 Hello everyone and welcome to the fourth lesson of the quarter. I'd like to start by introducing the panelists. We have Tisha Niko, Finley, Stylas and Avin. On the orchestra we have Ashlyn and Elsie and on the sign language we have Joyce. That's but not least, I'm Debora and before we start, let us bow our heads for a word of prayer. Kind and loving father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the gift of life. Thank you for the viewers who are watching this lesson. We pray that you may be able to bless everyone who may be able to hear the message, pray all this trusting and believing in man. Greetings to all of you and welcome to our lesson of the quarter, the fourth lesson of the quarter. Last week we covered building a house of God. Today our lesson will be the wise and foolish king. With me on the panel on my left hand. Avin Mosomi. Then we have... Benithian Stylas. Finley Tabari. Thank you. And we'll be discussing the fourth lesson of this quarter which is titled the wise and foolish king. It's a bit contradictory to talk about a king who is both wise and foolish at the same time. But we'll find out how even through this lesson. But before we begin, I'd like us to start with the word of prayer. So Avin, please pray for us. Sali, pray. Do you have any father? We thank you for this day that you've given us. Now is the beginning of our lesson study. May you grant us knowledge that you may embark on this study with sufficiency that you may understand everything. In just name I pray. Amen. Amen, amen. Who is the wise and the foolish king? We'll learn about the story of King Sol from the book of Fast Kings chapter 11. And King Solomon, sorry, pardon me, from the book of Fast Kings chapter 11. And I'd like us to read Fast Kings 11 v. 11. The Bible says, wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, for as much as this is done of thee and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant. Solomon did some things that were not in line with the statutes of God and he strayed away from the commandments of God and God decided to take away the kingdom from him and give it to his servant. Before we delve into this story to understand the context of it, I'd like us to look at the what you think section of our lesson which will help jog our minds and help us to think about some of the things that may be taken from us. Avin, can you take us through this? Yes. First of all, to begin this basis, if you think about your life in general, there's some things that you've done which may lead to consequences later. For example, when you're a child, you may misbehave and your parents may give you consequences. So like that, we may begin our what you think section. Imagine that your parents are going to take one of the following items from you on a scale of one to ten. One meaning you have to have it and ten meaning you don't really have to have it. Rank these following items in order of importance to you. The first one is money, cell phone, internet access and freedom to hang out. For me personally, I think money is my number one because like with money you can get a cell phone, you can get internet access, then you can also hang out with your friends like somewhere with the money you have. So I feel like money is the most important thing for me. What do you think Salas? For me, I think it's internet access because even if I have money, perhaps it's not really enough to sustain all the internet I need or I want to use. So I think internet access is the most crucial. Okay, what do you think Finley? For me, my number one is freedom to hang out with friends. With friends you build social security and your friends can help you with money and also they can assist you to access the internet. So it's a sensible argument. Let's now listen to Chnico. Yeah, I'd also think I concur with Finley quite a bit on that. If you have friends they can help you supply all these other things, they can guide you to sources of money. I was thinking about what would be the last one on my list when I look at these things and I'm thinking maybe the cell phone is the last thing. If you have a chance to hang out with your friends then you can get access to these things even when you don't have it. The only difficulty would be talking or finding these friends who you are going to hang out with. Yeah, but that's basically what I think. All the others are important as well. Moving on to build on this also. Let's take our key text. Fast Kings chapter 11 verse 9 and 10 says, The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord. The God of Israel who had appeared to him twice although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord's command. So here we are basically shown but into the story we are shown what happens due to Solomon not following God's instructions. That's basically what I've said. If as a child he did something wrong, you have consequences, Solomon also did something and he got consequences. Thank you. Even as we proceeded like us now to talk about this story, we can find out now what was taken away from Solomon. Silas, can you guide us into this story to understand what were the things that led to God wanting to take away the kingdom from King Solomon? What is it that he had done? And from this we can draw out the lesson of why he is considered a wise and foolish king. As we know King Solomon was the wisest man living on the earth at his time. So what is it that led him to be also considered foolish? Okay, so King Solomon asked for wisdom from God and he was given wisdom and from the wisdom he was given he had wealth and he had all the power in the world because he had the wisdom to rule it. And after gaining all the riches and all the power he had, he somehow loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter Muabites, Amonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites you must not intermarry with them because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods. But Solomon didn't listen to the advice of God after he had been given what he asked for and this came with consequences. So because of that he, the kingdom was taken away from him. So looking at some of the things that are in the out of the story section these guide us through those and maybe we can see if we can relate this account of King Solomon to what we have in our modern life today. Okay so what parts of this story are new to you, Avin? The parts that are