Tag Archives: Bible Commentary

Daily Bible Study

June 19, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

1 Kings 20-21:29

     The king of Aram, Ben-hadad, mobilized his army against Israel. He demanded tribute from King Ahab in exchange for not attacking Samaria. King Ahab agrees to pay the tribute demanded. Ben-hadad then demands the right to search the city for any valuables. This is too far for King Ahab and the Israelites, they refuse this demand. Ben-hadad and his allied commanders were so confident of their victory over Ahab that while they were making demands of Ahab they were drinking heavily. A prophet of God went to Ahab and told him that God was going to give him victory over Ben-hadad. Ahab asks him what strategy he should use and then follows it. Ahab launches the attack while Ben-hadad and his allied commanders are drunk. After the battle, the prophet of God warns Ahab that Ben-hadad will attack him again the following spring.
     Ben-hadad’s advisers tell him that they lost to Ahab because the God of Israel is a god of the hills, that if they attacked on the plains they would be victorious. Ben-hadad follows their advice and attacks again, just as the prophet had told King Ahab. The prophet of God tells King Ahab that because the Arameans thought that God could not fight for Israel on the plains, He was going to defeat them again. After the complete defeat of the Aramean army the second time, King Ahab captures Ben-hadad. Ahab makes a treaty with Ben-hadad and releases him. God sends a prophet to tell Ahab that Israel will suffer because he released Ben-hadad.
     At some point after this, King Ahab decides that he wants to turn a vineyard into a vegetable garden. There is only one problem, somebody else owns it. Ahab goes to the owner, Naboth, and offers to trade another vineyard for it, or buy it outright if Naboth prefers. Naboth refuses because the vineyard has been in his family for generations. Ahab throws a temper tantrum and refuses to eat. When Jezebel, his wife, asks him why he won’t eat, he tells her that it is because Naboth will not let him have Naboth’s vineyard. Reading this passage, King Ahab sounds to me like a spoiled child crying to his mommy because another child will not do what he wants. And Jezebel acts like that mommy, telling Ahab not to worry about it, she will get him what he wants. Jezebel sends out letters in Ahab’s name to the leaders of the town where Naboth lived commanding them to bring false accusations against Naboth and execute him.
     God sends Elijah to confront King Ahab for having Naboth killed so that he could take his vineyard. Elijah tells Ahab that because of his actions regarding Naboth, his entire family will die horrible deaths. When Ahab hears God’s judgement, he fasts and dresses in sackcloth. God tells Elijah that because of Ahab’s expression of remorse, He will withhold His judgement on Ahab’s family until after Ahab’s death.

Acts 12:24-13:15

     While Barnabas and Saul are praying with other Church leaders in Antioch, the Holy Spirit inspires one or more of the leaders to propose sending them out on a missions trip. After further fasting and praying, the leaders do just that. The passage does not tell us who initially proposed the missionary journey, but it tells us that after it was first brought up the men fasted and prayed to be sure that it was indeed God’s guidance. Barnabas and Saul set sail for Salamis on the island of Cyprus. When they landed in Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the Gospel. They traveled across the island going from town to town preaching the Gospel until they reached Paphos. In Paphos, the governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him. The governor had a Jewish sorcerer (unlike in the case of Simon the sorcerer in Samaria, the passage makes no mention of any powers that this man had) as one of his attendants. This Jewish sorcerer, named Elymas, attempts to convince the governor to not pay any attention to the message from Barnabas and Saul. Saul looks the sorcerer in the eye and calls him a son of the devil and tells him that he will be struck blind. Elymas is immediately struck blind. This encounter is the first time that Luke mentions that Saul is also called Paul and after this he refers to him exclusively as Paul. I think this is interesting because the name Paul means “small”, or “humble”. It had never occurred to me before, but I think that Luke mentions that Saul was called Paul here to point out that he was not physically intimidating, that he was instead a small man that others often believed they could intimidate. So, this was Paul standing up to what was probably a physically larger man and with the power of the Holy Spirit forcing him to back down. It is also worth noting that up until this point Luke has said “Barnabas and Saul”, from this point forward it is Paul who is listed first.

Psalm 137:1-9

     The psalmist here speaks of the sorrow which the exiles in Babylon felt. He expresses that Jerusalem is his joy. In the same way, we should view the Kingdom of God as our joy. Both the expression of it here on this earth through the functioning of the Holy Spirit and its future expression in Heaven as we sit before the throne of God. We need to live constantly aware of the dichotomy of living in a foreign land and yet in the Kingdom of God. Our first loyalty is not as citizens of any nation on this earth. Our first loyalty is as citizens of the Kingdom of God.

Proverbs 17:16

     It is foolish to not desire to learn. There is no point in trying teach someone who does not want to learn.

