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10:1-11:13
‘King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth’(23). It sounds impressive - until you look more closely at Solomon’s life! What else does God’s Word tell us about him? - ‘His heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God… Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely… His heart had turned away from the Lord… Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command’(11:4,6,9-10). When everything seems to be going well, God invites us to look beneath the surface, to look a little deeper. Great words had been spoken about Solomon (10:9). Now, everything had gone sour. Solomon had lost the place. This can happen to any of us. We can lose our way. Read the story of Solomon as a warning: Don’t let this happen to you! Stay close to God.

11:14-12:24
Life can be a very slippery slope. You can go downhill very quickly - if you’re not careful! Solomon let things slide - and he was never the same again. He fell - and he never got back up again. After he died, there was ‘rebellion’- and it lasted for a long time (12:9). It was bedlam. Chaos reigned. The people couldn’t agree among themselves. Everybody was pointing the finger at somebody else. What did God have to say about all this? - ‘Do not go up to fight against your brothers…’(12:24). God’s Word seems so simple. We’re the ones who make everything so complicated - when we’re looking out for ourselves, when we’re forgetting to listen for God’s Word. We need to stop giving off - ‘This is what I think’. We need to start listening. What are others saying? What is the Lord saying?

12:25-13:34
These were dark days for God’s people. They were deeply divided. There was the northern kingdom (Israel). Jeroboam was their ‘big man’. There was the southern kingdom (Judah). Rehoboam was the ‘voice’ of the south. What a shambles it all was! Each side seemed intent on outdoing the other - ungodliness. Sin reigned in the north (13:33-34). Sin reigned in the south (14:22-24). The ‘big man’ was not so big in the eyes of the Lord. The ‘voice’ did not speak the Word of the Lord. Was there any hope? Yes! There was an unnamed ‘man of God’ who spoke ‘the Word of the Lord’(13:1). In all the confusion of these difficult times, God was planning for a better future. His Word concerned Josiah: ‘a son shall be born…’(2). We look beyond Josiah to Jesus: ‘to us a Child is born… a Son…’(Isaiah 9:6-7).