Small Things

Americans, especially Texans, are fond of thinking “bigger is better.” The Bible often shows how God works through small things to show his awesome power and control, while using small things to remind humans of their frailty and lack of control.

King Solomon wrote Song of Songs 2:15, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards.” He knew that seemingly little choices have the potential to cause big damage. Unfortunately, he never seemed to put that lesson into practice.

1 Kings 10:26 details how Solomon acquired 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses from Egypt and Kue. He had so much silver that is was considered as common as stones. 1 Kings 11:3 shows he had 1,000 wives and concubines. However, five centuries before his time, Moses had commanded future kings of Israel not to acquire horses from Egypt, have many wives, or accumulate a lot of gold and silver (Deuteronomy 17:16-17).

It’s impossible to guess which decision put Solomon on those paths of destruction, but one possibility is found in 1 Kings 3:1. “Solomon became allied to Pharaoh king of Egypt by marriage, and too Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the City of David.” This alliance probably helped increase trade with Egypt and help secure

Solomon’s borders. Instead of trusting in God, Solomon used this marriage as a model in how to make Israel more prosperous and secure. Unfortunately, his wives led him into a deep level of idolatry, that ultimately led to the destruction of him and his nation. God was (and is) fond of using small week things to accomplish his purposes to that he gets the glory, not a powerful person or city. He chose Israel as a small nation to

represent him instead of a powerful empire (Obadiah 1:2), chose Bethlehem as the birth place for David and Jesus (Micah 5:2) and repeatedly used powerless, weak people to represent him. Instead of using his status as king and creator of all, Jesus often chose different images to show his humility: servant, shepherd, and son being just a few of those images. He told his followers to choose to be last, not first.

1 Corinthians 1:27-30 says that God chooses foolish, weak and despised things of the world so that nobody can boast before him. He wants those who boast to boast in the Lord’s power, not their own.