Daily Bible Study

June 18, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

1 Kings 19:1-21

     When Ahab got home, he told his wife Jezebel what Elijah had done, including how he had killed the prophets of Baal. Jezebel sends a message to Elijah promising to have him killed. When Elijah gets the message he flees for his life. He leaves his servant in Beersheba and flees into the wilderness. At the end of the day, he prays for God to take his life and lies down to sleep. I am not sure what is going on here, except that Elijah is feeling depressed. If he truly wanted to die, why did he flee Jezebel? As he sleeps, God sends him food which Elijah eats. Then he sets out and travels 40 days and 40 nights until he reaches Mt Horeb (which may be another name for Mt Sinai).
     When he gets there, he spends the night. The Lord tells Elijah to stand before Him on the mountain. As Elijah stands there a powerful wind hits the mountain and tears some of the stones loose. The passage tells us that God was not in the wind. Then there is an earthquake, but God is not in that either. The earthquake is followed by fire and God is not in that. Finally, there is a gentle whisper, when that happens Elijah covers his face and prepares to talk to God. Once more God asks Elijah why he is there. Elijah responds that he has zealously served God, but the people of Israel have turned from God and killed His prophets and now Elijah is the last one left and they are trying to kill him. God tells Elijah that he still has tasks for him, including anointing Elisha as his successor. God finishes by telling Elijah that He has preserved 7,000 others in Israel who have never worshiped Baal.
     Elijah goes and finds Elisha plowing in the field, throws his cloak across Elisha’s back and walks away. Elisha rushes after Elijah and requests permission to say goodbye to his parents before he goes with Elijah. Elijah tells him to do so, but to think about what Elijah has done to him. This sounds to me like Elijah was not particularly enthusiastic about continuing his ministry or about recruiting Elisha as his successor. Elisha on the other hand is very enthusiastic. He slaughters the oxen he was using to plow and uses the wood of the plow to build a fire to cook them. He throws a feast for the village and then goes after Elijah.

Acts 12:1-23

     This passage begins by telling us that Herod Agrippa started persecuting the believers and had James, the brother of John, killed. When he saw that this made the Jewish leaders happy, he had Peter arrested, intending to give a public trial after the Passover was over. The night before the trial, Peter was sound asleep, fastened with chains to two soldiers. There are more soldiers stationed at the gate to the prison. An angel appears to Peter, wakes him up and tells him to get dressed and follow the angel. Peter, thinking he is experiencing a vision, does as the angel instructs. They exit the prison and begin walking down the street when the angel disappears. Peter realizes that this is actually happening. Peter goes to the home of John Mark’s mother, where believers gathered for prayer. One of the servants, named Rhoda, came to the door, when she recognized Peter’s voice she was so excited she forgot to open the door for him. She went and told the others that Peter was at the door. At first they thought she was crazy, but once she convinced them of what she heard, they decide it must be Peter’s angel. They did not actually go to open the door until they heard Peter continuing to knock. When they let Peter in they were so excited that Peter had to get them to quiet down so that he could talk. He told them to tell James and the other believers what had happened and then went into hiding. How often do we do something like this? Where we believe that someone has experienced a miracle, but don’t believe the full extent of the miracle. How much of a role does that play in our not experiencing more miracles?

Christian Art

Psalm 136:1-26

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.”

     The psalmist tells us to give thanks to the Lord for all of the good things He has done for us. He goes through a litany of things that God had done for the children of Israel. As the psalmist is wrapping up, he tells us that God provides food for all living things. Throughout the psalm the psalmist reminds us that God’s love is faithful and endures forever. We should remember this and give Him thanks in all things, at all times.

Proverbs 17:14-15

     This proverb tells us that starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate. We cannot know in advance what how far the destruction will spread, but we can be sure that it will leave destruction in its wake. It is better to stop when we see a quarrel beginning than to push the issue and discover that it leads to the destruction of a relationship (whether ours or someone else’s).

