Although it was obviously God-ordained, I’ve always thought the circumstances surrounding the split in Israel after the reign of Solomon, between what became the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, contained a strange contradiction – until I read more closely.

Every indication was that during the time of Solomon, the people of Israel were well-treated and lived in abundance. Confirming this is 1 Kings 9:22:

“But of the people of Israel, Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.”

Even the Queen of Sheba stated in 1 Kings 10:8:

“Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!”

Yet, for some reason, there was trouble in paradise. We learn of the bottom-line reason in 1 Kings 11:9-13:

“So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.'”

It never fails, as we see throughout all of Biblical history, when God’s people turn from Him, He eventually brings the rebellious to account.

The question becomes, however: If the people of Israel were happy and content, what circumstances could possibly lead to the split of Israel into two kingdoms?

We learn the sad facts in 1 Kings 9:20-21:

“All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel—their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction—these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day.”

Why is this sad? Clearly, as the text states, these peoples shouldn’t have been there in the first place. If Israel had been obedient to the Lord and destroyed these tribes as God commanded, the situation would have been much different. But, just like the Gibeonites who deceived Joshua and remained in the land as servants to the Israelites (because he didn’t seek the Lord on this issue), none of these groups was wiped out and, over time, were conscripted to work for King Solomon as forced labor in his building projects, as 1 Kings 9:15 notes:

“And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the LORD and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer.”

The NKJV provides an interesting contrary description of this same verse using this phrase: “the labor force which King Solomon raised.” I think that the ESV, which I’m first referencing, is correct, given the context.

So, here’s the situation: Solomon begins carrying out the temple and palace-building efforts that his father David had envisioned. He uses the pagans in the land for the bulk of the hard work, while the Jews are given preferential treatment in the work they do. In order to accomplish the tasks at hand, we see the necessary delegation in 1 Kings 11:28:

“The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing that the young man was industrious, made him the officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.”

All the pagan tribes engaged in the forced labor had Jeroboam over them. Because of the Lord’s intent to rip Solomon’s kingdom in two after his death, God had the prophet Ahijah anoint Jeroboam as the one who would do that (1 Kings 11:29-33). In fact, God promised Jeroboam that if he was faithful to the Lord, God would build His house through him and his descendants (1 Kings 11:38).

Solomon somehow knew of this anointing and tried unsuccessfully to kill Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:40). All this inspired Jeroboam. Once Solomon died and his son Rehoboam ascended to the throne, Jeroboam put events in motion to achieve the crown promised him by God.

He had the ear of the pagans who were tired of the work to which they’d been assigned. Hearing their complaints, he came before Rehoboam to present their case. Identifying with the pagans, he said in 2 Chronicles 10:4:

“Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

We know that Rehoboam foolishly rejected the good advice of the elders who had counseled Solomon and listened to his peer group, i.e., the hot-headed young men surrounding him.

That opened the door for the Word of God to come to pass as spoken by the prophet Ahijah over Jeroboam. The kingdom of Israel was rent apart with even the Jews in that part of the land following Jeroboam and the pagan tribes.

Subsequently, Jeroboam turned from God despite His having given him honor and power. The man’s abandonment of the Lord was so great that he commissioned two golden calves to be built as worship idols in order to convince the Jews in his Northern Kingdom not to travel to Jerusalem to the temple of Yahweh. In the succeeding years, resulting from his actions, it was his name that was inevitably associated with some of the greatest apostasy in Israel’s history.

It was his wickedness in this matter of leading the people astray that provoked the Lord immensely. The “sins of Jeroboam” (ref: 1 Kings 14:16, 2 Kings 13:11, and many more) ultimately brought destruction upon the Northern Kingdom, as the people never turned back to Yahweh.

The moral of the story is that leadership matters. Someone may even have a promise from God for His blessings, yet because of the lusts of the flesh, completely disregard what the Lord has said in order to fulfill his own need for power or money. Because of Jeroboam’s interactions with the pagan tribes, i.e., the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, they had likely corrupted him long before he came into his anointed authority.

He yoked himself to those who had no reverence for God and became like them. The world drew him into its sphere, and he became no different than the world.

Isn’t this what we see among many church leaders today? They want to please those outside the church, they ignore God’s Word and believe what the world says, and inevitably they spurn God by disputing the inerrancy of the Bible by embracing the social causes promoted by government and media, and often by falling into sexual sin.

If so much of the church is compromised by its leaders, is it any wonder there are so few remaining people of God yearning for Him and His soon return? If you have rejected God, why would you want Him to come in judgment? Wouldn’t you want to dig deeper into this world, to try to mold it to suit your needs and desires, and to keep it going as it is as long as possible?

That’s what happened in ancient Israel and which led to the nation’s utter destruction. We have Bible history to see God’s actions as a template for how He operates. It’s why we can say with certainty that, given all the wickedness and the converging prophetic signs, devastation is almost at hand.

