Paul gives this advice in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 10 to verse 12. I advise you to take this warning very seriously and to convince you about this important recommendation, I invite you to meditate few examples from the Bible of men who "have fallen" despite a very good start in their life!
Moses.
Moses is the person you would not expect to see falling when you read his most remarkable conduct since his call by Yehoah to free the Children of Israel from the harsh captivity in Egypt.
Paul quotes him as an example by comparing him to the Savior in Hebrews 3: 2
" 2 who (Editor’s note: Yeshuah) was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.”
Paul confirms the words of Yehoah himself in Numbers 12: 7-8
" 7 Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. 8 I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of Yehoah.... "
A little before, in verse 3, the Word shows the very great qualities of Moses:
" 3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth."
And despite all this, Moses failed and lost his temper at the waters of Meriba, at the end of 40 years of stay in the desert. Let's read what happened in Numbers 20: 7-13
“7 Then Yehoah spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before Yehoah as He commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12 Then Yehoah spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
13 This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with Yehoah, and He was hallowed among them."
Moses induced the Children of Israel to believe that Aaron and he had the miraculous power to bring water out of the rock at Meribah.
And as Yehoah teaches "who loves good My son, do not despise the chastening of Yehoah, nor detest His correction; for whom Yehoah loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights." (Proverbs 3:11-12 or Hebrews 12: 6), Yehoah chastised Moses severely by not allowing him entry into the Promised Land!
By the way, it is interesting to note that in our modern society, there is a disappearance of the true love that is expressed in particular by a desire not to punish. We do not chasten anymore and we are often no longer entitled to chasten our children who behave badly. It seems that everything is done to avoid punishing convicted criminals who have committed crimes that are often horrible. Men no longer understand that punishment is above all an act of love and not of hate.
Let us continue with Saul, the first king of Israel!
When he learns that he has been chosen by Yehoah to be anointed as king, Saul shows great humility by saying to Samuel:
" And Saul answered and said, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?” (I Samuel 9:21)
At the moment of his enthronement, he even will hide among the equipment. Then he continues to work in the fields as if nothing had happened!
But sometime later, what a big change will happen to Saul when he arrogates the right to offer a holocaust by taking the place of Samuel unduly! From this moment Samuel tells him that he is rejected, Saul goes deeper and deeper into the world of sin with a few milestones:
1. Disobedience by not devoting Agag, the Amalekite and the goods of his people to a curse.
2. His hatred of David, the new anointed of Elohim, hate to the point of trying to kill him, sometimes by sending him to dangerous missions, sometimes by trying to kill him in cold blood several times!
3. By not keeping his word with the refusal to give David his daughter Merab, whom he had promised him.
Saul sadly fell and never got up.
About David, do not confuse between his trials and his punishments.
David, the second human king of the Children of Israel, was a king who throughout most of his life had the remarkable habit of consulting with his Creator before taking important decisions.
But there was an unfortunate exception, he could not resist the charm and the beauty of Bath Sheba, the wife of his faithful general Uriah, the Hittite. He raped her and as she became pregnant, but he could not hide this event by making believe that the unborn child would be from Uriah. So he decided to have Urie murdered during a battle and appropriated his wife.
He will publicly repent of this heinous act and endure the severe punishment that Yehoah will impose on him almost until his death.
You will be able to read all this in more detail by reading on this website the article entitled "Trial and Punishment".
Solomon, king of Israel.
Here is one of the most famous kings in history who had everything to succeed during his reign and yet he will fall miserably at the end of his it.
Solomon is a king to whom Elohim himself appears and to whom is granted wisdom, knowledge, wealth and glory as never before in history! Let's read that in II Chronicles 1: 7-13:
“7 On that night Elohim appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 8 And Solomon said to Elohim: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, O Yehoah Elohim, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?” 11 Then Elohim said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
13 So Solomon came to Jerusalem from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel."
Solomon had the unique privilege of being able to build the Temple of Elohim in Jerusalem.
Unfortunately Solomon turned away from his Creator and excited by the love of foreign women, he went to other gods as written in I Kings 11: 1-13:
"1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— 2 from the nations of whom Yehoah had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to Yehoah his Elohim, as was the heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did evil in the sight of Yehoah, and did not fully follow Yehoah, as did his father David. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. 8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 So Yehoah became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from Yehoah Elohim of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what Yehoah had commanded. 11 Therefore Yehoah said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
Asa, king of Judah.
Asa is a second example of a king who had everything to avoid failure and continue to walk in the way of Yehoah. The Bible tells us so much about his conduct during the first part of his reign in II Chronicles 14: 1-7:
" 1 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.
2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of Yehoah his Elohim, 3 for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images. 4 He commanded Judah to seek Yehoah Elohim of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment.
5 He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. 6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because Yehoah had given him rest. 7 Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought Yehoah our Elohim; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered."
Then the same chapter continues and shows how humble this king is and puts all his faith in Yehoah:
“ 8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried [c]shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.
9 Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. 10 So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried out to Yehoah his Elohim, and said, “Yehoah, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Yehoah our Elohim, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Yehoah, You are our Elohim; do not let man prevail against You!”
