Scripture reading: 1 Kings 11:1-11
Let us look at Ezekiel 8:16, “And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.”
This depicts the Easter morning worship. It says that the men of God had turned their backs upon the altar of God and started worshipping the sun. We are talking about people who are worshipping their church, their religion, their holiness, their goodness before God. (“We are ministers of the Lord…!”)
You should not doubt what I am saying here when you see what is happening around you—that ministers are falling like falling stars. The reason why they are falling is because their perspective has not been right from the very beginning; and God has been calling to them, talking to them, and trying His best to move them, but could not move them. The fall that you see is not when the fall came. The fall came long ago; God is only now allowing it to be shown us. I have been in the church for fifty plus years, and I remember, way down there we had ministers all along who were falling, falling, falling, falling, falling—but the church covered it up. The church said, “You must not talk it out.” The church said, “Don’t let the world know,” and they put them away quietly. The world is now knowing about some of it, but it is only because it has grieved God to His heart. And there is going to be a shower. There is going to be a shower! Many falling! Because, you see, God is displeased with His people.
Now, it needs repentance; but let me show you from history what has happened. Let us turn back to David. You know what happened to David. Remember, the Bible says that God testified that David was “a man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). He said David was a man after His own heart, meaning to say that David’s heart was right with God. So, what was wrong? David went up on his roof, he looked down into another man’s house, and saw his wife taking a bath; His lust was so strong that he had to send and capture her—another man’s wife!
Now, can you explain to me, what was wrong with David? Let me tell you: the same thing that was wrong with David is wrong with a lot of us. Our minds are not consecrated. When the mind is consecrated, it means that it is taken off all the things out there and is put onto Christ. He said, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isaiah 26:3).
You go to the store, buy a steak, and put it in your refrigerator. Then you go to work. All day, doing your work, you do not think about the steak that you are coming home to eat, do you? And this is the problem: men continuously think about the woman and women continuously think about the man. This is a sin before God which is destroying us, because the problem is in the way we think!
Think of Solomon. I want you to read a little bit about him. Let us turn to 1 Kings, Chapter 11. I want a response from you. Maybe the response is that we should just pray and call out, “God have mercy upon us.” But, I do want a response.
1 Kings 11:1-3, “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.”
Somebody says, “Oh, no! I wouldn’t have seven hundred!” But have you ever considered how many hundred you have looked at? Have you ever considered how many hundreds of times your mind strayed after them? When Solomon looked at one, he would say, “Bring her!” and his men would go out and bring her. That is how it went. However, listen to this: Verse 4, “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.”
Verse 5, “For Solomon went after Ashtoreth” (Lord help us! You need take your dictionary, and look up “Ashtoreth” and all the sexual gods) “…the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.” Do you know that to serve these gods you had to enter into their temple and perform what they call sacramental fornication? This is what Solomon did. He went into their houses and the house of Isis, the place where men and women had orgies.
It is a terrible thing to think of, because these things flash to my mind. I see the brethren having orgies. Now, that is bad! You could not think of that! You would say, “Oh, no, no, no!” Well, you believe me, brethren, that I am seeing farther than you can see, right at this time. The people of God—many of us—are out of control, and this is what is killing our spiritual life!
Verses 7-8, “Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.”
This is what is happening in our hearts. We are being separated from God because we allow this one great powerful demon to exercise his authority over us. We must be delivered from this god, from this worship, in order to serve God in Spirit and in truth. And believe you me, I am in a position to talk to you about this.
(Excerpt from The Omega Message, July 2000, pg. 39-41)
Thought for today: Brethren, seek deliverance while there is still time so that your heart would not be turned away from the Almighty God.
Sonlight Devotional 