God Always Keeps His Promises

Posted On June 26, 2023

“God said to Solomon, ‘Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else.'”

I Kings 11:11 MSG

This week we’re examining what happened after King Solomon’s reign ended. I’m afraid it’s not a happy story. Solomon had the privilege of ruling during the most prosperous time in Israel’s history, but as we’ll see, it didn’t last. Because of Solomon’s refusal to turn away from other gods, God followed through on His end of the agreement, and the kingdom was ultimately torn apart. God had explained to Solomon what would happen if he didn’t keep His covenant. And, unfortunately for Solomon, God always keeps His promises . . .

Our plan for 2023 is to journey through The NeverEnding Story of the Bible and discover how we fit into it along the way. Our plan for this year is loosely based on The Story, an abridged chronological version of the Bible, and the accompanying study guide The Heart of the Story by Randy Frazee.

Here is where we are in The Story:

MOVEMENT TWO: The Story of Israel (Genesis 12-Malachi)

Chapter 14 – A Kingdom Torn in Two

This chapter in The Story includes 1 Kings 12-16. In 1 Kings 12 we read about the northern tribes’ rebellion against Solomon’s son Rehoboam, and we see the kingdom split in two. Jeroboam becomes king of Israel, consisting of ten northern tribes. And Rehoboam becomes king of Judah in the south, consisting of only two tribes: Judah and Benjamin. So begins the story of the divided kingdom. The rest of 1 & 2 Kings recounts the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah, and if we look ahead, we see that most of them were bad.

So, what happened? How did the mighty nation of Israel fall apart so quickly? To answer that we have to back up a bit to 1 Kings 11:

“The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.  Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.  So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.'”

1 Kings 11:9-13 NIV

The trouble began when Solomon disobeyed God’s command to stop worshiping other gods. As God’s chosen people, Israel’s purpose was to point the way to Him. But their propensity for idol worship worked against this mission and could not be tolerated, especially in their king. David, for all his faults, always remained faithful to God and God alone. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his son Solomon. So, God followed through on His promise to Solomon that the kingdom would be torn away from his son Rehoboam. But the way He did so also allowed Him to follow through on His promise to David:

“Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me;
your throne will be established forever.”

2 Samuel 7:16 NIV

“As we learned in previous parts of this Story,
God made promises or covenants with his people.”

Randy Frazee, The Heart of the Story

As Randy Frazee explains in The Heart of the Story, God promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation, and God kept that promise. God promised Moses that the people of Israel would be blessed for obeying God and disciplined for disobeying Him. God also kept that promise. God made a promise to David as well, which built on His promises to Abraham and Moses. God promised David that his “house” — the tribe of Judah — and his kingdom would endure forever. If we look ahead to the New Testament, we see that God kept that promise, too, through Jesus Christ.

God keeps His promises. So, when He told Solomon that the kingdom would be torn away from him, He meant it. And He began setting His plan in motion:

“One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him along the way. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in a field, and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.  Then he said to Jeroboam, ‘Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you!  But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.”‘”

1 Kings 11:29-32 NLT

When Jeroboam led Israel to rebel against Rehoboam and then claimed the throne for himself, he did so according to God’s plan. Now, Rehoboam wasn’t innocent in all of this. The reason Israel renounced him was because of his harsh rule and his refusal to listen to good advice from his father’s advisors. So, on the surface, it looks like the kingdom split because of Rehoboam’s tyranny and Jeroboam’s rebellion. But if we dig deeper, we see that there is more going on than just the events described in 1 Kings 12. God explains that He is still in charge of all that is happening:

“When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon. But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: ‘Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, “This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.”‘” 

1 Kings 12:21-24 NIV

God is never surprised or caught off guard by anything going on the world. He always has a plan, whether we realize it or not. We may not be privy to all the details, but the big picture never changes: God wants all His lost children home.

“If you want to sum up God’s message in a short phrase, it is this: I keep my word.
He does what he says he will do because he longs to give everyone the opportunity to reside in his perfect community.”

