1097 lines
51 KiB
HTML
1097 lines
51 KiB
HTML
<HTML>
|
|
<HEAD>
|
|
<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [First Kings, Chapter XI].</TITLE>
|
|
<meta name="aesop" content="information">
|
|
<meta name="description" content=
|
|
"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
|
|
<meta name="keywords" content=
|
|
"Prophecy, Rapture,hope,bible map,bible maps, God, tribulation,Second Coming,Christ,large print bible,commentary,complete">
|
|
</HEAD>
|
|
<body background="../sueback.jpg" bgproperties="fixed" >
|
|
<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
|
|
on the Whole Bible</h1>
|
|
<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
|
|
</h3>
|
|
</center>
|
|
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<TR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC11010.HTM">Previous</A>]
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC11012.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
|
Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
|
|
</TD></TR></TABLE>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (Begin Body) -->
|
|
|
|
<CENTER>
|
|
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T K I N G S</B></FONT>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XI.</FONT>
|
|
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
|
|
</CENTER>
|
|
|
|
<FONT SIZE=-1>
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This chapter begins with as melancholy a "but" as almost any we find in
|
|
all the Bible. Hitherto we have read nothing of Solomon but what was
|
|
great and good; but the lustre both of his goodness and of his
|
|
greatness is here sullied and eclipsed, and his sun sets under a cloud.
|
|
|
|
I. The glory of his piety is stained by his departure from God and his
|
|
duty, in his latter days, marrying strange wives and worshipping
|
|
strange gods,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:4-8">ver. 4-8</A>.
|
|
|
|
II. The glory of his prosperity is stained by God's displeasure against
|
|
him and the fruits of that displeasure.
|
|
|
|
1. He sent him an angry message,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:9-13">ver. 9-13</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He stirred up enemies, who gave him disturbance, Hadad
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:14-22">ver. 14-22</A>),
|
|
|
|
Rezon,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:23-25">ver. 23-25</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. He gave away ten tribes of his twelve, from his posterity after him,
|
|
to Jeroboam, whom therefore he sought in vain to slay
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:26-40">ver. 26-40</A>),
|
|
|
|
and this is all that remains here to be told concerning Solomon, except
|
|
his death and burial
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:41-43">ver. 41-43</A>),
|
|
|
|
for there is nothing perfect under the sun, but all is so above the
|
|
sun.</P>
|
|
|
|
</FONT>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_1"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_2"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_3"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_4"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_5"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_6"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_7"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_8"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Solomon's Defection and Degeneracy.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 983.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the
|
|
daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites,
|
|
Zidonians, <I>and</I> Hittites;
|
|
2 Of the nations <I>concerning</I> which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto the
|
|
children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall
|
|
they come in unto you: <I>for</I> surely they will turn away your
|
|
heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
|
|
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred
|
|
concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
|
|
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, <I>that</I> his wives
|
|
turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not
|
|
perfect with the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> his God, as <I>was</I> the heart of David his
|
|
father.
|
|
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the
|
|
Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
|
|
6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and went not
|
|
fully after the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, as <I>did</I> David his father.
|
|
7 Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, the
|
|
abomination of Moab, in the hill that <I>is</I> before Jerusalem, and
|
|
for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
|
|
8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt
|
|
incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This is a sad story, and very surprising, of Solomon's defection and
|
|
degeneracy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Let us enquire into the occasions and particulars of it. Shall
|
|
Solomon fall, that was the beauty of Israel, and so great a blessing of
|
|
his generation? Yes, it is too true, and the scripture is faithful in
|
|
relating it, and repeating it, and referring to it long after,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+13:26">Neh. xiii. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>There was no king like Solomon who was beloved of his God, yet even
|
|
him did outlandish women cause to sin.</I> There is the summary of his
|
|
apostasy; it was the woman that <I>deceived him,</I> and was <I>first
|
|
in the transgression.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He doted on strange women, <I>many strange women.</I> Here his
|
|
revolt began.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He gave himself to women, which his mother had particularly
|
|
cautioned him against.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:3">Prov. xxxi. 3</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Give not thy strength unto women</I> (perhaps alluding to Samson,
|
|
who lost his strength by giving information of it to a woman), for it
|
|
is that which, as much as any thing, destroys kings. His father David's
