The End Time Church: from the Cathedrals to the Catacombs

By Dan L. White

Copyright ©2016 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.

Chapter 15

Kings of Israel

Can you flip a coin and get tails 19 times in a row?

If my meager math is right, I think there is about one chance in half a million of doing that.

How about having 19 bad kings in a row?

Because of Solomon’s sins, ten tribes of Israel were taken away from his line and set up in a separate kingdom, the Kingdom of Israel. That kingdom had 19 kings. A king can either be basically good or basically bad, like heads or tails. So the chance of having 19 bad kings in a row is about like flipping 19 heads in a row, right?

1. Jeroboam’s Line

Jeroboam took Solomon’s place as king over ten tribes of Israel, with Judah still left under Solomon’s son Rehoboam because of God’s promise to David. Jeroboam was chosen as king by Yahweh himself to lead God’s chosen people. However, instead of serving God and those chosen people, Jeroboam decided to serve himself .

1 Kings 12:20-32
(20)  When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was no one who followed David’s house, except for the tribe of Judah only.
(21)  When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
(22)  But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
(23)  “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying,
(24)  ‘Yahweh says, “You shall not go up or fight against your brothers, the children of Israel. Everyone return to his house; for this thing is from me.”’” So they listened to Yahweh’s word, and returned and went their way, according to Yahweh’s word.
(25)  Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived in it; and he went out from there, and built Penuel.
(26)  Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to David’s house.
(27)  If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in Yahweh’s house at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
(28)  So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and behold your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
(29)  He set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
(31)  He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
(32)  Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. He did so in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

Notice Jeroboam’s thinking. Yahweh took the ten tribes away from Rehoboam and set Jeroboam up as king over them. Jeroboam then figured — totally leaving God out of the picture — ‘If the people go to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh at the feast, then they will go back to Rehoboam.’ Jeroboam only thought of himself. Once he got his kingly position, the prime thing in his life was keeping his kingly position.

Almost all kings, whether political or religious, fall into that same trap.

Jeroboam, though, missed the obvious. God put Jeroboam in his position, and God, not the people, would keep him there or remove him.

And that’s what happened. When Jeroboam set up his own festival to compete with Yahweh’s festival, God ended Jeroboam’s line. He ruled for twenty-two years, then his son Nadab in only his second year was assassinated by Baasha, who also killed all male descendants of Jeroboam. Because Jeroboam changed God’s feast, the animals in Jeroboam’s kingdom had a feast.

1Kings 14:11
(11)  The dogs will eat he who belongs to Jeroboam who dies in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat he who dies in the field: for Yahweh has spoken it.

So Jeroboam was like the first coin flip.

Tails.

His son Nadab was not one dab better. The only good thing about his reign was its brevity. Two tails in a row.

2. Baasha’s Line

Baasha ruled for twenty-four years. His son Elah ruled for one, when he was assassinated and Baasha’s line was ended, as he had ended Jeroboam’s line.

1Kings 16:3-4
(3)  Behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house; and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
(4)  The dogs will eat Baasha’s descendants who die in the city; and he who dies of his in the field the birds of the sky will eat.

At this point in the kingdom of Israel, with two dynasties and four kings, the animals are faring way better than the people.

Four kings, four tails.

3. Zimri’s Seven Day Line

Zimri was the one who eliminated Baasha’s family, but his rule lasted only one week. Then there was civil war among the ten tribes, and Omri prevailed as king.

This human king thing was not going too well for the ten tribes. In fifty years they had five kings, three coups, and one civil war.

The new king Omri, though, was industrious, energetic — and incorrigibly wicked.

4. Omri’s Line

1Kings 16:25
(25)  Omri did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and dealt wickedly above all who were before him.

The sixth king Omri was worse than all before him. The more kings Israel had, the worse they got!

Until Ahab.

Omri’s son Ahab was the seventh king of Israel. Seven in the Bible is the number of perfection. In Ahab’s case, that went the other way. Like matter and anti-matter, Ahab was anti-perfection. He was the worst of the whole lot of the kings of Israel.

1Kings 16:30-33
(30)  Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight above all that were before him.
(31)  As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
(32)  He raised up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
(33)  Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more yet to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

Ahab was the first king to openly introduce and practice Baal worship, yet he named his sons after Yahweh. He thought there was value in all religions and that they all must be equally respected.

