I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 8-9.

    We were told in earlier passages that Jehoshaphat was a king who did what was pleasing in God’s sight. However, he allied himself with the family of King Ahab of Israel, who was a wicked king. Jehoshaphat even married one of his sons to a daughter of Ahab’s family (the Biblical accounts are unclear as to whether she was Ahab’s sister, or his daughter). As a result, Jehoshaphat’s son and grandson chose to follow the example of Ahab’s family. They did evil in God’s sight. Jehoshaphat’s grandson was killed in the rebellion which overthrew Ahab’s son and destroyed all of Ahab’s family. As I said at the beginning, Jehoshaphat did what was pleasing in God’s sight, but he chose to ally with and befriend King Ahab. As a result his son and grandson did not follow his example, rather they followed the example of his friend and ally. This shows us that we need to choose our friends carefully. What influence will our choice of friends have on those who watch us? I may not have children, but if I hang out with heavy drinkers, will that lead my friends who are recovering alcoholics to fall back into drinking? (I am not sure I currently have any friends who are recovering alcoholics, but there are other ways this could apply).

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 5-7.

    This passage contains a lot. Initially I thought I was going to touch on three of the things here. Now I am not so sure what all I will write about. First we have the story of Naaman. Naaman was willing to do just about anything to be cured of leprosy. However, he was angered because Elisha did not treat him with the honor he thought he deserved. His anger was triggered because Elisha did not take the time to come out and meet him. He was further angered because the task which Elisha set him in order to be healed was mundane, but inconvenient. One lesson for us from this is that sometimes the mission God gives us is not something noteworthy. Sometimes it is just mundane and inconvenient. Perhaps our mission is to go out of our way to pick someone up to take them to an activity. Perhaps someone we do not even like.

    The king of Aram was sending raiders into Israel, but whenever they planned an attack, the army of Israel was waiting for them. When he found out that this was happening because God revealed his plans to Elisha and Elisha told the king of Israel, he decided to capture Elisha. So, he sent an army to do so. When Elisha’s servant saw the army, he panicked. Elisha did not. When the servant asked Elisha what they were going to do, Elisha responded that there was no need to be afraid because there were more on their side than against them. This story teaches is that no matter how powerful and numerous the forces marshaled against us, they are as nothing compared to the forces which God commands.

    The final story in today’s passage is about a siege of Samaria by the king of Aram. Things got so bad that some of the people turned to cannibalism. The king of Israel confronted Elisha and blamed God for the situation. Elisha responded by telling the king that by the following day, food would be cheaper in the city than it had been before the war began. One of the king’s officers expressed certainty that what Elisha had just predicted was not possible, not even for God. Elisha told the officer that he would see it come true, but would not experience it. The following day the officer was trampled by the people going out of the city to loot the abandoned camp of the enemy army. The lesson here is that we should never doubt that God can bring plenty, even when things look their bleakest.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 1-2.

    King Ahaziah sent to the priests and prophets of a foreign god for a prediction about whether or not he would get better rather than to a prophet of God, or even to the shrines in his own country. There is more than one possible explanation, and perhaps more than one of them played a role in that decision. One explanation is the appeal of the exotic over the known. We see that today in people who are researching various religions trying to find one which teaches something like Christianity while rejecting Christianity. Another possibility is that Ahaziah believed that God and the other gods whose worship he promoted were not real, but was not sure about the god of Ekron.

    However, the rest of the story suggests another reason. If King Ahaziah had sent for an answer from a man of God he would have been acknowledging that the man of God answered to an authority higher than that of King Ahaziah. We see this theme followed up in the behavior of the first two captains who were sent to arrest Elijah. They addressed Elijah as a man of God, but assumed that the authority which the king had delegated to them gave them authority over Elijah. The third captain sent understood that the authority given to him by the king did not exceed the authority given to Elijah by God. It is likely that he gained that understanding through the example of the first two captains. Nevertheless, he recognized that God’s authority exceeded the king’s authority.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 20-22.

    The king of Aram, Ben-Hadad, attacked Israel and laid siege to Samaria. He demanded that King Ahab pay him tribute. Ahab agreed to pay the tribute, but then Ben-Hadad demanded to be allowed to loot the city. This was too much for King Ahab and his advisers, who decided to fight. The Israelites were victorious. Ben-Hadad and his advisers were convinced that they lost because God was a god of the hills and that they could defeat the Israelites if they fought them on the plains. Despite the fact that Ben-Hadad’s army vastly outnumbered the army of Israel, God gave them victory. God is not limited to hills, or plains, the city, or the countryside. No matter where our enemies confront us, God is able to give us victory.