12 So Yehoah struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before Yehoah and His army. And they carried away very much spoil. 14 Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of Yehoah came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much spoil in them."
The next chapter also shows how Asa encouraged his people to return to Yehoah by removing the pagan abominations tobe found in the Judah and Benjamin territories. He restores the altar of Yehoah in the Temple. He did not hesitate to deprive his own mother of the dignity of queen-mother because she still worshiped Achera (another name for Isthar).
But towards the end of his reign, he made a bad choice by trusting the support of the king of Syria more than the one of Yehoah. He forgot how Yehoah fought for him when Baesha, king of Israel threatened him at the beginning of his reign. Let's read few passages from II Chronicles 16 which illustrate how Asa has fallen very seriously to the point of putting Yehoah's messenger in prison:
" 1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yehoah and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.. ...
7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on Yehoah your Elohim, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on Yehoah, He delivered them into your hand.
9 For the eyes of Yehoah run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.
11 Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.
13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.”
Jehoshaphat.
The ups and downs of King Jehoshaphat's attitude are also there to warn us against any temptation to become an ally with other head of states, even a brother, who would be bound with a foreign belief and therefore automatically be an enemy of our Creator. Today we could call this ecumenism with its dangers.
From the beginning of his reign, Jehoshaphat arose as an enemy of the practices of the kingdom of Israel in the north and removed from the kingdom of Judah all the symbols associated with the existing pagan cults. As a result, Yehoah gives him all His support by fortifying his reign and by enriching him.
Jehoshaphat will do even more by introducing and organizing a teaching of the laws of the Bible throughout the country and Yehoah creates around his reign an aura of respectful fear which makes even his worse enemies, the Philistines and the Arabs, offer him presents and pay him a tribute.
But nevertheless and unfortunately, Jospahat will fall also. His first fall occurred when he took the initiative to get closer to Ahab, king of Israel, who became his father-in-law. Ahab, whose religious conduct is abject according to biblical criteria, seduces Jehoshaphat by trying to drag him into a war against the king of Syria.
This is how the word of Yehoah is addressed to him after this first misstep in II Chronicles 19: 2-3:
" 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate Yehoah? Therefore the wrath of Yehoah is upon you. 3 Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek Elohim.”
Yehoah is satisfied with this reminder which should encourage Jehoshaphat to be more vigilant.
This is bearing some fruit since Jehoshaphat will concentrate on teaching the laws of the Bible not only to his kingdom of Judah but also to the Kingdom of Israel. He encourages and motivates his subjects in this way.
Yehoah miraculously gives him his support in response to the intense prayer that Josaphat addresses to him among his people when he asks for protection in front of a huge army of invaders coming from what is today Jordan and Syria. This help was miraculous in the sense that Yehoah and His armies of angels fought and completely exterminated the armies of the invaders. Jehoshaphat and his people discovered a multitude of corpses and collected a lot of valuable goods in the military camps of their ennemies.
Jehoshaphat stumbled a second time in allying himself with the impious King of Northern Israel in their plan to build a common naval fleet. It was completely destroyed by Yehoah:
" But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yehoah has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.” (II Chronicles 20:37)
Joash.
Jumping over two generations of kings, we arrive at Joas, the only survivor of the descendants of the previous king, all the others having been murdered by the queen mother Athalie. He is protected by his great-aunt, the wife of Yehoyada the priest. At the age of seven, Joas is crowned King of Judah and has a remarkable conduct of loyalty to Yehoah throughout the life of Yehoyada. He thus makes repair in the Temple left abandoned by his two predecessors and later destroyed by the queen-mother Athalie.
But at the death of Yehoahada the priest, Joash turned away from Yehoah to hear the leaders of Judah who encouraged him to leave the house of Yehoah and to worship idols and Achera (Isthar et al).
The height of horror is reached when Joash gives the order to stone in the Temple the prophet Zechariah, the son of Yehoahada, his savior, sent by Yehoah as a very last call to convince Joash to abandon his wrong doings!
His end was dramatic (II Chronicles 24: 22-25):
“22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “Yehoah look on it, and repay!”
23 So it happened in the spring of the year that the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.
24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; but Yehoah delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken Yehoah Elohim of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. 25 And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.”
Amaziah.
The reign of Amaziah, the son of Joash, begins well as he was keeping the commandments of Yehoah, insofar as Amaziah knows them. He even adopts a humble attitude when he acknowledges the mistake he made to call on troops of the northern kingdom of Israel to fight his enemy. But he will stumble miserably and definitively on the return of his victory over the Edomites. Instead of strengthening his bonds with Yehoah, the author of his victory, he will adopt the gods of the vanquished, sons of Seir! This will cause its loss (II Chronicles 25: 14-16):
" 14 Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. 15 Therefore the anger of Yehoah was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?” 16 So it was, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?”
Indeed, after that, he will follow his bad inspiration and go to war against the king of northern Israel. He will be beaten and die finally murdered in Lakish.
Uzziah.
Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, also had a beginning of reign where he endeavored to seek Yehoah. He was supported in this by Zachariah, a man who understood the visions of Elohim. As a result his reign became stronger and his reputation was great in all the countries around the kingdom of Judah, including Egypt and the Kingdom of Ammon.
