In the such and such year of so and so, king of Israel, so and so became king of Judah. He did evil in the eyes of the lord, more so than his fathers before him. This is how most of the chapters or sections start in the book of kings. A king of Israel or Judah dies, and someone takes his place. Every once in a while, there would rise up a king who was good in the eyes of God. This king would destroy the altars to the other gods and turn the kingdom back to the Father. Unfortunately, the bad kings out number the good ones 3 to 1. It must have seemed easier to follow in the foot steps of those before them who rejected God. Those who built altars and temples to Baal and other gods like him, rather than tore down. Because of these men, Israel stayed in turmoil and desolation following the days of Solomon. It all started with Saul. King Saul started out alright. He would consult God before battle and for the first part of his kingship, he drifted away and God rejected him as king. God raised up David to take the king's place. David was good. The best king there was, but even he stumbled a little. Thankfully, he knew when he messed up and he was quick to repent. Because his heart was in the right place, God held Solomon's throne, David's son, as a promise to David. In Solomon's eyes, he had a free pass to do whatever he wanted, because he knew that he would be under God's covering as long as he lived. So he lived a life of luxury, acquiring 700 wives and over 300 concubines. He started slavery in his kingdom, and watched the people suffer while he lived a life of ease. Due to his frivolous life, he ended up having several enemies that waited till the perfect time to strike. After Solomon died, these men took action and Israel has not had full peace since then. The kings also have not come to a place of full surrender to God, except for a small amount who were listed in scripture as "good in the eyes of God, as their father david was before them. But what about the bad kings. It seems with every passing king, more and more evil was introduced into Israel and Judah. God's word could not be heard had he shouted from a bullhorn. They had no desire to be good or do good in anyway. If someone did them wrong, they found ways to eliminate them in ways that would bring the most attention to themselves and the one who did the wrong. Sometimes, I feel like our world has taken some noted from the kings of old. We cry for world peace, yet curse out someone who pulls out quickly in front of us. We are quick to judge and blame, and we no longer feel the need to take responsibility of our actions. We have become a self-serving self-centered shell that does not care to impact our community, let alone the world altogether. It us time to come out of ourselves and look around us at this world that we are destroying with our actions and make changes to fix it, one act of kindness at a time. I know it will not be easy, but if it were easy for Jesus to die on the cross for us, it probably would not have mattered as much to us as it was intended. It just takes one small change to make a huge impact. It is time to be the change our world needs.
Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Mission From God
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