Here I Am

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The iconic words “Here I am. Send Me!” I do believe that many Christians have said these words and truly meant them. Isaiah was not the only one to have said the phrase “Here I am.” As I studied those words, I saw something that was not really a surprise, but it does show just how loving our God is.

In the chart are all of the times that “here I am” is used in the NIV. The Hebrew word for “here I am” is hinneh and is used to call attention to something or to enliven a narrative. The Greek word is idou and means basically the same thing as the Hebrew word. (Note: Some of these references are different words/phrases but those also are for calling attention to something.) The words hinneh and idou are actually translated many different ways and they are used many times in Scripture. The verses in blue are people just getting someone’s attention. The rest, however, are God calling to someone first and the people are answering to God’s call or God is just trying to get our attention by saying “here I am.” You will notice God does/did a lot of calling to people.

Some of these calls were very specific for the moment and person but in Isaiah 58 and Revelation 3:20, the Father and Jesus called and are calling so we can find them. Sometimes we have to remember that God is not the one who is lost but the One who is leading.

Here I am

Jeroboam and His Altar

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Ten pieces of a new garment was to signal the start of a “new work” of God. Jeroboam however let “Egypt” in and let a powerful promise fall to the floor. 1 Kings 13 is a story of God’s love and a call to repent that was ignored by a “chosen vessel.” The promise to Abraham was still in effect; the prophecy to Judah and the selection of David had not been forgotten but Father God needed revival. Solomon had broken faith with Jehovah so He went to the other tribe of leaders – Ephraim (the second-born of Joseph and chosen of God – Genesis 48:20).

Jeroboam, instead of believing God, reacted in fear and took bad advice (12:26 – 28). One creative idea he had was to start his own festival for god and make religion easy for the people. So 1 Kings 13 finds him by his new altar on the 15th day of the 8th month making sacrifices to a golden goat and cow. This whole chapter is a layered look into the failures of Judah, Jeroboam, and the “old system.” But it is meant to show Jeroboam that he should change; which he did not (13:33). There are four main characters in this story that we need to look at: the man of God, Jeroboam, the old prophet, and the lion.

The Man of God – was not a prophet, priest, apostle, pastor, or teacher just a MAN. He got a Word from God, now we are not told how or from whom but he knew what he had to do and was serious about doing. I normally would have added my own adjective to this man but no where is he called anything else, including the final mention of this tale in 2 Kings 23:19, but a man of God. He spoke against the altar and predicted what would happen in 2 Kings, he prayed for Jeroboam’s hand, and even refused a meal and a gift. The mistake he made was to STOP (vs. 14). Who knows, possible he was the next prophet that would have been used to call Judah/Israel to repentance instead he symbolizes Judah and their stopping.

Jeroboam – the talented child of a single parent home who had all the potential but looked the wrong way. He was a challenge to the established system (Solomon) so it tried to kill him. To this point in the story he could be a shadow of Jesus but by 1 Kings 12:26 he becomes an “antichrist.” Remember Jehovah is trying to call him back to obedience but in 1 Kings 13:6 he uses the chilling phrase, “ the Lord YOUR God.” Egypt won. Verse 34 finishes the tale even though it took many years; he was destroyed from the face of the earth. NOTE. In 2 Kings 15:8 another Jeroboam is mentioned but he is not related to the first one. The Books of Kings tell the story of both Israel and Judah while Chronicles tells the story of David’s family and only mentions the kings of Israel when needed.

The Old Prophet – had not moved with God and was jealous. This character I like the least, feel sorry for the most, and never want to become. (He could be the lukewarm ones in the Book of Revelations 3: 16.) If he had gotten the word about the altar he did not act on it and he had not left his old way and moved to Judah like many other had done (2 Chronicles 11: 13 – 17).   He recognized the move of God and instead of helping the “man of God” finish his mission he condemned him to death. Jehovah even gave him a chance to repent; he could have gone with the man instead of grabbing a final moment of glory. His final wish to be buried with the man of God was so his bones would not be burned in 2 Kings 23.

The Lion – was the only one who did as God had instructed him. He killed the man of 1 Kings 13God did not eat him but stood guard over his body. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah comes to mind. Whatever symbolism you want to put with this lion he definitely stopped “a problem” from going back to Judah.

See Jeroboam -The Lord YOUR God

 

Jeroboam – the Lord YOUR God

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Proverbs 22:29 Do you see a man skilled in his work he will serve before kings. Solomon could have used Jeroboam as the inspiration for this proverb. He was a leader in his tribe (Ephraim) and led the work in building projects around Jerusalem. Because of Solomon’s change of heart toward God his children lost the rule of all of Israel. In 1 King’s 11:29 a prophet named Ahijah (#281 Strong’s Worshipper (brother) of Jah) delivers the news to Jeroboam that if he does what is right before God he can have an enduring dynasty. In verse 40 Solomon tries to kill him so he runs to Egypt. QUESTIONS:

  1. Who told Jeroboam or Ahijah? (They were by themselves.)
  2. Why always to Egypt?
  3. Did the treaty that Solomon have with Egypt end or is that just how Egypt works?

