1 Kings 11:14 says, And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom. Since Solomon was worshipping other gods, the God of Israel, the only real God that there is, stirred up enemies against him. Matthew Henry says it was Hadad and Rezon and that they could have been no threat to Solomon as long as he remained faithful to God. If we as followers of Christ allow false gods back into our life today, we can be certain that God is going to stop blessing us and may even allow us to suffer at the hands of our enemies. Verse fifteen adds, For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom; We are then referred to a time in David's rule. The things that have been done to people in the past may affect their relationship with other groups of people today, especially those who they feel they were wronged by are Christians. Verse sixteen continues, (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:) During David's reign, Joab had gone to Edom and remained there for six months until every male was killed. This could certainly lead to bad feelings about Israel on the part of those who remained or grew up afterward. I know that many times in the Old Testament that the people of Israel were called on to kill all the inhabitants already in the Promised Land, but this is not our calling as to how to treat our enemies today. We are called on to reach out to them with love and the gospel. Verse seventeen concludes, That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child. When Joab was killing all the men of Edom, Hadad was a young child and fled to Egypt along with some of his father's servants. We can be certain that this would have likely inspired a hatred of the people of Israel in him. If we as Christians mistreat those of a particular group people today, we can be fairly certain that their descendants are going to dislike if not outright hate Christians. This is one reason that we should treat all people fairly with a Godlike love. Veres eighteen states, And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land. Hadad began to gather an army and went to Pharoah in Egypt and asked for his help, and Pharoah first gave him a place to stay and food to eat. We also know that the enemies of God today often support other enemies of God. Verse nineteen adds, And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. Pharoah liked Hadad so much that he gave him his wife's sister as his wife. This made him a brother-in-law to Pharoah. Though we don't hear of it too often anymore if ever, there was a time when a man and a woman who were considered a part of royal families would marry to increase the strength of both families. Of course, we cannot grow God's kingdom by marrying non-believers, no matter how important they may be in the world. This does not keep the people of the world from seeking alliances with other groups to fight against Christians though by whatever means necessary. Veres twenty continues, And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh. Hadad's son grew up in the household of Pharoah like one of his own sons. There was indeed a close bond between Hadad and Pharoah, just as there are often close bonds between the enemies of God today, whether they feel like family or not. Of course, we as followers of Christ should have that same close bond with our fellow Christians, but they will never be our children spiritually, but will be our brothers and sisters. Verse twenty-one says, And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country. After hearing that David and Joab were dead, Hadad asked Pharoah for permission to return to his own country. Hadad may have believed that David and Joab were the powers behind the victories of Israel, but it was God, and He certainly wasn't dead. We need to make sure that as Christians we always let people know that God is the source of our victories, and that like Him, our faith in Him will never die. Verse twenty-two adds, Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise. Pharoah asked Hadad what he had lacked while living in Egypt and he said nothing but asked Pharoah to let him go to his own country anyway. People of the world may be thriving where they are but not be satisfied. I don't believe anyone can ever be satisfied by what this world has to offer if they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Of course, those who do have this personal relationship with Him should be content with whatever God blesses them with in this lifetime. Verse twenty-three states, And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah: As stated earlier, Hadad and Rezon were both going to be used by God to punish Solomon. We can debate whether God actually empowered them of just removed His protective hand from Solomon, and I believe the latter to be true. Verse twenty-four adds, And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. Matthew Henry says that even though the Syrians had been defeated by David, that Solomon grew careless about dealing with them and Rezon began to rule in Damascus once more. We may defeat sin in our lives today by the power of God, but we cannot become careless in dealing with sin in the future. Verse twenty-five continues, And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria. Rezon was an adversary of Solomon for all of Solomon's reign besides what Hadad was doing. Some groups of people have been adversaries of Christians their whole lives, and unless we reach them with the gospel and they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, they always will be.
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