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A Tale Of Two Houses
Jon Burgess“Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.” 2 Chronicles 8:11 NIV
This was the beginning of the end for King Solomon. Something didn't fit. Something wasn't right. Why did Solomon build a separate house for his foreign wife? In his own words he admitted she wasn't holy, she did not belong to the Lord. She belonged to Solomon. It turns out the wisest man in the world had a blind spot and it was women. Exodus 34:11-16 is a very clear warning from God against the "snare" of foreign wives. 1 Kings 11:6-10 reveals this as the very reason King Solomon became enmeshed in pagan worship. 1 Kings 11:4 sums it up this way: "Solomon's heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David." There was a hole in is holy and it was in the shape of his Egyptian wife. Instead of addressing his sin, he hid from it. He recognized that Pharoahs daughter could not be in a holy place while wholly missing the fact he was the one who married her. And the hole just kept getting bigger and bigger. While building a place of holy worship to God his heart was being drawn to worship false gods through his foreign wives. There were two houses now, with more to come, and Solomon was only supposed to concentrating on one- God's Holy House!
How come Solomon didn't catch it? He was very adept at compartmentalization. He kept the unholy portions of his life in one location and the holy portions of his life in another. As if God could ever be kept in a box. We sure are good at trying to do the same thing though. We worship God with our mouths on Sunday and curse people in Monday morning traffic. We lift our hands in worship on Sunday and then use them to hurt, steal, hide, or touch in unholy ways. We read God's Holy Word with our eyes and then allow our eyes to be distracted and drawn to unholy things in the name of "entertainment" or "escape". These are just our versions of Pharaoh's daughter in the second house. We would never do these things at church around our brothers and sisters of faith because that's a holy time. God however calls for holiness everywhere. To be set apart in every part of our lives is what a holy life is all about. 1 Peter 4:17 makes it clear that judgement starts in the house of God. This means God is going to have us tear down the other houses where we have hidden our sin so there's only one house that belongs to Him!
Thank you Lord for this heart check this morning. Show me the holes in my holy. The places where my heart has been divided, distracted, dissuaded in false pursuits and projects You have not called me to! There's only One God and You have called me to build a house for You, not myself. "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." Psalm 139:23
