I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
The passage tells us that after the death of Saul the people of Israel came to David in Hebron and made him king over Israel. David then captured the city of Jerusalem and made it his capital. After describing David’s conquest of Jerusalem the passage lists out many of the mighty warriors who followed David. These were the men whose backing put David in a position to be made king. We are told about The Three and The Thirty, which were two groups of David’s most elite warriors. One of The Thirty was Uriah the Hittite, whose wife was Bathsheba. Knowing this puts David’s affair with Bathsheba, and subsequent arranging of the death of Uriah, in a much worse light than just reading the story itself. Uriah was one of David’s loyal followers from his days fleeing from Saul, yet David betrayed him. After telling us of these two groups the passage goes on to speak of other noteworthy warriors who joined David while he was hiding from Saul.
Once they were ashore, they learned that they were on the island of Malta. The locals treated them very kindly, going so far as to build them a fire on the beach (since the weather was cold and wet). Paul gathered some brushwood and put it on the fire. As he was doing so a poisonous snake came out of the wood and bit him. The locals saw the snake hanging from his hand and decided that this must be divine judgment against Paul for some crime he had committed against the gods. However, Paul just shook the snake off into the fire and went about his business. The locals expected Paul to show signs of the poisoning and watched him for a while. When after a long time nothing happened to Paul, they decided he must be a god.
The chief official on the island lived nearby. He invited the shipwreck survivors into his home and made them welcome. His father was sick so Paul went in, laid hands on him, and he was healed. After this all of the sick on the island were brought to Paul and were healed. The people on the island honored Paul and his traveling companions. They gave them supplies for their journey when they set sail once more.
When Paul arrived in Rome, he was allowed to live in a private house with a soldier to guard him. Paul called together the Jewish leaders in Rome in order to explain why he was there. He told them that he had appealed to Caesar because he thought the political situation and heated tempers in Jerusalem meant that he would not receive fair treatment there. He told them that he wanted to meet with them so that they could become acquainted and that he could relate to them his belief that the Messiah had come. They responded that they had received no word from Jerusalem concerning him.
The Jewish leaders and other members of the Jewish community met with Paul at his house. Paul preached the Gospel to them using the Law and the prophets. Some believed him, while others disagreed. After they had argued for some time and the hour was getting late, Paul told them that this was what Isaiah meant in Isaiah 6:9-10 when he said:
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
27 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,…
This is a passage that we need to remember, God prophesied through Isaiah a long time ago that people would intentionally refuse to understand His commandments and messages. Many people are unwilling to understand the words of God, or the meaning of what He has done. There are two important lessons we need to take from this. The first is, are there any things which God is telling us that we are refusing to understand? Is there some area where I should be listening to God and turn to Him for healing? The answer to that is an obvious, “Yes”. Of course, the question is, am I understanding where God is telling me that? Or am I intentionally choosing to fail to understand what He is telling me?
The second lesson we need to take from this passage is that there comes a point where we need to do what Paul did hear and stop wasting our breath telling people things they refuse to understand. That is a challenge for me. I always try to correct people’s misunderstandings of positions, all too often I fail to consider that those misunderstandings may be on purpose.
Today’s psalm is both a psalm of praise and an injunction to tell others about the wonderful things God has done. The psalmist reminds us that God will reign forever, rebuking the nations and destroying the wicked. He will rule with justice and equity. God provides shelter for the oppressed and a refuge in times of trouble. He avenges murder and listens to the cries of those who suffer. I will praise the Lord, for I have seen Him do these things with my own eyes.
These three proverbs tell us some interesting things. The first tells us that it is better to be honest, even if poor, because those who are dishonest are fools. The second tells us that an enthusiastic worker who does not know what he is doing is bad and trying to do things too fast will end up leading to problems. The final one tells us that people often make foolish decisions and then blame God for what goes wrong. I cannot count the number of times I have seen all three proven true.