|
|
fall began with the lusts of the flesh, which he should have taken
|
|
warning by. The love of women has <I>cast down many wounded</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+7:26">Prov. vii. 26</A>)
|
|
|
|
and <I>many</I> (says bishop Hall) <I>have had their head broken by
|
|
their own rib.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He took many women, so many that, at last, they amounted to 700
|
|
wives and 300 concubines, 1000 in all, and not one good one among them,
|
|
as he himself owns in his penitential sermon
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+7:28">Eccl. vii. 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
for no woman of established virtue would be one of such a set. God
|
|
had, by his law, particularly forbidden the kings to multiply either
|
|
horses or wives,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+17:16,17">Deut. xvii. 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
How he broke the former law, in multiplying horses, and having them
|
|
<I>out of Egypt</I> too (which was expressly prohibited in that law) we
|
|
read
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+10:29"><I>ch.</I> x. 29</A>,
|
|
|
|
and here we are told how he broke the latter (which proved of more
|
|
fatal consequence) in multiplying wives. Note, Less sins, made gold
|
|
with, open the door to greater. David had multiplied wives too much,
|
|
and perhaps that made Solomon presume it lawful. Note, If those that
|
|
are in reputation for religion in any thing set a bad example, they
|
|
know not what a deal of mischief they may do by it, particularly to
|
|
their own children. One bad act of a good man may be of more pernicious
|
|
consequence to others than twenty of a wicked man. Probably Solomon,
|
|
when he began to multiply wives, intended not to exceed his father's
|
|
number. But the way of sin is down-hill; those that have got into it
|
|
cannot easily stop themselves. Divine wisdom has appointed one woman
|
|
for one man, did so at first; and those who do not think one enough
|
|
will not think two or three enough. Unbridled lust will be unbounded,
|
|
and the loosened hind will wander endlessly. But this was not all:
|
|
|
|
(3.) They were strange women, Moabites, Ammonites, &c., of the nations
|
|
which God had particularly forbidden them to intermarry with,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some think it was in policy that he married these foreigners, by them
|
|
to get intelligence of the state of those countries. I rather fear it
|
|
was because the daughters of Israel were too grave and modest for him,
|
|
and those foreigners pleased him with the looseness and wantonness of
|
|
their dress, and air, and conversation. Or, perhaps, it was looked upon
|
|
as a piece of state to have his seraglio, as his other treasures,
|
|
replenished with that which was far-fetched; as if that were too great
|
|
an honour for the best of his subjects which would really have been a
|
|
disgrace to the meanest of them--to be his mistresses. And,
|
|
|
|
(4.) To complete the mischief, <I>Solomon clave unto these in love,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
He not only kept them, but was extravagantly fond of them, set his
|
|
heart upon them, spent his time among them, thought every thing well
|
|
they said and did, and despised Pharaoh's daughter, his rightful wife,
|
|
who had been dear to him, and all the ladies of Israel, in comparison
|
|
of them. Solomon was master of a great deal of knowledge, but to what
|
|
purpose, when he had no better a government of his appetites?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He was drawn by them to the worship of strange gods, as Israel to
|
|
Baal-peor by the daughters of Moab. This was the bad consequence of his
|
|
multiplying wives. We have reason to think it impaired his health, and
|
|
hastened upon him the decays of age; it exhausted his treasure, which,
|
|
though vast indeed, would be found little enough to maintain the pride
|
|
and vanity of all these women; perhaps it occasioned him, in his latter
|
|
end, to neglect his business, by which he lost his supplies from
|
|
abroad, and was forced, for the keeping up of his grandeur, to burden
|
|
his subjects with those taxes which they complained of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:4"><I>ch.</I> xii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
But none of these consequences were so bad as this: <I>His wives turned
|
|
away his heart after other gods,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He grew cool and indifferent in his own religion and remiss in the
|
|
service of the God of Israel: <I>His heart was not perfect with the
|
|
Lord his God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
nor did he <I>follow him fully</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
like David. We cannot suppose that he quite cast off the worship of
|
|
God, much less that he restrained or hindered it (the temple-service
|
|
went on as usual); but he grew less frequent, and less serious, in
|
|
<I>his ascent to the house of the Lord</I> and his attendance on his
|
|
altar. He left his first love, lost his zeal for God, and did not
|
|
persevere to the end as he had begun; therefore it is said <I>he was
|
|
not perfect,</I> because he was not <I>constant;</I> and he followed
|
|
not God fully, because he turned from following him, and did not
|
|
continue to the end. His father David had many faults, but he never
|
|
neglected the worship of God, nor grew remiss in that, as Solomon did
|
|
(his wives using all their arts to divert him from it), and
|
|
<I>there</I> began his apostasy.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He tolerated and maintained his wives in their idolatry and made
|
|
no scruple of joining with them in it. Pharaoh's daughter was
|
|
proselyted (as is supposed) to the Jews' religion, but, when he began
|
|
to grow careless in the worship of God himself, he used no means to
|
|
convert his other wives to it; in complaisance to them, he built
|
|
chapels for their gods
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
maintained their priests, and occasionally did himself attend their
|
|
altars, making a jest of it, asking, "What harm is there in it? Are not
|
|
all religions alike?" which (says bishop Patrick) has been the
|
|
<I>disease of some great wits.</I> When he humoured one thus, the rest