    When I read the story of Naboth and his vineyard I was reminded of the discussions about eminent domain that have come up this election year. King Ahab thought that he could put Naboth’s vineyard to better use. So he offered Naboth a more than fair price. However, Naboth was not interested in parting with his vineyard for any price. Personally, I would have taken the deal, but the vineyard had sentimental value to Naboth and he was unwilling to part with it. Ahab was heartbroken at Naboth’s refusal because Israel was a land of laws. However, Jezebel used Ahab’s power to get Naboth killed so that Ahab could take his vineyard. Ahab was initially pleased to gain the vineyard for his own. However, when confronted by Elijah Ahab recognized that he had done wrong. We are told that Ahab sold himself to evil more completely than anyone else, yet even so he recognized and repented of the evil he had done here by rejecting the idea that the same law applied to himself as to the common man.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 18-19.

    I am always struck by how the worship practices of the prophets of Baal were designed to stir up the emotions. They shouted and sang and danced. They worked themselves into a frenzy. They put on quite a show. One which under normal circumstances would have drawn the people in. However, this was not normal circumstances. Elijah had called on the people to choose which god they would follow, Baal or God?

    The other thing that always strikes me when I read this passage is that it is time for Christians to choose whether they will serve the gods of our culture or the God of the Bible. All too many of us are serving both…all too many of us do not even see the conflict between the two. Worshiping God is not about entering into a frenzy.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 15-17.

    We are told that Asa, Rehoboam’s grandson, was a king who did what was pleasing in God’s sight. He drove the temple prostitutes out of his kingdom and deposed his grandmother from her position of authority because of her promotion of the worship of idols. In the meantime, king after king rose to power in Israel, each one more evil than the last. At the end of Asa’s reign, Ahab became king in Israel. While Ahab was king, God called Elijah to serve Him. Elijah went to King Ahab and told him that it would not rain in Israel until Elijah gave the word for it to do so once more.

    The story of Elijah and the widow has one of the most important lessons for us. When God sent Elijah to the widow, she had barely enough food for one more meal for herself and her son. Yet, she did as Elijah asked in God’s name and fed him before feeding herself and her son. The woman had been planning to die after having one more meal with her son. However, because she did as God instructed through Elijah, God provided for her until times changed and she was once more able to provide for herself. God will do the same for us, if we but trust Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 13-14.

    When I read the account of the prophet who prophesied that Josiah would kill the pagan priests in Israel I feel bad for the prophet. He was deceived into violating God’s commands. I, also, resent the old prophet who deceived him. I still feel that way, but today I realized that what happened to the prophet is an encapsulation of what happened to Jeroboam (there is a little more to the lesson than that, but I will get to that in a moment). Jeroboam followed God’s instructions in leading the northern tribes in rebellion against Rehoboam. However, as soon as he gained independence, he went against God’s commands and set up idols for the people to worship. From there he went into ever greater violations of God’s commands. The prophet followed God’s commands and refused to eat with Jeroboam, but shortly after he left Jeroboam’s presence he allowed someone else to convince him to break God’s command and eat before leaving Israel. It is not enough to follow God’s commands at the crisis points in our life, we need to follow God’s commands even when nothing much is on the line.

    As I promised I want to look at the lesson we get from the story of the prophet. When Jeroboam asked the prophet to come and eat with him in return for a gift, the prophet rejected the offer. He did so because God had told him to do so. When the prophet rejected Jeroboam’s offer, everyone was watching. In addition, the prophet knew that Jeroboam had made the offer as a political ploy. The prophet’s rejection of Jeroboam’s offer was also a political ploy. Jeroboam was trying to show his people that he would strive to be reconciled with the prophet and with God. The prophet was making the show that neither he nor God could be bought off by Jeroboam’s superficial gesture. However. when the old prophet invited him to eat, the prophet thought that no one was looking. Therefore, he thought that the “show” was not necessary. The mistake the prophet made was that when God gives us commands, they are not just for show.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 9-10.

    God responded to Solomon’s prayer. He stated that He had indeed set the Temple apart as holy. God promised to watch over the Temple for all time. However, God warned that the people of Israel would only benefit from His watch so long as they did not abandon Him nor disobey His commands. God acknowledged Solomon’s petition and will do the same for anyone who turns to Him, even those who have never before known Him.

    Every time I read the story of the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon I wonder what was going here. I think from the context that the Queen’s visit was a trade mission. I believe that the reason the Queen of Sheba was so impressed by Solomon was because he did not try to make the trade negotiations a win-lose deal. Instead, he dealt with her so that both came out as ahead. She arrived prepared to use his attempts to defeat her at the trade table to defeat him. Instead, Solomon made trade deals with her that were calculated to bring benefit to both sides. I could be reading my own bias into the story, but it is clear that Solomon was a master of trade. My experience is that those who truly reach the pinnacle of trade do so by making deals which benefit their trade partners as much as themselves.