God didn’t have much respect for that idea and sent a forty-two month drought on Ahab’s kingdom. The ten tribes of Israel who had so strongly yearned for a king then yearned just for something to eat.

Finally Ahab tricked his friend Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, into going into battle dressed as a king, while Ahab went dressed as a common soldier.

Clever, right?

Almost. The Syrian attackers would have killed Jehoshaphat, except for God delivering him, and Ahab would have escaped harm, except for an arrow with eyes.

1Kings 22:34-35
(34)  A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me out of the battle; for I am severely wounded.”
(35)  The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot.

After Ahab’s death, Omri’s dynasty continued a bit longer, with Ahab’s son Ahaziah.

1Kings 22:51-53
(51)  Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel.
(52)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in which he made Israel to sin.
(53)  He served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger, in all the ways that his father had done so.

That was followed by another son of Ahab, Jehoram, who unfortunately had the same name as the king who reigned in Judah at the same time. The only good thing about Jehoram is that he wasn’t as bad as his predecessors. However, that’s still not good, simply because they were all so bad.

2Kings 3:1-3
(1)  Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
(2)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, but not like his father, and like his mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
(3)  Nevertheless he held to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He didn’t depart from them.

Jehu overthrew Jehoram, so the dynasty of Omri ended after four kings.

At this point, Israel had suffered through nine kings from four families, repeated coups and civil wars, and extensive wars with the kings of the other nations — all of this in only about a century!

Have you noticed that all those nine kings were tails?

5. Jehu’s Line

Surely the tenth king would come up heads!

It looked like it. Jehu got rid of the Omri/Ahab line, just as Yahweh instructed, and he messed up Jezebel’s makeup by having her thrown out a window, so God gave him this promise.

2Kings 10:30-31
(30)  Yahweh said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to Ahab’s house according to all that was in my heart, your descendants shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”

But Jehu forgot to obey God in other things.

(31)  But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin.

Tails.

Then Jehu’s son was the eleventh tail.

2Kings 13:1-6
(1)  In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria for seventeen years.
(2)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He didn’t depart from it.
(3)  Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually.
(4)  Jehoahaz begged Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.
(5)  (Yahweh gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel lived in their tents as before.
(6)  Nevertheless they didn’t depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.)

Oppression by a foreign king, then Yahweh raising up someone to deliver Israel — What does that sound like?

Ah! It sounds like the time of the judges, when Israel suffered for disobedience. Under a different government, Israel was still disobedient, and still suffered the same way. The type of human government did not matter as much as obedience to God.

Furthermore, the king did not protect the flock. In fact, the kingly leader infected the flock with his own human shortcomings – “Nevertheless they didn’t depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam.”

Then came Jehu’s grandson.

2Kings 13:10-11
(10)  In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria for sixteen years.
(11)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. He didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; but he walked in them.

After Jehoash or Joash came another Jeroboam, the thirteenth king. Israel had gone through twelve kings, from one Jeroboam to a second, and they were all like the first Jeroboam — self-seeking despots.

Jeroboam II reigned the longest of any king of the ten tribes.

2Kings 14:23-26
(23)  In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria for forty-one years.
(24)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. He didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
(25)  He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to Yahweh, the God of Israel’s word, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher.
(26)  For Yahweh saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for all, slave and free, and there was no helper for Israel.

Jehu had begun well, and was then promised four generations of kings, but four was all, and that fourth king, Zechariah, lasted only six months.

2Kings 15:8-12
(8)  In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months.
(9)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, as his fathers had done. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
(10)  Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and struck him before the people, and killed him, and reigned in his place.
(11)  Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
(12)  This was Yahweh’s word which he spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” So it came to pass.

So ended the fifth dynasty of Israel’s kings. Fourteen kings and not one came up heads.

6. Shallum’s One Month Line

2Kings 15:13-14
(13)  Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned for a month in Samaria.
(14)  Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, came to Samaria, struck Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, killed him, and reigned in his place.

Shallum ruled for one month. Shalom is goodbye in Hebrew, so the obvious thing to say about that is Shalom, Shallum!

7. Menahem’s Line

Menahem had to tax the people heavily to pay off one of those kings of all the other nations that Israel so admired.

2Kings 15:17-20
(17)  In the thirty ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel for ten years in Samaria.
(18)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. He didn’t depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
(19)  Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
(20)  Menahem exacted the money from Israel, even from all the mighty men of wealth, from each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and didn’t stay there in the land.