|
|
would take it ill if he did not, in like manner, gratify them, so that
|
|
he did it for all his wives
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
and at last came to such a degree of impiety that he set up a high
|
|
place for <I>Chemosh in the hill that is before Jerusalem,</I> the
|
|
<I>mount of Olives,</I> as if to confront the temple which he himself
|
|
had built. These high places continued here, not utterly demolished,
|
|
till Josiah's time,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:13">2 Kings xxiii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is the account here given of Solomon's apostasy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Let us now pause awhile, and lament Solomon's fall; and we may
|
|
justly stand and wonder at it. <I>How has the gold become dim! How has
|
|
the most fine gold changed! Be astonished, O heavens! at this, and be
|
|
horribly afraid,</I> as the prophet exclaims in a like case,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:12">Jer. ii. 12</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How strange,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That Solomon, in his old age, should be ensnared with fleshly
|
|
lusts, youthful lusts. As we must never presume upon the strength of
|
|
our resolutions, so neither upon the weakness of our corruptions, so as
|
|
to be secure and off our guard.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That so wise a man as Solomon was, so famed for a quick
|
|
understanding and sound judgment, should suffer himself to be made such
|
|
a fool of by these foolish women.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That one who had so often and so plainly warned others of the
|
|
danger of the love of women should himself be so wretchedly bewitched
|
|
with it; it is easier to see a mischief, and to show it to others, than
|
|
to shun it ourselves.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That so good a man, so zealous for the worship of God, who had
|
|
been so conversant with divine things, and who prayed that excellent
|
|
prayer at the dedication of the temple, should do these sinful things.
|
|
Is this Solomon? Have all his wisdom and devotion come to this at last?
|
|
Never was gallant ship so wrecked; never was crown so profaned.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. What shall we say to all this? Why God permitted it it is not for us
|
|
to enquire; his way is in the sea and his path in the great waters; he
|
|
knew how to bring glory to himself out of it. God foresaw it when he
|
|
said concerning him that should build the temple, <I>If he commit
|
|
iniquity,</I> &c.,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+7:14">2 Sam. vii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
But it concerns us to enquire what good use we may make of it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. We see how
|
|
weak we are of ourselves, without the grace of God; let us therefore
|
|
live in a constant dependence on that grace.
|
|
|
|
(2.) See the danger of a prosperous condition, and how hard it is to
|
|
overcome the temptations of it. Solomon, like Jeshurun, waxed fat and
|
|
then kicked. The food convenient, which Agur prayed for, is safer and
|
|
better than the food abundant, which Solomon was even surfeited with.
|
|
|
|
(3.) See what need those have to stand upon their guard who have made a
|
|
great profession of religion, and shown themselves forward and zealous
|
|
in devotion, because the devil will set upon them most violently, and,
|
|
if they misbehave, the reproach is the greater. It is the evening that
|
|
commends the day; let us therefore fear, lest, having run well, we seem
|
|
to come short.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_13"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>God's Displeasure against Solomon.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 983.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>9 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was angry with Solomon, because his heart was
|
|
turned from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel, which had appeared unto him
|
|
twice,
|
|
10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should
|
|
not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
commanded.
|
|
11 Wherefore the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is
|
|
done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes,
|
|
which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from
|
|
thee, and will give it to thy servant.
|
|
12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy
|
|
father's sake: <I>but</I> I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
|
|
13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; <I>but</I> will
|
|
give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for
|
|
Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. God's anger against Solomon for his sin. The thing he did
|
|
<I>displeased the Lord.</I> Time was then the Lord <I>loved Solomon</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+12:24">2 Sam. xii. 24</A>)
|
|
|
|
and delighted in him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+10:9"><I>ch.</I> x. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
but now <I>the Lord was angry with Solomon</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
for there was in his sin,
|
|
|
|
1. The most base ingratitude that could be. He turned from the Lord
|
|
<I>who had appeared unto him twice,</I> once before he began to build
|
|
the temple
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+3:5"><I>ch.</I> iii. 5</A>)
|
|
|
|
and once after he had dedicated it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+9:2"><I>ch.</I> ix. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
God keeps account of the gracious visits he makes us, whether we do or
|
|
no, knows how often he has appeared <I>to</I> us and <I>for</I> us, and
|
|
will remember it against us if we <I>turn from him.</I> God's appearing
|
|
to Solomon was such a sensible confirmation of his faith as should have
|
|
for ever prevented his worshipping <I>any other god;</I> it was also
|
|
such a distinguishing favour, and put such an honour upon him, as he
|
|
ought never to have forgotten, especially considering what God said to
|
|
him in both these appearances.