But one day, his power turned his head and he decided to enter the Temple and to officiate himself! Yehoah's punishment was not long to come (II Chronicles 26: 17-21):
" 17 So Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of Yehoah—valiant men. 18 And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yehoah, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from Yehoah Elohim.”
19 Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of Yehoah, beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.
21 King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Yehoah. Then Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.”
Hezekiah.
Here is a king who is given in the bible as an example of faithful submission to Yehoah. He reopens the doors of the Temple of Yehoah which had been closed by his father Ahaz. He has the Temple cleansed and encourages all Judah and Israel to come and celebrate the feast of Passover in Jerusalem. Never had such a Passover been celebrated in Israel except in the time of King Solomon! Hezekiah encourages his people to cleanse the whole kingdom of Judah by eliminating the high places and various objects of pagan worship. He reintroduced the practice of tithing which served to nourish the priesthood.
In Jerusalem, besieged by the Assyrian army of Sennacherib, he and Isaiah the prophet encouraged the starving people of Judah to remain attached to Yehoah despite circumstances of severe starvation, and Yehoah protected them miraculously as usual by exterminating all the Assyrian camp.
But after the miraculous healing of Hezekiah, Hezekiah's heart became proud and he showed all his treasures to the messengers of the king of Babylon. This arrogance of Hezekiah caused him to stumble towards the end of his life. Nevertheless, he humbled himself before his death and it saved him many misfortunes during the end of his lifetime.
Josiah.
Josiah is one of the last kings before the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Babylon. He too will unfortunately not be an exception. Yet most of his reign that he begins at the age of 8 is exemplary. He brings his people back to his Creator and under his reign one rediscovers the book of the law that had disappeared during the scandalous reigns of the two previous kings, Manasseh and Amon.
Josiah humbles himself when he realizes through the teachings of the book and its law how much his life and that of his people have been abominable to our Father's eyes.
It is also during his reign that one of the most moving Passover in the history of the people of Israel will be celebrated.
But he will also stumble when he does not consult Yehoah and will make the fatal decision to go and fight Pharaoh Necho.
Indeed, Pharaoh Necho did not have any bellicose intention towards Josiah. On the contrary, he was sent by Yehoah, to go and fight on the river Euphrates, and to do that, he had to cross peacefully the kingdom of Judah. Josiah's fight against Necho at Megiddo was fatal to him, and he died as a result of his wounds!
Conclusion.
One of the keys to avoid falling is to stay humble all the time. We must remember that if our Father chose us as candidates to be part of His coming Kingdom, it is because we were vile, weak and despicable in the eyes of this world!
This is indeed what Paul teaches us at the beginning of his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 26 to 31:
" 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But Elohim has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and Elohim has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised Elohim has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ
“Let him who thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall!”
Paul gives this advice in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 10 to verse 12. I advise you to take this warning very seriously and to convince you about this important recommendation, I invite you to meditate few examples from the Bible of men who "have fallen" despite a very good start in their life!
Moses.
Moses is the person you would not expect to see falling when you read his most remarkable conduct since his call by Yehoah to free the Children of Israel from the harsh captivity in Egypt.
Paul quotes him as an example by comparing him to the Savior in Hebrews 3: 2
" 2 who (Editor’s note:
“Let him who thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall!”
Paul gives this advice in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 10 to verse 12. I advise you to take this warning very seriously and to convince you about this important recommendation, I invite you to meditate few examples from the Bible of men who "have fallen" despite a very good start in their life!
Moses.
Moses is the person you would not expect to see falling when you read his most remarkable conduct since his call by Yehoah to free the Children of Israel from the harsh captivity in Egypt.
Paul quotes him as an example by comparing him to the Savior in Hebrews 3: 2
" 2 who (Editor’s note: Yeshuah) was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.”
Paul confirms the words of Yehoah himself in Numbers 12: 7-8
" 7 Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. 8 I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of Yehoah.... "
A little before, in verse 3, the Word shows the very great qualities of Moses:
" 3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth."
And despite all this, Moses failed and lost his temper at the waters of Meriba, at the end of 40 years of stay in the desert. Let's read what happened in Numbers 20: 7-13
“7 Then Yehoah spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before Yehoah as He commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12 Then Yehoah spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
13 This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with Yehoah, and He was hallowed among them."
Moses induced the Children of Israel to believe that Aaron and he had the miraculous power to bring water out of the rock at Meribah.
And as Yehoah teaches "who loves good My son, do not despise the chastening of Yehoah, nor detest His correction; for whom Yehoah loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights." (Proverbs 3:11-12 or Hebrews 12: 6), Yehoah chastised Moses severely by not allowing him entry into the Promised Land!
By the way, it is interesting to note that in our modern society, there is a disappearance of the true love that is expressed in particular by a desire not to punish. We do not chasten anymore and we are often no longer entitled to chasten our children who behave badly. It seems that everything is done to avoid punishing convicted criminals who have committed crimes that are often horrible. Men no longer understand that punishment is above all an act of love and not of hate.
