Posted on 01/13/2009 3:39:18 AM PST by tenger
Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite...And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada...1 Kings 11:14, 23
We get to see a very different side of God in this passage. Generally, we tend to think that the opposition we face in life is entirely of the Devil's doing! Not so. Twice within a dozen verses God raised up an adversary against the King of Israel, Solomon. Solomon's heart had turned away from God and the anger of the Lord burned against him (1 Kings 11:9).
God had given Solomon great wisdom and he had squandered it. He married many foreign women and they had led him astray with their foreign gods. Here is a man who was seeking, searching for the truth, trying to fill his void. He had it all. And he had experienced God in a great way. But the Scriptures tell us that Solomon had done evil in the eyes of the Lord (1 Kings 11:6). You still can't help shake the nagging feeling that God was trying to tell Solomon something very important. There was still hope for Solomon.
God is still in the business of trying to shake us and wake us. His methods are often unconventional, and He can deploy any means at his disposal (which happens to be the entire creation) to get us to open our eyes. God has not written any of us off.
ping
“the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite...”
Is O-B an Edomite?
No news here. God is sovereign and calls ALL the shots.
Not so. God has only selected some for salvation.
Is. will not be beaten, according to the Bible. Sorry queer-baits.
From my experience, bad things have always happened to me when I strayed. I have no one to blame but me. I am very thankful for the not so gentle reminders to get back on the right path.
Does that mean God is responsible for everything?
Not true either.
God doesn’t select any for salvation.
We select God. God has given us free will - he knows what we will do, yes. However, he does not make us choose one way or the other.
The Bible tells us God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should be saved. I would take from this passage that after all is said and done our fate rests with us.
I didn’t intend it to be this way, but there’s nothing like a good free will/predestination debate to get your morning going! Perhaps MAC/PC might be a close second. :)
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