|
|
|
|
2. The most wilful disobedience. This was the very thing concerning
|
|
which <I>God had commanded him--that he should not go after other
|
|
gods,</I> yet he was not restrained by such an express admonition,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those who have dominion over men are apt to forget God's dominion over
|
|
them; and, while they demand obedience from their inferiors, to deny it
|
|
to him who is the Supreme.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The message he sent him hereupon
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The Lord said unto Solomon</I> (it is likely by a prophet) that he
|
|
must expect to smart for his apostasy. And here,
|
|
|
|
1. The sentence is just, that, since he had revolted from God, part of
|
|
his kingdom should revolt from his family; he had given God's glory to
|
|
the creature, and therefore God would give his crown to his servant:
|
|
"<I>I will rend the kingdom from thee,</I> in thy posterity, and will
|
|
<I>give it to thy servant,</I> who shall bear rule over much of that
|
|
for which thou hast laboured." This was a great mortification to
|
|
Solomon, who pleased himself no doubt with the prospect of the entail
|
|
of his rich kingdom upon his heirs for ever. Sin brings ruin upon
|
|
families, cuts off entails, alienates estates, and lays men's honour in
|
|
the dust.
|
|
|
|
2. Yet the mitigations of it are very kind, for David's sake
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, for the sake of the promise made to David. Thus all the favour
|
|
God shows to man is for <I>Christ's sake,</I> and for the sake of the
|
|
covenant made with him. The kingdom shall be rent from Solomon's
|
|
house, but,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Not immediately. Solomon shall not live to see it done, but it
|
|
shall be rent <I>out of the hand of his son,</I> a son that was born to
|
|
him by one of his strange wives, for his mother was an Ammonitess
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:31">1 Kings xiv. 31</A>)
|
|
|
|
and probably had been a promoter of idolatry. What comfort can a man
|
|
take in leaving children and an estate behind him if he do not leave a
|
|
blessing behind him? Yet, if judgments be coming, it is a favour to us
|
|
if they come not in our days, as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+20:19">2 Kings xx. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Not wholly. One tribe, that of Judah, the strongest and most
|
|
numerous, shall remain to the house of David
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
for Jerusalem's sake, which David built, and for the sake of the temple
|
|
there, which Solomon built; these shall not go into other hands.
|
|
Solomon did not quickly nor wholly turn away from God; therefore God
|
|
did not quickly nor wholly take the kingdom from him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Upon this message which God graciously sent to Solomon, to awaken his
|
|
conscience and bring him to repentance, we have reason to hope that he
|
|
humbled himself before God, confessed his sin, begged pardon, and
|
|
returned to his duty, that he then published his repentance in the book
|
|
of Ecclesiastes, where he bitterly laments his own folly and madness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+7:25,26"><I>ch.</I> vii. 25, 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
and warns others to take heed of the like evil courses, and to <I>fear
|
|
God</I> and <I>keep his commandments,</I> in consideration of <I>the
|
|
judgment to come,</I> which, it is likely, had made him tremble, as it
|
|
did Felix. That penitential sermon was as true an indication of a heart
|
|
broken for sin and turned from it as David's penitential psalms were,
|
|
though of another nature. God's grace in his people works variously.
|
|
Thus, though Solomon fell, <I>he was not utterly cast down;</I> what
|
|
God had said to David concerning him was fulfilled: <I>I will chasten
|
|
him with the rod of men, but my mercy shall not depart from him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+7:14,15">2 Sam. vii. 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though God may suffer those whom he loves to fall into sin, he will not
|
|
suffer them to lie still in it. Solomon's defection, though it was much
|
|
his reproach and a great blemish to his personal character, yet did not
|
|
so far break in upon the character of his reign but that it was
|
|
afterwards made the pattern of a good reign,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+11:17">2 Chron. xi. 17</A>,
|
|
|
|
where the kings are said to have done well, while <I>they walked in the
|
|
way of David and Solomon.</I> But, though we have all this reason to
|
|
hope he repented and found mercy, yet the Holy Ghost did not think fit
|
|
expressly to record his recovery, but left it doubtful, for warning to
|
|
others not to sin upon presumption of repenting, for it is but a
|
|
peradventure whether <I>God will give them repentance,</I> or, if he
|
|
do, whether he will give the evidence of it to themselves or others.
|
|
Great sinners may recover themselves and have the benefit of their
|
|
repentance, and yet be denied both the comfort and credit of it; the
|
|
guilt may be taken away, and yet not the reproach.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_25"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Solomon's Adversaries.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 980.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the
|
|
Edomite: he <I>was</I> of the king's seed in Edom.
