.

Sometimes they're talking about kings in

Israel, sometimes they're talking about

kings in Judah, sometimes they're

talking about both.

So, you have to understand that. And if

you don't get that, it's all

it's all fuzzy.

So if that's one of the things we can

accomplish for some of you to just okay

get this in your head.

Now this split had two causes. One was

the sin of man.

The sin of men on both sides.

Raom wasn't sinless. Neither were his

counselors.

Neither were the old men counselors.

There was a sin of men here. And then

there was the sovereignty of God. That's

the other part. Aren't you glad that

where there sin among men, there's

sovereignty with God who can overrule

and the sovereignty of God is major

here.

And it's not that the men are doing what

God um uh against God. So somehow God's

plans all messed up. God planned this.

This was judgment on this. the the split

was a judgment on a nation had been

engaging in idolatry already.

And so,

and as I said, the split has never yet

been fixed, nor will it be fixed

until Jesus comes. Turn with me to hold

your place in Kings. Go to Ezekiel 37.

I'm going to show you the fix.

Ezekiel 37:15

Ezekiel 37:15–28

to 28.

Ezekiel 37:15-38.

This is what my Bible calls the sign of

the two sticks. Now that's addition

man's addition to entitle title the

section

but let's watch it. It's a prophetic

sign 37:15

the word of the Lord again came to me

that's Ezekiel prophet Ezekiel saying

moreover thou son of man take thee one

stick and write upon it for Judah

and and for the children of Israel his

companions. Then take another stick and

write upon it for Joseph the stick of

Ephraim and for all the house of Israel

and his companions. Join them one to

another into one stick and they'll

become one in your hand. Two sticks both

labeled

and then you put them together and they

become one stick.

Important uh comment on the Hebrew here.

This the word one is what the Hebrew

word ehad it's the same word used of

Adam and Eve when God made them one

flesh

for the two became one.

It's important if you're ever dealing

with the doctrine of the trinity to

Jewish people. They're going to get real

mad at you when you use this.

It's the same word in the shama

here. O Israel the Lord our God is one.

Same word. a oneness that implies a

plurality within it like the two sticks

and husband and wife. There is another

Hebrew word that would be against that

idea but this is the one that's used in

Genesis, Ezekiel,

and uh in Deuteronomy.

So in verse 19, say to them, thus says

the Lord, I will take the stick of

Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim

and the tribes of Israel, his fellows,

and I'll put them with him, even the

stick of Judah, and make them one stick,

and they'll be one in my hand. and the

sticks of which you which thou writeest

shall be in thy hand before their eyes

and say to them, thus says the Lord God,

behold, I will take the children of

Israel from among among the nations to

which they are gone, and gather them on

every side, and bring them into their

own land, and I'll 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 anymore. more. Neither

shall they defile themselves anymore

with idols, or with detestable things,

nor with any of their transgressions.

I'll save them all out of their dwelling

places in which they have sinned, and

will cleanse them. So shall they be my

people, and I'll be my I will be their

God. And David, my servant, now

remember, David's been dead a long time

before Ezekiel was born,

shall be king over them.

And they shall have one shepherd, and

they shall also walk in my ordinances,

observe my statutes to do them, and they

shall dwell in the land that I've given

to Jacob, my servant, in which your

fathers have dwelt. And we know what

land that is.

and they'll dwell in it, even they and

their children, and their children's

children forever. And my servant shall

be their prince forever.

Is he talking about the church where

there's no Jew or Greek? No.

>> He's not talking about the church. He's

talking about the same tribes that were

divided

are now in the future put together with

the son of David, Jesus, reigning over

them.

Now, has this happened yet

anywhere in history?

No,

it didn't happen at the first coming. It

hasn't happened since the first coming.

This text is a text about the second

coming of Jesus Christ.

Moreover, I'll make a covenant of peace

with them. It'll be an everlasting

covenant with them. And I will place

them and multiply them. And I'll set my

sanctuary in the midst of them forever

more. And my tabernacle shall also be

with them. And I'll be their God and be

their my and they'll be my people. And

the nations shall know. These are

separate from these Jewish people that I

the Lord do sanctify Israel when my

sanctuary shall be in the midst of them

forever more.

Now, that's an end time unity. That's an

end time reunion. That's an end time

reuniting of that which has not been

together since the split between Rahab

and Gerobam that we're reading about.