new to me are that Solomon built specific I think specific altars for specific gods of each of his wives that had foreign gods because he didn't go out of his way just to worship them not really worship them he didn't go out of his way to condone them with his wives he went out of his way to build temples for these gods to be worshiped that's a part that I didn't know before. Okay. So the most striking part is that Solomon disobed God by intermarrying with idoloshipa. Okay so the next question is in spite of David's scene with Becheba this passage says that David followed God completely what does this tell us about what God values in his children? Yeah because from this passage you've also seen that David followed God completely despite his scene with Becheba and for me I see in this passage that if you've seen and ask God for forgiveness and you repent sincerely will be forgiven and you can live a righteous life again. Yeah. Jenny Code. Yeah in regard to this section I think that it's important to note how David is considered a righteous person David killed someone here slept with Becheba but God still says that he had completely followed him. Now this might not sound true at face value but it's clear to us that Christ wipes out our sins completely when we repent so just like David repented he says he was sorrowful for his sin and as a result of the sorrow he had for his sin Christ forgave him and wiped out his sin such that when we start reading the account in the book of Fast Kings we are told that David I mean King Solomon yeah David followed God with a perfect heart and he followed him correctly so when we look at this question that you are talking about God values true repentance in his children. So Avin what do you think about this question? What does this passage say to you about self discipline in the choice of a life but how can that influence our relationship with God? I feel that absolute discipline to God results in a healthy relationship with God because once you start trying your own thing once you start believing in yourself you stray from God because even the story for Saul he was sent to kill one of the tribes but then he brought back the king and he brought back some cattle in the name of we should sacrifice them to God but now that's what God wanted and from there Saul fell off his relationship with God fell off because he didn't fully follow God's instructions so I feel like at most obedience to God leads to a healthy life relationship with God Okay for me I think for the part of a life partner he'll spend most of your time with them so they have the highest influence on you yeah So if you make a wrong choice in regard to the life partner that we have we might be taken away from God just like King Solomon right? yeah there are consequences that we can see evidently from the story and for King Solomon it was being taken away from the God of heaven that he worshipped and when we actually speak of something that was new to me in this story I have noticed that all the 700 wives were actually princesses so all of them were royalty they are not just normal people then now the other wives or concubines that he had the 300 were just now the normal ladies but the people he took as wives or princesses so they are the best that was in their kingdoms so I found that very interesting I'd like us to read the book of Ezra chapter 9 verse 6 Ezra chapter 9 verse 6 so the Bible says in Ezra chapter 9 verse 6 that and said oh my God I am ashamed and blushed to lift up my face to the my God for our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespass is grown up into the heavens we find that this is a prayer of shame and this is in Ezra when Ezra is narrating this account he is ashamed to lift up his face to God because of the iniquities that they have had I can imagine just like King Solomon had done iniquity this is the same thing but for Ezra he was afraid to pray he was he didn't even want to offer a prayer because of the way they had sent and the flashlight and even the prophets and king's passages we are reading in chapter 3 and 4 give us more insight on this that like you friendly to tell us the experience how Ellen White narrates what happened to King Solomon So in the flashlight but it says that had Solomon continued in humility of mind to turn the attention of men from himself to the one who had given him wisdom and riches and honor what a history might have been his but while the pain of inspiration records his virtues it also bears faithful witness to his downfall raised to a pinakul of greatness and surrounded with the gifts of fortune Solomon became dizzy lost his balance and fell prophets and king's page 68 so we should explain what Ellen White meant by this statement and the first one is Solomon became dizzy for me he became dizzy when God blessed him with riches and he started putting his priorities before God's priorities what about you Silas? Okay I think that Solomon had all this wealth and all the wisdom he was the wisest man on earth who ever lived and so from this instead of giving God the glory to what he had he he had pride in his achievements which were enabled by God and that's why he turned away Having any thoughts? What happens when you're dizzy if I may ask? You are not really in a state where you can make right decisions you can't even probably stand properly and stuff so for me I feel like in this context you have to become dizzy first you have to be upright you have to be okay this basically symbolize how Solomon when he started his reign he asked God for wisdom he didn't ask God for fame he asked God for wisdom which is righteous in my view because he wanted to rule the God's kingdom he wanted to rule God's kingdom on earth which is Israel with a lot of wisdom so that he doesn't fall astray like the past two kings but now later we now see he's becoming dizzy which means he's now falling astray he's now marrying foreign wives which leads him to adopting all these other gods then he finally falls off which means he I feel like he's totally lost in a point where he has to turn back unless his kingdom will just fall straight off so I feel like that's the progression of how he started well and ended falling off thank you so for me he lost balance when he started intermarrying with foreign wives and he fell when he built temples of their gods beside his own God he built temples of other gods beside his own God Solomon