Daily Bible Study

June 17, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

1 Kings 18:1-46

     After three years of drought God sends Elijah to Ahab with word that God is about to send rain. The famine had become very severe, so Ahab summoned his palace administrator, Obadiah, and they each went out to search for water and grass to save some of Ahab’s horses and mules. Elijah approaches Obadiah and tells him to go tell Ahab that Elijah has come. Obadiah is at first afraid to do so because he thinks that God will carry Elijah off before Ahab gets there. Ahab has been searching very hard for Elijah. if Obadiah tells him that Elijah is someplace and when Ahab gets there, Elijah is gone, Ahab is likely to have Obadiah killed. Elijah swears to Obadiah that he will wait for Ahab.
     When Ahab sees Elijah he refers to him as a troublemaker. Elijah replies that it is Ahab and his family who caused the trouble by refusing to obey God and worshiping Baal. Elijah tells Ahab to summon the people to Mt Carmel along with the prophets of Baal and Ashterah that Jezebel feeds. Ahab follows Elijah’s instructions. When the people arrived, Elijah gets up before them and tells them that it is time to make up their minds. If Yahweh is God, they should follow Him, but if Baal is God, then they should follow him. Elijah’s point was that God and Baal made competing claims. If God is who His prophets say He is, then Baal must be an imposter. On the other hand if Baal is who his prophets say he is, then God must be an imposter. Those claims are such that, if they are false, the one for whom they are made is unworthy of worship. Many people today have a similar attitude to the one that Elijah was confronting. People say about what one believes, “Well, if it works for you, that is fine.” The main competing claims in our society are that of Christianity and that of secularism. Christianity makes claims, that if they are not true, mean that Christianity is a false and destructive belief system. The same is true of secularism (in all of its many variations).
     Elijah was not satisfied to leave it at that when the people failed to respond to his exhortation to choose between God and Baal. He did not allow people to remain undecided. Elijah proposes a contest, one which will substantiate some of the claims made by each faction. Each side would build an altar and put a sacrifice on it, but neither side would light the wood to burn the sacrifice. The real God would light the fire on the altar for His burnt offering. He then tells the prophets of Baal to go first. The prophets of Baal begin their worship in the morning with singing and dancing and shouting. Around lunchtime, Elijah starts to ask them what is going on, suggesting that perhaps their worship is not intense enough to get Baal’s attention. The prophets of Baal go into a frenzy, cutting themselves and shouting louder. They got no response of any kind.
     Late in the afternoon, Elijah says to the people that now it is his turn. He calls the people over while he prepares the altar. I imagine him explaining to the people what he is doing as he repairs and then prepares the altar, telling them that the twelve stones he is using represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Elijah strikes me as a great showman. Once he has the altar built and dug a trench around it, he laid the wood on the altar and placed the pieces of the sacrificial animal on the wood. Then he tells the people to fill four large jars with water and pour the water on the altar. He tells them to do this a total of three times. I can just picture him doing this.
“Go fill those jars with water and pour them over the altar.”
“Do it again.”
“Get some more water.”
     Since around lunchtime, Elijah has been putting on a show. First taunting the prophets of Baal.
“Shout louder, maybe Baal is relieving himself and can’t hear you.”
“Maybe he is away on a trip.”
“Maybe he is taking a nap and you need to wake him up.”
Then repairing the altar to God and preparing the sacrifice while explaining to the people what he is doing. Finally getting the people involved by having them pour water over the altar. During all of this he is putting on a bit of a show, but none of this is part of the worship of offering the sacrifice. Once it is all prepared and he has the attention of the people, he calmly walks up to the altar and cries out to God, “Prove to these people that you are who I have told them you are.” Contrast this with the prophets of Baal, who were dancing and shouting and cutting themselves. In response to this simple, calm request, God sends down fire that engulfs the entire altar, burning the entire structure and drying up the water that was in the trench around the altar. There was no working the people up to a frenzy. The Spirit of God provided the emotional high.
     When this was done, Elijah began praying for rain and the rain arrived in a deluge.

Acts 11:1-30

     When Peter got back to Jerusalem from visiting with Cornelius, some of the Jewish believers Criticized him for associating with gentiles. Peter explained to them the vision he had while in Joppa and of the arrival of Cornelius’ messengers. Peter further told them that as he preached to Cornelius’ household, the Holy Spirit came upon them. The passage tells us that once they heard what had happened, they stopped objecting and began praising God for extending His mercy to Gentiles.
     Meanwhile believers had been scattered as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. For the most part the believers only preached the Gospel to Jews. However, in Antioch some of the believers began preaching to Gentiles and a large number became believers. When the Church in Jerusalem heard about this, they sent Barnabas to look into it. The passage does not tell us why they sent Barnabas, but I am sure that it was in part because they knew that he would guide the young believers to good doctrine. Once again we have Barnabas playing a key role in the early Church. Barnabas was happy with what he found in Antioch and encouraged the new believers in sound doctrine. We are told that many came to the Lord under the influence of Barnabas. Nevertheless, Barnabas felt that something was missing in the teaching of the new believers. So he went to Tarsus to find Saul. Barnabas brought Saul back to Antioch to help him teach the new and growing Church there. Again, we do not know why Barnabas sought out Saul, but we can make some guesses. Up until now, all of the Church leaders we have been told about were good men, dedicated to following God, but not educated in the Law and Jewish theology. Saul on the other hand was a student of Gamaliel, a prominent Jewish teacher whose thought is influential even in today’s Judaism. It seems likely that Barnabas felt that the new Gentile believers needed a more thorough grounding in basic Jewish thought and theology than he could provide, so he went to get the believer he knew with the most thorough education in that. I often express a concern that the Church today places to great an emphasis on Church leaders having a seminary degree. I believe this to be true. There are many truths that are learned through experience in the world that a seminary education can make harder to see. However, this does not mean that I do not believe that the Church needs leaders who have received in depth training in theology and philosophy. It does, as Barnabas’ decision to go get Saul to help him in Antioch shows.

Christian Images

Psalm 135:1-21

     The psalmist here calls for us to praise the Lord because of the wonderful things He has done. He recounts the miracles God has performed for His people and calls on us to praise God for these things. Then the psalmist tells us that the idols that others worship have no power and are merely made by human hands. I was at a party recently where some of the people there were talking about how they practiced a pagan religion. This pagan religion involves some idols. At one point during the evening, while they were discussing their religion, they mentioned that they were atheists. That is, they know full well that the gods that they are worshiping have no power. I praise God that I worship a God that I know exists and has power.

Proverbs 17:12-13

     The first proverb tells us that a fool will more vociferously defend his foolishness than a mother bear will defend her cubs. The second one tells us that those who repay good done to them with evil, will never escape the consequences.

