Tag Archives: 1 Kings

April 19, 2024 Bible Study — Solomon’s Temple Was Not Very Large by Today’s Standards

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Kings 4-6.

I’ve written about this before, but I don’t think even then I really thought about its implications.  Solomon’s temple was not very big.  The various descriptions later in the Bible about the repairs various kings made to the temple leave us with the impression that it was a massive building.  This is not the intention, or fault, of the writers.  It happens because we read back into our the Bible our perceptions of the world.  So, how big was the temple Solomon had built?  Well, the passage says that it was 60 cubits long by 20 cubits wide by 30 cubits high.  The translation notes say that converts to 90 feet long by 30 feet wide by 45 feet high.  That means it was 2,700 square feet.  For comparison, in 2015 the average home in the United States was 2,687 square feet (the average has dropped some since then).  That means that many American homes are larger than Solomon’s temple.  For another comparison, St Peter’s Basilica, the largest church building in the world, is a little over 69,000 square feet, which is more than thirteen times the size of Solomon’s temple.  I think it is important that we keep this in mind as we read the later accounts about the temple being restored after being allowed to fall into disrepair.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

April 18, 2024 Bible Study — King Solomon Consolidates His Power

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Kings 2-3.

When Solomon was crowned at David’s orders, he allowed his brother Adonijah, who had attempted to take the throne without their father’s blessing, to live with the agreement that he would retire to his estates and allow Solomon to rule.  Solomon also allowed Joab and Abiathar to keep their titles: Joab as commander of the army, and Abiathar as priest (possibly High Priest).  However, Adonijah would not settle for that and attempted to set himself up to challenge Solomon’s rule by marrying the last of David’s concubines.  Solomon was not fooled and ordered Adonijah executed.  In addition, Solomon appears to believe that Joab and Abiathar played a role in Adonijah’s ploy.  So, he ordered Joab executed and forced Abiathar into retirement, turning all of his priestly duties over to Zadok.  Or, perhaps Solomon was just taking advantage of Adonijah’s plot to eliminate threats to his authority, because immediately following this he called Shimei to the palace and ordered him to never leave Jerusalem again, on pain of death.  Shimei’s response to Solomon’s command seems to suggest that he had been using his position and connections to undermine Solomon’s authority .  I would guess that Shimei was not seeking to overthrow Solomon’s rule, merely to have a powerbase with which Solomon would have to negotiate.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

April 17, 2024 Bible Study — Joab Miscalculates

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

Whenever I read this passage I cannot help but wonder how Joab made the miscalculation to not discourage Adonijah from trying to seek the throne without the support of Benaiah, Nathan, or Zadok.  Up until this point, every time Joab weighed in on a political issue, he showed a clear understanding of way the situation would play out.  Yet here, he did not try to talk Adonijah out of seeking to crown himself without enough support.  Although now that I think about it I realize that what Joab did was read the way public opinion would go, not so much how the political situation would play out.  That would suggest that the people of Israel were ready for someone to replace David as king (due to David’s inability to actually govern at that point).  Perhaps, the people even favored Adonijah as that replacement, since he was the oldest of David’s surviving sons.  In any case, Joab miscalculated this time.  If I were to interpret the situation as presented by the writer, Joab and Abiathar were David’s two most powerful advisors, and I am unsure about Abiathar vs Zadok for control of the priesthood.  Going further, it looks to me like Joab was in conflict with Benaiah for control over the military.  Joab controlled the army, but Benaiah controlled David’s elite guards.  Then there was the conflict between Abiathar and Zadok for control over the priesthood.  The mistake Adonijah, Joab, and Abiathar made was that they discounted the importance of Nathan as David’s spiritual advisor, and of Shimei and Rei.  We don’t really have any information about Rei, but Shimei’s appearance here gives us some insight into why David did not punish Shimei for cursing him as he fled from Absalom: David spared Shimei because Shimei controlled a powerbase whose support David desired.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

