Friday, 02 September 2011 06:15 Written by Jim Denison

The year 958 B.C. may be the high water mark of Jewish history. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived (1 Kings 4:31), was the king of Israel. His personal net worth would exceed $58 billion today. Israel was the superpower of the day, with secure borders extending from present-day Syria to the Sinai Peninsula and peace with her neighbors. And he had just constructed the most spectacular worship structure the nation had ever seen.

Solomon's Temple was built of bronze, cedar, iron, and precious stones, overlaid with silver and gold. The gold plating of the "most holy place" alone would be worth $896,940,000 today. His throne was made of ivory, overlaid with gold. Some 180,000 laborers worked to complete the temple.

When it was done, the king ordered that the ark of the covenant be brought to it. When they placed the ark in the Most Holy Place and withdrew, "the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God" (2 Chronicles 5:13-14).

Then Solomon led his people in dedicating themselves to the God for whom the temple was built. When he finished praying, "fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple" (2 Chr. 7:1). The people continued their dedication and celebration for eight days before Solomon "sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel" (v. 10).

Has the Lord blessed America as he blessed Israel?

America is the world's only superpower. Our military is the first in history to control every ocean of the world. Our economy, even in these difficult times, is as large as Japan, China, Germany, India, and Great Britain combined. More Americans go to church each week than in any other nation in the Western world.

What did God say to Israel at the height of her prosperity? What is he saying to our nation today?

A shocking warning

When Solomon and the people finished dedicating the temple, the Lord appeared to the king at night and said, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices" (2 Chr. 7:12). This must have been very good news—the King of the universe would make Solomon's temple his throne on earth.

But God's next word was shocking in the extreme. It began: "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people . . . (v. 13). The King warned Solomon that a day would come when he would send drought against the nation. A farming economy would be devastated by natural disaster such as drought. He would also send "locusts to devour the land." Their wealth was measured in crops, not banks. They had no defense against swarms of locusts, which could devour fields in minutes and destroy their economy overnight. And he would "send a plague among my people." A bubonic plague had ravaged Egypt five centuries earlier; other epidemics such as influenza and smallpox were constant threats in the ancient world.

These warnings must have stunned Solomon and his people. In the midst of their prosperity and security, they must have assumed that their future was filled with promise. But God knew that his people would soon violate his commandments by turning to idolatry and immorality.

Before long, Israel was at war with Edom, their neighbor to the south, and Aram, their neighbor to the north (vs. 14-25). His son Rehoboam was such a cruel despot that in 922 B.C. the nation split in two, the ten northern tribes making the nation of Israel and the two southern tribes creating the nation of Judah.

Two centuries later, in 722 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed and assimilated by the Assyrian empire. They are often called the "ten lost tribes" of Israel. In 586 B.C., the southern kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:18-19) and was enslaved for 70 years.

In 539 B.C., Cyrus the Great and the Persians conquered Babylon. The next year he allowed the Jews to return to their homeland, but under Persian rule. Between the Old and New Testaments, the Greeks conquered the Persians and tried to force the Jews to worship their pagan gods. The Jewish people revolted and achieved independence in 167 B.C. The Romans conquered Jerusalem and Israel in 63 B.C. In A.D. 70, after three years of Jewish revolt, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Following a second Jewish revolt in 132-5, the Romans scattered the Jewish people and renamed the region "Palestine" (the Latin version of "Philistine," the sea people living in Gaza along the Mediterranean coast).

"Palestine" was ruled in turn by Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Egyptians, Turks, and the British. On May 14, 1948, the modern state of Israel was born.

The point of this brief survey is simple: for the next 3,000 years after Solomon, the Jewish people would know only 103 years of autonomy and peace. Because they turned from making God their King to enthroning themselves through immorality and idolatry, they suffered the judgment of the only true King.

A relevant warning

Is any of this ancient history relevant to America? Are we facing similar judgment today?

The Lord warned his people of drought and other natural disasters. Are we facing such calamity? Consider these facts:

• More than 70 million people died in famines during the 20^th century, the most ever.

• Tsunamis have killed more than 250,000 people in the last 10 years, including the Japan tsunami of March 11, 2011, the most expensive natural disaster in history.

• Earthquakes, including the 2010 Haiti disaster, have killed more than 655,000 people in the last decade.

• The drought plaguing Texas and the South is reaching record proportions. More than two million acres of Texas farmland have been abandoned.