Daily Bible Study

June 16, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

1 Kings 15:25-17:24

     This passage tells us that king after king came to the throne of Israel and did evil. God brought them, or their sons down and wiped out their entire family. We are not really told much more than that until we come to Ahab, son of Omri, who was king when God called Elijah. Ahab we are told built a temple and altar to Baal in Samaria and set up an Ashera pole there. The passage tells us that Ahab did even more to anger God than any of the kings preceding him.
     God called Elijah to go to Ahab. Elijah went to Ahab and told him that it would not rain until Elijah said otherwise. As James puts it, “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.” That is a powerful testimony to the power of the prayer of faith. We are told that God told Elijah to go and hide by a stream near the Jordan river. That the ravens would bring him food there. So, Elijah goes and camps where God told him and the ravens brought him food morning and evening and he drank from the stream. Elijah stayed there until the stream dried up.
     God then sent Elijah to a village near Sidon, where a widow would feed him. When Elijah got to the village he saw a widow gathering sticks. He asked her to bring him some water and a little bread. When he asked for bread she told him that she had just enough left for one more meal for herself and her son, after which they would both starve. Elijah tells her not to worry, just bring him some bread and then prepare a meal for herself and her son. That her flour and oil will not run out until God sends rain and the crops grow again. We are told that this does indeed happen. Elijah stayed with her. Some time later, the widow’s son dies. She asks Elijah why this happened. Elijah takes the child’s body up to his room and prays to God for the child to live. The child is returned to life and Elijah gave him back to his mother.
     This passage is a primer on faith and prayer. Elijah trusted God and God sent him food by way of ravens. When his water source at the place where God had the birds feed him dried up, God sent him to a widow that was in need. Notice the timing here, the water in the stream did not dry up until Elijah would arrive at the village as the widow was preparing the last meal for herself and her son. When Elijah asked for bread, the widow gave him bread even though it was the last food she had. When she acted in faith, God provided for her and her son. When the widows son died, Elijah called out to God and God raised her son from the dead. Do we today have the faith to act as the widow did? Do we even have faith to act as Elijah did and pray for such a miracle? Or even to follow Elijah’s example and count on God to provide for our needs? Would we be willing to camp by a stream and count on birds to bring us food?

Acts 10:24-48

     When Peter arrived at Cornelius’ house, Cornelius attempts to worship him but Peter prevents him from doing so. Peter then enters Cornelius’ home where he explains that God has shown him that he should not think of anyone as impure or unclean. Peter began preaching to those who havdgathered at Cornelius’ house (we are told that Cornelius had called together his relatives and close friends). As he is preaching, the Holy Spirit came upon those who were listening to him. The Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were amazed that God poured out his Holy Spirit on gentiles. When Peter saw that the Holy Spirit had come upon those present, he instructed that they should be baptized.
     This passage is an important one for us as Christians to return to regularly. There are a couple of points. First, God shows no favoritism. He will pour out His Spirit on any who seek Him, no matter what state they are in when they begin seeking Him. Second, we should think of no one as impure or unclean, as someone we should not associate with. God is calling us to preach the Gospel to all who will hear. There are times when Christians think that certain groups are especially condemned of God, whether it be drunks, or drug addicts, or the wealthy or whatever group you can think of that is somehow too far away from God for Him to reach. The point of this passage is that there is no such group. No one is beyond the reach of God. We as Christians are called to pray for everyone we meet and to preach the Gospel to them. We do not know whom God will send His Spirit upon to convict of their sins. We must be prepared to minister to those whom God calls, no matter how distasteful we might find them. Beyond that, we are called to learn to not find them distasteful, but as sinners called by God to repentance, just as we are. I am a sinner called by God to repentance. I have no room to look down on others for their sins.

Christian Art

Psalm 134:1-3

     The psalmist calls on all servants of the Lord to praise God. If we are servants of God, we should be praising God. If we are praising God, we are servants of God. Even those who serve at night, when no one really notices, should praise God for the opportunity to serve Him. Whatever way we are called to serve God, we should praise God. Even if we are called to some task that no one ever notices, we should recognize that we are serving God.

Proverbs 17:9-11

     When we forgive those who have done something blameworthy to us, our love for them and their love for us gets stronger. On the other hand, when we keep thinking about something someone close has done that bothers us, it creates distance between us. The second proverb tells us that those who are wise will take even a single rebuke to heart, while those who are foolish will not learn from severe punishment. Finally, we are told that those who are looking for an opportunity to challenge authority are likely evil.