Some sins cause problems so severe

they will never be completely solved

till Jesus returns.

And I I by the way I'd say to my all

male friends and some of your all male

this isn't talking about the church.

What's the text say?

This has not yet happened,

but this will happen.

You say, "Well, in the church there's no

Jew or Greek." Yeah, that's true. That's

true. Get that. Get that part.

But we don't have a king reigning in

Jerusalem.

It's what the text says.

Now, but what happened back in our in

our section in first kings, people do

stupid things. And as one very brilliant

person said in the movie, stupid is as

stupid does. And

it was stupid

with a capital S.

Both Rahab the king and Gerobam the king

made incredibly

foolish, sinful, stupid choices.

There was no end to the stupidity that

happened here.

And everything that God had set up

through Saul and David and Solomon is

now wrecked. And 3,000 years later,

we're still

dealing with the results.

You know, when we sin

and we confess,

and I hope when you sin, you confess.

That should come very quickly to us. But

when we sin and we confess, we kind of

expect God not only to forgive us, but

to undo the consequences of our sin.

Now, sometimes he does

undo some of the consequences.

Remember King David, some of the

consequences were mitigated. You're not

going to die. But the baby that was born

did die.

And the nation that David ruled was

never the same.

Read his confessions in Psalm 32 and 51.

We all have to live with con live with

consequences of other people's bad

choices and our bad choices. And

forgiveness doesn't always eliminate the

consequences.

You can't murder somebody and say,

"Well, now I'm saved. I got born again.

I don't want to be put to the electric

chair of the firing squad." Some gal

tried that in Texas. And fortunately,

even the pope was on her side. But

fortunately, the governor was smarter

than the pope and he executed her. I

believe she went to heaven, but she

deserved to die. There's consequences.

We all have to live with consequences of

bad choices. And others have to live

with the consequences of our bad

choices. Our family does, our neighbors

do sometimes, our church does.

Repentance is something that should

happen on a regular basis, right?

And so, but there is forgiveness with

God. All that's baked into history, but

there there's all this other stuff. Some

cho some of these choices

are fixed. Some aren't fixed or at least

not fixed right away. Right?

And so, in the history of Israel, this

went on and on and on and on and on and

on and on.

Still going on some fashion. Dale Ralph

Davis, Presbyterian scholar. He is all

male, I believe, but you know, they're

all my friends. I like them. Don't agree

with them.

But he said, writing in the Old

Testament, Dale Ralph Davis is an Old

Testament scholar. He says, "Is that

perhaps a proper point of counsel?" He's

back in our our text section in chapter

12 from verses 21 to 24 for Christ's

people. Are there some times when we

should acquies to our mucked up

circumstances or resign ourselves to the

hard providence the Lord has imposed?

That is not a welcome word to

contemporary men and women, at least in

the West. For some reason, we think

there must be a way to fix everything, a

band-aid for every dilemma. But most

sinful and thoughtful believers know

that sometimes their choices, their

folly, their boldheadedness, their

hard-heartedness have landed them into a

network of circumstances they simply

cannot undo.

Their lives are riddled with gaping

cracks that can't be caught or with

irreversible consequences that can't be

writed. What can one do but listen to

the word of the Lord at that point and

go on living in the kingdom as grace

enables us to do? Is that mere weakness

or is it plainly wisdom?

Now it's painful to have to live with

the consequences or sins of omission or

sins of commission. But thank God he

doesn't bring all the consequences on us

but he brings some. And that reminds us

I'm not going to try that again.

Had enough of that.

So, what do we do? Number one, we rest

in the sovereignty of God.

We rest in that. Some people hate that

word sovereignty. I don't. I'm glad

God's in control. I'm glad I'm not in

control or others aren't in control. We

rest in the sovereignty of God. All

things work together for good to those

that love God. There are those are

called according to his purpose.

That's not some things. That's just not

the good things. It's even the bad

things ultimately.

That's kind of important.

So, we look at we we rest in the

sovereignty of God. Now, two, we look to

the coming of Christ when all that

consequences will be over for the saved.

Anyway,

there'll be a reset.

What a blessing to think about that.

We look for the coming of Christ, the

new Jerusalem, when the former things

aren't going to be remembered anymore.

They'll be so ill relevant we won't be

thinking about.

And the things that conform us to the

image of Christ, sometimes it's the bad

things that we have to shed. God deals

with us by letting us fall.