How long will God extend His mercy by refraining from exercising deserved judgment upon the world? We can’t know, but the Lord has given many of us a sense of how desperate the times are. We also see that the remnant is comprised of few believers – weary believers, I might add.

Surely those who follow Christ have become fatigued in past years, but has there ever been such a universal awareness of that among those waiting for God to act? I don’t know – but I have my doubts.

God, indeed, will act in justice and righteousness according to His timing. Let us cling to what is good, and He will come sooner than we can even imagine.

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Please click here to hear the audio version of this commentary: https://rumble.com/v1p1oq5-biblical-audio-commentary-those-who-were-left.html

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Kindle Vella story: Tribulation Rising

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Revelation 6:15-17; “Then the kings of the earth, and the great ones and the generals and the rich and powerful, and everyone slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks to ‘fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who can stand?'” (ESV – all emphasis mine)

Isaiah 2:10-11; “Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of His majesty. The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”

John 6:67-69; “So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.'”

For all who believe they can live without our Heavenly Father in their lives, and for those who don’t believe He exists just because they say so, the day is coming very soon when they will be shown just how wrong and foolish they have been.

Psalm 139: 1-16; “Lord, You have searched me, and known me! You know when I sit down, and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path, and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, Oh Lord, You know it altogether. You hem me in behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to Heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.

“If I say, ‘surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light to You. For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.'”

To many lost souls today, the words of these passages are just gibberish. Satan and his demons are working harder than ever before to turn souls away from having eternal life with the Father, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Even though he knows what his final outcome will be (Revelation 20:10), he is just arrogant enough to want to cause as much hate and destruction as possible before the true eternity begins.

Jeremiah 23:24; “Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him, declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth, declares the Lord.”

Luke 8:17; “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be made known and come to light.”

Luke 12:2; “Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be made known.”

Then 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Another powerful verse is Hebrews 4:13; “And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

There are a lot of verses here to consider and a lot of information to take in at one time. However, as stated earlier, Satan is not taking any time off. 1 Peter 5:8; “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Just looking at all the changes that have taken place in the past two years in this whole world should be a definite indicator that end-time prophecies are totally true and accurate. People are fulfilling Matthew 7:13-14 with more turning to this world and its leader than those who are seeking Jesus to be their eternal Savior. Isaiah 5:20, where evil is seen as good and good seen as evil is becoming the normal attitude.

Jesus said there would be a turning away from the faith in the last days and that there would be an increase in false prophets and antichrist activities. Just watching or reading all the faux news that is being given should be a clear sign of this.

For all who wish to be ready when the Trumpet of God sounds and the shout comes from the archangel, right now would be a great time to seek the Savior. The “Rapture” could take place at any moment, and the “twinkling of an eye” is super-fast. Experts have calculated that this is less than 100th of a second. And yes, God can make that event take place in that short time period.

The one place you can be assured that you would not be wasting time is to seek the Savior and be safe within His precious flock (John 10). He gave His life here on earth so that we could be cleansed of all sin and have a Home in Paradise with Him. In 1946 (my birth year), James B. Coats released a song, “Where Could I Go but to the Lord?” It has been recorded many times by many artists, and his message is very applicable for today.

1.) Living below in this old sinful world, hardly a comfort can afford; Striving alone to face temptations sore, Where could I go but to the Lord?

Ref.) Where could I go? Oh, where could I go? Seeking a refuge for my soul? Needing a Friend to save me in the end, Where could I go but to the Lord?

2.) Neighbors are kind; I love them every one; we get along in sweet accord; But when my soul needs manna from above, Where could I go but to the Lord!

3.) Life is grand with friends I love so dear, Comfort I get from God’s own word; Yet when I face the chilling hand of death, Where could I go but to the Lord?

In 2 Thessalonians 2, we’re told of the coming of the “lawless one” who will be the ultimate evil antichrist of the 7-year tribulation. He is currently held back by a “Restrainer,” which would be the Holy Spirit that indwells all true believers. When the Father gives the word, the antichrist will be released, and this world will see evil and terror as never before. All who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit will be removed from this earth by the Rapture to keep us from the coming wrath. That’s found in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, and Revelation 3:10.

For all who have chosen the god of this world, they will be given a strong delusion so they will believe all the lies that Satan’s evil one puts out (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). They will be the ones who will gladly take the “mark of the beast” and therefore be condemned to the lake of fire forever.

If you would go to Romans 10:9-13, the simple steps to call out for Salvation are there. The final statement is, “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved!” From that moment on, your eternity is set with the Lord, and He will even personally prepare a place for you in Heaven (John 14:1-3). Eternity is forever, and that’s a long time not to have made the right choice. It will either be Heaven with the Lord, or hell with Satan and all his demons.

You will be eternally thankful that you will have made the right choice. There’s nothing hard about it. God’s word is true and accurate. Confess, Believe, Call – that’s it. Hope to see you at Home!

Shalom! Maranatha! (Peace – Come, Lord Jesus.)

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