Vs.1-3 Solomon chose to ignore the wisdom of Yahweh to follow his own free-will path (Deut 17:17).  The abominable things that he did set the stage for the destruction of the kingdom.  Let us read the Word every day, as Solomon was supposed to do, and match our decisions with Yahweh's commands.  That way, Yahweh will not take the kingdom away from us.

V.9 "The LORD was angry with Solomon" The Divine appearance, first at Gibeon (1Kin 3:5), and then at Jerusalem (1Kin 9:2), after the dedication of the temple, with warnings given him on both occasions (1Kin 3:11-14 , 1Kin 9:3-9 ), had left Solomon inexcusable, and it was necessary that on one who had been so favored with blessings, but had abused them, a terrible judgement should fall. The Divine sentence was announced; but there was mercy mingled with judgement, in the fact that it should not be inflicted on Solomon personally, and that a remnent of the kingdom should be saved, that the promise to David might stand. 

11:3-4  Normally one expects increased wisdom, not increased folly, with increasing age. Of course the increasing wisdom comes for association with the word of God. Solomon’s increasing folly came from associating with ‘strange women’ a synonym for false worship.

Jeroboam, though chosen by God to be the ruler of the ten tribes, but like Solomon, there were conditions. Solomon had been warned that his reign was conditional. (1Kin 3:14) We read that the same terms and conditions were given to Jeroboam, by Ahijah's words to him. (V.38)

11:2-4 Notice the threefold "turn away .. heart". We are left in no doubt about what association with the world will do to use. There are sufficient warning abut the influences of the ‘Strange woman’ – Prov 2:16,, 5:3,24, 7:5

You've heard of "the promises to David" (2Sam 7:12-16), but have you heard of the promises to Jereboam? Well, in v38 we have almost the same promise made to David, given to Jereboam; but not quite the same. The word "forever" has been replaced with "enduring". It may not seem much, but it's an important omission.

So what does that mean? It means that the most important part of the promise, the everlasting bit, wasn't passed on. So we learn that Solomon couldn't lose everything his father gained. Instead, the promise remained with David, and waited as it were for another son, even though he was already dead. Thus Jesus, called the son of David (Matt 1:1) was to be the everlasting house. This concept is described in Isa 11:1-2 by means of a new branch growing up from the trunk of a cut down tree.

11:2  In saying ‘which the Lord said …’ we are being reminded that Scripture had already spoken about the sort of alliance that Solomon was making in Deut 7:3-4

V.4 Solomon turned to idolatry.  As a response, Yahweh sent three men for punishment:

-Haddad (v.14)

-Rezon (v.23)

-Jeroboam (v.26)

The one who had the most long-lasting effect was Jeroboam.  He became the ruler of the ten tribes of Israel, for twenty-two years, when the kingdom became divided.  He caused Israel to commit idolatry by setting up two statues of golden calves (one in Dan, and the other in Bethel) to worship.  He did this in order to avoid Israel's worshipping in Jerusalem. 

11:15-22 Here we have a digression – a summary of some things that happened during the reign of David as recorded in 2Sam 8:14. This historical data explains subsequent events in the time of Solomon. So the details in the lift of David were relevant at the time as they set the scene for future events.

V.4 When Solomon first began to reign he felt like a child in charge of such a great people (1Kin 3:7). Child, in this case, comes from the Hebrew word nahar, which means youth.  It is the same word as the word translated children to describe the youths who mocked Elisha (2Kin 2:23).

Solomon felt inadequate to govern Yahweh’s people.  And so, Yahweh gave Solomon wisdom (1Kin 4:29).  But, now, Solomon had become old and foolish in Yahweh’s eyes. 

Scripture says: Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished (KJV) (Ecc 4:13). The word child, in this case, comes from the Hebrew word yeled which means boy, but which connotes a young boy.

And so, we can appreciate scripture better when we see the contrast between: youth to young wise king; and young boy to old foolish king.

V.9 See 1Kin 3:5; 9:2.

Vs.13,36 The one tribe referred to is Judah.  However, the tribe of Benjamin also became part of the Southern Kingdom, with Jerusalem as the capital (1Kin 12:21).  Jerusalem was situated in Judah, but on the border with Benjamin.

V.28 Solomon had put Jeroboam in charge of supervising labor and collecting taxes from the tribe of Ephraim.  We will consider, in tomorrow’s reading, how his position helped him to become the leader of the ten-tribe Northern Kingdom.

V.40 Solomon knew that Jeroboam, his trusted official, had ambition.  Since the prophecy of Ahijah (v.29 etc.), Solomon saw Jeroboam (correctly) as a threat to his kingdom.  He thought that if he killed Jeroboam, his kingdom would be saved.  Solomon really had become a foolish old king by trying to thwart the will of Yahweh (v.11).

