God's Plan For Man Final

the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.” (1 Kings 11:1–6) “So the LORD said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.’ Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.” (1 Kings 11:11-14) Life continues the saga at an early stage as good versus evil is a constant conflict within those chosen. Time and again, the exemplary are God’s choices, rising and falling as forces of evil test them. Instructed not to intermarry because of the spiritual significance, disobedience caused an impurity within the Hebrew nation, and the lineage is not pure as thought by many in our times. The Jewish nation is not a pure race, and it is no longer the chosen people through which salvation and deliverance will occur. Religious beliefs developing purely from the traditional values are no longer pure. Such suppositions apply only to the Old Testament, and cannot draw absolute conclusions for this time, especially regarding purity or purpose of the Hebrew or Jewish people today. Imperfection is obviously part of biblical history, so justice must prevail in similar ways until the injustice within humanity is redeemed. Prophecy is given to teach; yet humanity rarely understands the full significance of what prophecy predicts. Almost everyone thinks that prophecy has a romantic value, or the gift of prophecy should somehow be wonderful for any individual. However, consider that with the grace or gift, love in a worldly sense becomes very bleak as seen in the lives of the prophets. They are doubted, taunted and tested in every way, and at first glance, are accused of the worst motives—even evil. Not easily recognized for the value of such prophetic words, they are driven to a lowly place within society. Typically, the minds are not sufficiently prepared to accept the unseen, especially when prophecy seems to be contrary or beyond what is Prophetic Writings

-55-