I cried aloud to God for help;
I prayed that God would hear.
When I was plunged in deep distress,
I sought the Lord in prayer.

At night I stretched untiring hands,
relief my soul refused.
Rememb’ring you, O God, I groaned
with longing as I mused.

In my distress I could not speak;
from sleep you kept my eye.
I thought about the former days,
the years which have gone by.

Throughout the watches of the night
my songs I called to mind.
I pondered deeply, while my heart
an answer tried to find:

“For ever will the Lord reject
and never show his grace?
Has he withdrawn his steadfast love
and turned from me his face?

“For all time has his promise failed?
Is God no longer kind?
Has he in his great wrath dismissed
compassion from his mind?”

Then to my heart there came this thought:
“On this I will rely—
The years of the right hand of power
of him who is Most High.”

I will recall the LORD’s great deeds—
your works of long ago.
I’ll meditate on all your acts;
your mighty deeds I’ll show.

The plot thickens

The warning given to Solomon was crystal clear. If you stay on track then the Temple will be hallowed and the succession is secure. If not then the House, the Temple and the Dynasty will fall. Actions have consequences. And here is the unfolding of that warning.

Jeroboam is an outsider and the son of a servant and a widow and yet he is handed four fifths of the kingdom on a plate. This is not a whim, flagrant ambition, nor pride but it is the promise of God after the king’s unfaithfulness. Rehoboam, lacking his father’s wisdom, listens to the wrong people, made disastrous choices, and so the Kingdom is divided. The unthinkable has happened. In a few short years we have travelled from the pinnacle of achievement to the break down of all that is familiar. The account has twisted and squirmed. Modern soap operas have nothing on the Hebrew Scriptures’ plots and outcomes.

As we approach Christmas the chances of being stopped on the road by a passing prophet and handed a random gift of most of the kingdom are, thankfully, fairly remote. After all, what would we do with it? Just as Jeroboam accepted the challenge, so too we can be ready for whatever surprises are in store this Advent – and at any other time God chooses. We are not just talking about random acts of kindness but about radical, life changing, encounters that can shape our own destiny and the lives of people around us.  Often that happens in the most unlikely and unexpected of places.

And so “Jeroboam promptly fled to Egypt to King Shishak of Egypt and remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon” when it was safe for him to return and claim the Kingdom. Doesn’t that also sound a familiar turn in the story at this time of year when another refugee had to flee from the wrath of a ruler?

The plot thickens once again

Seldom, it seems, has a woman, about whom we know so little, caught the imaginations of so many. If we pare back the myths that have grown up around her we have left a core of information which is, nonetheless, very significant.

She is a woman of some personal resource whether a queen in her own right or an emissary. We see her tackling the, circa, 5 month journey from her presumed home in present day Yemen to Jerusalem. Her caravan appears to have arrived unscathed suggesting an ability in leadership. We see her engaging with Solomon in an exchange which we can interpret as trade negotiations and we recognise her ability not only to assess Solomon’s wisdom but also to recognise God’s influence.

In those few sentences I find a woman whom I would be proud to emulate. However, I need to dispense with the media influences on my picture.

I doubt that any chamber orchestra will ever announce my arrival as per Handel and I challenge the images and behaviours with which Hollywood has peppered our imaginations (partly based on legends developed within all Abrahamic faiths).  Think of the portrayals of the queen by Betty Blythe, Gina Lollobrigida or Halle Berry – a conversation and trade mission becoming an erotic tale of intrigue involving stereotypically beautiful men and women. The voice of the Queen of Sheba – whoever she represents – silenced.

How readily fact becomes embellished and how quickly legend gets absorbed then retold as truth.

As I am writing discussion boards, blogs, facebook groups and reviews are reverberating with the outpouring of #metoo stories and the waves of hurt and pain rippling out.  Many people talking of a rekindling of their own hurt as the Ford and Kavanaugh hearings play out in the media. Let’s listen and pray.

This is a huge bargain that the Lord is offering to Solomon. The Lord is saying that if Solomon is faithful to him and keeps his commandments he will consecrate the Temple for all time.  The continuance, however, is conditional on maintaining the worship of God there and not turning away to worship other gods. Actions have consequences. No one is too grand, high-powered, or magnificent to escape the consequences of wrong doing. Solomon and his family will come to learn that costly lesson as history unfolds.

Actions have consequences for people today. We are constantly learning costly lessons. In many ways our world has become like the Temple of Solomon. Many parts of the world have “become a heap of ruins” and people do say “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land?” But I do not believe it is the Lord that has done this.

Telling a lie, carrying a knife onto the street, robbery, mindless violence and, yes, not keeping the commandments of God, are all actions that have consequences; they are our actions and we have to face the consequences.

At long-last there was peace and Solomon set about building the temple that his father, David had been unable to think about because of the wars. Hiram, who had been a close friend of David, provided Cedar and Cypress wood. Solomon was most complimentary about the wood-cutting skills of Hiram’s people, and paid handsomely for the work.

I love the historic minutiae: another passage explains how thousands of trees were transported in a sophisticated operation involving log-rafts floating 100 miles by sea, then carried overland a further 50 miles to Jerusalem – a massive undertaking before the building work could begin.

A phenomenal number of people were involved;here’s where I start to struggle with the story.

Did you notice the phrase ‘conscripted forced labour’?

My Study-Bible tells me that the conscripted force would have been mainly ‘aliens with permanent residency in Israel’.

It looks to me, like modern-day slavery.

Even without going into the enormous issues of historic slavery that are being discussed in the denominations; as 21st Century disciples and churches we need to face what is going on here and now.

It’s easy to pretend we’re not involved, but as we prepare for Christmas and think about a baby born in exile and poverty, we should ask; “who made those Christmas jumpers and harvested the vegetables?” Ask about the people who clean our cars and do our nails for this ‘season of goodwill’.

Modern-day slavery is real. It’s on our doorsteps in urban, suburban and rural areas; it’s in our shops, it’s happening to people we know; people who make our lives comfortable.

We cannot be disciples sharing God’s love if we don’t ask questions and act.
It’s terribly complicated… but if in doubt… perhaps don’t buy!

Let’s try to ensure that no slave-owners benefit from our happy Christmas.