God warned us that we could face economic judgment as well, as "locusts" devour our lands. What have we experienced in the last five years?

• The Great Recession cost American households $19.4 trillion. It affected 40% of American homes with unemployment, negative home equity, or foreclosure.

• Retirement accounts have lost as much as 35% of their value.

• Unemployment remains at 9.2%; when combined with those who have stopped seeking work or are working less than they wish ("underemployment"), the number rises to 22%.

• Financial crisis continues to plague Europe, as countries such as Greece, Portugal, and Spain threaten to bring down their united economy.

And he warned that we could face "plagues" and other diseases. Consider the health challenges of our day:

• The AIDS epidemic has claimed more than 30 million victims since it began in 1981.

• The flu kills more than 250,000 people around the world each year.

• Heart disease kills 17 million people a year.

• Cancer causes more than seven million deaths annually.

• One third of the world has been infected with the tuberculosis bacteria; two million die of the disease each year.

• Malaria afflicts 225 million people a year, killing 1.5 million (including 200,000 infants).

• Diabetes afflicts 230 million people, killing nearly four million a year.

• More than 33 million people are living with AIDS, which kills two million a year.

And we are still at war with radical Islam. As we will see on Tuesday, this is the greatest threat the West has ever faced.

Am I saying that God caused all these disasters? Absolutely not. We are fallen people living in a fallen world. Much of the suffering of our time is the result of our misused free will and the natural calamities which beset our planet. And we have an enemy as well who "prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

But the King is still on his throne. He must allow all that happens or he is not our sovereign Lord. Because he is love (1 John 4:8) and holy (Revelation 4:8), he must redeem for greater good all he allows (Romans 8:28).

A redemptive purpose

What was his purpose in allowing the disasters which would befall Solomon's nation? The rest of his statement is our answer:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land (v. 14).

God is calling us to "humble" ourselves, admitting that he is King and we are not. He wants us to "pray"—the Hebrew word means to pray in the collective, interceding for our nation and her leaders and people. He calls us to "seek my face"—the Hebrew means to run hard after an intimate, personal relationship with him as our King and Lord. When we do, we "turn from our wicked ways" into a holy, transforming, joyful relationship with him.

Tomorrow we'll begin this journey into Kingdom living and spiritual renewal. For today, let's decide that we want to. God cannot give us what we will not receive, or lead us if we will not follow. A surgeon can help only the patient who will allow her to operate. A pilot can fly us to our destination only if we'll board the plane.

Do you want more of God than you have? Know that all of God there is, is in this moment. And choose to make him your King today.

Conclusion

Do you believe that America needs a great movement of God's Spirit? Do you believe that the day is urgent, that the hour is at hand? Then you are precisely where the Fifth Great Awakening began. The largest explosion of faith in Christian history is occurring around the world, right now. Many historians date it to a desperate day in 1958.

The Korean War had come to a truce after four years of fighting, ravaging the Korean peninsula. David Yonggi Cho was a recent convert to the Christian faith, living in Seoul. Diagnosed with terminal tuberculosis, he was visited by an unknown Christian girl who shared Christ with him. He became a Christian, and was healed of his disease. Three years later, at the age of 22, he was gripped by the conviction that God wanted him to begin a church in his war-ravaged city.

On May 18, 1958, his mother-in-law, a woman named Jashil Choi, allowed him to meet in her living room. Mrs. Choi created a pulpit by covering an apple box with a cloth, then went around the neighborhood announcing the service. However, only six people came: Pastor Cho, Mrs. Choi, her three children, and an elderly woman who came to escape the rain.

The small group began praying for their city, meeting each morning at 4 AM. Then they went into the community to seek others for whom they could pray. A month after they began, they met a woman who had been paralyzed for seven years since the birth of her son. After they prayed for her across several days, she was healed. Others heard her story and came for prayer and worship. The group grew to 50, so a tent was pitched in front of Mrs. Choi's home to house the congregation.

Today the Yoido Full Gospel Fellowship numbers nearly a million members, the largest church in Christian history. They still meet to pray every morning at 4 AM, and pray all night each Friday evening. A hundred years ago there was not a single born-again Christian in Korea; today, South Korea is one-third to one-half born-again Christian. Last year they sent more missionaries into the world than America did.

Six people discerned the need of their day and humbled themselves, praying for their nation, seeking God's face and turning from wicked ways into Kingdom living. And God is using them to transform our world.

What would he do with us?

 

< Prev		Next >