April 27, 2023 Bible Study — King Ahab Showed More Care For a Foreign Leader Than For His Own People

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

Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, made war against King Ahab.  He besieged Samaria and demanded tribute from King Ahab.  When King Ahab acceded to his demands, Ben-Hadad increased them to demand that Ahab allow his soldiers to loot the city.  King Ahab resisted this latter demand and defeated Ben-Hadad’s forces.  The following year, Ben-Hadad attacked Israel again.  This time, King Ahab not only defeated Ben-Hadad’s forces, he captured Ben-Hadad.  Despite Ben-Hadad’s repeated unprovoked attacks on Israel, Ahab treated him as a friend and made a treaty with him.  We see here that Ahab had more fellow-feeling with the ruler of his nation’s enemy than he did for his own people.  In a similar manner, King Saul had spared the life of the king of the Amalekites after he defeated them.  Again and again, we see that those who rise to leadership positions in one nation make common cause with the leaders of other nations, against the interests of their own people.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

April 26, 2023 Bible Study — Those Who Speak God’s Words Are Not the Troublemakers, And There Are More Who Remain Faithful Than We Might Think

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

It is easy to overlook the significance of Obadiah in this passage, but we shouldn’t.  Obadiah was a devout follower of God, yet he worked as palace administrator for King Ahab, a dedicated worshiper of Baal.  From his position serving King Ahab, Obadiah was able to save 100 prophets of God from Jezebel’s effort to exterminate them.  We don’t know how Obadiah found himself as King Ahab’s palace administrator, but he used that position to serve God.  Let us strive to do likewise.  Then when Obadiah brings Ahab to Elijah, Ahab calls Elijah the troubler of Israel for announcing God’s judgement for the sins which Ahab was responsible.  All too often those who have rebelled against God will blame their troubles on those who pass God’s word on to them.  Let us pay no more attention to such accusations than Elijah did here.

After his great success on Mount Carmel, Elijah was greatly depressed by Jezebel’s threats against him.  He fled into the wilderness to Horeb, the mountain of God.  When God asked him why he was there, Elijah replied that the Israelites had rejected God and killed His prophets so that Elijah was the only one left.  Elijah felt like he was a failure.  He was sure that, despite his best efforts, the people of Israel had turned from God and chosen to worship Baal.  Elijah was ready to give up, he felt there was nothing left that he could do.  But God was not done with Elijah.  He sent Elijah to anoint Hazael king in Damascus and Jehu king over Israel.  In addition, Elijah was to anoint Elisha as his successor.  Elijah thought that the Israelites were done with God, but God told him that He was not done with the Israelites.  Elijah thought that he was the last remaining servant of God in Israel, but God told him that not only was there Elisha, who would succeed Elijah as God’s prophet, but there were seven thousand others who had not bent the knee to Baal.  Elijah thought the “culture war” was over and that the side of righteousness had lost.  God’s answer to him was, “Not so fast.  I have reserved seven thousand who are faithful to Me.”  It may seem today that the culture war is over and those rejecting God have won, but God’s answer to us is, “Not so fast. I have reserved those who are faithful to Me.”  And those whom He has reserved are a lot more than 7,000.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

April 25, 2023 Bible Study — Sometimes We Are Called To Pray For Drought

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

In Israel, the Northern Kingdom, king after king fails to establish a truly stable government.  Jeroboam turned over the throne to his son, who was overthrown by Baasha after reigning for two years.  Baasha ruled in a similar manner to Jeroboam, including encouraging his people to worship the golden calves which Jeroboam had installed.  After Baasha’s death, his son ruled for a little over two years before being overthrown by Zimri, who killed all of Baasha’s family.  However, Zimri was unable to hold the throne and killed himself rather than be killed by Omri.  Omri, we are told, followed the ways of Jeroboam but sinned more than those who preceded him.  Nevertheless, his son, Ahab, was able to rule after him and turn the throne over to his son, the grandson of Omri.  Ahab married a princess of Sidon, Jezebel, and, at her instigation, made Baal worship the official religion of Israel, the Northern Kingdom.

