July Blog Is It Immediate or Is It A Process? by: Joyce Picker

Hello, my dear friends, I was recently struck by something I read in 1 Kings Chapter 11. I should clarify and say that I’m forever struck by the Word of God and the massive amount of revelation it brings all the time, when you need it and when you don’t think you need it!

Thus, the title of this blog; Is it immediate or is it a process? We find the story in 1 Kings: 11. Here is a little background on the story. The first ten chapters talk about King Solomon and how awesome he is as far as his relationship with God. I am in awe of his wisdom, his knowledge, and his ability to make Godly decisions to run Israel. However, chapter 10 starts his downfall after the Queen of Sheba visits him. We can see that despite God himself telling him to stay away from foreign gods, (ie: foreign women) he still has a desire for foreign women and exotic women, women who are from other cultures and believe in other gods. This was his weakness. Because of this, God knew he had a propensity to wander. Chapter 11 presents the downfall of King Solomon, who despite what God told him would succumb to the allure of foreign gods because of his 700 wives and 300 concubines. He mixed with the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. God told Israel not to intermarry with the above. What didn’t King Solomon understand about that warning? Can we be that clueless when God tries to give us a warning?

King Solomon loved many foreign women. There are two problems here: first that he loved many women and that these foreign women worshipped other gods and brought pagan influences throughout Israel. God said they would turn his heart away after their gods. Maybe he thought he would be the exception. How many times do we think so highly of ourselves that we are the exception? There are no exceptions. His word is real, alive and true. If we disobey, we must suffer the consequences of our sin. I was struck when I read that Solomon clung to these women in love. This shows me that he wanted romance and sensual fulfillment more than he wanted the Lord. For all his wisdom, he was snared by the power of romantic and sensual love. Once under the power of this attraction, he clung to these in love instead of giving them up to the Lord. His wives did turn his heart away from the Lord. He became a different person, but my question is was it immediate or was it a process? It appears he was feeding the process the more wives he took.

King Solomon was the author of Proverbs. He surely could have taken his own advice. Proverbs 11:14- Seek godly counsel before deciding.

Proverbs 3:5-6- Trust in the Lord and acknowledge Him in all your ways. Proverbs 12:15-Heed counsel to be wise. Joshua 24:15- Choose to serve the Lord. James 1:5- Ask God for wisdom.

My point is here that it was indeed a process. If that is the case, why did he continue down a path that would lead him away from God and change his life forever?  He built Solomon’s temple- what a magnificent structure it was. Every detail was approved by God Himself. This was such an awesome plan of God. He asked God for wisdom and God gave it to him. It’s just so hard to imagine why he would even want to pursue any other path. Maybe we don’t think of this story in this way but maybe we should. If we are enjoying a wonderful relationship with our heavenly Father, why would we want something so temporal or secular? Is it immediate or is it a process? I have to say it’s indeed a process and if that is the case, we probably have many opportunities along the way to correct our path!

2 John 1:8 “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.”

2 Peter 3:17”You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.”  

No matter where you are, it’s never too late to correct your path and get back on the one God intended for you. That’s what this life is all about, making Godly choices, sticking to them but when we fall, get back up and make a course correction! It’s NEVER too late.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit!”

Who knows what greatness Solomon could have achieved if he did not feed into the process. But his story can help us to do better and be more mindful of what we are doing or not doing!

My purpose for writing this is to help you and me to understand that if we have something we are doing and know we should not be, if the process has begun, then we need to be aware of this to stop the process. We can do this through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s pray: Father, I thank you that we can do all things through Messiah who gives us strength! Help us to recognize what needs to be worked on and given up in the Spirit. Help us to be better stewards of our minds, bodies and spirit. In Yeshua’s name! Amen.

Just a P.S. for everyone, over the past years I have written numerous teachings on the Biblical Feasts and Festivals and some of them are Blog’s. The Feasts are sprinkled throughout the calendar. If you want to read about them, please feel free to do so on the HHH website under blogs. You’re your friends, too! Thanks!

*Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.