Randy Frazee, The Heart of the Story

“If I choose to disobey and live according to my own selfish interests, that’s OK. God did not force Rehoboam to ‘do the right thing’ and treat his subjects better. Instead, he allowed Rehoboam’s behavior to help fulfill a promise God had made to David. . . .
If you’re part of the church today — just as those who were part of Israel in Bible times — remember that the story will continue on with or without our cooperation. God will accomplish his mission to bring people into relationship with him in perfect community through Israel and the church. One particular tribe or one particular church may not make it, but Israel and the church will make it because God made a promise. And God always keeps his promise.”

Randy Frazee, The Heart of the Story

The rainbow has always been a symbol of God’s promises. Now, it has become a symbol of something else for many people. As I typed the quote above, it occurred to me that maybe, in a way, it can be both. Believe me, this is not the direction I thought this post would take! But as this thought came to me, I felt I was being led to share it. So here it is: In light of everything going on the world right now — and remember God is never surprised or caught off guard by anything going on the world — could we view the rainbow symbol as an opportunity to help God fulfill His promise to bring all of His children home?

I realize this is a touchy subject for many people, and I don’t claim to have all the answers. But as I read Randy Frazee’s words and thought about everything I learned in this lesson, I kept coming back to this: God will accomplish his mission to bring people — all people — into relationship with him. And He’ll do it with or without me. Am I helping Him in this work? There are a lot of hurting people in the world, people searching for answers, for hope, for acceptance, and for love. Am I offering them what they truly seek? I’m sure there are people out there who will not turn to God no matter what. But my prayer is that I am never the cause of someone turning their back on the church or refusing to seek the Lord.

“In the New Testament part of God’s story, God gives us another promise when he declares, ‘I will build my church.’ He doesn’t say, ‘I might build my church,’ or ‘I hope to build my church.’ He declares a nonnegotiable truth. He will build a church that will demonstrate the good news that everyone in the human family . . . is included in the perfect community he is forming. And he will do it with or without you.
Nothing harms the church more than when its people reflect the wrong image of who God is. We do this whenever we treat others unkindly — especially the poor, the widows, and the strangers in our midst. We do this whenever we conduct our business dishonestly or let our anger get the best of us. These actions harm the church, but they don’t stop it. God will build his church. With or without you.
Wouldn’t you prefer that he did it with you? What a privilege God gives us to show others what he is like! Imagine knowing that the way you live today may result in someone changing their negative ideas about God and being drawn to find true life in him.”

Randy Frazee, The Heart of the Story

From our limited perspective, it may appear that someone who looks a certain way or embraces a lifestyle we don’t understand wants nothing to do with God. But everyone is on their own journey, and we don’t have all the answers. Thankfully, we don’t really need to, because God always has a plan. We don’t have to figure everything out. We just have to do what He has called us to do, which is to reflect His light and His love to the world.

We don’t know what’s in someone’s heart, but God does. And He wants all of His children to come home to Him. Our job is to extend the invitation. He will take it from there.

“… His plan is accomplished. He’s a bigger God than we realize, accomplishing far more than meets the eye, because He does a lot of His work at a heart level.”

Tara-Leigh Cobble, The Bible Recap

So, what’s the moral of the story? I think it’s simply this: God always keeps His promises. This statement can serve as both a comfort and a warning. If we are helping God to accomplish His work, then it’s great news because it frees us from worries about what the future holds. But if we’re not, then it’s a stern reminder that we risk being left out of the work He wants to do in the world. For me, it serves as encouragement to keep seeking God, studying His Word, and reminding myself of His promises. Because, whether I like it or not, they will be accomplished!

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9 NIV

References:

• Cobble, Tara-Leigh. The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible. Bethany House, 2020.
• Frazee, Randy.  The Heart of the Story: Discover Your Life Within the Grand Epic of God’s Story. Zondervan, 2017.
• The Story: Read the Bible as One Seamless Story from Beginning to End. Rev. ed., Zondervan, 2008.

Images:

• Handshake featured image by Claudia from Pixabay (edited)
• Torn Paper image by Blue_Fire from Pixabay (edited)
• Church image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
• Rainbow image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
• Heart image by Schmidsi from Pixabay
• Cross image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay