“But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and do not observe my mitzvot and regulations which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, worshipping them.” — 1 Kings 9:6
There’s a bit of controversy surrounding verse 6 in 1 Kings Chapter 9.
Notice the part where it says:
“you or your children.”
The controversy is…
Who exactly does “your children” refer to?
Some ancient Jewish sages understood it this way:
“You” = Solomon
“Your children” = the people of Israel / the nation
In other words, they understood God as saying:
“If Solomon turns away, or if the Israelites turn away…”
Under that interpretation, Solomon himself could remain righteous while Israel as a whole becomes wicked and receives God’s punishment.
But I think there’s a theological agenda behind that rabbinical interpretation.
And the agenda is to preserve Solomon and David as righteous figures at all costs.
I’m not so sure that homie is gonna hunt.
Why?
Because Scripture plainly describes some pretty serious failures by both men.
So why interpret this passage in a way that takes the king himself out of the line of fire?
In other words, if the Lord harshly punishes Israel…
It isn’t connected to the behavior of David’s descendants…
It’s simply the result of the rebellion of the people.
But here’s the problem.
The verse immediately before this says:
“You will never lack a man on the throne of Israel.”
That’s key, homies.
Because the promise of the throne is immediately connected to the warning about obedience.
God isn’t simply telling the people of Israel to behave themselves.
He’s warning Solomon about his responsibility as king.
If Solomon turns away from God, the promise concerning his dynasty ain’t some unconditional guarantee that allows him and his descendants to go hog wild and do whatever they want.
The dynasty itself is tied to obedience.
And that requirement doesn’t stop with Solomon.
It applies to each succeeding generation of his dynasty.
You see what I’m getting at here?
Alrighty, so let’s switch over to the takeaway.
The lesson is don’t confuse God’s promise with God’s permission.
Solomon received some big promises.
He got the throne.
He got the Temple.
He got incredible wealth and wisdom.
And he had the Davidic covenant behind him.
But none of that meant he could thumb his nose at God’s Torah and assume everything would be cool beans.
God’s message was clear.
“I’ve blessed you tremendously.
Now obey Me.”
That brings us to something I think a lot of believers need to chew on.
Some folks believe that since Yeshua died for our sins…
They can sin without consequence.
I dunno if that homie is gonna hunt.
I’d say it’s quite the opposite.
Entering into a relationship with God should make you more committed to obeying Him, not less.
If someone rescues you from a burning building…
Do you deliberately walk back into the fire?
Shouldn’t the fact you’ve been shown mercy make you more grateful?
Ya feel me?
The greater the blessing, the greater the responsibility.
That’s what the Lord was making clear to Solomon.
Done.
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