In response to Ahab’s reign, God raised up the prophet Elijah.  God sent Elijah to Ahab to tell him that it would not rain until Elijah said otherwise.  As James writes, “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.” James wrote that to remind us of the power of prayer.  While we are often called upon to pray for healing, or other good things, for those who are suffering, sometimes, like Elijah, we are called upon to pray that people receive the consequences of their sin.  We need to remember that while the Holy Spirit healed many through Peter, He also struck down Ananias and Saphira through Peter.  So, let us remember that God calls us to pray for redemption of sinners, and sometimes that means praying for them to reach the end of their rope.

I, also, want to point out that during the drought which Elijah prayed upon Israel and the surrounding region, God sent Elijah to a widow of Sidon.  Because that woman provided a meal to Elijah in faith, God provided for that woman for the duration of the drought.  Today, I noticed for the first time, that this widow was from Sidon, just as Jezebel, who led Ahab into Baal worship, was from Sidon.  Jezebel, a woman from Sidon, led many in Israel to abandon worship of God, and God sent Elijah to a woman from Sidon to care for her through the drought which resulted.  I am not sure of the significance of the connection between Jezebel being from Sidon and the widow being from Sidon, but I hope to look into that more in future years.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

April 24, 2023 Bible Study — Jeroboam Disobeyed God To Protect His Legacy, By Doing So, He Destroyed It

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

In yesterday’s passage the writer reported that Jeroboam set up a golden calf in Bethel and in Dan to discourage those in the Northern Kingdom from going to Jerusalem to worship God.  In addition, Jeroboam had shrines built at many high places and appointed people with no background in Scripture as priests (perhaps I am misinterpreting what the writer meant by what he wrote, but that is what I understand him to mean when he says that Jeroboam appointed priests who were not Levites).  Then, when Jeroboam was conducting sacrifices to the calf at Bethel, God sent a man to prophecy against him.  Jeroboam extended his hand to order the man’s arrest, but when he did so he suffered some kind of episode which prevented him from putting his hand down.  In response Jeroboam asked the man to intercede with God to restore the functionality of his hand.  However, Jeroboam did not recognize his sin and turn from it.  Rather, he asked the man, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.”  Jeroboam recognized God’s power, but refused to turn from the politically expedient idols he had chosen to worship and return once again to worshiping God.  God healed him, but the kingdom which Jeroboam had established and hoped to pass on to his descendants was given to another.  I want to make this point clear.  Jeroboam had set up the two golden calves to keep the people of his kingdom from going to Jerusalem to worship God, and deciding that they really owed fealty to the king in Jerusalem.  And he did this in order that his descendants might rule over those people.  While David’s descendants did not regain control of the territory Jeroboam ruled over, Jeroboam’s descendants were killed and another took the throne there.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

April 23, 2023 Bible Study — King Solomon Did Not Go From Worship Of God To Human Sacrifice All At Once

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Kings 11-12.

The writer tells us that King Solomon had 700 wives and an additional 300 concubines.  He does not record if Solomon acquired these wives and concubines out of lust, or out of political expedience, but the numbers suggest the former rather than the latter.  In addition, these women were from peoples whom God had instructed the Israelites not to intermarry because , if they did, the Israelites who married women from these peoples would begin to worship their gods.  So, we have King Solomon marrying many wives, which God had told the Israelites that their kings must not do, for the very reason we see hear: “He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. ”  In fact, if we read that passage in Deuteronomy, the taking of many wives is just the “straw that broke the camels back” of Solomon failing to follow God’s instruction for kings of Israel.  Previously, we had read about the many horses which Solomon acquired (it is worth noting that David had destroyed many of the horses   when he conquered an enemy with a large number of horses).  Not only did Solomon acquire a large number of horses, he sent to Egypt to acquire them.  So, we see that King Solomon did not depart from God all at once.  He did so little by little.  The same thing can happen to us.  It may start with a harmless lie, told to save someone’s feelings.  Or, perhaps, we do something else we know that we should not, but it is just easier to go along than to resist.  The problem comes in when we no longer struggle with telling the lie, or doing something else, when we tell ourselves that it is not really wrong because we are doing it for good reasons.  When we stop recognizing that our sins are wrong, we will begin to escalate them, until we end up where Solomon was, worshiping other gods and serving them.  I want to note that the passage tells us that Solomon sponsored worship of Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molek.  The worship of Ashtoreth involved exploitive sexual practices, while the worship of Chemosh and Molek involved human sacrifice.  In the case of of Molek that human sacrifice involved children.  Solomon did not go from devoted worship of God to human sacrifice all at once.  He slipped away from God little by little.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

