No ‘little sins’

 

READ 1 Kings 10–13

In the NT, Paul realized that in his weakness, God was able to make him strong. I’ve often said that each of us has a weakness such as a problem we cannot solve, a sin that seems unconquerable, a thorn in the flesh. It is to drive us to greater dependence on God, but that does not always happen.

David took for another man’s wife and killed the man. His son, often called the wisest man ever born, “excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.” (1 Kings 10:23–24) But like his father, he had a weakness:

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women . . . from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart . . . . after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God . . . . For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites . . . . Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. (11:1–8)

If Solomon had taken his weakness for women to God, the story would have been different. However, God told him that his sin would cost him the kingdom. He raised up adversaries against Solomon: Hadad the Edomite, Rezon the son of Eliada, and Jeroboam a servant of Solomon. (11:14–26)

For the sake of David whom God chose, God took the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and gave it to Jeroboam, leaving the tribe of Judah to Solomon’s son. These leaders were charged to listen to God and walk in His ways and He would bless them, but they didn’t listen. Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam who fled into Egypt. Then Solomon died and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place. (11:34–43)

Rehoboam erred in ignoring wise counsel from older men and following the advice of his peers. Nevertheless, he ruled Judah and Jeroboam took charge in the rest of the divided land. Rehoboam wanted to attack the other ten tribes and restore them under his rule, but God made it clear:

 

. . . . Thus says the Lord, “You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from me.’ So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord. (12:23–24)

In Israel, Jeroboam was afraid of losing control of his ten tribes as they went up to worship in Jerusalem, so he “made two calves of gold” and told Israel this was their gods. He put them in two cities so the people could stay in his territory and offer their sacrifices. He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people who were not of the Levites. This fear was a weakness that led to this sin instead of trusting God.

These historical events are a warning about weaknesses, about the sinful tendencies we have that can lead to great disobedience. The NT says in several places that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” using the example of yeast permeating all of the bread dough. I remember a time when I took some frozen but unbaked loaves out of the freezer and forgot to put them back. The storage room was warm and the next time I went to the freezer, those loaves had burst their plastic bag and were several feet long! At the time, I laughed. Now I see the parallel.

Fear of losing power drove Jeroboam to idolatry instead of trusting God to keep him on the throne. God points out that I’m not to allow anything, like delight in being right, small envy, unresolved irritation, unforgiveness of a little offense, small lies, and so on grow into obnoxious pride, jealous cravings, bitterness, and deceit. Those ‘little sins’ are not less sin than multiplied sin, but symptoms of a lack of faith and rebellion against God that can affect all of life.

I sometimes get irritated or self-defensive when corrected = lacking humility. I also get annoyed with a few Christians who latch on to unbiblical or unresearched ideas = failing to seek God asking Him to open their eyes to truth. Both seldom happen but I can see them as roots that need to be pulled. Thank God that when I confess, He forgives AND cleanses sin, no matter the ‘size’ because from His perspective, sin is sin!