The Tom Cruise movie, Valkyrie, is about an unsuccessful coup attempt in Nazi Germany in 1944. Cruise played the part of Claus von Stauffenberg, a German war hero, who planted a bomb in Hitler’s conference room, and had prepared with others to take over the government. There was one small problem, the bomb exploded but failed to kill Hitler. The coup failed and Stauffenberg was executed the next day. Less than a year later the war had failed and Hitler killed himself. We’ll never know how a successful coup would have changed the history of the world.

The Bible reveals a coup during the days of Solomon and records how it changed the history of the world. Near the end of Solomon’s life, as his heart was turned by his wives to worship other gods, Jehovah selected a rebel to tear apart the kingdom. Jeroboam was a hero of Israel who had been discovered by Solomon and given a place of honor and responsibility in his government (1 Kings 11:26-28).

God had a different purpose for him. One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem God’s prophet Ahijah met him on the road and told him that Solomon’s kingdom was going to be torn apart and ten of the twelve tribes were going to be given to him to rule over as king. Having put on a new cloak to illustrate God’s message, Ahijah tore it into twelve pieces and gave ten of them to Jeroboam. It symbolized how God was going to tear the nation apart because of Solomon’s idolatry. He was going to give ten tribes to Jeroboam, but keep Judah and Benjamin for the house of David (1 Kings 11:29-36).

We’re not told how, but Solomon found out and attempted to kill Jeroboam. He didn’t succeed in killing Jeroboam or stopping the coup. Jeroboam hid safely in Egypt until Solomon died (1 Kings 11:40) and then came back to fulfill God’s will with a successful coup.

We will never know how world history would have unfolded if Stauffenberg’s coup had succeeded, nor will we ever know how world history would have changed if Solomon had remained faithful. But we can know how our history will change if we will come to God by faith and remain faithful. We can go from enslaved sinners to liberated saints. We can go from aimless wandering to purposeful living. No, we don’t know how each day will unfold, but we can be confident there is a crown of righteousness waiting for us – if we’re faithful (2 Timothy 4:7-8). You can fail outside of Christ or succeed in Him. The choice is yours; which will it be?