While living under the blessing of the Lord and in God’s favor Solomon made shields for the temple guards out of solid gold. He made 200 large shields and 300 smaller ones. (1 Kings 10:16) Why does Scripture bother to tell us this?
In Scripture, gold represents purity, truth, the Lord Himself. It is a picture showing us that Solomon’s protection, shield, was the Lord Himself. All of Solomon’s blessings were because of the Lord’s favor. Even though Solomon did not serve the Lord with his whole heart as David had, God’s favor continued on him because of David’s faithfulness.
As gold represents the things of God, in Scripture bronze is a symbol of man’s efforts. In 1 Kings 14 we see that Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, turned from the Lord totally. Because Rehoboam did not look to the Lord as his shield the Lord allowed the King of Egypt to attack and overrun Jerusalem.
“(The King of Egypt) carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them …”
1 Kings 14:26, 27
Bronze can be polished to look like gold but it only makes a good show. Often, when we wander away from the Lord and his blessings, instead of repenting and getting right with God we want to keep up the show, to make sure we look good in the eyes of others.
We play the game hoping no one will notice. We fake the blessing of God by talking a good talk. We replace the gold of God with the bronze of our own efforts. Charisma and charm replace character. A happy face replaces inner joy. We fake the fruit and even the gifts of the Spirit. Our energy replaces the power of God.
But a bronze shield will wear you out. Eventually you will come to the end of your own strength. At that time, the wise turn back to God in repentance. The fools turn away from God claiming there never were real gold shields – “There is no God”, “It didn’t work for me”, “Christians are all hypocrites”, etc.
If you are struggling under the burden of a bronze shield, faking the Christian life in your own strength, give it up, lay it down, turn back to the Lord. Don’t let the King of Egypt – a picture of sin, satan and the evil of this world – steal the reality of Christ from you. Turn back to the Lord. He longs to be your shield, strength and deliverer. It is not too late. You have not gone too far.
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Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Thank you for the inspiring post Rick 🙂 This is truly how Christians should strengthen and lift one another up by sharing the word from the book of life. Truly, the Lord has given us all we need to live a full life through scripture Amen.
Thanks, Ted. Glad it was an encouragement.
Rick
just a thought on society 🙂 Christianity is on the back burner so to say:( especially in the USA , we are no longer allowed prayer in schools children are taught to be self absorbed and the educators call it self esteem. It’s OK to be anything but a Christian 🙁 The more science and technology advance it seems the further the general public falls away from God 🙁 Hope I don’t sound crazy, I’m not, just disappointed.your thoughts would be greatly appreciated 🙂
No doubt the things you have observed are true. In fact, I love your quote about children being taught to be self-absorbed and we call it self esteem. I may “borrow” that one some time.
I have a couple of thoughts.
1. I wonder if things really are worse than ever or they just appear that way because we have a foggy picture of the past. For example, when Christianity was the accepted norm in our nation and we did have prayer in the schools – say in the 50s – we also had separate restrooms (or no restrooms) for blacks, separate drinking fountains, etc. Was Christianity really making such an impact on our society or did we just hide our sin better? I really don’t have an answer for that, just a question I have.
2. I think it interesting that Jesus said in the last days there would be wars and rumors of wars, dark days, but then he said, “these things must happen”. In other words, don’t panic because all this is just a necessary part of God’s plan. As bad as it looks, He is still in control.
I think that applies to the increasing evil we see in society. Yes, it is bad and we can make what efforts we can to slow its spread but it is all part of the plan as predicted in Scripture.
We are to be salt in the world. One attribute of salt is its ability to slow decay. It used to be used to enable meat to be stored long periods of time. It slows decay but it does not totally stop it. It is inevitable. As “salt” we can slow the decay of this world – and we should – be it will not be stopped. Scripture makes it clear that in the last days there will be scoffers …. etc.
Thing do not get better and better until somehow we have established this wonderful world to which the Lord can return and establish His throne. He pulls us out, rescues us from the mess of this world and establishes His throne to end the chaos we have created.
So, yes, things are dark and getting darker but the sunrise will follow. Dawn will come. The Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.
So, don’t just sit back and accept it. Be salt, slowing the decay. But also, don’t be discouraged because these things must happen.
My 2 cents.
Thank you 🙂