I’ve been reading through the book of Hebrews lately. I preached a message in Mangaia using this book as a reference, and I recently used this book for our Bible Class at Tereora College this week, writes Pastor Paul Kauri, the General Superintendent of Cook Islands Assemblies of God Church.

In chapter 11, referred to by many preachers as ‘The Hall of Faith’, the writer lists an impressive wall of names who are forever remembered for their faith. I have read this chapter many times over the years, but something stood out for me this week that I had not seen before, it was;

1. Who was on the list and
2. Who was not.

1. Who was on the list

We may not be too surprised to see Abraham and Sarah’s name, or Noah and Enoch and Moses and King David. But Barak is on this list – he’s the one who wouldn’t go out to war unless Deborah the prophetess went with him, and by faith Israel had the victory!

Then there’s Rahab, her profession would leave some families somewhat embarrassed, however, her faith saved her family and she is included in the genealogy of Jesus!

Then there’s Jephthah. He made a thoughtless vow which led to him sacrificing his only daughter and yet by faith he too won the victory for Israel and is forever mentioned in this Hall of Faith and in The Bible!

• Who was not

Looking at this list, there were two names I thought should have made it into this Hall of Faith, I mean, if Barak, Rahab and Jephthah made it, then where were these two?

I presumed that King Saul would have made the list, given he was the first King of Israel, but he is omitted from this list. And of all the Kings who reigned over Israel, surely King Solomon, the wisest man of all, who took Israel to her peak, should have been on this list, but he was not either. It left me wondering why, both these notarise men were intentionally not included.

So I re-looked at how Saul and Solomon’s story ended, which may have been the reason for their exclusion.

It’s not how you start, but how you finish!

King Saul was God’s chosen man. He started well and with much fervour serving the LORD, He was anointed and empowered by God and led Israel well in the beginning, but he could not overcome his insecurities. He took matters into his own hands and did not follow the ‘Rhema Word of the LORD’ through Samuel. Eventually his insecurities produced an intense jealousy of the very guy who was adding to his victory count (David), and by the end of his reign he consults a witch to find counsel from Samuel, until tragically he took his own life! Very tragic indeed. Saul’s biggest problem was insecurity, which led to disobedience of God’s Rhema Word and sadly to his demise.
Insecurity is simply putting your trust or security in the wrong place, instead of in Jesus! If you put your trust in man, or yourself, you will certainly face disappointment. Look at what the Prophet Jeremiah had to say about this;

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:5

The Psalmist points us back to the true source of security; “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Psalm 20:7

You see, there is a reason Jesus is called, The Cornerstone, The Rock of our Salvation, and The Rock of Ages! There is a reason why Jesus said,

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Matthew 24: 24 & 25

Building on the rock is to obey Jesus commands! Unfortunately for Saul, it was on this matter that he failed, bringing great tragedy for himself and his entire family.

King Solomon was always referred to as the wisest man who ever lived, yet his finish was worse than King Saul’s! He finished his reign by building high places to the gods of his wives (which he had lots of them!) eventually joining them in the worshipping of idols in his later years. Not only was Solomon considered the wisest, but The LORD visited him twice! Yet with all his wisdom, he did not apply his own writings, or the writings of others, to his life.

The key to Solomon’s demise lies with his number of wives (700) and his concubines (300). It’s not difficult to see that some, if not most of these marriages were politically motivated. Marrying into all these royal families strengthen the king’s position, power and wealth, and as for the concubines, well they came with the wives from the other monarchies.

As any man alive would know, a happy wife is key to a successful marriage. Solomon had 1000 to keep happy, and I’m not talking about sex! Eventually their constant demand led him to simply join them in their pagan worship. Surely, no amount of wealth and power is worthy of an eternity separated from God?

Solomon’s wealth grew exponentially due to these marriages, and the gifts that came from the agreements made to these monarchies. This was not the case with his father David, who grew his wealth from battles he fought and won.

Now the LORD had already given instruction regarding the kings of Israel, we read in Deuteronomy 17:16-17:

“The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the LORD. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself.”

Again, we see from this verse a failure, on Solomon’s part, to heed the written (Logos) Word of the LORD.

With both these men we see an alarming warning for us today. If someone like Solomon, who was much wiser and with more anointing than most of us put together, was able to fall, then we ought to take heed lest we think we are immune to the subtly, slippery slope of sin.

I’ve now been in full-time ministry for over 30 years and the number of people who once confessed Christ as Lord, but now deny Him, is more than I care to think of.

However, in both these cases there is one obvious fault, which lead to their downfall. Both had unique qualities in their circumstances, but both faulted in this one area: They did not follow The WORD of The LORD, both Logos and Rhema.

As we near the end of another year, drawing closer to Christmas, let me encourage you as we prepare ourselves for a new year, to be steadfast in your obedience to the Word of The LORD – both Rhema and Logos, remembering the words of Jesus,

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴ He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.” John 14:23 7 24

Have a blessed Christmas.