11:26 So early in the time of the kingdom and we see the beginnings of division and strife. We are so familiar with the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah that we may even take it for granted. But it was not good! Disunity among brethren cannot ever be right and good. We may be so familiar with tension and disagreement amongst believers that we think it is normal. It might be normal, but just like the divided kingdom of Israel, it is not good.

V.1 The eleven-year reign of Zedekiah would soon be over.  After a three-month reprieve from the Babylonian siege, Jerusalem would be destroyed (587 BC).  Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, would be taken to Babylon to die, and the crown would not be worn again until the return of Jesus (Eze 21:26,27). 

V.12 During the time of the Babylonians' withdrawal from Jerusalem, Jeremiah attempted to leave the city to go to Benjamin.  He had bought a piece of redeemed land there and had not been able to claim it (Jer 32:7-9).  This attempt was construed as an effort to escape, which had some negative fallout.   

Zedekiah took over the throne of David, but neither he nor his servants listened to Jeremiah (Jer 37:2). A wonderful thing happened and Pharaoh’s Egyptian army caused the Babylonians to return from besieging Jerusalem.  This could have been a turning point for Zedekiah.  He had been given another chance – Babylon would come back, said Jeremiah, but they weren’t there yet!  Some time later the king brought the prophet out of the dungeon, and asked him for any messages from God.  This had the benefit of getting Jeremiah out of the terrible dungeon, but the message didn’t do much good to the king!

37:3 It was futile of Zedekiah to ask Jeremiah to pray for him – though he probably did not know that Jeremiah had already been praying for the people and had been told not to pray – Jer 7:16, 11:14, 14:11. The time for praying was over and the time for responding to the word of God was still present. Zedekiah now had to decide whether he would serve God or not.

37:10 The Chaldean captivity had been promised by God. It was, therefore, futile for Zedekiah to resist. In resisting he was not fighting against he Chaldeans but against God.

37:2 Though Zedekiah was king it was not at the appointment of God. He was put in power by the Chaldeans - 2Kin 24:17 - and so his allegiance was to them.

V.21 Bread would eventually run out in Jerusalem.  Before the destruction of the city in 587 BC, Jerusalem experienced a three-year siege.  And so, when there was no more food left, starvation set in.  Imagine the panic of a desperate people, and the horror as they turned to cannibalism, just as Jeremiah had predicted (Jer 19:9). 

37:19-20 Zedekiah, now fearful of the Chaldeans, seeks to speak with Jeremiah. Jeremiah takes the opportunity to remind the king that he had his own prophets whose words have not come true. So we see even at this late point in his ministry Jeremiah is preaching repentance.

V.3 The chapters in the Book of Jeremiah are not in historical sequence. For example, in this verse, Jehucal is mentioned.  But, in Jer Jer 38:1,2 Jehucal (Jucal), and others, heard the answer to Jeremiah’s prayer.  Notice, that the answer in Jer 38:2 is the same as that of Jer 21:9.  And so, the conclusion is that Chapter 37 was written before either Chapter 38 or Chapter 21.

V.5 This was Pharaoh-hophra, son of Pharaoh-Necho.

V.16 The dungeon was a deep pit which was divided into separate compartments (cells) to hold multiple prisoners.

V.17 Zedekiah was concerned about what might happen, but he did not want to be at odds with his officials in their opposition to Jeremiah.

The similarity between the ministry of Jeremiah and that of Jesus is striking. And it helps us to understand Jesus' message when we see them in the context of Jeremiah's story. Much of what Jesus said was aimed at averting the disaster of AD70, the Roman version of this Chaldean invasion. And as we know from Daniel that Rome and the Babylonians are all part of the same empire, as they are parts of the same image (Dan 2:31-41).

So Jesus's ministry was a repeat of Jeremiahs, aimed at averting the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the people amongst the nations. And much of his teaching should be seen in this context. v2 states the fundemental problem Jeremiah came up against, namely people simply not listening, which is repeated in John 3:19 of Jesus. This is why God Himself called down from heaven and said "This is My beloved son. Hear him!" (Luke 9:35). Jesus' parable ties the two together (Luke 20:9-16) notice in particular the references to beating/wounding (cp Jer 37:15) and "my beloved son".

37:4  Here is another indication that the prophecy of Jeremiah is not in chronological order, even when dealing with the same king. The point being made that Jeremiah had not yet been cast into prison means that the events of chapters 32 and 33 took place after the events in this chapter.

