Offer Reissued

When God began to establish the monarchy in Israel, He desired kings who would lead Israel properly by following Him. God's intention matched the historic expectation for monarchies - that a family would be chosen and that the kingship would follow that family through successive generations. God made statements and promises revealing that intention.

To Saul, the first king, God sent this sad message: "You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever" (I Samuel 13:13). Had Saul done what was right, the kings would have continued to be from Saul's family. Although no specific promise had been given to that extent, it was clearly God's expectation to do so, and that expectation was shattered because Saul did not obey God.

David was the second king, and God actually made promises to him that were not conditional, perhaps because He knew David's heart. God promised, "Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever" (II Samuel 7:16). God did, however, give David conditional promises regarding his descendants: "If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel" (I Kings 2:4). God was willing to make the same assurances to David's descendants that He had made to David.

To Solomon, the third king, God personally reiterated His promises: "If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days" (I Kings 3:14). "If you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father" (I Kings 6:12). "If you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever" (I Kings 9:4-5). God made His promises anew to Solomon - the same result He would have given to Saul and the same promise He had made to David. Solomon had the same opportunity the two previous kings had.

Jeroboam, the fourth king and the first king of Israel in the divided kingdom, received a similar offer from God: "If you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house" (11:38). Jeroboam had the same opportunity. His family could have continued ruling the ten tribes perpetually; Jeroboam's legacy could have been established.

Saul failed. Solomon failed. Jeroboam failed. As each man failed, God kept making His offer to the next man in line. God kept looking for a faithful man that He could bless. Just because one man failed did not mean that God was unwilling to interact with and bless someone else.

While these particular promises were specific to these individuals, God does make general promises that apply to each of His followers. Each person has his own opportunity to follow God. The failure of one man does not prevent the next man from choosing God's ways. Failure by one person to obtain God's promises does not negate those promises for someone else. God gives to each Christian his own opportunity.

Christianity is an individual relationship. Each individual accepts God and decides to what extent he will follow God. Each Christian is able to receive the blessings and promises of God based on his own decisions to do what God has asked of him. Each person starts fresh, with no failures yet, no disqualifications, no barriers to God's blessing. He receives anew the same offer that God has given to every believer: "Follow me.

Following God is not a guarantee of a life free from trouble, nor does it guarantee material blessing. It is, however, the pathway to a life of being under God's approval and blessing. It is the way to walk in fellowship with God and to fully experience His help and guidance.

God continues to seek people who will follow Him. He continues to look for men He can use and bless. Each person has an individual invitation to receive Him as Savior and God, and each believer has the individual opportunity to live out his Christianity in a way that will bring God's blessing. God did not find that man in Saul, Solomon, or Jeroboam. Will He find it in you?

"I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one" (Ezekiel 22:30).