Let us continue with Saul, the first king of Israel!
When he learns that he has been chosen by Yehoah to be anointed as king, Saul shows great humility by saying to Samuel:
" And Saul answered and said, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?” (I Samuel 9:21)
At the moment of his enthronement, he even will hide among the equipment. Then he continues to work in the fields as if nothing had happened!
But sometime later, what a big change will happen to Saul when he arrogates the right to offer a holocaust by taking the place of Samuel unduly! From this moment Samuel tells him that he is rejected, Saul goes deeper and deeper into the world of sin with a few milestones:
1. Disobedience by not devoting Agag, the Amalekite and the goods of his people to a curse.
2. His hatred of David, the new anointed of Elohim, hate to the point of trying to kill him, sometimes by sending him to dangerous missions, sometimes by trying to kill him in cold blood several times!
3. By not keeping his word with the refusal to give David his daughter Merab, whom he had promised him.
Saul sadly fell and never got up.
About David, do not confuse between his trials and his punishments.
David, the second human king of the Children of Israel, was a king who throughout most of his life had the remarkable habit of consulting with his Creator before taking important decisions.
But there was an unfortunate exception, he could not resist the charm and the beauty of Bath Sheba, the wife of his faithful general Uriah, the Hittite. He raped her and as she became pregnant, but he could not hide this event by making believe that the unborn child would be from Uriah. So he decided to have Urie murdered during a battle and appropriated his wife.
He will publicly repent of this heinous act and endure the severe punishment that Yehoah will impose on him almost until his death.
You will be able to read all this in more detail by reading on this website the article entitled "Trial and Punishment".
Solomon, king of Israel.
Here is one of the most famous kings in history who had everything to succeed during his reign and yet he will fall miserably at the end of his it.
Solomon is a king to whom Elohim himself appears and to whom is granted wisdom, knowledge, wealth and glory as never before in history! Let's read that in II Chronicles 1: 7-13:
“7 On that night Elohim appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 8 And Solomon said to Elohim: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, O Yehoah Elohim, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?” 11 Then Elohim said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
13 So Solomon came to Jerusalem from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel."
Solomon had the unique privilege of being able to build the Temple of Elohim in Jerusalem.
Unfortunately Solomon turned away from his Creator and excited by the love of foreign women, he went to other gods as written in I Kings 11: 1-13:
"1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— 2 from the nations of whom Yehoah had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to Yehoah his Elohim, as was the heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did evil in the sight of Yehoah, and did not fully follow Yehoah, as did his father David. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. 8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 So Yehoah became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from Yehoah Elohim of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what Yehoah had commanded. 11 Therefore Yehoah said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
Asa, king of Judah.
Asa is a second example of a king who had everything to avoid failure and continue to walk in the way of Yehoah. The Bible tells us so much about his conduct during the first part of his reign in II Chronicles 14: 1-7:
" 1 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.
2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of Yehoah his Elohim, 3 for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images. 4 He commanded Judah to seek Yehoah Elohim of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment.
5 He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. 6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because Yehoah had given him rest. 7 Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought Yehoah our Elohim; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered."
Then the same chapter continues and shows how humble this king is and puts all his faith in Yehoah:
“ 8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried [c]shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.
9 Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. 10 So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried out to Yehoah his Elohim, and said, “Yehoah, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Yehoah our Elohim, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Yehoah, You are our Elohim; do not let man prevail against You!”
12 So Yehoah struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before Yehoah and His army. And they carried away very much spoil. 14 Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of Yehoah came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much spoil in them."
The next chapter also shows how Asa encouraged his people to return to Yehoah by removing the pagan abominations tobe found in the Judah and Benjamin territories. He restores the altar of Yehoah in the Temple. He did not hesitate to deprive his own mother of the dignity of queen-mother because she still worshiped Achera (another name for Isthar).
But towards the end of his reign, he made a bad choice by trusting the support of the king of Syria more than the one of Yehoah. He forgot how Yehoah fought for him when Baesha, king of Israel threatened him at the beginning of his reign. Let's read few passages from II Chronicles 16 which illustrate how Asa has fallen very seriously to the point of putting Yehoah's messenger in prison:
" 1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yehoah and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.. ...
7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on Yehoah your Elohim, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on Yehoah, He delivered them into your hand.
9 For the eyes of Yehoah run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.
11 Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.
13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.”
Jehoshaphat.
The ups and downs of King Jehoshaphat's attitude are also there to warn us against any temptation to become an ally with other head of states, even a brother, who would be bound with a foreign belief and therefore automatically be an enemy of our Creator. Today we could call this ecumenism with its dangers.
From the beginning of his reign, Jehoshaphat arose as an enemy of the practices of the kingdom of Israel in the north and removed from the kingdom of Judah all the symbols associated with the existing pagan cults. As a result, Yehoah gives him all His support by fortifying his reign and by enriching him.
Jehoshaphat will do even more by introducing and organizing a teaching of the laws of the Bible throughout the country and Yehoah creates around his reign an aura of respectful fear which makes even his worse enemies, the Philistines and the Arabs, offer him presents and pay him a tribute.