Daily Bible Study

June 15, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

1 Kings 14-15:24

     Jeroboam’s son became sick. Jeroboam had his wife disguise herself and go to the prophet who had told him he would become king to find out what would happen to his son. The prophet recognized Jeroboam’s wife, even though he was now blind. The prophet told her that the boy would die and that Jeroboam’s family would be destroyed. The prophet condemned Jeroboam for his idolatry and prophesies that Israel will be scattered for its sins.
     The next section tells us that Rehoboam reintroduces the practice of pagan rituals in Judah. We are told that the people imitated the “detestable practices” of the peoples that God had driven out of the land. Among those practices that the people adopted was that of having male prostitutes as part of worship of certain idols. The passage tells us that they set up shrines, sacred pillars and Ashera poles on every high hill and under every green tree. We are told that the king of Egypt came and ransacked Jerusalem. When Rehoboam died his son Abijam succeeded him. We are told that Abijam’s mother was the daughter of Absalom and that Abijam committed the same sins as his father. Abijam reigned for three years before he died and was succeeded by his son Asa. The people of Judah stopped worshiping God and started worshiping idols and taking up pagan religious rituals. It reminds of what we see today. People have been taught that Christianity is superstitious nonsense. So, they do not follow Christian religious practices. Instead, they adopt religious practices that they imagine are those of their ancestors from various pagan religions.
     We are told that Asa, Rehoboam’s grandson did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. He got rid of the shrine prostitutes, burned the Asherah poles and destroyed the idols his father and grandfather had made. He went so far as to depose his grandmother from the position of queen mother because of the Asherah pole she had made, which he cut down and burned. He was unable to stop the practice of worshiping at local shrines, but he appears to have mostly eliminated idol worship. The Law of Moses said that all worship of God should be at the Tabernacle and after the Temple was built at the Temple, but the people often conducted sacrifices at local shrines. Even when these sacrifices were to God, they were condemned throughout the Old Testament. It took me awhile to realize why this would be. If the people worshiped at various places, they would develop competing understandings of correct practices and what God commanded. By centralizing worship, God could more readily correct improper practices by raising up prophets to condemn them. It is the same reason that we as Christians today should gather with other Christians on a regular basis, so as to test our understanding of God against what the Spirit is saying to others.

Acts 10:1-23

     While Peter was staying in Joppa, God sent an angel to appear to a Roman officer named Cornelius, telling him to send to Joppa to summon Peter. We are told that Cornelius was a devout, God-fearing man along with the rest of his household. Cornelius gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. Cornelius sent three men to Joppa. As they were arriving in Joppa, Peter was praying. It was near lunchtime and Peter was hungry. While a meal is being prepared, Peter has a vision of a sheet being let down from heaven filled with all sorts of unclean animals. A voice tells him to kill and eat them. Peter replies that he has never eaten anything proscribed by Jewish Law as unclean. The voice tells him not to call anything unclean that God has declared clean. This vision repeats three times. As Peter is trying to figure out what the vision means, Cornelius’ messengers arrive. When Peter hears their message he agrees to accompany them.
     We read this passage and the message of the vision seems obvious and I think that it was. We often wish that God would give us such obvious guidance. I think that He often does if we follow the process we see in this passage. The first thing is that Peter was praying, something the context and other passages in Acts suggest he did regularly. So, the first step is regular prayer. The second is that Luke makes a point of telling us that Peter was hungry and that a meal was being prepared. Further, it was around the middle of the day. I don’t know about you, but if I spend time in prayer around lunchtime, I often fall asleep. So, Peter could have dismissed this vision as a dream that was the result of the combination of his hunger with the smells of a meal being prepared. He doesn’t. When the men from Cornelius arrive, it is immediately clear to him what message God was sending him. If we regularly spend time in prayer and worship, we too will see how the dreams and thoughts that God sends our way apply to the decisions we need to make.

Psalm 133:1-3

     The psalmist tells us that living in harmony with our brothers is a wonderful thing. We need to strive to live in harmony with those around us, especially our fellow believers. This does not mean that we should not correct them when they are wrong, but we must be humble and recognize that we might be the ones who are wrong. We must also recognize that even if we are right on one issue, we have issues where we struggle to follow righteous behavior.

Proverbs 17:7-8

     This proverb tells us that it is dangerous when a fool is eloquent and even worse is when someone in authority lies. I have seen how people begin to believe things they would otherwise see as foolish when someone presents those ideas in a manner that is eloquent and convincing. I have learned not to decide how I feel about an issue on the basis of a speech or a video, but instead wait until I can see the arguments in writing. When I can take the time to read an argument for something, I can more readily see where the weaknesses in the case being made are. I can then explore those weaknesses and discover if they truly make the position wrong, or if they turn out to be not important.