Menahem’s dynasty lasted only twelve years total. His son Pekahiah was put out by Pekah.

2Kings 15:23-25
(23)  In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria for two years.
(24)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
(25)  Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him and attacked him in Samaria, in the fortress of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites. He killed him, and reigned in his place.

8. Pekah’s Line

Pekah made a boo-boo — he didn’t obey God, either. Actually, that was a Pekah boo-boo.

2Kings 15:27-30
(27)  In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria for twenty years.
(28)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
(29)  In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.
(30)  Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, attacked him, killed him, and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

9. Hoshea’s Line

At this point Israel had suffered through eighteen kings, all bad. Eighteen tails, no heads.

Guess what?

The nineteenth king was the best.

However, being the best of the bad is still not good, so under the nineteenth king Hoshea, the Kingdom of Israel ceased to exist and its people were forcibly deported from the Holy Land.

2Kings 17:1-12
(1)  In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel for nine years.
(2)  He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.
(3)  Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute.
(4)  The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria seized him, and bound him in prison.
(5)  Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
(6)  In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
(7)  It was so because the children of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
(8)  and walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made.
(9)  The children of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Yahweh their God; and they built high places for themselves in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city;
(10)  and they set up for themselves pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill, and under every green tree;
(11)  and there they burned incense in all the high places, as the nations whom Yahweh carried away before them did; and they did wicked things to provoke Yahweh to anger;
(12)  and they served idols, of which Yahweh had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”

Notice that Yahweh had brought Israel out “from under the hand of Pharaoh” where they had feared other gods. Then they chose to put themselves under the hand of another type of Pharaoh and did the same thing.

Israel had nineteen different kings from nine different families, and not a single king was good. The chance of flipping a coin and getting nineteen tails in a row is about one in half a million, yet Israel came up with nineteen tails in a row. To defy mathematical odds like that must mean —

There must be a problem with human nature!

Therefore there is always a problem with following human rulers instead of following God directly. This applies to all humans in all types of governments —

Because they’re all human!

Israel suffered constant wars, frequent oppression by foreign kings, repeated coups and civil wars, droughts and famines. Finally one of those kings from those other nations that Israel admired so much ended the kingdom that shouldn’t have been in the first place.

The kings of Israel did not protect the flock but polluted the flock. They did not bring unity but brought chaos. They did not get more done for the work of God because God wasn’t personally leading their work. They were following men.

Perhaps Israel would have been better off just following God directly, instead of putting a carnal human king between him and them?

 The End Time Church: from the Cathedrals to the Catacombs

By Dan L. White

Copyright ©2016 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.

Chapter 14

Solomon, the Tired Tyrant

He started so high. He fell so far.

He was the wisest man in the world, yet he overtaxed his people to pay for his own excesses; he turned the Mount of Olives into a pagan shrine; and like Saul, he tried to murder the man who would replace him.

That was Solomon, the tyrant.

Beethoven tore the title page off his third symphony when he found out that his hero Napoleon was a tyrant.

Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven (1803), Horneman

“In 1803 Beethoven composed his third symphony (now known as the Sinfonia Eroica [Hero Symphony]) in Heiligenstadt, a village about one and a half hours from Vienna….In writing this symphony Beethoven had been thinking of Buonaparte, but Buonaparte while he was First Consul. At that time Beethoven had the highest esteem for him and compared him to the greatest consuls of ancient Rome. Not only I, but many of Beethoven¹s closer friends, saw this symphony on his table, beautifully copied in manuscript, with the word “Buonaparte” inscribed at the very top of the title-page and “Luigi van Beethoven” at the very bottom.  Whether or how the intervening gap was to be filled out I do not know. I was the first to tell him the news that Buonaparte had declared himself Emperor, whereupon he broke into a rage and exclaimed, “So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, he too will tread under foot all the rights of man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!” Beethoven went to the table, seized the top of the title-page, tore it in half and threw it on the floor. The page was later re-copied and it was only now that the symphony received the title ‘Sinfonia Eroica.’” From Biographische Notizen über Beethoven, F. Wegeler and F. Ries, 1838.

Napoleon began his rise to power as part of the French Republic, with government supposedly vested in representatives of the people, and wound up crowning himself as lifetime emperor. Like so many others, Napoleon became a tyrant and the title of the third symphony was ripped apart.

And so was Solomon.

Solomon, a son of David by Bathsheba, had a great start.

