Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Perhaps one of the most perplexing life stories in the Bible is that of Solomon. Initially gifted with wisdom beyond measure, he steadily grew more and more corrupt and perverse, both in his personal life (1 Kings 11:3) and in his political life (1 Kings 12:4). I've always wondered how Solomon who was given GODLY wisdom and could write the book of Proverbs with all the wisdom contained there, how he could go so wrong and lose all wise insight into his own life.
I was listening to Ravi Zacharias this morning on this topic and he pointed out something I never noticed before. Pretty much every single king of God's people, good or bad (particularly the notable ones), had a prophet in his life to correct him when he was wrong. Ahab had Elijah, Saul had Samuel, Josiah had Jeremiah, Hezekiah had Isaiah. Yet we hear no mention of a prophet speaking directly to Solomon (perhaps 1 Kings 11:11 is spoken through a prophet). Ravi surmised that perhaps this is because Solomon was himself considered a prophet, and maybe the hype had gone to his head. After all, if you're the wisest person in the world and you talk to God, then what use would be an adviser to keep you accountable?
Ravi took that as a lesson to us all, particularly leaders. Everyone, no matter how gifted and "in tune" with God, needs a Nathan; someone who will speak loving truth into their lives and hold them accountable... someone to tell them when they've killed their neighbor's lamb, so to speak. Solomon didn't have a Nathan and that was (in part) his downfall. Who's your Nathan?
I was listening to Ravi Zacharias this morning on this topic and he pointed out something I never noticed before. Pretty much every single king of God's people, good or bad (particularly the notable ones), had a prophet in his life to correct him when he was wrong. Ahab had Elijah, Saul had Samuel, Josiah had Jeremiah, Hezekiah had Isaiah. Yet we hear no mention of a prophet speaking directly to Solomon (perhaps 1 Kings 11:11 is spoken through a prophet). Ravi surmised that perhaps this is because Solomon was himself considered a prophet, and maybe the hype had gone to his head. After all, if you're the wisest person in the world and you talk to God, then what use would be an adviser to keep you accountable?
Ravi took that as a lesson to us all, particularly leaders. Everyone, no matter how gifted and "in tune" with God, needs a Nathan; someone who will speak loving truth into their lives and hold them accountable... someone to tell them when they've killed their neighbor's lamb, so to speak. Solomon didn't have a Nathan and that was (in part) his downfall. Who's your Nathan?
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