What symbol is on each of the stickers? When we see a question mark, what does that mean to us? How are the two stickers different?
21 Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.
Naamah is mentioned only two times in the Bible. That’s it! But of all of Solomon’s wives, she is the only one mentioned by name. That’s 700 other wives and a lot of other special friends, and she is the only one who God saw fit to mention by name. Perhaps because she was the mother of Rehoboam who would follow Solomon as king?
There are many questions that we can’t answer about Naamah. We know that she came from a place called Ammon which was far away from where Solomon lived in Judah. She had been a princess there, where they worshiped many gods rather than the one true God.
Do you think she liked the food at Solomon’s palace? Did she miss her family? How did she get to Judah from Ammon? Did she make new friends? Could she speak the language?
Even though there are many questions that we cannot answer about her, there is one thing that we know for sure. God chose her to be part of his purpose. God promised that the Messiah (Jesus) would come from the family of David; Naamah having Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, was part of the plan. Naamah might have had other ideas about what she wanted to do with her life, but God’s purpose moved forward.
You opened two question marks: one dark and one colorful and light. The questions that we cannot answer about Naamah connect to the dark, mysterious one. The question that we can definitely answer connects to the light one. God let Naamah be part of his plan.
Naamah was just one of over 1,000 women of Solomon’s. She was an outsider, and she probably encouraged Solomon to worship her false gods from back in Ammon. Not really one we’d expect in Jesus’ family, right? Nope. Naamah was a sinner, and she needed a Savior just like you and me. Jesus is coming!