1 Kings 3:5
(5)  In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask for what I should give you.”

In that dream, this is what Solomon answered.

1 Kings 3:7-14
(7)  Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am just a little child. I don’t know how to go out or come in.
(8)  Your servant is among your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can’t be numbered or counted for multitude.
(9)  Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this great people of yours?”

 Instead of seeking something for himself, Solomon asked for wisdom so that, as king, he could serve the people.

(10)  This request pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
(11)  God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have you asked for riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice;
(12)  behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart; so that there has been no one like you before you, and after you none will arise like you.
(13)  I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you for all your days.
(14)  If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

God granted Solomon wisdom, more than any man on earth at that time.

1 Kings 10:23-24
(23)  So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
(24)  All the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

The kingdom was blessed by that wisdom.

1 Kings 4:20
(20)  Judah and Israel were numerous as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.

(25)  Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

Solomon was the king on Yahweh’s throne. Nevertheless Solomon brought unity, for a while.

1Ch 29:23
Then Solomon sat on the throne of Yahweh as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

Again it appeared that Israel had made the right decision in trading God’s leadership for that of a human leader, who was the wisest man on earth. But there was a problem.

Solomon was human.

Uh-oh.

In the book that he wrote, Solomon spoke of his wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 1:16
(16)  I said to myself, “Behold, I have obtained for myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”

Then Solomon wrote of how he did not deny himself.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-10
(1)  I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity.
(2)  I said of laughter, “It is foolishness;” and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
(3)  I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.
(4)  I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.
(5)  I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.
(6)  I made myself pools of water, to water from it the forest where trees were reared.
(7)  I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem;
(8)  I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
(9)  So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.
(10)  Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.

But in his self indulgence, Solomon disobeyed God’s instructions to kings.

Deuteronomy 17:16-17
(16)  Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, “You shall not go back that way again.”
(17)  He shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. He shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

Solomon did multiply horses and gold and silver.

1 Kings 10:27-28
(27)  The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
(28)  The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.

As God predicted, the people had to pay a certain price for living under a kingly government. Governments require taxes! Later the people complained to Rehoboam about his father Solomon. While Solomon lived in splendor, the people struggled under a burdensome yoke.

1 Kings 12:4
(4)  “Your father made our yoke difficult. Now therefore make the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.”

However, the horses and wealth that Solomon multiplied to himself did not cause nearly as much trouble as the wives he multiplied to himself. He had a thousand wives and concubines.

Many people have heard about Solomon’s thousand women, without considering the mathematical implications of such an arrangement. If Solomon had a different woman every night, and only one a night, he wouldn’t see the first woman again until almost three years later.

And that’s if he never took a night off.

And that was way before sildenafil citrate, if you can guess what that is.

And what would Solomon say to that first wife when he saw her again three years later, after having the other 999 women?

“Oh, no! It’s you again!”

Moreover, those wives that Solomon took were not all God fearers. Some were open idolaters.

Paul wrote this long after Solomon, but the principle applied to Solomon.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17
(14)  Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
(15)  What agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever?
(16)  What agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
(17)  Therefore “‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you.

So when Solomon joined himself to darkness, some of his light went out.

1 Kings 11:1-13
1)  Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;
(2)  of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon joined to these in love.
(3)  He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
(4)  When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father was.
(5)  For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
(6)  Solomon did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and didn’t go fully after Yahweh, as David his father did.
(7)  Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.
(8)  So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
(9)  Yahweh was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
(10)  and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he didn’t keep that which Yahweh commanded.
(11)  Therefore Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this is done by you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
(12)  Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for David your father’s sake; but I will tear it out of your son’s hand.
(13)  However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.”

The Mount of Olives is “the mountain that is before Jerusalem,” the hill that is just east of the hill where the temple was. When good King Josiah came along about 300 years later, he tore down Solomon’s idols. Solomon had turned the lovely Mount of Olives into the mountain of corruption, a pagan high place right next to the temple mount and that spiritual cancer festered there for three centuries.

2 Kings 23:10-13
(10)  He [Josiah] defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
(11)  He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of Yahweh’s house, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
(12)  The king broke down the altars that were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of Yahweh’s house, and beat them down from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron.
(13)  The king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mountain of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon.

Solomon’s conclusion in Ecclesiastes is:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
(13)  This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
(14)  For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

Because of that conclusion, some believe that Solomon repented of his wifery wickedness. That’s not so.