But nevertheless and unfortunately, Jospahat will fall also. His first fall occurred when he took the initiative to get closer to Ahab, king of Israel, who became his father-in-law. Ahab, whose religious conduct is abject according to biblical criteria, seduces Jehoshaphat by trying to drag him into a war against the king of Syria.
This is how the word of Yehoah is addressed to him after this first misstep in II Chronicles 19: 2-3:
" 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate Yehoah? Therefore the wrath of Yehoah is upon you. 3 Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek Elohim.”
Yehoah is satisfied with this reminder which should encourage Jehoshaphat to be more vigilant.
This is bearing some fruit since Jehoshaphat will concentrate on teaching the laws of the Bible not only to his kingdom of Judah but also to the Kingdom of Israel. He encourages and motivates his subjects in this way.
Yehoah miraculously gives him his support in response to the intense prayer that Josaphat addresses to him among his people when he asks for protection in front of a huge army of invaders coming from what is today Jordan and Syria. This help was miraculous in the sense that Yehoah and His armies of angels fought and completely exterminated the armies of the invaders. Jehoshaphat and his people discovered a multitude of corpses and collected a lot of valuable goods in the military camps of their ennemies.
Jehoshaphat stumbled a second time in allying himself with the impious King of Northern Israel in their plan to build a common naval fleet. It was completely destroyed by Yehoah:
" But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yehoah has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.” (II Chronicles 20:37)
Joash.
Jumping over two generations of kings, we arrive at Joas, the only survivor of the descendants of the previous king, all the others having been murdered by the queen mother Athalie. He is protected by his great-aunt, the wife of Yehoyada the priest. At the age of seven, Joas is crowned King of Judah and has a remarkable conduct of loyalty to Yehoah throughout the life of Yehoyada. He thus makes repair in the Temple left abandoned by his two predecessors and later destroyed by the queen-mother Athalie.
But at the death of Yehoahada the priest, Joash turned away from Yehoah to hear the leaders of Judah who encouraged him to leave the house of Yehoah and to worship idols and Achera (Isthar et al).
The height of horror is reached when Joash gives the order to stone in the Temple the prophet Zechariah, the son of Yehoahada, his savior, sent by Yehoah as a very last call to convince Joash to abandon his wrong doings!
His end was dramatic (II Chronicles 24: 22-25):
“22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “Yehoah look on it, and repay!”
23 So it happened in the spring of the year that the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.
24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; but Yehoah delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken Yehoah Elohim of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. 25 And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.”
Amaziah.
The reign of Amaziah, the son of Joash, begins well as he was keeping the commandments of Yehoah, insofar as Amaziah knows them. He even adopts a humble attitude when he acknowledges the mistake he made to call on troops of the northern kingdom of Israel to fight his enemy. But he will stumble miserably and definitively on the return of his victory over the Edomites. Instead of strengthening his bonds with Yehoah, the author of his victory, he will adopt the gods of the vanquished, sons of Seir! This will cause its loss (II Chronicles 25: 14-16):
" 14 Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. 15 Therefore the anger of Yehoah was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?” 16 So it was, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?”
Indeed, after that, he will follow his bad inspiration and go to war against the king of northern Israel. He will be beaten and die finally murdered in Lakish.
Uzziah.
Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, also had a beginning of reign where he endeavored to seek Yehoah. He was supported in this by Zachariah, a man who understood the visions of Elohim. As a result his reign became stronger and his reputation was great in all the countries around the kingdom of Judah, including Egypt and the Kingdom of Ammon.
But one day, his power turned his head and he decided to enter the Temple and to officiate himself! Yehoah's punishment was not long to come (II Chronicles 26: 17-21):
" 17 So Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of Yehoah—valiant men. 18 And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yehoah, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from Yehoah Elohim.”
19 Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of Yehoah, beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.
21 King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Yehoah. Then Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.”
Hezekiah.
Here is a king who is given in the bible as an example of faithful submission to Yehoah. He reopens the doors of the Temple of Yehoah which had been closed by his father Ahaz. He has the Temple cleansed and encourages all Judah and Israel to come and celebrate the feast of Passover in Jerusalem. Never had such a Passover been celebrated in Israel except in the time of King Solomon! Hezekiah encourages his people to cleanse the whole kingdom of Judah by eliminating the high places and various objects of pagan worship. He reintroduced the practice of tithing which served to nourish the priesthood.
In Jerusalem, besieged by the Assyrian army of Sennacherib, he and Isaiah the prophet encouraged the starving people of Judah to remain attached to Yehoah despite circumstances of severe starvation, and Yehoah protected them miraculously as usual by exterminating all the Assyrian camp.
But after the miraculous healing of Hezekiah, Hezekiah's heart became proud and he showed all his treasures to the messengers of the king of Babylon. This arrogance of Hezekiah caused him to stumble towards the end of his life. Nevertheless, he humbled himself before his death and it saved him many misfortunes during the end of his lifetime.
Josiah.
Josiah is one of the last kings before the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Babylon. He too will unfortunately not be an exception. Yet most of his reign that he begins at the age of 8 is exemplary. He brings his people back to his Creator and under his reign one rediscovers the book of the law that had disappeared during the scandalous reigns of the two previous kings, Manasseh and Amon.
