Based on 2 Chronicles 7.12-22 (New King James Version)
“Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: ‘I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’ But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ‘And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’’”
God had made a covenant with Solomon, after he had build the temple of the Lord. And the covenant consisted of, that if he remained faithful to God, that He would establish his throne, and that he would always have an heir to rule Israel. But this covenant was conditional, like all things in the Lord. Even in grace we have a conditional relationship with the Lord because it is a love covenant (nothing is forced). It has always been that way since the beginning. The only difference between the old covenant and the new covenant through Christ is that the Lord came to ratify His love for all mankind, and He opened the door wide through the cross. Everything else remains the same. God did not make a mistake in the old covenant.
Now then, if we read of Solomon’s life, we would see that Solomon was not faithful towards the end, even after seeing all the great wonders and blessings that God gave him. Solomon did just as God had warned him personally not to do, and he strayed and served foreign gods. Solomon did not end well. Why? What happened to him? God gave him everything, He gave him peace, riches, and power. Solomon was not missing anything. There is still no kingdom in history that can compare to what Solomon had. Nonetheless, he served false gods and idols, and his heart went after them; he pursued other things that had done nothing for him, nor had anything to do with his success. The Word says that joining himself with foreign and pagan women had made his heart depart from the Lord. But we need to think, “Why did he look for those women? Why did he have that communion and intimacy with the pagan?” Nothing happens just because. Solomon was faithful to God at the beginning and for some time, and he had even marveled God with his petition when he was young, while he was with his father David. Moreover, and as a result of his dedication, he received everything good after, even taking God to the point of making a covenant with him. One can say that David had much to do with Solomon’s good time. And if we see the words written in Proverbs, Solomon writes down the teachings his father gave him before dying. Obviously, all Scripture is divine inspiration, but God used David to instruct Solomon.
This evil also happened before Solomon, with a generation from Israel that came after Joshua, as it is written: “Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.” Judges 2:8-13. So then, we see that this deviation is something common unfortunately; almost systematic.
So then, what happened? The grave problem that happens is that there is very possibly a partial conviction, per se, in the people that this occurs to. There is something incomplete in their lives. They may believe, and even have good intentions, but there is incomplete conviction. They do not fulfill the part of the law that belongs to us to fulfill. That is the problem. When a person makes the decision to follow the Lord, they need to take the initiative to educate themselves and endeavor to understand why they follow God. That is the primary step where many fail, and the reason for why the deviation occurs after. This is what was said at the beginning, and what the Lord came to reiterate, as it is written: “Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.’” Mark 12:29-30. The words “soul” and “mind” are underlined because these belong to us completely, the practical side of following the Lord, because we need to come to understand, comprehend, and be rationally convinced why we believe what we believe. And this can only happen when we dedicate a conscious time to the Lord, when we read and study the Word of God daily, and of course, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Paul said this also: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39. Paul’s “persuasion” is the result of joining his heart, soul, and mind, all unanimously to conviction in Christ. And when these three are fully convinced, then our strength will naturally follow, in other words, good works are produced which are what every follower of Christ should have, just as He said, “You will know them by their fruits.” Complete conviction is what will help to overcome temptation.
Each one of us should examine ourselves and be very sure of why we follow the Lord, and if we are really convinced of His Truth. For it is written: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” 2 Corinthians 13:5. If a person is not completely convinced and instructed in the Lord, it will be very easy for them to fall away and leave this faith in Christ after time and temptation. So then, do you know why you believe what you believe, if you say you believe in Christ? Lord bless! John