|
|
15 For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the
|
|
captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had
|
|
smitten every male in Edom;
|
|
16 (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until
|
|
he had cut off every male in Edom:)
|
|
17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's
|
|
servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad <I>being</I> yet a little
|
|
child.
|
|
18 And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they
|
|
took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto
|
|
Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him a house, and appointed him
|
|
victuals, and gave him land.
|
|
19 And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so
|
|
that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister
|
|
of Tahpenes the queen.
|
|
20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom
|
|
Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh's
|
|
household among the sons of Pharaoh.
|
|
21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his
|
|
fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad
|
|
said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own
|
|
country.
|
|
22 Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with
|
|
me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he
|
|
answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.
|
|
23 And God stirred him up <I>another</I> adversary, Rezon the son of
|
|
Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:
|
|
24 And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a
|
|
band, when David slew them <I>of Zobah:</I> and they went to Damascus,
|
|
and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.
|
|
25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon,
|
|
beside the mischief that Hadad <I>did:</I> and he abhorred Israel, and
|
|
reigned over Syria.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
While Solomon kept closely to God and to his duty there was <I>no
|
|
adversary nor evil occurrent</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+5:4"><I>ch.</I> v. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
nothing to create him any disturbance or uneasiness in the least; but
|
|
here we have an account of two adversaries that appeared against him,
|
|
inconsiderable, and that could not have done any thing worth taking
|
|
notice of if Solomon had not first made God his enemy. What hurt could
|
|
Hadad or Rezon have done to so great and powerful a king as Solomon was
|
|
if he had not, by sin, made himself mean and weak? And then those
|
|
little people menace and insult him. If God be on our side, we need not
|
|
fear the greatest adversary; but, if he be against us, he can made us
|
|
fear the least, and the very grasshopper shall be a burden.
|
|
Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Both these adversaries God stirred up,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:14,23"><I>v.</I> 14, 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though they themselves were moved by principles of ambition or revenge,
|
|
God made use of them to serve his design of correcting Solomon. The
|
|
principal judgment threatened was deferred, namely, the rending of the
|
|
kingdom from him, but he himself was made to fee the smart of the rod,
|
|
for his greater humiliation. Note, Whoever are, in any way, adversaries
|
|
to us, we must take notice of the hand of God stirring them up to be
|
|
so, as he bade Shimei curse David; we must look through the instruments
|
|
of our trouble to the author of it and hear the Lord's controversy in
|
|
it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Both these adversaries had the origin of their enmity to Solomon
|
|
and Israel laid in David's time, and in his conquests of their
|
|
respective countries,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:15,24"><I>v.</I> 15, 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Solomon had the benefit and advantage of his father's successes both in
|
|
the enlargement of his dominion and the increase of his treasure, and
|
|
would never have known any thing but the benefit of them if he had kept
|
|
closely to God; but now he finds evils to balance the advantages, and
|
|
that David had made himself enemies, who were thorns in his sides.
|
|
Those that are too free in giving provocation ought to consider that
|
|
perhaps it may be remembered in time to come and returned with interest
|
|
to theirs after them; having so few friends in this world, it is our
|
|
wisdom not to make ourselves more enemies than we needs must.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Hadad, an Edomite, was an adversary to Solomon. We are not told what
|
|
he did against him, nor which way he gave him disturbance, only, in
|
|
general, that he was an adversary to him: but we are told,
|
|
|
|
(1.) What induced him to bear Solomon a grudge. David had conquered
|
|
Edom,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+8:14">2 Sam. viii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Joab put all the males to the sword,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
A terrible execution he made, avenging on Edom their old enmity to
|
|
Israel, yet perhaps with too great a severity. From this general
|
|
slaughter, while Joab was burying the slain (for he left not any alive
|
|
of their own people to bury them, and buried they must be, or they
|
|
would be an annoyance to the country,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+39:12">Ezek. xxxix. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
Hadad, a branch of the royal family, then a little child, was taken and
|
|
preserved by some of the king's servants, and conveyed to Egypt,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
They halted by the way, in Midian first, and then in Paran, where they
|
|
furnished themselves with men, not to fight for them or force their
|
|
passage, but to attend them, that their young master might go into
|
|
Egypt with an equipage agreeable to his quality. There he was kindly
|
|
sheltered and entertained by Pharaoh, as a distressed prince, as well
|
|
provided for, and so recommended himself that, in process of time, he
|
|
married the queen's sister
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and by her had a child, which the queen herself conceived such a
|
|
kindness for that she brought him up in Pharaoh's house, among the
|
|
king's children.
