“For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to the children, that the coming generation would know them-even children yet to be born-to arise and tell their own children that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments. Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.” -Psalm 78:5-8
Note the contrast in these verses. Those who have hope have put their confidence in God. They are the ones who are trusting in God, believing in Him, following His commands and laws. They are the ones having communion with God. Then, there are the rebellious and stubborn. Those who are hostile and defiant toward God. They are without loyalty or faithfulness.
Let me just talk about backsliding for a few moments. The Bible says this about turning back (backsliding), “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him,” (Proverbs 26:11-12).
We are to guard our hearts because every decision, every issue of life flows out of our hearts. So, the Scriptures warn us and command us to guard our hearts will all diligence. We are told to be sober-minded as well, clear-headed. Backsliding occurs when a person is set on living a life of impurity. Backsliding can happen when we begin making the smallest of compromises. “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself,” (Proverbs 14:14). The English word “backslider” comes from the transliteration of the Hebrew word, “sûḡ,” which means “apostatize.” Apostasy means to embrace lies instead of truth. Backsliders are those who fall from grace. They are those that apostatize. They are the ones who deviate from the narrow road onto the broad road that leads to destruction. Backsliders go back to their sins just like a dog returns to its own vomit. Backsliders are those who get what they deserve; they will eat the fruit of their own way (Proverbs 1:31). They are filled with their own devices, insistent on living a life of immorality and impurity. For those who backslide and believe they will have time to come back to God, we are not guaranteed our next breath. We don’t know if we will have another chance to repent or come clean before God simply because we are not guaranteed our next breath. God does NOT play games. I’ve said this before I will say it again: there is no neutral ground when it comes to living for God. We must remain steadfast, press forward, without looking back. We must keep our eyes fixed Jesus, looking straight ahead. Don’t look to the right or the left. Continue onward in holiness and righteousness.
“My son, pay attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not lose sight of them; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body. GUARD YOUR HEART WITH ALL DILIGENCE, FOR FROM IT FLOW SPRINGS OF LIFE. Put away deception you’re your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech. Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil,” (Proverbs 4:20-27)
Our hope is found in Jesus. He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith. He is our Risen Lord and Savior. Those who are putting their faith and trust in Him, believing in Him as their Redeemer will not be put to shame. Our hope is found in no other. Our hope is found in nothing else. Look to Jesus. Obey the commands of the Lord, and march forward, Saints of the God. He alone is our Hope and our Salvation.
“For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.” -Psalm 96:45 NKJV
What is your god? Before you answer too quickly, think about it. What is your god? Sports, Cooking Shows, Cell Phone, Television, Internet, Social Media? Is it seeking the approval of men, wealth, prestige, or popularity, or is it something else? An idol is whatever takes God’s rightful place in our heart. Whatever we have set all of our affections and adoration on, whatever sits upon the throne of our life is our idol. God must come first in our lives. God must be the one we seek to live for first (Matthew 6:33), the one we seek to please first, and it is His approval we must first gain (Galatians 1:10).
It is vital that each of us guard our heart because every decision, every action, whether or not we follow God stems from the heart. Why should we guard our heart so diligent? (1) Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Reference Luke 6:45; (2) Your heart will determine the course of your life. Reference Proverbs 4:23; (3) Your beliefs about God and who He is comes from the heart. “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe in and justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved,” Romans 10:8-10; (4) Wherever your treasure is (what you value and cherish most, what you cling to) that is where your heart lies.
What is your god? Each of us as individuals must decide if we will rid our lives of idolatry and repent for putting other things as first place in our lives. We cannot be a friend of this world and be a friend of God. To be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God. Nothing is worth losing your soul over. The Lord is to be our First Love always.
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:35-36)
King Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son, has flipped my brain inside out and upside down as I have been studying his life for the last two days. Each verse got more interesting, but what King Rehoboam did scared the living daylights out of me.
“And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.” (2 Chronicles 12:1-4KJV)
I shook my head as I read this passage of Scripture. It’s a little unnerving. First thing to note is that in this particular verse Israel is in reference to Judah. Second thing to note is King Rehoboam was very high in popularity at this time. Not only was he popular but he had also made an attempt to serve God. The Results: Judah prospered. We find this evidence in 2 Chronicles 11:17 (KJV), which states, “This strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for during those years they faithfully followed in the footsteps of David and Solomon.”
Rehoboam had success and was enjoying a time of blessing. He and his kingdom were firmly established and made strong. He was at the highest point in popularity and in power. Then, we see a tragic turn of events. In the time of blessing, Rehoboam “…forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.” King Rehoboam committed two major sins: (1) He forsook the law of the Lord, and (2) He caused all Israel to sin because they followed his lead. We can see Rehoboam’s sin didn’t just affect him; it affected all Israel. When you are a leader, it is inevitable that people will follow you. They look at your example, and eventually, you will see them modeling what you have modeled for them. Any leadership role you play, you are held with a higher level of accountability by God. How you lead those who follow your example will affect your standing in the eyes of God. In this case, Israel took its leadership from Rehoboam and the whole nation forsook God’s law; they forgot about God and abandoned him.