Had Solomon repented, God would have forgiven him and not given him such judgment. God always accepts true repentance.

Had Solomon repented, he would have torn down the corruption on the Mount of Olives, as Josiah did.

Had Solomon repented, he would have accepted God’s judgment, as David did in Psalm 51. Instead, he did this to the man who would replace him as king over ten tribes.

1 Kings 11:37-40
(37)  I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel.
(38)  It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
(39)  I will afflict the offspring of David for this, but not forever.’”
(40)  Therefore Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Instead of accepting God’s judgment as David did, Solomon did as Saul did, and tried to kill the man that Yahweh picked to replace him. That is the same as directly fighting God.

Like Napoleon and Saul, Solomon became a tyrant. Instead of serving God and God’s people, he became self serving.

So those were the first three guys who were to replace God.

The first was the best looking man in the nation, who turned out to be a self serving tyrant.

The second was a man after God’s own heart, who committed adultery and murder.

And the third was the wisest man in the world, who ended his life honoring Ashtoreth, a statue with big breasts. You would think that, with a thousand women, he had seen enough breasts.

Ancient sculpture of Asherah

Now which human leader do you want to follow in place of God Almighty?

The End Time Church: from the Cathedrals to the Catacombs

By Dan L. White

Copyright ©2016 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.

Chapter 13

Good King David, Adulterer, Murderer, Repenter

The Tower of David towers in my memory.

The Tower of David has nothing to do with David at all.

It was first built in Jerusalem by Hezekiah, then fortified by others much later. The Crusaders mistakenly named that citadel after David, thinking it was his palace. In modern times, it’s the scene of a light show, where Israel’s history is projected onto the old stone walls. David was a man after God’s own heart, you know, and many years ago, watching that light show together, I began to steal the heart of the young lady who became my life wife. Hooray for the Tower of David!

The Night Spectacular Show at the Tower of David – gojerusalem.com

David, the man after God’s own heart, was the second human king of Israel, and he was simply the best human king.

It was a great honor to be called the son of David.

Mat 1:1
The book of the genealogy of Yeshua Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Mat 20:29-31
As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Yeshua was passing by, cried out, Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David! The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they cried out even more, Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!

Mat 21:8-9
A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees, and spread them on the road. The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, Hosanna to the son of David!…

In Revelation 22:16, the Messiah said “I am the root and offspring of David.” David came from him and he came from David.

The Messiah will be given the throne of David.

Luk 1:31-32
Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and give birth to a son, and will call his name ‘Yeshua.’ He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David,…

That’s how good a king David was. He was the best human king.

But he was human.

David had many great exploits recorded in the Bible, such as the battle with Goliath. He also had two great sins recorded in the Bible.

The first was when David saw Bathsheba bathing. He took her, even though she was Uriah’s wife. Then he had Uriah killed by placing him in a suicidal position in a battle.

Those were enormous sins, adultery and murder. Yet King David, probably because of his lofty position, did not even see his sin! After all, he was the king. He could do whatever he wanted, couldn’t he?

2Sa 12:1-13
Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. A traveler came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared it for the man who had come to him.

David’s anger burned hot against the man, and he said to Nathan, As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this deserves to die! He must restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!

David still did not see his sin, great as it was, until it was pointed out to him.

Nathan said to David, You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’

This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’

When David was confronted with his crimes, he responded with utmost repentance.

David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Yahweh.

Then because of that repentance, Yahweh did the opposite of what he did with Saul.

Nathan said to David, Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die.

Human kings almost always think like kings. They get full of themselves. When a leader thinks he’s been put in power by divine right, he gets to thinking that he is right divine. Yahweh warned Israel against the excesses of kings, because kings tend to have them in excess. David was temporarily polluted by his power. He knew he could reach out and take that woman and have her husband killed, so he did it and didn’t think twice about it. That’s what kings do.

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority, John Dalberg-Acton.

When Saul did not wait for Samuel to offer a sacrifice to Yahweh and offered it himself, this was Saul’s reaction.

1Sa 13:10-12
It came to pass that as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.

Samuel said, What have you done?

Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you didn’t come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash; therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven’t entreated the favor of Yahweh.’ I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt offering.

Saul did not have a morsel of remorse. Instead he just excused himself. I forced myself and offered the burnt offering. To him, his disobedience was noble; he was just doing everybody a favor. And when Samuel told Saul that his dynasty would end, the Bible records no hint of repentance in the king.

