1 Kings 11:14-26 “Now the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom. … (23) And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah. (24) So he gathered men to him and became captain over a band of raiders, when David killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus. (25) He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the trouble that Hadad caused); and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria. (26) Then Solomon's servant, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king.”
The sword (war) is another of the judgements that God brings on nations. In most instances nations that are judged in this manner experience war when they are invaded from an external source, i.e. another nation. However that is not the only way that God brings about this form of judgement on a nation, for God also allows a nation to experience internal wars through rebellion breaking out in various parts of that nation. The above quoted passage speaks about three different rebel leaders that rebelled against King Solomon during his reign, and we see that God is the one who raised up all three. The reason that God allowed these rebel leaders to challenge Solomon’s reign is because Solomon had begun to lead Israel away from serving the Lord, as his many foreign wives began to introduce pagan worship into the nation of Israel. And so in judgement of the nation of Israel God raised up various rebel leaders to wage war on the nation. Another form of this type of rebellion is when social unrest breaks out through riots, etc. All of these different forms of violence against the citizens of a nation, i.e. war, rebellion and rioting fall under the umbrella of God’s judgement of the sword. And so clearly when we see a nation being plagued by wars, rebellion or rioting, then we can be assured that that nation is experiencing the judgement of God, and that only their repentance will prevent that nation from experiencing further judgements. Just as with economic judgements, there are also instances when God chooses to judge all the nations of the world with the sword because of their wickedness. An example of this type of global judgement would have been both the First and Second World Wars which took place in the last century, and impacted almost every nation of the world.
Michael E.B. Maher
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