|
|
|
|
(2.) What enabled him to do Solomon a mischief. Upon the death of David
|
|
and Joab, he returned to his own country, in which, it should seem, he
|
|
settled and remained quiet while Solomon continued wise and watchful
|
|
for the public good, but from which he had opportunity of making
|
|
inroads upon Israel when Solomon, having sinned away his wisdom as
|
|
Samson did his strength (and in the same way), grew careless of public
|
|
affairs, was off his guard himself, and had forfeited the divine
|
|
protection. What vexation Hadad gave to Solomon we are not here told,
|
|
but only how loth Pharaoh was to part with him and how earnestly he
|
|
solicited his stay
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>What hast thou lacked with me?</I> "Nothing," says Hadad; "but let
|
|
me go to my own country, my native air, my native soil." Peter Martyr
|
|
has a pious reflection upon this: "Heaven is our home, and we ought to
|
|
keep up a holy affection to that, and desire towards it, even when the
|
|
world, the place of our banishment, smiles most upon us." Does it ask,
|
|
What have you lacked, that you are so willing to be gone? We may
|
|
answer, "Nothing that the world can do for us; but still let us go
|
|
thither, where our hope, and honour, and treasure are."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Rezon, a Syrian, was another adversary to Solomon. When David
|
|
conquered the Syrians, he headed the remains, lived at large by spoil
|
|
and rapine, till Solomon grew careless, and then he got possession of
|
|
Damascus, reigned there
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>)
|
|
|
|
and over the country about
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
and he created troubles to Israel, probably in conjunction with Hadad,
|
|
all the days of Solomon (namely, after his apostasy), or he was an
|
|
enemy to Israel during all Solomon's reign, and upon all occasions
|
|
vented his then impotent malice against them, but till Solomon's
|
|
revolt, when his defence had departed from him, he could not do them
|
|
any mischief. It is said of him that <I>he abhorred Israel.</I> Other
|
|
princes loved and admired Israel and Solomon, and courted their
|
|
friendship, but here was one that abhorred them. The greatest and best
|
|
of princes and people, however much they may in general be respected,
|
|
will yet perhaps be hated and abhorred by some.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_40"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jeroboam's Promotion Foretold.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 977.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda,
|
|
Solomon's servant, whose mother's name <I>was</I> Zeruah, a widow
|
|
woman, even he lifted up <I>his</I> hand against the king.
|
|
27 And this <I>was</I> the cause that he lifted up <I>his</I> hand
|
|
against the king: Solomon built Millo, <I>and</I> repaired the
|
|
breaches of the city of David his father.
|
|
28 And the man Jeroboam <I>was</I> a mighty man of valour: and
|
|
Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him
|
|
ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.
|
|
29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of
|
|
Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the
|
|
way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two
|
|
<I>were</I> alone in the field:
|
|
30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that <I>was</I> on him, and
|
|
rent it <I>in</I> twelve pieces:
|
|
31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus
|
|
saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the
|
|
kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to
|
|
thee:
|
|
32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake,
|
|
and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all
|
|
the tribes of Israel:)
|
|
33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped
|
|
Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the
|
|
Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have
|
|
not walked in my ways, to do <I>that which is</I> right in mine eyes,
|
|
and <I>to keep</I> my statutes and my judgments, as <I>did</I> David his
|
|
father.
|
|
34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand:
|
|
but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my
|
|
servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and
|
|
my statutes:
|
|
35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will
|
|
give it unto thee, <I>even</I> ten tribes.
|
|
36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my
|
|
servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city
|
|
which I have chosen me to put my name there.
|
|
37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all
|
|
that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
|
|
38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I
|
|
command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do <I>that is</I> right in
|
|
my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my
|
|
servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure
|
|
house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
|
|
39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for
|
|
ever.