Josiah humbles himself when he realizes through the teachings of the book and its law how much his life and that of his people have been abominable to our Father's eyes.
It is also during his reign that one of the most moving Passover in the history of the people of Israel will be celebrated.
But he will also stumble when he does not consult Yehoah and will make the fatal decision to go and fight Pharaoh Necho.
Indeed, Pharaoh Necho did not have any bellicose intention towards Josiah. On the contrary, he was sent by Yehoah, to go and fight on the river Euphrates, and to do that, he had to cross peacefully the kingdom of Judah. Josiah's fight against Necho at Megiddo was fatal to him, and he died as a result of his wounds!
Conclusion.
One of the keys to avoid falling is to stay humble all the time. We must remember that if our Father chose us as candidates to be part of His coming Kingdom, it is because we were vile, weak and despicable in the eyes of this world!
This is indeed what Paul teaches us at the beginning of his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 26 to 31:
" 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But Elohim has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and Elohim has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised Elohim has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Yeshuah, who became for us wisdom from Elohim—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in Yehoah.”
So let us always have the humility to accept any criticism when they are justified and reject any pride that could blind us!
And if we fall, let us ask our Father to help us to stand up again!
Our Father took care to have all these stories we covered in detail earlier kept preciously in His Word to encourage us to be always vigilant.
Even if we have stumbled hundreds of times, do not despair and stand up knowing that the patience of our Father has no limit because He wants us to win. So courage and let's continue the path knowing that a crowd of anonymous brothers will do as we do. And above all, do not forget to consult our Father before taking any decisions.
) was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.”
Paul confirms the words of Yehoah himself in Numbers 12: 7-8
" 7 Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. 8 I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of Yehoah.... "
A little before, in verse 3, the Word shows the very great qualities of Moses:
" 3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth."
And despite all this, Moses failed and lost his temper at the waters of Meriba, at the end of 40 years of stay in the desert. Let's read what happened in Numbers 20: 7-13
“7 Then Yehoah spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before Yehoah as He commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12 Then Yehoah spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
13 This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with Yehoah, and He was hallowed among them."
Moses induced the Children of Israel to believe that Aaron and he had the miraculous power to bring water out of the rock at Meribah.
And as Yehoah teaches "who loves good My son, do not despise the chastening of Yehoah, nor detest His correction; for whom Yehoah loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights." (Proverbs 3:11-12 or Hebrews 12: 6), Yehoah chastised Moses severely by not allowing him entry into the Promised Land!
By the way, it is interesting to note that in our modern society, there is a disappearance of the true love that is expressed in particular by a desire not to punish. We do not chasten anymore and we are often no longer entitled to chasten our children who behave badly. It seems that everything is done to avoid punishing convicted criminals who have committed crimes that are often horrible. Men no longer understand that punishment is above all an act of love and not of hate.
Let us continue with Saul, the first king of Israel!
When he learns that he has been chosen by Yehoah to be anointed as king, Saul shows great humility by saying to Samuel:
" And Saul answered and said, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?” (I Samuel 9:21)
At the moment of his enthronement, he even will hide among the equipment. Then he continues to work in the fields as if nothing had happened!
But sometime later, what a big change will happen to Saul when he arrogates the right to offer a holocaust by taking the place of Samuel unduly! From this moment Samuel tells him that he is rejected, Saul goes deeper and deeper into the world of sin with a few milestones:
1. Disobedience by not devoting Agag, the Amalekite and the goods of his people to a curse.
2. His hatred of David, the new anointed of Elohim, hate to the point of trying to kill him, sometimes by sending him to dangerous missions, sometimes by trying to kill him in cold blood several times!
3. By not keeping his word with the refusal to give David his daughter Merab, whom he had promised him.
Saul sadly fell and never got up.
About David, do not confuse between his trials and his punishments.
David, the second human king of the Children of Israel, was a king who throughout most of his life had the remarkable habit of consulting with his Creator before taking important decisions.
But there was an unfortunate exception, he could not resist the charm and the beauty of Bath Sheba, the wife of his faithful general Uriah, the Hittite. He raped her and as she became pregnant, but he could not hide this event by making believe that the unborn child would be from Uriah. So he decided to have Urie murdered during a battle and appropriated his wife.
He will publicly repent of this heinous act and endure the severe punishment that Yehoah will impose on him almost until his death.
You will be able to read all this in more detail by reading on this website the article entitled "Trial and Punishment".
Solomon, king of Israel.
Here is one of the most famous kings in history who had everything to succeed during his reign and yet he will fall miserably at the end of his it.
Solomon is a king to whom Elohim himself appears and to whom is granted wisdom, knowledge, wealth and glory as never before in history! Let's read that in II Chronicles 1: 7-13:
“7 On that night Elohim appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 8 And Solomon said to Elohim: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, O Yehoah Elohim, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?” 11 Then Elohim said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
13 So Solomon came to Jerusalem from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel."
Solomon had the unique privilege of being able to build the Temple of Elohim in Jerusalem.