April 22, 2023 Bible Study — If We Make Ourselves Temples Unto God, He Will Put His Name Upon Us Forever

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

After Solomon finished dedicating the temple, God appeared to him.  God told Solomon that He would put His Name upon the temple forever and that His eyes and His heart would always be there.  This helps explain why Jerusalem plays such a major role in world affairs.  God also warned Solomon, and through him, the people of Israel, that if turned away from Him and stopped obeying His commands, Israel would become a byword and object of ridicule to all peoples.  In between those two things God gave Solomon a prophecy directed solely at him.  God promised that if Solomon walked faithfully before God with integrity and uprightness, He would establish his throne over Israel forever.  I am going to make a little bit of a leap here, but one which I believe is justified.  If we today, give ourselves to Christ and thus make our bodies into temples unto God, He will put His Name upon us forever, and His eyes and His heart will be within us.  Of course, if we then turn away from Him to worship other gods, we will become an object lesson for all who meet us.   On the other hand, if we walk faithfully before Him with integrity and uprightness, He will establish us in His presence for eternity.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

April 21, 2023 Bible Study –Invite “Foreigners” To Join Us By Confessing And Turning From Our Sins

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Kings 8.

In the Book of Exodus we were told that Moses placed the tablets containing God’s law, a jar of manna, and Aaron’s staff in the ark of the covenant.  This passage tells us that when Solomon had the ark moved into the temple, it contained only the two tablets.  I am unsure if there is any significance to the fact that the jar of manna and Aaron’s staff were lost between the time of Moses and the time of Solomon, but I believe that the writer intended for us to be aware that they were indeed lost at that time.  I want to note that I am writing about this even though I do not see any spiritual significance to it, because it is a detail which I have never given much thought that strikes me today as something which may have spiritual significance.  I am hoping that by writing this in my blog today will make it something I remember if I come across another passage which gives it significance.

However, I want to focus on Solomon’s prayer dedicating the temple, as I do most years when I read this passage.  I want to comment on three aspects of his prayer.  First, Solomon acknowledges that God will not, and cannot, be contained within the temple, or any other structure or even geographical region.  God’s power to hear us and act extends to wherever we may find ourselves.  The second aspect is actually three part.  Solomon acknowledges that all of us will sin.  Solomon then asks God to forgive anyone who confesses their sin, turns away from it, and prays to God for forgiveness.  Solomon does not ask God to forgive those who refuse to admit that they have sinned, or even those who admit their sin but refuse to give it up.  No, in order to be forgiven, and healed, by God we must do three things:

  • We must admit that we have sinned
  • We must turn from that sin
  • We must ask God for forgiveness

The same is true for when we have sinned against our fellows.  Finally, I want to note that Solomon asks God to extend His love and welcome into His family anyone who seeks Him.  I may be overstating what Solomon was asking, but he did indeed ask that God act so that all the people of the earth would know and fear Him as the people of Israel already did.  So, let us turn to God from our sin and call out to Him for forgiveness and let us recognize that God wishes to extend His love to those who have not yet met Him (and act so that they choose to turn to Him along with us).

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.