Daily Bible Study

June 14, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

1 Kings 12:20-13:34

     Upon returning to Jerusalem after the bulk of Israel rejected him as king, Rehoboam mustered the fighting men of Judah and Benjamin to attempt to reclaim control over all of Israel. God sends word telling Rehoboam and the people of Judah and Benjamin not to war against the rest of Israel. They listened to this command from God and Rehoboam did not attempt to regain control of the rest of Israel by force.
     In the meantime, Jeroboam consolidates his control over Israel. He becomes concerned that if the people of Israel go to Jerusalem to the Temple to worship, they will switch their loyalty back to Rehoboam. To prevent that from happening, he had two golden calves made, one in the south of his kingdom and one in the north. He, also, built shrines in various high places and ordained priests who were not descended from the tribe of Levi. Jeroboam then compounded this by establishing a religious festival that was not one of those given by God in the Law where he himself offered the sacrifices. While Jeroboam is offering the sacrifices God sends a prophet to condemn his actions. When Jeroboam directs his men to seize the prophet, the hand he uses to point at the prophet becomes paralyzed.
     Jeroboam, in an attempt to consolidate his power, set up a new religion completely under his control. He established new holidays and ordained his own priests. Jeroboam made the same basic mistake as Saul. He made pragmatic decisions to shore up his power base but did not focus on obeying the will of God. The passage tells us that Jeroboam made anyone who wanted to be a priest a priest. It reminds me of what has happened to the Church in the U.S., or at least the denomination that I am part of. When I was very young, my denomination selected pastors by a method called the lot. When a congregation needed a new pastor, the members would nominate from among its members those they thought might make good pastors. Then they prayed for God’s guidance and used a random system to select which of those nominated should be the next pastor. In this way, the congregation called a pastor with guidance from God. There were flaws in the system and not all congregations executed it in a manner that was truly faithful to the leading of God, but the principle was there. Sometime when I was young, congregations began hiring young men who had gone to seminary as a career choice as pastors when they needed a new pastor. This became a matter of making into pastors those who wanted the job. For a while, those who entered the pastorate were those who in high school or college decided to pursue that as a career. The Church was not doing a good job of calling men to the pastorate, it was merely hiring from among those who chose that career. The system is not as bad as the way I described it makes it sound, just as the system it displaced was not as good as my description may make it sound. The current system has those who are truly called to the ministry, just as the previous system had those who ended up in the pastorate who had not been so called. I believe that there are others besides myself who have noticed the shortcoming of the current system and are working at seeking God’s guidance for calling people to the ministry.

Acts 9:26-43

     When Saul fled from Damascus he returned to Jerusalem where he tried to meet with the believers. The believers were afraid of him, not believing that he had truly converted. However, Barnabas knew the story of his conversion on the road to Damascus and his preaching there. Barnabas took Saul and introduced him to the apostles and told the story of what had happened to him in Damascus. After his introduction, Saul stayed with the apostles and traveled around Jerusalem with them preaching boldly. At one point he got into a heated argument with some Greek speaking Jews which led them to try and kill him. When the believers heard about this they got him out of Jerusalem and sent him to his home town of Tarsus.
     We do not pay as much attention to Barnabas as we should. The scriptures do not tell us a lot about him, but he was clearly a very influential man in the early Church. The first mention we have of him is when he sold some property and gave the money to the apostles to distribute to the poor among the believers. Now we have him taking Saul in hand and introducing him to the apostles. Later he goes on several missions trips. What do we know about Barnabas? He was generous. He gave people the benefit of the doubt. He listened to the direction of the Holy Spirit.
     Meanwhile, we are told that Peter traveled around Judea, in particular he visited Lydda and Joppa. In Lydda, Peter healed a man who had been paralyzed for eight years, leading to many coming to believe. Shortly thereafter, Dorcas (also known as Tabitha), a believer, died in Joppa. The believers in Joppa sent for Peter, who came and raised her from the dead. Again the news spread throughout the town leading many to believe. Dorcas was noted for doing kind things for others and for helping the poor. If we died today, would people say that we did kind things for others and that we helped the poor?

Psalm 132:1-18

“Let us go to the sanctuary of the Lord;
let us worship at the footstool of his throne.”

     This was the prayer of the psalmist. While the Temple of God is now in our hearts, there is still something to be said for gathering with the believers to worship God. It is as important today as it was in the psalmist’s day to get together with others who share our faith whenever possible. The imagery here of worshiping at the footstool of God’s throne is that of prostrating ourselves before God. Recognizing that we are unworthy to be in His presence.

Proverbs 17:6

     This proverb tells us that grandchildren are the glory of their grandparents. If you have ever met a grandparent, you probably know how true that is. It further tells us that children should be proud of their parents. There is certainly something to both aspects of that.

Daily Bible Study

June 13, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

Christian Clip Art

1 Kings 11-12:19

     As Solomon’s rule continued he took many wives from the neighboring nations. This was despite the Law saying that when Israel has a king he should not have an excessive number of wives and many of them being from nations that with whom God had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry. In addition, Solomon built worship places for the gods of these foreign wives. The passage specifically mentions Ashtoreth, Molek and Chemosh. The first of these was a fertility goddess and her rituals of worship involved sexual immorality. The worship of the latter two involved human sacrifice. The passage tells us that God became angry with Solomon and promised to take most of the kingdom from his son, leaving the kingdom while during Solomon’s life for the sake of David.
     The passage then tells us that God raised up two kings to fight against Solomon. One was from the Edomite royal line and returned to fight against Solomon with the support of Egypt. The other set himself up in Damascus and fought against Solomon. Then we learn of a prominent young man of the tribe of Ephraim, Jeroboam, whom Solomon promoted to a position of some importance. A prophet comes to him and tells him that God is going take most of Israel from the house of Solomon and give it to Jeroboam. The prophet tells Jeroboam that if he is faithful to God’s laws, God will establish a dynasty for him. Solomon learns of this, we are not told how in this passage, and attempts to have Jeroboam killed. Jeroboam flees to Egypt where he finds refuge.
     Upon Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam succeeded him on the throne. When Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned, the people of Israel sent for Jeroboam to lead them in their demands for Rehoboam to reduce his forced labor levies from those imposed by Solomon. Rehoboam asked for time to compose his answer. He asked for advice from his father’s advisers. They told him that he should agree to the demands and that if he did so, the people would serve him faithfully. Rehoboam did not like this advice and asked for advice from his childhood friends. They told him that he should promise to people that he would make increase his demands for forced labor and punish those who resisted even more harshly. After this response the ten tribes went into rebellion against Rehoboam. Rehoboam sent out his deputy in charge of forced labor and they stoned him to death. Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem. This passage shows Rehoboam as a spoiled son of privilege. He rejects the advice of his father’s experienced advisers and follows that of his cronies who tell him what he wants to hear.