became dizzy no clarity of thought losing his balance as well explained by Avin he started making decisions that did not look right marrying other foreign wives then finally his fall is he was led away from God entirely that's an experience all of us can experience in our lives the moment we don't have clarity of thought we then start making decisions that are not right then after that we find that we are far away from God so it's important for us to think as teenagers even in our lives what are some of the things that make us get dizzy per se Finley or Silas or Avin anyone has any things that you think may make you dizzy what are some of the things that may lead you away from God or something that has led you away from God I can go first peer pressure is one of the main factors because with peer pressure you are led astray by your own friends who you trust for example Sabbath they can say let's go for a party or something on Sabbath let's hang out on Sabbath while you should be in church so I feel like they lead you astray they make you dizzy now you can't really think on Friday nights when we have Vespas instead of thinking about the Sabbath and how you are going to keep it in truth and spirit you are busy preparing what clothes you are going to wear how much money you are going to carry there you are preparing yourself for the wrong thing while you are supposed to be turning your eyes on Jesus that's what I feel like for me I think it's either your friends or perhaps your phone and basically your phone you are just talking to your friends or you are watching something which comes with internet access it comes with internet access yes I will say in school when others are studying on Saturday you go to church the whole day the teacher tells you come to class study you paid for that money because it is a remedio and as a Christian you sometimes feel dizzy but we should not lose balance and fall yes we should not lose balance and fall as Christians so those are some important lessons that are given to us and in the spirit of Ezra 9 verse 6 the Bible speaks severally about having sorrow for sin being ashamed for what you've done and even leading you to true repentance so that you stop committing sin or iniquity knowingly but turning away from it and there are some punchlines which I believe are promises as well which we can keep in our hearts and I'd like to ask Silas to guide us through this ok, so for the punchlines I'll just speak the one that speaks speaks to me the most and then each one of you can also speak yours sure so mine is 2nd Thessalonians 3 verse 3 it says but the Lord is faithful and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one this text stood out because it's a promise that no matter what happens God is still there and He will always be there with you Iman, Finley so my verse is Psalms 25 verse 8 which says kunda good and upright is the Lord therefore He instructs sinners in His ways so we can always be assured when we plan to do the right thing and we fail just like the saying which goes the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak we can always depend on God to return us to His ways as long as we heed to His voice Iman, Finley the verse that stood out for me is as Ramayan verse 6 I am too ashamed and disgraced my God to lift up my face to you because our sins are high then our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens for me for this verse I feel like in our day to day lives when we sin we feel wary of God's presence that we can't approach God after we have done sin but now I feel like even at our lowest moments we should always seek God and even after we have sin that's when we should turn to God ask for forgiveness we should repent our sins and strive to be like Jesus Iman I can relate to the verse that Finley said which is some to chapter 25 verse 8 where the Bible states that good and upright is the Lord therefore He instructs sinners in His ways Okay, so I'd like us to to think about this does the sorrow of sin catch your attention as well as the chapter 9 verse 6 there is sorrow in that verse and there is a promise in in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 3 and it's kind of counters the verse because the sorrow is talking about us being in sin and being afraid to ask God for help because we think our sin is too big and 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 3 says that the Lord is faithful and He will strengthen you and protect you from devil Iman so we should never think that our sins are too hard for us to overcome we should trust God so those are encouraging punchlines that we can keep in our lives even as we seek to remain steadfast even when we feel we have done shameful things and He is faithful and He will not let us be overcome by the evil one now Proverbs chapter 12 verse 4 says a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones I repeat a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones most people who read the story of the life of Solomon focus on the number of wives that he had this is 700 wives and 300 concubines but is this really the only thing we should focus on Finley can you tell us more about this from your reading of the flashlight section and Proverbs 12 verse 4 what is the main focus that we should be looking at here rather than just the wives and the concubines according to me we should look for a wife who brings together the family just like Proverbs 12 verse 4 says that a good wife is the crown of her husband a home is made up of a father, a mother and a children and so the children stays most with the mother so when you get a good wife you can be assured that your children will be nice and God fearing okay, okay yes, Aveno Sylas do you agree with this yes I noticed to all gentlemen on the panel I think he is speaking to us on something that is key for us so when you are choosing I think I am married here but when you decide to choose a wife you need to choose a wife from the Lord and this also shows something else that is really key the choice of a life partner determines how you worship God this is something that is important because if you choose a wrong wife then you will end up not worshiping the Lord correctly and if you look in Fast Kings this is a list of women that are mentioned that King Solomon married and they are all from the foreign tribes the Bible says that King Solomon loved many strange women together