On the other hand, this was David’s reaction when he was confronted, confounded and convicted by his sin.

Psalms 51:1-10
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me. Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.

Behold, I was born in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.

Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness, That the bones which you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.

Notice that David said that Yahweh was justified when he judged. David did not pout, even though he was under a lifelong punishment of the sword not departing from his house.

David had another great sin. It does not seem as bad as taking Bathsheba and killing Uriah, but it may have been worse, because instead of attacking a man, it was a sin against God himself. This sin came directly from Satan.

1Ch 21:1-17
Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to take a census of Israel.

David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, count Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know how many there are.

Joab said, May Yahweh make his people a hundred times as many as they are. But, my lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?

Joab was David’s head general, and a man not without great problems himself, yet Joab had the wisdom to see the sin in the census and tried to talk some sense into David.

Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab.

Therefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, then came to Jerusalem. Joab gave up the sum of the census of the people to David. All those of Israel were one million one hundred thousand men who drew a sword; and in Judah were four hundred seventy thousand men who drew a sword. But he didn’t count Levi and Benjamin among them; for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.

David’s army was over a million and a half strong. Wow! Wasn’t that king great! Look how big the work of God is! See what God is doing through us! Look at our building!

God was displeased with this thing; therefore he struck Israel.

David did not see his sin when Joab warned him ahead of time. He only saw it when the curse fell. And again, David’s reaction was profound repentance.

David said to God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.

Yahweh spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and speak to David, saying, ‘Yahweh says, I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’

So Gad came to David, and said to him, Yahweh says, ‘Take your choice: either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or else three days the sword of Yahweh, even pestilence in the land, and Yahweh’s angel destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.’

When Israel heard God speak the Ten Commandments, they wanted to get away from God. David, though, even when being punished, still sought God. Again, he did not pout.

David said to Gad, I am in distress. Let me fall, I pray, into Yahweh’s hand; for his mercies are very great. Don’t let me fall into man’s hand. So Yahweh sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it.

As he was about to destroy, Yahweh saw, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.

Yahweh’s angel was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. David lifted up his eyes, and saw Yahweh’s angel standing between earth and the sky, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. David said to God, Isn’t it I who commanded the people to be counted? It is even I who have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Yahweh my God, be against me, and against my father’s house; but not against your people, that they should be plagued.

Then Yahweh’s angel commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up and raise an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

In contrast, notice Saul’s reaction to his second great sin.

1 Samuel 15:19-31
Why then didn’t you obey Yahweh’s voice, but took the plunder, and did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight?

Saul said to Samuel, But I have obeyed Yahweh’s voice, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.

David was quick to admit his guilt but Saul was quick to shift his. It was the people, Saul said, who took the forbidden plunder. And they did it just to have a sacrifice to offer! Noble!

Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying Yahweh’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.

When Saul was told he was out as king, then he did admit his sin, but he still did not repent of himself.

Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh.

Saul was still interested in showing off his position and he did not want Samuel to reject him in front of the people.

Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you; for you have rejected Yahweh’s word, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel.

As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore. Samuel said to him, Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.

Then he said, I have sinned; yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God. So Samuel went back with Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh.

Look at that guy! He had just been told he was disqualified as king, yet the important thing to him was that he be honored before the people. He was disqualified as king because of his love for himself, and upon learning that, he still showed it.

So the first two kings each had two great sins. David’s were adultery/murder and pride. Saul’s were presumptuousness in offering the sacrifice and overruling God’s instructions.

Whose sins were worse?

Humanly we would think David’s sins were far worse than Saul’s, yet David’s kingly line continues forever, while Saul’s ended in ignominy.

Why?

David repented of himself.

Saul justified himself.

Psalms 7:12-16, written by David.
If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow. He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death. He makes ready his flaming arrows. Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought out falsehood. He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made. The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

We can’t help but notice that even David, the very best king of Israel, had some very human, rotten problems. From his rot came repentance, and he then humbled himself before God — the real king of Israel.

The big point about David the human king is not how good he was, but that he admitted how bad he was.

The fact is that human kings just can’t take being kings very well. Even the very best are far short of perfect. It takes a different kind of being to be a perfect king, and to always be a servant instead of a show-off.

Luk 22:25-26
He said to them, The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so with you. But one who is the greater among you, let him become as the younger, and one who is governing, as one who serves.

So where can you find a king who is a perfect servant?