Shechem is where Rehoboam went to be made king and the first place Jeroboam fortifies. This place shows up a lot in Israel’s history. Jacob bought land there instead of going with his brother (Genesis 34). The “blessings and curses” were read there by Joshua (8:30) and Jesus talked to the woman at the well (John 4) at Shechem.

The trip to Egypt (bondage and false religion) was not good for Jeroboam. His first thoughts were against God who had proclaimed his kingship. The two golden calves he made are said to be a goat and calf idol in 2 Chronicles 11:15. These plus the shrines, forcing out Levites and ordaining anyone with the “right amount”, festivals, and altars were just too much and God called for an end of his reign. References to his poor choices are in 2 Chronicles 11:13 – 17 and in 2 Chronicles 13: 4 – 12.  The festival was made to take away from the Festival of Booths and was one month after it in the 8th month and 15th day. (See Cleaning Up to Celebrate)

The story in 1 Kings 13 was God’s attempt to bring Jeroboam back from his evil ways but he wanted none of that. He had been given the opportunity to have and do a great work. It had come by a personal word from God and was predicated on his following God the way David had done. From hero to zero the take away is stay away from Egypt and watch who you get advice from.

See Rehoboam and the Ammonites ,  See Jeroboam and His Altar

 

Rehoboam and Ammonites

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Rehoboam’s, the troubled heir to Solomon’s throne, story must start with a look back at the Ammonites. His mother Naamah was an Ammonite, the son of Lot by his younger daughter (Genesis 19:38), certainly of royal birth, and probably very beautiful. She may have been the “most loved” of Solomon’s wives or Rehoboam showed more potential than any other his brothers. (See Rehoboam and His Mom)  But Solomon should not have married her as that was forbidden by the Law for kings/Israel to do. And it is probable that she was one who led Solomon away from Jehovah (1 Kings 11:1) in his later years and had him build a worship site to Moloch (Molek) the detestable god of the Ammonites. Apparently, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Moloch were the same god just in different nations; it was a bull-man deity that demanded human sacrifice especially babies.

God, in Deuteronomy 2:19, warned Moses/Israel about attacking or harassing them as they went to the Promised Land. God was showing favor to Lot in this degree but the Ammonites and Moabites were the ones who hired Balaam in Numbers 22 and were so cursed in Deuteronomy 23:3 from entering the Temple. [Abraham and Lot were descendants of Terah (Genesis11: 27) who came from Shem (Genesis 9:23).] The Ammonites show themselves as enemies of Israel throughout the Bible and God compares them to Sodom and Gomorrah in Zephaniah 2:9. In Ezekiel 25: 1 -10, Jeremiah 25 + 49, and in other places, He is definitely against them; the lesson here is that God has His limits and they went too far. Other Israelites who had a conflict with them were:

  • Jephthah – Judges 10 + 11
  • Nehemiah – Tobiah
  • Jeremiah – Baalis (40:14) killed Gedaliah (God’s chosen leader for the remnant)
  • King Saul – Nahash 1 Samuel 11
  • David and Joab – 2 Samuel 10. It should be noted that David did have an Ammonite in his “mighty men” 2 Samuel 23:37.

(See Family and Foe)

Rehoboam had already heard that the kingdom was going to be broken up because of Solomon’s sins. So when he takes the advice of the “young men” he should have known what was going to happen. His arrogance and deception are enormous but it was in God’s plan.

Questions to be answered in heaven:

  • What were the names of the daughters of Lot?
  • Did those “young men” stay Rehoboam’s advisors?

There Is Nothing New Under the Sun

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What is Pelagianism? That is ok I didn’t know either until I started reading a book about saints. In the early 400’s saints of God were having to battle teachings and teachers who were trying to put great sounding ideas into the church of God. The only problem they were not biblical ideas.

Nuremberg_chronicles_f_135r_2Pelagianism basically says all mankind is good and unaffected by Adam’s fall and that “original sin” has no affect on us. It goes further to say that we can obey God without His “help” and earn our own salvation. St. Augustine of Hippo and others battled to stop that heresy and several councils of the Church agreed. But just to show that the devil likes to recycle ideas. Rousseau, the author of Emilie, incorporated the idea of the basic goodness of mankind (children) into his book and teachings.  His liberalism has been a foundational stone for many educational philosophies since then and has made it way into modernism and post-modern thought.

www.theopedia.com/Pelagianism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagianism {{PD-1923}} – published before 1923 and public domain in the US.   For picture