Daily Manna

Key Verse

“And they fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so brought they out horses for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria by their means” (2 Chronicles 1:17).

TEXT — 2 Chronicles 1:13-17

Message

Winter was coming and a hunter went out into the forest to shoot a bear out of which he planned to make a warm coat. By and by, he saw a bear coming toward him and raised his gun and took aim. “Wait,” said the bear, “why do you want to shoot me?”. “Because I am cold,” said the hunter. “But I am hungry,” the bear replied, “so maybe we can reach an agreement.” the hunter went home with the bear. In the end, the hunter was well enveloped with the bear’s fur and the bear had eaten his dinner. We always lose out when we try to compromise with sin. It will consume us in the end. – Anonymous source.

Solomon’s compromise started in small and seemingly harmless measures. He started by amassing huge numbers of horses and chariots, even though the constitution, guiding the activities of Israel’s kings cautioned against it. Fresh from Gibeon, where he sought the God of Israel for guidance, Solomon, perhaps, out of concern for the nation’s defence, started an alliance with the king of Egypt. Egypt was a superpower nation back then, but they had a deep commitment to idolatry, which should have served as a danger sign to Solomon. Soon, he not only broke the commandment which states “…he shall not multiply horses…” he also broke the next one “…neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away…” All that is history now. Solomon, went from importing horses and chariots from Egypt, to marrying 700 wives and 300 concubines, including the daughter of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. At the end of the day, he lost his special privileges with God, and the kingdom was divided.

First, it will be apt to point out that the Bible does not teach us to hate the Egyptian people. Egypt is a vibrant African nation that has a considerable population that includes Christians. They maintained a super power status back then, in the day of Solomon. Israel, under Solomon, looked to improve their defences. And the nation that had the capabilities and the military hardware was Egypt. That said, Egypt, spiritually, connotes the worldly system, that has the capacity to enslave the believer. Going back to Egypt is a euphemism for going back to the world. One of the reasons Israel’s future kings were warned:“…he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses, inasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, ye shall henceforth return no more that way.” So the warning is not about the people, but the principles and ideological system that going back to Egypt portend. We therefore need to be careful, as believers, and watch against compromises.

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Thought for the day

Compromise blurs the demarcating line between the godly and the worldly

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