The Biblical Age of Kings #3: If You Turn Aside

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When it comes to our spiritual development, there's no such thing as a body at rest. You're always moving. One way or another. You're never completely standing still, despite appearances.

Think about it first from the perspective of science. You may think you're not moving, but it's an illusion. For one thing, the earth is always spinning around its axis. Depending on where you are, you could be moving as fast as 1,000 miles/hour! Add to that the fact that the earth is orbiting the sun. And then there are the entire solar system and galaxy all speeding away from the center of the universe. It's dizzying to consider! But my point is simple: you're always moving one way or another.

The same is true from a spiritual point of view. Your life is always moving on a trajectory of one kind or another. You're either moving closer to God, or you're gradually pulling away from God. There’s no such thing as standing spiritually still. Either you're growing closer to God or farther away.

This is the essence of this week's passage from our Kings study, 1 Kings 9:1-9. This passage is an excellent summation of Torah Theology as spelled out in the book of Deuteronomy. You could sum it up in this simple way: If you're faithful to God, things will go well. That's what Moses reminded the people before they crossed over into the Promised Land. It was Joshua's message to the Israelites after the Conquest. And it's the repeating refrain throughout the Old Testament books of Kings and Prophets.

In one sense, Torah Theology explains why God would allow the people of Israel to be exiled and their temple demolished (in 587 BC by the Babylonians). They were his chosen people! Did he fail them? Was he powerless to protect them from the Babylonian empire? Torah Theology makes it clear that the destruction of Jerusalem wasn't a failure on God's part. It was a failure by the people. They were faithless, unable to stay true to God. They had been constantly moving away from God even though they believed they were in a perpetual, standstill relationship with God.

This movement away from God began with Solomon, and it explains his shocking fall from grace. Although Solomon appears to have led Israel to the pinnacle of prosperity and development, he wasn't moving the people in the right direction toward God. The result of his "turning aside" was a divided kingdom that continually failed to live in faithful relationship with God.

This is a good opportunity to reflect on the warning of Solomon's life and on Israel's struggle to understand what God really wanted from them. The trappings of Solomon’s success may have caused some to wrongly believe they had arrived—and could therefore stand still. But the truth was different. Solomon was actually leading them away from God

Which way is your life headed? Are you actively drawing closer to God? Or are you steadily slipping farther and farther away? It's either one thing or the other.

This week, I pray that you will have eyes to see how you need to draw nearer to God, and that you'll have courage to move boldly in that direction.

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