The Lord Raises Adversaries. Then the LORD stirred up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of royal descent in Edom. 1Ki 11:14
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT UNDER THE MONARCHY
INTRODUCTION
Originally Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were regarded as one series, and called the Books of Kings. In the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament, made during the period between the Testaments), each of these books was divided into two parts; and what we term First Kings was called the Third Book of Kings.
It is impossible to fix accurately either the date when this book was compiled, or the name of the writer. From the fact that the last chapter of II Kings records the release of Jehoiachin from captivity, which took place B.C. 562, but makes no mention of the decree of Cyrus, B.C. 538, with which the return of the Jews from captivity began, it is concluded that the book was compiled sometime between these dates.
The sources from which the compiler drew were three: the Book of the Acts of Solomon, 1Ki_11:41; the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, 1Ki_14:29, etc.; and the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, 1Ki_14:19. The Chronicles here referred to are not the books called Chronicles in the Bible, but separate works which are now lost.
The history of the nation is recorded from the close of the reign of David to the middle of the reign of Ahaziah. In its highest glory under Solomon, the kingdom foreshadows the millennial kingdom of our Lord. The prosperity of the nation rises or falls according to the character of the ruler and his people, illustrating for us the important truth that obedience is the condition of blessing.
I .THE UNITED KINGDOM, I Kings 1-11
5. Solomon’s Polygamy, Apostasy and Death, 1Ki_11:1-43
32. By what means was Solomon chastised?
THE LORD RAISES ADVERSARIES
Then the LORD stirred up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of royal descent in Edom.
For it came about, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed [in battle] and had struck down every male in Edom
(for Joab and all [the army of] Israel stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom),
that Hadad escaped to Egypt, he and some Edomites from his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was [still] a little boy.
They set out from Midian [south of Edom] and came to Paran, and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave [young] Hadad a house and ordered food and provisions for him and gave him land.
Hadad found great favor with Pharaoh, so that he gave Hadad in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
The sister of Tahpenes gave birth to Genubath, Hadad’s son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.
But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave, so that I may go to my own country.”
Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that now you ask to go to your own country?” He replied, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”
God also stirred up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.
Rezon gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, after David killed those in Zobah. They went to Damascus and stayed there and they reigned in Damascus. [2Sa_10:8, 2Sa_10:18]
So Rezon was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad inflicted. Rezon hated Israel and reigned over Aram (Syria).
THE LORD RAISES ADVERSARIES
ADVERSARIES OF THE RECREANT KING
Two of the instruments of Solomon’s chastisement are enumerated in this paragraph.
First, Hadad, the Edomite, 1Ki_11:14-22. Notice the importance of a little child. All the male representatives of the royal family of Edom had perished; but in this child, the line was preserved and perpetuated, to be, through long years, a formidable menace to Israel. Never neglect a little child. You never know what good or ill may be hidden in a tiny bud-an Ingersoll or a Garfield, a Paine or a Wilberforce. Mark in this man Hadad the trace of those strange impulses which determine destiny. He could not assign the reason that led him to leave Egypt, but he knew he must go, 1Ki_11:22. Thus migratory birds feel the call of southern lands.
Second, Rezon, also, hated Israel, 1Ki_11:23-25. It is an awful thing when such hatred arises between two peoples. We as Christians must use all our power to arrest and allay it. Only love and good-will can guarantee a lasting peace. It was by these two human “rods” that God chastened Solomon. Let us live in such conformity to His will that he may not need to chasten us as individuals or as a nation. “Our God is a consuming fire!”
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