Just Believe God

Solomon seems to have justified his disobedience as being a deterrent against attack and building the economy.  As we saw, it had the opposite effect, causing them to be in a constant state of war and the people begging for relief.  Looking back in history, we find that God had already promised to take care of the things Solomon used to justify his sin, In Exodus 23:20-33.

“Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.   Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.   I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.   And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.  

Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.”

If Israel would do exactly as God directed, avoiding any ties to the people around them or their religions, God promise to protect Israel from them.    Leviticus 26:3-12 gives more detail about what God had promised. 

“If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;  Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.  And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.  And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.  And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.  For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.  And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.   And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

Other countries would be afraid to attack them, knowing God was protecting them.    When they were attacked, God would fight for them, so that just a few would be able to defeat a huge army.  They would not need a huge military force to protect them, nor would they need to forge treaties to either prevent being attacked or to provide help in case of attack.    

Economically, he promised that if they would obey Him, their crops and herds would always be productive and profitable.   The rains would always come at the right times, and they would never have to deal with famines because there would always be  some of last year’s crop left that had to be disposed of in order to store the new crop.   God would let others farm the land and care for so that as they expanded, he would drive them out as the land was needed so they could use it immediately without needing reclamation projects.   Eventually they would own everything from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red sea and from the deserts of Arabia and Jordan to the Euphrates River. 

God had already promised to everything Solomon hoped to accomplish with his sin and more, if they would just obey him.  There was no justification for Solomon to commit those sins.    By rationalizing his sin, Solomon was implying God was unable to fulfil his promise, effectively doubting God. 

When we begin to justify rationalize disobedience to God, even to accomplish some godly seeming purpose, we imply God is not able to perform what he promised and needs us to do it for him.   If we really believe him and love him we will just do what he said and trust him to make it turn out right.  There's no need for us to try to make it happen some other way.