Three, we need to recognize that

salvation does not erase

does not erase everything. There's

consequences

for us, for our family, for our church,

for our country.

Repentance and the new birth don't solve

everything, but they do give a new

start. Thank God for that.

And repentance and the new birth are not

designed as to be the ultimate fix.

Neither is confession of a Christian

when they fall. The ultimate fix comes

when we're glorified. The ultimate fix

comes when we're with the Lord.

Being born again is not the same as

being glorified.

Thankful for my new birth. I can't

imagine life without it now as a

Christian, but but the same.

And like Joseph, when others sin against

us or when even when we fail others, we

can say, "You meant it for evil, but God

forbid to save many people." There's a

purpose in it.

The stuff God allowed in our life.

He puts the chess pieces where he will.

I don't want to be a pawn. I want to be

a rook.

I want to be a knight.

I don't want to be a bishop. Talking

about Chesn.

No,

God

God has got a plan. God's work the plan

and sometimes pieces are are are

sacrificed for that plan to take place.

You ever sacrifice a queen?

My dad was a good chess player. He

played without a queen just to give us a

chance.

This queen was sacrificed before the

game began.

It was too boring with him to beat us so

bad.

So, thank God that he God's got a

purpose for everything, the good, the

bad, the ugly, as well as the good.

Philip Reichen said this, "Rehobom's

choice was wrong in itself, and it

caused problems that lasted for

centuries. Nevertheless, God still used

it to accomplish his purposes for his

people.

Alexander McLaren

Reichen's a bapt Presbyterian. Alexander

McLaren is a Baptist. He said there are

two ways of writing history. You can

either leave God out or trace all to

him.

Either leave him out or trace all to

him.

Guess what the Bible does? Traces all to

him.

God doesn't sin, but God somehow brings

good out of you and sin. Matthew Henry

said, "These two considerations to

should reconcile us to our losses and

troubles that God is the author of them

and our brother brothers are the

instruments of them. Don't get bitter,

get better."

I don't know what that Christian did to

me. Don't get bitter, get better.

Get get your forgiver

get get your forgiver lever working

better.

They're sandpaper Christians.

Let's just face it. They're pretty rough

on us, but they smooth out some rough

spots.

Again, back to Davis. He said the story

filtered through verse 15 should prove a

massive encouragement to Christ's flock.

Human hubris never catches the Lord by

surprise. He uses it.

God uses it now and God will fix it

ultimately through Jesus Christ.

Excuse me. My allergies are still in

force.

So the sin of Solomon, the sin of the

northern tribes, the sin of Gerobam, the

sin of Rahab,

the whole whole lot of sinning going on.

Somehow God's working his

sin of Solomon on the human side.

Solomon's sin destroyed everything.

polygamy,

idolatry,

and Matthew Henry said sin's a bad way

to build up a family.

You know, you if you've read about

Solomon, you know about his sin.

Second, the sins of the northern tribes

that broke off.

Long history of pride, independence,

self assertion.

McLaren said it's very doubtful if

concessions would have consolidated them

anyway. There's nothing elevated not to

say religious in their motives or

actions. It was a no-win situation no

matter what Rahob had done. I believe

that

I believe they the 10 northern tribes

came to that cow with agenda.

You read the text closely, you'll see

that

McLaren said, "Rancor, the rancor tribal

hatred is audible in its long um pent up

jealousy and dislike of the dynasty of

David." Uh, and you see that in 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 20:10

20 verse 10.

Another writer said that the delegates

were prepared for the worst seem obvious

for their carefully composed poetic

reply. And Alfred Hersshim said, "They

had indeed come to make Rayaboam king,

but only with full concession to their

tribal claims." Kind of like Iran. We'll

surrender, but under our terms.

The only surrender we'll do is if we

win.

Matthew Henry said their pretense was to

make him king, but the design was to

unmake him. David said, "Israel came to

Sheckchum without halos.

They came to second without either. So

the North had their problems

and Reichen said, "This sounds like the

first round of a negotiation for a union

contract."

So they, you know, they they had

suspicions about the south and all the

rest. Then you come to the we had the

sins of Solomon, then the sins of the

northern tribe, then the sin of Gerobam.

If you go back to chapter 11, you'll see

that uh all of this, it's ominous

that Jerobam's the chief spoke spokesman

of the north.

Immediately we see this isn't going to

this isn't going.