with the daughter of Pharaoh remember we said that this 700 wives were princesses so together with the daughter of Pharaoh the first princess and he also had the women of Moabites the Ammonites the Edomites the Zidonians and the Hittites and these are the nations which the Lord said unto the children of Israel you shall not go in unto them neither shall they come in unto you for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods Solomon clave unto this in love that is from the book of Fast Kings chapter 11 verse 1 and verse 2 so Silas could you share with us one of the amazing things that we learnt from the lesson in the didino section okay so the didino section talks about Solomon and it says did you know that Solomon built temples for the worship of the heathen gods in addition to the temple he built for the true god what's more he didn't just build them in some obscure places safely out of sight he built them on a hillside opposite Mount Moriah the exact spot where he had built a magnificent temple for God so this shows that from Solomon being the king who built the temple of the Lord instead of his father David that same spot where he built the temple for God he also built a temple for his heathen gods and this shows that he turned away from God completely for me I feel like I feel that the spouses have really a big role in the choice of the other spouse for example here Solomon loved his wife that's why he wanted to make magnificent things for them not something to hide but now for them to be shown all over another example is when Jezebel wanted the vineyard Ahab was quick he didn't really think about it because this is his lovely wife so he was he had the request and it was like it's finished the spouses have a huge role in the partner's choices I feel like and there are several stories that speak to this does any of you remember any other story where the wife of someone let them astray feel like I know another one Samson Samson was given straight instructions that you should not marry from these certain tribes and he went and married he went and chilled with another lady from the tribe was told not to and eventually he was brought down he loved her so much to the point that he gave out his secret of where his strength came from and the liar since she had hidden intentions she went and told immediately his weakness and that's what brought destruction to him say this in the Bible I cannot also forget our first parents Adam and Eve if tempted Adam to eat the apple so she let him astray that's interesting that the good wife Adam had was from the Lord so it just shows us how vulnerable we are to sin God creates and gives you a wife like in the case of Adam and Eve his wife still let him to sin would we say that she was from a heathen nation probably not but it shows us that the kind of spouse you marry affects your life and as you rightly stated Eve's decision affected Adam which even means a Christian's wife can affect them in a negative way so I'd like us to give our closing thoughts before we wrap it up so we can start with you Finley what are some of the key lessons and takeaways you have from this lesson about the wise and foolish king then we'll have silence next then we'll go last we should let God have full control of our life especially when it comes to the marriage life very important for me I'll just read the further insight it says he who falls into some of the grosser sins may fail a sense of shame and poverty and his need of grace of the grace of Christ but pride fills no need and so it closes it closes the heart against Christ and the infinite blessing he came to give so this flashlight basically says that sorry not the flashlight the further insight says that when you do a sin that feels big to you you get into basically a notion that you can't ask God for forgiveness because he seems too big and we should learn that there's nothing too big that God can do my moral lesson is but we should involve God in all aspects of our lives in all the decisions that we make that we may not be led astray by even our own very spouses so that we may follow in his footsteps and make the right decisions yes there are lots of lessons to learn from the wise and foolish king even as we wrap it up I'd like to give a short illustration Eskimos kilwolves in a very brutal way they take a knife and they put animal blood on it until it is fully covered in blood and given that Eskimos live in the snowy areas of the world they buried the knife with a blade facing up and it's fully covered in blood and when a wolf comes and smells using its strong sense of smell it actually reaches the knife and then because it loves the blood it starts leaking and leaking and leaking this blood not knowing that there is a blade of a knife hidden underneath and the wolf continues leaking this blood to the point the blade starts cutting its tongue but it leaks the blood because it loves it and it thinks it's still leaking the blood that was on the knife but it eventually dies as a result of cutting itself on the tongue to death bleeding and this is the same thing that sin does to us King Solomon went and married foreign wives thinking that it was not such a big thing but he eventually ended up setting up places for worship for these foreign wives as a result of this the whole nation of Israel so these places that were set up to worship other gods as a result of doing the things that God had commanded them not to do so God's call to us in this lesson can be found in the book of 2 Kings chapter 17 verse 13 which I'll read the Bible says yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers saying turn ye from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets God expects us to follow him in his ways and if we do the wrong thing we can repent and be like David who is considered to have had a perfect heart and not remain in sin like King Solomon who was wise but made the wrong decisions to the point the kingdom was taken away from him so it's a call to all of us to be wise and we ask God for wisdom and in case we fall into sin let's ask him for forgiveness and not stick to our sinful ways I'd like to invite Silas to give us the closing prayer Let's pray Afaba, those above in heaven thank you this day we thank you for the love and your care we pray that you may help us make wise choices and give all the glory that belongs to you, back to you In Jesus name I pray Amen Amen