In the Olivet prophecy, which was spoken on the mount of Olives [Mark 13:3]. During that discourse Jesus also says 'behold the fig tree' [Luke 21:29]. Is Jesus actually pointing to the very fig tree he cursed a couple of days ago when he says this?

In v23, Jesus says "whoever says to this mountain…". Which mountain did he mean? Are there any other mountains in scripture which are cast into the sea?

In v13 we find that it was not the season for figs, so why did Jesus curse the tree? Wasn't this a bit harsh, or was Jesus trying to get at something? Is there any where else in scripture where we find fruit being yielded in, or out of, it's season?

In v11, Jesus comes and looks round the house of God. The next day he comes and cleanses it. Is there anywhere else in scripture where someone comes into a house to look, then comes back later to cleanse it?

Vs.13,14 The fig was representative of Israel.  The fig was a summer fruit.  However, Israel should have been ready to receive their Messiah and God's Truth at any time.  Perhaps the Lord's frustration at Israel's not being ready is reflected by the words of Micah (Mic 7:1,2).  Amos was also shown an illustrative lesson (Amos 8:1,2). 

It is clear for us, spiritual Israel, that we should be ready to do the Lord's work at all times (2Tim 4:2).

Vs.15-17 The cleansing of the temple occurred at the end of the Lord's ministry.  Another temple cleansing had happened at the beginning of his ministry (John 2:14-16).  For the significance of these two occasions, please see my note on John 2 for Oct. 11.

11:12 Why was Jesus hungry? It was only a short journey from Bethany to Jerusalem. He had stayed with Mary and Martha who, surely, would have fed him. Maybe his hunger is just a little example of the way in which the stress of the coming days affected his body. How often have we said ‘I’m not hungry’, when food is offered, because of worries or concerns?

V.1 Jesus' visit to Bethpage and Bethany, before entering Jerusalem, was significant.

Bethpage means House of Figs. Figs symbolized Israel. In his demonstration, Jesus deemed the nation faithless, and, therefore, doomed to destruction (in 70 AD) (vs.13,14).

Bethany means House of Dates. When David brought the ark to Jerusalem, he gave the Israelites a cake of dates (amongst other things) in celebration (2Sam 6:19 NIV). The Ark of the (Old) Covenant came to Jerusalem; and now Jesus (of the New Covenant) was coming.

11:23 The ‘mountain’ that could be removed by prayer is, in fact, sin – see Mic 7:19

Vs.13,14 Jesus' expectation of the fig tree, and His subsequent curse on it, might seem unreasonable.  Although it was not the season for figs, He singled out this (abnormal) tree full of leaves. 

As the fruit of a fig tree always precedes the leaves, it was reasonable to expect that there would be fruit.  But there was none.  And so, the fig tree was cursed, and would no longer bear any fruit. 

Of course, this whole episode was an enacted parable to show the state of Jewish spirituality.  Judaism presented a great outward display but lacked the fulfilling Truth that Jesus brought.  And so, Israel (fig tree) bore no spiritual truth (figs), but had a grand outward show (leaves). 

Yahweh singled out Israel with the expectation that this nation would accept His Truth.  Having rejected the Truth that Jesus represented, the nation was cursed, just as the fig tree was cursed.    

11:18 If the religious leaders had any moral fibre they would have acted to protect the people from this teacher. However they ‘feared the people – Mark 12:12 - as it says of them a few days later, and so they did nothing.

V.1 Bethphage and Bethany figure significantly in Jesus’ return to earth. Here is a portion of The Return of Jesus and End-time Prophecy (please e-mail me for a copy):

The ascension of Jesus into heaven took place about seven-and-a-half furlongs (a Sabbath Day’s journey) from Jerusalem (Acts 1:12).  Josephus states that the distance from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives is five furlongs.  Therefore, Jesus ascended from a place on the down slope of the Mount of Olives, away from Jerusalem.  Bethany is fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem, on the south-east slope of the Mount of Olives, on the road to Jericho; Bethphage is just to the east of Bethany.  And so, it was in the Bethany/Bethphage triangle that Jesus ascended to heaven… Why are these facts important?  Note the statement of the angels: Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11). 

V.8 The Gospel of John tells us that the branches were palms (John 12:13).

Palms are a symbol of righteousness (Psa 1:1-3; 92:12).  They decorated Solomon's temple (2Chron 3:5), and figure prominently in Ezekiel's temple (Eze 40:16 etc.).

The Redeemed will display palms before Christ in the future (Rev 7:9). Palms reflect Jesus as the one who is the righteous branch (Isa 11:1).

11:32 This is not the only time that we see the leaders ‘feared the people – Mark 11:18, 12:12 Their authority was compromised by their thoughts about themselves.