|
|
40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam
|
|
arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was
|
|
in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the first mention of that infamous name <I>Jeroboam the
|
|
son of Nebat, that made Israel to sin;</I> he is here brought upon the
|
|
stage as an adversary to Solomon, whom God had expressly told
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
that he would give the greatest part of his kingdom to his servant, and
|
|
Jeroboam was the man. We have here an account,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Of his extraction,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was of the tribe of Ephraim, he next in honour to Judah. His mother
|
|
was a widow, to whom Providence had made up the loss of a husband in a
|
|
son that was active and ingenious, and (we may suppose) a great support
|
|
and comfort to her.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Of his elevation. It was Solomon's wisdom, when he had work to do,
|
|
to employ proper persons in it. He observed Jeroboam to be a very
|
|
industrious young man, one that minded his business, took a pleasure in
|
|
it, and did it with all his might, and therefore he gradually advanced
|
|
him, till at length he made him receiver-general for the two tribes of
|
|
Ephraim and Manasseh, or perhaps put him into an office equivalent to
|
|
that of lord-lieutenant of those two counties, for he was ruler of the
|
|
burden, or tribute, that is, either of the taxes or of the militia of
|
|
the house of Joseph. Note, Industry is the way to preferment. <I>Seest
|
|
thou a man diligent in his business,</I> that will take care and pains,
|
|
and go through with it? he shall <I>stand before kings,</I> and not
|
|
always be on the level with mean men. Observe a difference between
|
|
David, and both his predecessor and his successor: when Saul saw a
|
|
<I>valiant man he took him to himself</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+14:52">1 Sam. xiv. 52</A>);
|
|
|
|
when Solomon saw an <I>industrious</I> man he preferred him; but
|
|
David's <I>eyes were upon the faithful in the land,</I> that they might
|
|
<I>dwell with him:</I> if he saw a godly man, he preferred him, for he
|
|
was a man after God's own heart, whose <I>countenance beholds the
|
|
upright.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Of his designation to the government of the ten tribes after the
|
|
death of Solomon. Some think he was himself plotting against Solomon,
|
|
and contriving to rise to the throne, that he was turbulent and
|
|
aspiring. The Jews say that when he was employed by Solomon in building
|
|
Millo he took opportunities of reflecting upon Solomon as oppressive to
|
|
his people, and suggesting that which would alienate them from his
|
|
government. It is not indeed probable that he should say much to that
|
|
purport, for Solomon would have got notice of it, and it would have
|
|
hindered his preferment; but it is plainly intimated that he had it in
|
|
his thoughts, for the prophet tells him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth.</I> But
|
|
this was the <I>cause,</I> or rather this was the <I>story,</I> of the
|
|
lifting up of his hand against the king: Solomon made him ruler over
|
|
the tribes of Joseph, and, as he was going to take possession of his
|
|
government, he was told by a prophet in God's name that he should be
|
|
king, which emboldened him to aim high, and in some instances to oppose
|
|
the king and give him vexation.
|
|
|
|
1. The prophet by whom this message was sent was <I>Ahijah of
|
|
Shiloh;</I> we shall read of him again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:2"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
It seems, Shiloh was not so perfectly forsaken and forgotten of God but
|
|
that, in remembrance of the former days, it was blessed with a prophet.
|
|
He delivered his message to Jeroboam in the way, his servants being
|
|
probably ordered to retire, as in a like case
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+9:27">1 Sam. ix. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
when Samuel delivered his message to Saul. God's word was not the less
|
|
sacred and sure for being delivered to him thus obscurely, under a
|
|
hedge it may be.
|
|
|
|
2. The sign by which it was represented to him was the rending of a
|
|
garment into twelve pieces, and giving him ten,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:30,31"><I>v.</I> 30, 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is not certain whether the garment was Jeroboam's, as is commonly
|
|
taken for granted, or Ahijah's, which is more probable: <I>He</I> (that
|
|
is, the prophet) <I>had clad himself with a new garment,</I> on purpose
|
|
that he might with it give him a sign. The rending of the kingdom from
|
|
Saul was signified by the rending of Samuel's mantle, not Saul's,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+15:27,28">1 Sam. xv. 27, 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it was more significant to give Jeroboam ten pieces of that which
|
|
was not his own before than of that which was. The prophets, both true
|
|
and false, used such signs, even in the New Testament, as Agabus,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:10,11">Acts xxi. 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. The message itself, which is very particular,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He assures him that he shall be king over ten of the twelve tribes
|
|
of Israel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
The meanness of his extraction and employment shall be no hindrance to
|
|
his advancement, when the God of Israel says (by whom kings reign),
|
|
<I>I will give ten tribes unto thee.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He tells him the reason; not for his good character or deserts,
|
|
but for the chastising of Solomon's apostasy: "Because he, and his
|
|
family, and many of his people with him,<I> have forsaken me, and
|
|
worshipped other gods,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was because they had done ill, not because he was likely to do much
|
|
better. Thus Israel must know that it is not <I>for their
|
|
righteousness</I> that they are made masters of Canaan, but for the
|
|
wickedness of the Canaanites,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+9:4">Deut. ix. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Jeroboam did not deserve so good a post, but Israel deserved so bad a
|
|
prince. In telling him that the reason why he rent the kingdom from the
|
|
house of Solomon was because they had forsaken God, he warns him to
|
|
take heed of sinning away his preferment in like manner.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He limits his expectations to the ten tribes only, and to them in
|
|
reversion after the death of Solomon, lest he should aim at the whole
|
|
and give immediate disturbance to Solomon's government. He is here
|
|
told,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That two tribes (called here <I>one tribe,</I> because little
|
|
Benjamin was in a manner lost in the thousands of Judah) should remain
|
|
sure to the house of David, and he must never make any attempt upon
|
|
them: <I>He shall have one tribe</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
and again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>That David may have a lamp,</I> that is, a shining name and memory
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+132:17">Ps. cxxxii. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
and his family, as a royal family, may not be extinct. He must not
|
|
think that David was rejected, as Saul was. No, God would not take his
|
|
loving-kindness from him, as he did from Saul. The house of David must
|
|
be supported and kept in reputation, for all this, because out of it
|
|
the Messiah must arise. <I>Destroy it not,</I> for that <I>blessing is
|
|
in it.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] That Solomon must keep possession during his life,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:34,35"><I>v.</I> 34, 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
Jeroboam therefore must not offer to dethrone him, but wait with
|
|
patience till his day shall come to fall. Solomon shall be <I>prince,
|
|
all the days of his life,</I> not for his own sake (he had forfeited
|
|
his crown to the justice of God), but for <I>David my servant's sake,
|
|
because he kept my commandments.</I> Children that do not tread in
|
|
their parents' steps yet often fare the better in this world for their
|
|
good parents' piety.