McLaren said, "The separation of the

kingdoms was God's doing, but it was

brought about by the free acting of men

obeying most secular impulses of

political discontent and led to a

connivingly self-seeking scheme." His

appearance as the leader was all but a

declaration of war.

So kind of see that's not going to work

out.

Reagan said we should consider the

source. Raram is making a power play

here. no recognition of the benefits of

David or Solomon. Jeroboam was not

asking but demanding. Jeroboam had no

intention of submitting to the rule of

God's anointed king.

And then fourth, there's the sins of the

old men advisers and the young men ad.

Many commentators said both groups gave

bad advice.

You say, "Wait a minute, you should have

listened to the old guys." No, the old

guys were just like politicians today.

Tell the people what they want to hear

and then when you're elected, do what

you want.

You know, there's people that actually

engage in that today. You watch their

speeches years ago and what they are

today and you catch them every time that

what were they doing back then telling

people what they wanted to hear. Did

they believe it? No, they didn't believe

it. They just what they want me to say

I'll say after the election I'll show my

real color. They're still doing it on

both sides.

That's what politicians do. How do you

know when a politician's lying?

If his lips are moving, he's lying. And

so that's what we got here is this this

whole business is bad on both ends.

Um,

and it's not very good.

Mark Twain said, "Everyone is a moon and

has a dark side which he never shows

anybody."

Mark Twain was a brilliant mind. He said

a lot of good things for an unsaved man.

He did have a saved wife in God's

providence

who mourned that she never her dying

mourning was Dwayne never got saved.

Chuck Swindoll calls these people reck a

reckless phony a bunch of phonies.

There was not one word of prayer,

repentance, or seeking God's word. Be

political. Be manipulative.

It would might have postponed the

division, but it wouldn't have solved

it. And then there's the sins of Ra

Bomb's younger council. These people

were beyond foolish.

U

said to bargain on Jeroboam's home turf

reflected Rab Bomb's weak, desperate

political position. Another said, "The

insensitive advice of these youth youths

proved it itself attractive to the empty

and infatuated prince." Total

miscalculation of the gravity of the

situation.

The language they used was crude,

vulgar, abusive, and volatile.

Bombastic, brutal bullies is all they

were.

And you know what?

Rabbomb repeated the advice almost word

for word.

Just took a hook, slide, and sinker. You

know, when you're dealing with somebody,

you're not always dealing with them.

You're dealing with some person you've

never met that's been advising them.

They're just involved.

Grossly foolish.

And Rail Bone follows and there's Rail

Bone himself.

His primary influence was an idolatrous

mother. His peers were strong influence.

He was a sock puppet. And Swindoll said

he didn't seek advice. He sought

justification.

So it's all bad business.

Matthew Henry said he couldn't have

acted more foolishly and impolitically.

Uh and Dale Dale Ralph Davis said,

"Rabboom stupidity was not an episode

but a pattern. He repeatedly gets it

wrong."

There are people like that, right? If it

a good choice or a bad choice, they

always seem to choose a bad thing.

Now, today in local churches, in homes,

in our nation, bad leadership is the

cause of an awful lot of problems.

Just Just a minute.

And this called an irreversible break

that as I said will not be healed till

Jesus comes.

Um

David said the glue had gone out of the

kingdom.

And Reichen said both Rahab and Jeroboam

made the wrong decision choosing to be

served rather than to

serve.

So challenging.

How does all this apply to us on another

level? One, we it help hopefully it

helps us understand the Bible, the

northern kingdom and the southern

kingdom. You read the prophet kind of

see where he is and then you get an idea

of what's going on. That's helpful on an

intellectual level, on an academic

level, even on a understanding level.

But there's other verses

about division

in the church,

in the home.

Jesus said, "A man's foes will be of his

own household."

He said, "A prophet has honor except in

his own house."

Paul said to the church at Rome, "I

appeal to you, brothers, to take note of

those who create dissensions and

difficulties in opposition to the

doctrine which you've been taught and

avoid them."

Romans 16:17.

Romans 16:17

For such persons do not serve our Lord

Jesus, but their own appetite and by

fair and flattering words deceive the

hearts of the simple-minded.

That happens. It's happening in Rome and

Paul called him out. Jude, who is very

strong on biblical separation from false

teachers also understand the false

teachers were engaging in unbiblical

separation. These are those that

separate themselves and cause others to

be divided.

In the last days, there'll be scoffers

following their own ungodly passions.

