One Man

Deuteronomy 17:16-20 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. 18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.
 
KING Solomon, who reigned about 400 years after this, is considered to be one of the world’s wisest and wealthiest men ever. But sadly, these five verses from God’s law could be a prophecy of many ways he was not wise to follow God’s Word.
     Solomon didn’t get horses from Egypt, but his first wife was from the forbidden country. He accumulated untold wealth and countless wives and concubines. Solomon joined his foreign wives to worshiped idols. God’s law was not his boundary; instead, the king who was wise in his early life seemed to continually move outside the law’s boundary.
     What happened then? Instead of God’s promise of legacy in Israel, Solomon’s son’s reign began the breakup of the kingdom. Ten tribes rebelled to form a new Israel in Samaria. The two tribes Judah and Benjamin formed Judah. Israel never had a God-fearing king. Judah had some. God removed Israel’s tribes from the earth as his nation. Judah was exiled to Babylon before returning to fulfill God’s promise of the Savior to come from Judah’s lineage.
     God had also specifically warned Solomon: 1 Kings 9:6-7 “But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands…then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.” 
     We know of too many churches, families and nations destroyed by one man’s sins. Be very aware that your life is not your own. What you say and do can affect generations to come. We can’t control others’ lives, but we can control our own. In the Spirit’s power, let’s know and live in the Lord’s commands with an eagerness to guide our family into His wisdom.
 
Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.