“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.
If I may paraphrase from the movie, “Spiderman”… with greater blessings comes greater responsibility.
Too many people confuse Grace with forgiveness, but they are NOT the same thing.
Grace, as God describes it in Ezekiel 18:23, is his willingness to forgive us, even his desire to do so!
Forgiveness is actually forgiving, but there is a catch to that- God will not, I’ll even say cannot, forgive an unrepentant sinner.
And although he desperately wants us to be forgiven, he is still a trustworthy and dependable God, who will punish the sinner, despite forgiveness.
Forgiveness is not a absolution from punishment- if God does not punish the sinner, even the repentant one asking for forgiveness, then we can’t trust him to reward the obedient person, either.
God’s idea of forgiveness from sin is not that we get away with it on the earth, but that it won’t keep us from being in his presence for all eternity. God is an eternal being, and he sees things from an eternal viewpoint, so when he says your sins are forgiven, and as far from you as the east is from the west, that means when you are reborn, the consequences- the eternal ones- of that sin will not be counted against you.
But for now? Your tuchas is in a sling because you sinned! You broke the commandment, you rejected God, and you will have to pay because God said if you sin, you will be punished.
Now, if it was accidental, you may not have to suffer too badly, at least from God (there are always those who you sinned against on the earth who may get to you, such as the police) if you are truly repentant, but if you sin because you wanted to and don’t care that you did… oy gevalt!
So, Grace is his willingness to forgive and forgiveness is mainly about the afterlife, but for now, if you sin you will have to pay for it because God keeps his word, and what is worse is that the innocent people in your life will usually have to suffer along with you.
Sin always has collateral damages attached to it.
Amen, Steven.
Thank you for clarifying many great points, especially about the distinction between grace and forgiveness.
Shana Tova.