Acts 9:1-25

     Luke tells us that Saul was persecuting the believers, continuing on after supporting for the stoning of Stephen. He obtained a letter from the high priest requesting support from the synagogues in Damascus for Saul to persecute the believers in that city. The passage tells us that Saul was struck by a light from heaven and fell to the ground. He heard a voice asking him why he was persecuting Him. Saul correctly interpreted this voice as being divine and asked who it was. The voice said that it was Jesus and that Saul should go into Damascus and wait to be told what to do. The passage tells us that the men traveling with Saul heard the sound but did not see anyone. I had always assumed that they did not actually hear what the voice said, but I realize now that the passage actually implies that they heard the actual conversation. After receiving this vision, Saul was blind and those traveling with him led him into Damascus. Saul fasted and prayed for three days upon his arrival in Damascus.
     God appeared to a believer in Damascus by the name of Ananias and told him to go to Saul and lay hands on him so that he could see again. Ananias protested that he had heard that Saul is persecuting the believers. God told Ananias that Saul was His chosen instrument. Ananias goes to Saul and tells him that Jesus has sent him to restore Saul’s sight. Saul spent a few days with the believers in Damascus and then began preaching the Gospel in the synagogues. The Jews are amazed to hear what him preaching that Jesus is the Son of God because they knew he had been persecuting the believers until recently. When they were unable to refute his arguments, some of the Jews began plotting to kill Saul. Saul became aware of the plot and some of the believers let him down through a gap in the city walls to avoid the assassins.
     When God wants to redirect our lives, He will use whatever means necessary to get our attention. In this case, He used what I call the blunt force approach. He struck Saul down and blinded him in order to get his attention. There are times when such a clear message from God would be nice. However, it appears to me that people who receive such blunt and clear messages from God are generally called to missions of hardship and deprivation. That the price for such an incontrovertible calling is a lot of suffering. I am willing to undergo suffering such as that which Saul, later known as Paul, went through if that is the service God calls me to, but I do not wish to do so just to have an experience such as his conversion. This is especially the case when you consider that even Saul’s conversion experience was rather traumatic. There are other accounts of people where God has had to use forceful means to get their attention to the message He has for them. I liken that to the story of the man who bought a mule. The story goes that a man was looking to buy a mule to haul is wagon. The merchant tells him that he has a great mule that knows many verbal commands. So, the man buys the mule and hooks it up to his wagon. The man tries every command he can think of, “Go”, “Giddyup”, “Start”, “Forward”, etc.. Finally he says to the merchant, “This mule is worthless, he won’t pull my wagon.” The merchant tells the man, “Well, you need to get his attention first,” and takes out a two by four and hits the mule right between the ears before telling it to go. The mule immediately begins pulling the wagon. I don’t want to be that mule. I want to listen when God tells me what He wants and not require Him to get my attention with a two by four.

Psalm 131:1-3

     The psalmist says that he does not fret about matters too great for him to grasp. This is a reminder that we are not going to be able to understand all of the things that God wills. The psalmist tells us to put our hope in the Lord, now and always. Even if we do not understand what God is doing, we can be sure that He has our best interests in mind. God will care for us, even when things seem to be going wrong.

Proverbs 17:4-5

     This passage tells us that wrongdoers are always ready and eager to believe the worst of others, that those who lie readily believe malicious lies about others. It is an easy way to tell something about a person, those who give others the benefit of the doubt when they hear negative stories about others are usually people that you can trust. Those who believe the worst when they hear negative stories about others are often those who would do the same if they were in that situation. This can be used to not only evaluate others, but yourself. If you believe those negative stories you hear about others, you should think about why you are so ready to believe the worst about others.

Daily Bible Study

June 12, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

1 Kings 9-10:29

     The passage tells us that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had the first. The first time was in a dream, so I figure that this was probably in a dream as well. The Lord tells Solomon that He will establish the Temple as holy, that the site of the Temple will be honored forever. God goes on to tell Solomon that if the people of Israel worship other gods, He will uproot them from the land and make them an object of ridicule to the world.
     When Solomon finished both the Temple and his palace, he gave twenty towns to Hiram, king of Tyre. The passage says that Hiram called the area Solomon gave him worthless, but still paid Solomon in gold that would be worth over $204 million today. The passage then tells us about some of Solomon’s other accomplishments, including building a trading fleet that sailed into the Indian Ocean. It tells us that this fleet brought back gold that would be worth more than $816 million today.
     The passage then tells us that word of Solomon’s wisdom had spread so that the Queen of Sheba came to see him and challenge his wisdom. It is not clear from the text whether she came with her hard questions because she wanted to test whether he really was as wise as she had heard or if it was because she had questions to which she desired/needed answers. In either case, she was impressed by his wisdom and praises God because of it.
     The passage then goes on to describe Solomon’s wealth. It tells us that he received each year an amount of gold that would be worth over $1 billion today. It then tells us about his other wealth including a trading fleet that went on three year trading voyages and brought back large amounts of wealth and exotic goods. Finally the passage tells us about the sizable military force that he put together. All in all, this passage tells us that Solomon used his wisdom to make himself king over a sizable and wealthy trading empire.

