1. Sunday June 26, 2016

3. In Pursuit of Glory The Stories of Eight Ancient Kings Who Sought God’s Glory above Their Own! Sunday Mornings at Grace Beginning June 26 th

4. 1. Israel was chosen by God to enjoy a unique relationship with Him and to represent Him to the rest of the peoples of the world.

5. Deuteronomy 7:6-8a For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you... “Kingsology 101”

6. Exodus 19:5-6 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. “Kingsology 101”

7. Exodus 19:5-6 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. “Kingsology 101”

8. 1. Israel was chosen by God to enjoy a unique relationship with Him and to represent Him to the rest of the peoples of the world.

9. “Kingsology 101” 2. Israel was initially a theocracy until the people rejected God and demanded a king. “theos” (God) + “cracy” (rule or gov’t) theocracy = the rule or government of God

10. 1 Samuel 8:4-5 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” “Kingsology 101”

11. 1 Samuel 8:6-7 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. “Kingsology 101”

12. 1 Samuel 8:19-20 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” “Kingsology 101”

13. 1 Samuel 8:21-22a And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” “Kingsology 101”

14. King Saul Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel 1 Samuel 9:2... Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

16. King Saul “No Heart!” Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel 1 Samuel 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.”

17. King Saul “No Heart!” Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel 1 Samuel 13:14 “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

18. King David “Whole Heart!” Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him (Saul), he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

19. King Solomon Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel 1 Kings 3:5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”

20. King Solomon Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel 1 Kings 3:9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

21. King Solomon Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel 1 Kings 10: 6-7 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.”

22. Wives (women) Wealth Winnies (horses)

23. Deuteronomy 17:16-17 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself... 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel

24. Wives (women) Wealth Winnies (horses) He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. (I Kings 11:3) And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone. (I Kings 10:27) Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. (I Kings 4:26)

25. 1 Kings 11:3b-4 And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel

26. King Saul “No Heart!” King David “Whole Heart!” King Solomon “Half Heart!” Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel

27. 1 Kings 11:10-13 And the Lord was angry with Solomon.... 11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel

28. 1 Kings 11:10-13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel

29. King Solomon “Half Heart!” Solomon’s divided heart led to a civil war and a divided kingdom! Northern Kdg of Israel (King Jeroboam - servant) Southern Kdg of Judah (King Rehoboam - son)

30. 722 BC – Conquered by Assyrian Empire 586BC – Conquered by Babylonian Empire Israel Judah The Divided Kingdom Period

31. A total of 19 kings ruled; none were godly! A total of 20 kings ruled; 8 were godly. Israel Judah Only 8 of 39 (just over 20%) walked with God! Not a very good track record! (all 8 were from Judah) The Divided Kingdom Period

32. In antiquity, kings had absolute power. If they said you were to die (for whatever reason) … you would die. If you were to live, you would live!

34. King Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 4:29-30 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

35. The Story of King Asa (1 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 14-16) NEXT Sunday! In Pursuit of Glory

36. Today’s Takeaway Didn’t Solomon know about the prohibitions of Deuteronomy 17 against the accumulation of wealth, wives and horses?

37. Deuteronomy 17:18-20 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them... that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

38. Today’s Takeaway Didn’t Solomon know about the prohibitions of Deuteronomy 17 against the accumulation of wealth, wives and horses? YES, Solomon knew what God had said about wealth, wives, and horses. He simply CHOSE not to obey and make up his own rules!

39. Isaiah 53:6a All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way.

40. AWESOME Seeing God for Who He Is and Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do (an in-depth study of Isaiah 40) Sunday mornings June 5 th, 12 th, 19 th

41. Do you know Christ? Have you repented of your sin and believed the gospel of Jesus Christ? If you have embraced the gospel, what are you doing to keep your vision of God fresh and big? Failure to do so will lead you down the path Solomon took … a divided heart and the dire consequences that will flow from it!