|
|
|
|
(4.) He gives him to understand that he will be upon his good
|
|
behaviour. The grant of the crown must run <I>quamdiu se bene
|
|
gesserit--during good behaviour.</I> "If thou wilt <I>do what is right
|
|
in my sight, I will build thee a sure house,</I> and not otherwise"
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
intimating that, if he forsook God, even his advancement to the throne
|
|
would in time lay his family in the dust; whereas the seed of David,
|
|
though afflicted, should not be afflicted for ever
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>),
|
|
|
|
but should flourish again, as it did in many of the illustrious kings
|
|
of Judah, who reigned in glory when Jeroboam's family was
|
|
extirpated.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Jeroboam's flight into Egypt,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
In some way or other Solomon came to know of all this, probably from
|
|
Jeroboam's own talk of it; he could not conceal it as Saul did, nor
|
|
keep his own counsel; if he had, he might have staid in his country,
|
|
and been preparing there for his future advancement; but letting it be
|
|
known,
|
|
|
|
1. Solomon foolishly sought to kill his successor. Had not he taught
|
|
others that, whatever devices are in men's hearts, <I>the counsel of
|
|
the Lord shall stand?</I> And yet does he himself think to defeat that
|
|
counsel?
|
|
|
|
2. Jeroboam prudently withdrew into Egypt. Though God's promise would
|
|
have secured him any where, yet he would use means for his own
|
|
preservation, and was content to live in exile and obscurity for a
|
|
while, being sure of a kingdom at last. And shall not we be so, who
|
|
have a better kingdom in reserve?</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki11_43"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Death of Solomon.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 975.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did,
|
|
and his wisdom, <I>are</I> they not written in the book of the acts of
|
|
Solomon?
|
|
42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all
|
|
Israel <I>was</I> forty years.
|
|
43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
|
|
city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his
|
|
stead.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the conclusion of Solomon's story, and in it,
|
|
|
|
1. Reference is had to another history then extant, but (not being
|
|
divinely inspired) since lost, <I>the Book of the Acts of Solomon,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>.
|
|
|
|
Probably this book was written by a chronologer or historiographer,
|
|
whom Solomon employed to write his annals, out of which the sacred
|
|
writer extracted what God saw fit to transmit to the church.
|
|
|
|
2. A summary of the years of his reign
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He reigned in Jerusalem</I> (not, as his father, part of his time in
|
|
Hebron and part in Jerusalem), <I>over all Israel</I> (not as his son,
|
|
and his father in the beginning of his time, over Judah only), <I>forty
|
|
years.</I> His reign was as long as his father's, but not his life. Sin
|
|
shortened his days.
|
|
|
|
3. His death and burial, and his successor,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He followed his fathers to the grave, slept with them, and was
|
|
buried in David's burying-place, with honour no doubt.
|
|
|
|
(2.) His son followed him in the throne. Thus the graves are filling
|
|
with the generations that go off, and houses are filling with those
|
|
that are growing up. As the grave cries, "Give, give," so land is never
|
|
lost for want of an heir.</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
|
|
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<TR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC11010.HTM">Previous</A>]
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC11012.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
|
Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<TR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="CENTER" VALIGN="BOTTOM">
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!--Matthew_Henry's_Commentary_on_the_Whole_Bible:_First_Kings_XI.--><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank"><b>Back to Bibles Net . Com - Online Christian Library </b></a><br>
|
|
<a href="http://biblesnet.com/download.html" target="_blank"><br>
|
|
<b>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Free Download</b></a><br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<A HREF="http://biblesnet.com/contactus.html" target="_blank"><strong>Contact Us </strong></A><br>
|
|
|
|
</TD></TR></TABLE>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
</BODY>
|
|
</HTML>
|