Unfortunately Solomon turned away from his Creator and excited by the love of foreign women, he went to other gods as written in I Kings 11: 1-13:
"1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— 2 from the nations of whom Yehoah had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to Yehoah his Elohim, as was the heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did evil in the sight of Yehoah, and did not fully follow Yehoah, as did his father David. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. 8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 So Yehoah became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from Yehoah Elohim of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what Yehoah had commanded. 11 Therefore Yehoah said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
Asa, king of Judah.
Asa is a second example of a king who had everything to avoid failure and continue to walk in the way of Yehoah. The Bible tells us so much about his conduct during the first part of his reign in II Chronicles 14: 1-7:
" 1 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.
2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of Yehoah his Elohim, 3 for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images. 4 He commanded Judah to seek Yehoah Elohim of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment.
5 He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. 6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because Yehoah had given him rest. 7 Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought Yehoah our Elohim; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered."
Then the same chapter continues and shows how humble this king is and puts all his faith in Yehoah:
“ 8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried [c]shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.
9 Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. 10 So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried out to Yehoah his Elohim, and said, “Yehoah, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Yehoah our Elohim, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Yehoah, You are our Elohim; do not let man prevail against You!”
12 So Yehoah struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before Yehoah and His army. And they carried away very much spoil. 14 Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of Yehoah came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much spoil in them."
The next chapter also shows how Asa encouraged his people to return to Yehoah by removing the pagan abominations tobe found in the Judah and Benjamin territories. He restores the altar of Yehoah in the Temple. He did not hesitate to deprive his own mother of the dignity of queen-mother because she still worshiped Achera (another name for Isthar).
But towards the end of his reign, he made a bad choice by trusting the support of the king of Syria more than the one of Yehoah. He forgot how Yehoah fought for him when Baesha, king of Israel threatened him at the beginning of his reign. Let's read few passages from II Chronicles 16 which illustrate how Asa has fallen very seriously to the point of putting Yehoah's messenger in prison:
" 1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yehoah and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.. ...
7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on Yehoah your Elohim, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on Yehoah, He delivered them into your hand.
9 For the eyes of Yehoah run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.
11 Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.
13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.”
Jehoshaphat.
The ups and downs of King Jehoshaphat's attitude are also there to warn us against any temptation to become an ally with other head of states, even a brother, who would be bound with a foreign belief and therefore automatically be an enemy of our Creator. Today we could call this ecumenism with its dangers.
From the beginning of his reign, Jehoshaphat arose as an enemy of the practices of the kingdom of Israel in the north and removed from the kingdom of Judah all the symbols associated with the existing pagan cults. As a result, Yehoah gives him all His support by fortifying his reign and by enriching him.
Jehoshaphat will do even more by introducing and organizing a teaching of the laws of the Bible throughout the country and Yehoah creates around his reign an aura of respectful fear which makes even his worse enemies, the Philistines and the Arabs, offer him presents and pay him a tribute.
But nevertheless and unfortunately, Jospahat will fall also. His first fall occurred when he took the initiative to get closer to Ahab, king of Israel, who became his father-in-law. Ahab, whose religious conduct is abject according to biblical criteria, seduces Jehoshaphat by trying to drag him into a war against the king of Syria.
This is how the word of Yehoah is addressed to him after this first misstep in II Chronicles 19: 2-3:
" 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate Yehoah? Therefore the wrath of Yehoah is upon you. 3 Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek Elohim.”
Yehoah is satisfied with this reminder which should encourage Jehoshaphat to be more vigilant.
This is bearing some fruit since Jehoshaphat will concentrate on teaching the laws of the Bible not only to his kingdom of Judah but also to the Kingdom of Israel. He encourages and motivates his subjects in this way.
Yehoah miraculously gives him his support in response to the intense prayer that Josaphat addresses to him among his people when he asks for protection in front of a huge army of invaders coming from what is today Jordan and Syria. This help was miraculous in the sense that Yehoah and His armies of angels fought and completely exterminated the armies of the invaders. Jehoshaphat and his people discovered a multitude of corpses and collected a lot of valuable goods in the military camps of their ennemies.
Jehoshaphat stumbled a second time in allying himself with the impious King of Northern Israel in their plan to build a common naval fleet. It was completely destroyed by Yehoah:
" But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yehoah has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.” (II Chronicles 20:37)
Joash.
Jumping over two generations of kings, we arrive at Joas, the only survivor of the descendants of the previous king, all the others having been murdered by the queen mother Athalie. He is protected by his great-aunt, the wife of Yehoyada the priest. At the age of seven, Joas is crowned King of Judah and has a remarkable conduct of loyalty to Yehoah throughout the life of Yehoyada. He thus makes repair in the Temple left abandoned by his two predecessors and later destroyed by the queen-mother Athalie.
But at the death of Yehoahada the priest, Joash turned away from Yehoah to hear the leaders of Judah who encouraged him to leave the house of Yehoah and to worship idols and Achera (Isthar et al).
The height of horror is reached when Joash gives the order to stone in the Temple the prophet Zechariah, the son of Yehoahada, his savior, sent by Yehoah as a very last call to convince Joash to abandon his wrong doings!
