Solomon’s sin of ignoring what God said about sex and marriage led him into idol worship. This in turn resulted in a tragic split in the kingdom. We were told it would happen in 1 Kings 11 and now in 1 Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 10-11 we are told what happened. It happens after Solomon has died, just as God had said. Solomon’s son Rehoboam becomes king and rules the people harshly, which results in 10 of the tribes rebelling and a split in the kingdom. Those 10 tribes become the Northern kingdom, which is called Israel. Two tribes remain faithful to Rehoboam and they are called the Southern kingdom, known as Judah.
Jeroboam becomes the king of the northern kingdom, and he leads the whole nation into idolatry by making two golden calves. After all God has done for them, this is now they respond. How offensive to the one true God to see people he had rescued out of Egypt and called by name, treat Him like this.
Are we any different? God is worthy of all of our worship all of the time, and He has told us what is pleasing to Him, but do we worship Him as He commands? Or do we decide we think we know what is best?
In our reading from Titus 1, Paul warns that we are in danger of the same sort of thing. He warns against about false teachers who lead people astray into false worship. Paul sends Titus to Crete in order to appoint elders in the churches. One of the qualifications for the elder is that “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9). The same is true today, we need men who will hold to the trustworthy word as taught by the apostles, not shifting with popular opinion, but sticking with what God says.
Why would you shift from the trustworthy word? The trustworthy word tells us of our Saviour who has come into the world to save people from all the times we fail to worship God as we should. As Paul will tell us in chapter 3 “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our saviour.”
Why move from this most wonderful message, stick with Jesus and what he commands us for our good.
Light and Momentary Troubles 
Leave a comment