Encouragement

From Throne to Throes and Back Again

by Terry Barlow
07/30/13
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When the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon of old ancient Israel was at the peak of its glory. Gold and precious stones and spices were in such abundance that silver was as commonplace as an old kicked-about tincan would be today. The likes of the collection of spices that Sheba brought from the south have not been seen in human history since. Solomon built the most glorious ivory and gold throne on the face of the earth. But all of the glory and wisdom was beginning to go the king's head. By marrying foreign wives he was violating Yahweh God's clear command. It was as though he were telling Yahweh, "Don't worry, I know your concern about me worshipping their foreign gods, but I am strong and clever enough to love them as women without loving and worshipping their gods; you'll see, I'll love the sinner but not the sin, after all, I'm not the great King Solomon for nothing!" And maybe for a time, while he was still relatively young, Solomon was able to pull off this feat of differentiation. But as he aged his many lovely wives wore him down and his resolve weakened. He did in fact begin to worship their false gods and to build shrines and altars in their honor. As Yahweh had warned, the tragic consequences soon followed personally for Solomon and nationally for Israel. But suppose we consider this principle in a positive sense, this principle of how Solomon wore down and caved over time. Think of the many believers in God who are yoked to non-believing spouses and family members. Maybe in their younger days these family members can resist the God of their loved ones and differentiate and separate between their devotion to God and other admirable and desirable qualities. But through prayer and the daily demonstration of a godly love over time, the resistance begins to break down and there is evidence of this attrition, little evidences glimpsed with eyes of faith. I submit that this is indeed happening today in hundreds and thousands of cases, many of which I have observed with my own eyes as, I am sure, many of you who are reading this have too. Oh yes, there is hope....truly there is hope. It is happening in our generations as it has through history. Thankfully, we are no exception!