First Kings
Monday, August 2, 2010
None Like Him
(I Kings 8:22-26)
Tolerance, political correctness, and ecumenism all conspire to attribute equal virtue to vastly differing positions. Truth, they say, is relative. What’s true for you may not be true for someone else. What’s important is not the factuality of your position; what’s important is that it works for you. Individuality is in—absolutes are out! Of course, this philosophy known as relativism has taken our culture by storm. Today it is tantamount to heresy to proclaim your beliefs superior to those of another. And to assert that someone’s sincerely held position may be wrong, well that’s nothing less than blasphemy!
Solomon, the wisest man in the entire world, had no trouble declaring the superiority—indeed the singularity—of Israel’s God. In the ancient world, many religious options and opinions vied for attention. By today’s standards of tolerance, all would be granted equal legitimacy—no matter how perverse they may have been. Such wasn’t the case in Solomon’s time. Solomon made it clear to his assembled audience that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was the only true God. In fact, Solomon asserted, “there is no god like [him]” (23).
Following his assertion of the greatness of Jehovah above all rivals, Solomon gave a litany of God’s goodness: He keeps His covenants, He is merciful, and He fulfills His words. In other words, the God of the Bible is faithful and has proven Himself so to His people on occasions too numerous to recount.
And, note—if you will—Solomon’s attitude. He had absolutely no regard (at least at this juncture in his life) for other “gods”—opposing belief systems. He didn’t lend them any credence nor give them any quarter. He exalted the God of the Bible alone as worthy of praise! Don’t be bashful about asserting the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ. He alone is God. He alone is to be worshipped. He alone will be Judge. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little intolerant today! Just kindly tell someone that Jesus is the only way to heaven, and watch the fur fly!