His end was dramatic (II Chronicles 24: 22-25):
“22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “Yehoah look on it, and repay!”
23 So it happened in the spring of the year that the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.
24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; but Yehoah delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken Yehoah Elohim of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. 25 And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.”
Amaziah.
The reign of Amaziah, the son of Joash, begins well as he was keeping the commandments of Yehoah, insofar as Amaziah knows them. He even adopts a humble attitude when he acknowledges the mistake he made to call on troops of the northern kingdom of Israel to fight his enemy. But he will stumble miserably and definitively on the return of his victory over the Edomites. Instead of strengthening his bonds with Yehoah, the author of his victory, he will adopt the gods of the vanquished, sons of Seir! This will cause its loss (II Chronicles 25: 14-16):
" 14 Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. 15 Therefore the anger of Yehoah was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?” 16 So it was, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?”
Indeed, after that, he will follow his bad inspiration and go to war against the king of northern Israel. He will be beaten and die finally murdered in Lakish.
Uzziah.
Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, also had a beginning of reign where he endeavored to seek Yehoah. He was supported in this by Zachariah, a man who understood the visions of Elohim. As a result his reign became stronger and his reputation was great in all the countries around the kingdom of Judah, including Egypt and the Kingdom of Ammon.
But one day, his power turned his head and he decided to enter the Temple and to officiate himself! Yehoah's punishment was not long to come (II Chronicles 26: 17-21):
" 17 So Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of Yehoah—valiant men. 18 And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yehoah, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from Yehoah Elohim.”
19 Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of Yehoah, beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.
21 King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Yehoah. Then Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.”
Hezekiah.
Here is a king who is given in the bible as an example of faithful submission to Yehoah. He reopens the doors of the Temple of Yehoah which had been closed by his father Ahaz. He has the Temple cleansed and encourages all Judah and Israel to come and celebrate the feast of Passover in Jerusalem. Never had such a Passover been celebrated in Israel except in the time of King Solomon! Hezekiah encourages his people to cleanse the whole kingdom of Judah by eliminating the high places and various objects of pagan worship. He reintroduced the practice of tithing which served to nourish the priesthood.
In Jerusalem, besieged by the Assyrian army of Sennacherib, he and Isaiah the prophet encouraged the starving people of Judah to remain attached to Yehoah despite circumstances of severe starvation, and Yehoah protected them miraculously as usual by exterminating all the Assyrian camp.
But after the miraculous healing of Hezekiah, Hezekiah's heart became proud and he showed all his treasures to the messengers of the king of Babylon. This arrogance of Hezekiah caused him to stumble towards the end of his life. Nevertheless, he humbled himself before his death and it saved him many misfortunes during the end of his lifetime.
Josiah.
Josiah is one of the last kings before the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Babylon. He too will unfortunately not be an exception. Yet most of his reign that he begins at the age of 8 is exemplary. He brings his people back to his Creator and under his reign one rediscovers the book of the law that had disappeared during the scandalous reigns of the two previous kings, Manasseh and Amon.
Josiah humbles himself when he realizes through the teachings of the book and its law how much his life and that of his people have been abominable to our Father's eyes.
It is also during his reign that one of the most moving Passover in the history of the people of Israel will be celebrated.
But he will also stumble when he does not consult Yehoah and will make the fatal decision to go and fight Pharaoh Necho.
Indeed, Pharaoh Necho did not have any bellicose intention towards Josiah. On the contrary, he was sent by Yehoah, to go and fight on the river Euphrates, and to do that, he had to cross peacefully the kingdom of Judah. Josiah's fight against Necho at Megiddo was fatal to him, and he died as a result of his wounds!
Conclusion.
One of the keys to avoid falling is to stay humble all the time. We must remember that if our Father chose us as candidates to be part of His coming Kingdom, it is because we were vile, weak and despicable in the eyes of this world!
This is indeed what Paul teaches us at the beginning of his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 26 to 31:
" 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But Elohim has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and Elohim has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised Elohim has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Yeshuah, who became for us wisdom from Elohim—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in Yehoah.”
So let us always have the humility to accept any criticism when they are justified and reject any pride that could blind us!
And if we fall, let us ask our Father to help us to stand up again!
Our Father took care to have all these stories we covered in detail earlier kept preciously in His Word to encourage us to be always vigilant.
Even if we have stumbled hundreds of times, do not despair and stand up knowing that the patience of our Father has no limit because He wants us to win. So courage and let's continue the path knowing that a crowd of anonymous brothers will do as we do. And above all, do not forget to consult our Father before taking any decisions.
, who became for us wisdom from Elohim—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in Yehoah.”
So let us always have the humility to accept any criticism when they are justified and reject any pride that could blind us!
And if we fall, let us ask our Father to help us to stand up again!
Our Father took care to have all these stories we covered in detail earlier kept preciously in His Word to encourage us to be always vigilant.
Even if we have stumbled hundreds of times, do not despair and stand up knowing that the patience of our Father has no limit because He wants us to win. So courage and let's continue the path knowing that a crowd of anonymous brothers will do as we do. And above all, do not forget to consult our Father before taking any decisions.