There were consequences to them forsaking and abandoning God and His law. We can see the results of their sin in verses 3-5 (KJV), which states, “With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.”
I think it’s safe to say God has His limits. This verse, “…Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.” I looked up the word “forsake” in the Hebrew Language. The Hebrew word is “azab” which means “to loosen, to relinquish, to permit.” When we decide to forsake or abandon God, we are letting go, giving up on God; when we decide to forsake or abandon God, we are voluntarily surrendering our claim to God being the One we follow. There does come a time when God has had enough. We don’t like being ignored or disrespected or pushed aside. Can you imagine how God feels when we ignore, disrespect, or push Him aside? He is your Creator, who has given you life. It is not wise to push God aside or show Him any kind of disdain or indifference toward Him especially when God has lavished you with mercy and grace and has poured out His blessings upon you.
King Rehoboam and the people repented, and God saw the change of heart. Sounds good, right? Forgiveness doesn’t mean you will NOT suffer the consequences. The consequences may not be as severe as they would have been if you didn’t repent. Let’s look at verses 7-8 (KJV), which states, “And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” What was their consequences for forsaking God and His law? They would end up the servants to Shishak, King of Egypt. By being the servants to Shishak, they would learn and know what it is like to be ruled by a man rather than being ruled by God. The NLT phrases verse 8, this way, “But they will become his subjects, so they will know the difference between serving me and serving earthly rulers.” Need I say more on that?
Shishak attacked Jerusalem and ransacked the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple as well as the palace. Then, the gold shields which were made by King Solomon were stolen. God didn’t spare Rehoboam, a king, from the consequences of his choices. Do you think he would allow any of us to escape the consequences of our own individual actions and choices? The problem is when you make something else the lord of your life, you become a slave to that object. When you make a person the lord of your life, you become a slave to that person. Whatever consumes you is what you are a slave to.
GOD DOES NOT AND WILL NOT SHARE HIS GLORY WITH ANOTHER. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will not share the same temple with another object or another person. If you are backslidden, lukewarm, complacent, or lost God as your First Love, then you, being the temple of the Holy Spirit, will no longer be experiencing the Glory of God. You, whom the Holy Spirit once resided in, will be Ichabod, meaning “The glory has departed from Israel.” Do NOT grieve the Holy Spirit. If you find yourself in any of these conditions, I strongly encourage you to repent and make things right with God.
CAN YOU DUPLICATE OR SUBSTITUTE ANYTHING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD? NO, NEVER, CAN’T HAPPEN, IMPOSSIBLE. Sure, you can try. King Rehoboam tried to. Look at verse 10-11, which states, “King Rehoboam later replaced them with bronze shields as substitutes, and he entrusted them to the care of the commanders of the guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the Temple of the Lord, the guards would also take the shields and then return them to the guardroom.”
I make no apologies for finding what Rehoboam did to be foolish. He was trying to keep the former glory of the temple by using substitutes. “King Rehoboam later replaced them with bronze shields as substitutes, and he entrusted them to the care of the commanders of the guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace…” He tried to keep the original appearance of the glory of the temple. Rehoboam had the guards protecting bronze shields which were cheap, shoddy, and inexpensive. He had substitutes to keep up the appearance of the former glory. The temple no longer demonstrated a genuine display of the glory of the Temple, but it only gave a FAKE appearance of the former glory of the temple. Remember everything was stolen from the temple. Now all Rehoboam could use was substitutes.
When you are no longer for God, when you are backslidden, when you are not in right relationship with God, if you have forsaken God, then the glory of God is not seen in you. You can put on a performance or even display a picture of perfection, but that fact is, when you are FAKING, the fake display you are putting on will lack intensity, clarity, vividness, and the brightness that only the true glory of God has. YOU CANNOT DUPLICATE THE GLORY OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE JUST LIKE REHOBOAM COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE FORMER GLORY OF THE TEMPLE. Just because you put on a picture of perfection does NOT mean that God is going to accept you and your behavior. Nothing you do will substitute the presence and glory of God in your life. Either you are for God or against Him. You are either serving God or not. Nothing can replace God and His glory shining in your life.
The way Rehoboam ended his reign and his life was in a very sad state, “But he was an evil king, for he did not seek the LORD with all his heart.”
We can all learn from Rehoboam. First, when you go through good times and times of blessings, guard your heart. Hold your faith closely, and cling to God. Cling to the truths of God. Second, when you repent and humble yourself before God, He will NOT reject a broken spirit and a repentant heart. Third, be steadfast in your love for God and make your face like flint determined to do His will.
As we live life, let us live in such a way before God, that when we stand before Him to give an account for how we lived our lives, we will hear the words, “Well done, My Good and Faithful Servant.
Stained Glass Confessions 