It's these who set up divisions, worldly

people devoid of the spirit. That's the

RSV translation. I just happen to have

that in my hand when I wrote this down.

But remember uh when G uh remember when

Jesus the baby was taken to the temple

and he was held up and the prophecy was

this child is set for the fall and

rising of many in Israel. There is a

dividing that happens when you preach

the gospel. There is a dividing that

happens when you believe the Bible and

take it seriously. That's a good

dividing. That has to happen. As painful

as it is, it's necessary.

It's necessary.

And some of you have had bad dividings

because of sins of others or of your own

sins. And you think, why did my life had

to be this way? Why couldn't I have a

normal life? There is no normal life in

a fallen world. Nothing in our world is

normal. It has been our normal since the

fall of Adam and Eve. We live in an

abnormal world. We all have an abnormal

life.

Right?

May God help us understand that

and grasp it and not get

expectations that aren't biblical. I

want my life to be this, this, and this.

Didn't turn out that way, so I'm mad at

God.

Think of all the good that came because

a young man called Daniel was separated

from his family and taken off to them.

You think Daniel had a happy life?

They would usually castrate him and took

care of your family life.

He did everything to make him a good

Babylonian. It didn't work. But what a

productive.

What a powerful testament

to Nebuchadnezzar,

to the Persian kings. What a blessing

his life has been to us. as we read the

book of Daniel at cost

that he had special power in prayer. He

had special experiences with God that

are over and above any of the other

happiness and things in life

even in the lion's den. What an

experience that would be.

or have the prophecies that he had and

the promises that he had.

So, you know, nobody gets a perfect life

in a fallen world. Some people get a

very hard life in a fallen world. How

about Joseph? There was a division. He

got poor Joseph. He didn't do anything

wrong. Yeah, he's a little bit proud,

but aren't all teenagers a little proud?

He and he was a little puffed up about

the vision that God gave him in his

sleep and he told him then they had

brothers let's kill him and see what

will become of his dreams and all that.

Uh thank God for Joseph. Thank God for

uh what God did through Joseph. He saved

the whole family. He saved the whole

program of God. He saved all the

Gentiles in Egypt and all the rest. How

God used it. Do you think Joseph is

going to be

feeling he got jipped

on the judgment day?

No.

So let's put our problems and our pain

and our struggles

of ourselves,

of our families, of our church,

of our country, of our world

into perspective.

What we study today is one of the

biggest messes in the whole program of

God.

And it's not fixed yet, but it will be.

Paul experienced these kind of things. I

was reading the book of Acts. Half the

city was for him and half the city was

against him. That's painful. I like that

one part. Half the city's for us. But

what about this other part? Half the

city's against us.

And so there's many things like this in

life and in God's word.

The unthinkable can happen. That which

hits us the hardest can happen. We can

be like Job and oh the very thing I

thought was I hated the most. I didn't

want to happen happened.

Okay, it happened.

How many have been blessed from the book

of Job?

Who else has had thousands of years of

ministry

to other people,

Job,

and God lifted much of it in his

lifetime, but even down through history,

God has used that whole thing. Well, I

hope this has been a challenge and

blessing to you. Maybe you're dealing

with something that I don't even have a

clue about. But I do know sometimes

churches have divisions. Paul said to

the Corinthians, "I hear there's

divisions among you, and I partially

believe it."

I believe it.

It happens. There's divisions at

families. There's divisions. There's

pain. And there was a division back in

Rahab and Jerobom's day. It's an

important division to know. It helps us

to understand

our Bible history, but it also helps us

to understand our providential

experiences.

We have a God that shepherds us even in

the valley of the shadow of death,

who prepares us a table in the presence

of our enemy,

in whom we will be in his house, will

dwell in his house.

No more valley of shadow of death. No

more enemies

forever.

Father, we thank you for your word. We

thank you for your truth.

And the these are precious things in

your word. They're kind of hard things

to understand. the geography and the

history and the genealogies and the all

the things we try to have to juggle in

our minds to get the

picture of what you put in your word. So

we pray that we go out here in a way

that we can hold our head up and trust

God's working

when even when we know he's not.

He's got purposes for the hard things in

life

as well as the good things. Give us a

lot of the good things. Help us to be

patient

and faithful,

persevering with the hard things.

Everybody here's got some hard things

that they wish didn't happen and they

can't change it.

You've got purposes.