Acts 8:14-40

     In yesterday’s passage we read how Philip preached and performed miracles in Samaria so that many came to believe. In particular the passage tells us that Simon the sorcerer came to believe and be baptized. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard about the many people coming to believe in Samaria they sent Peter and John. When they arrived, Peter and John prayed for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. They then laid their hands on the people and they received the Holy Spirit. Something very extraordinary must have happened when Peter and John laid their hands on people because Simon the former sorcerer offered them money to give him the same power. Peter sternly rebuked him for thinking that the gift of God could be bought with money. Simon’s response is abject repentance and a request for the apostles’ prayer. There are two important pieces to this passage. The first is that when people receive the Holy Spirit it is an noteworthy event. The second is that the Holy Spirit and other gifts from God cannot be purchased. I think the failure of the Church in the U.S. to experience miracles and signs to a greater degree indicates a lack of full faith in God among to many of us. The New Testament account suggests to me that we should see signs and miracles all around Christians, yet we do not. I know that when I think about the fact that I believe that I should exhibit the power of the Holy Spirit through signs and wonders, it scares me. I am scared for two reasons. The first is, what if I call for a miracle and it doesn’t happen? The second is, to what degree will I be opened up for ridicule for believing such things are possible?
     After the Peter and John leave Samaria, the Spirit calls Philip to go down the road that led from Jerusalem to Gaza. When he gets there he sees a eunuch of consequence from Ethiopia returning to Ethiopia from Jerusalem. The eunuch was reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. When Philip approached him and heard what he was reading he asked the eunuch if he understood what he was reading. The eunuch replied that he needed someone to explain it to him and invited Philip to ride with him and do so. Philip starts with the passage the eunuch was reading and preached the Good News about Jesus to him. After a while they came upon some water and the eunuch requested that Philip baptize him, which Philip did immediately. There are two things about this passage that I think are noteworthy. First, Philip starts preaching the Good News by answering the questions that the eunuch already has. Second, Philip baptizes the eunuch as soon as the eunuch recognizes his need for it and asks for it. There is an immediacy and urgency to the evangelism of the New testament, that I too often today do not share. We need to recapture the urgency that the early Church felt for evangelism.

Psalm 130:1-8

     The psalmist here tells us that we would have no hope if God kept a record of our sins. It is only through God’s forgiveness that we can survive. If we cry to the Lord and throw ourselves on His mercy, He will save us. He will forgive us and rescue us from our troubles. If we rest our hopes for our future in anything other than God we will suffer disappointment, but if we put our hopes in God they will be exceeded.

Proverbs 17:2-3

     Today’s proverb tells us that a servant who serves faithfully and with prudence will be rewarded. The second of the proverbs today tells us that just as the metal smith purifies silver and gold using fire, so will God test us. He will put us through trials that will feel like passing through fire in order to purify us and make us into something much more valuable. We should learn to praise God for the trials He puts us through because they are for our benefit to make us better and purer.

Daily Bible Study

June 11, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

1 Kings 8:1-66

     When Solomon had finished having the Temple built he summoned the leaders of Israel and had the Ark of the Covenant brought to the Temple. Unlike when David had the Ark brought to Jerusalem on a cart, Solomon had the Ark moved by priests carrying it using the carrying poles which were designed for that purpose when the Ark was first built. In his prayer of dedication Solomon touches on two very important points. The first is that God does not dwell in a Temple. That not even heaven can contain God. Solomon built the Temple as a unifying symbol for those who worship God. The second important point in Solomon’s dedication prayer is that God will forgive sins. Solomon prays that when people sin, and he says that they will sin, if they repent of their sins and turn back to God, he asks God to answer their prayers and deliver them. There is one additional point in Solomon’s prayer worth noting. He calls on God to accept those foreigners who turn to Him and worship Him, to answer their prayers just as He does those of the Israelites. Solomon does this because he knows that God is the God if all the earth and not just of the Israelites.

Acts 7:51-8:13

     Now we come to the climax of Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin. He has pointed out how the Israelites rejected Moses repeatedly. Now he points out that the Israelites, the ancestors of those on the Sanhedrin, persecuted the prophets. He tells the Sanhedrin that they are like their ancestors in rejecting the One who brought God’s message. When he said this, the members of the Sanhedrin became furious and started to express their anger at him. Stephen then said that he saw the heavens opened and the “Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” The Sanhedrin knew he was referring to Jesus when he said “Son of Man.” At this point they took actions so as not to be able to hear anything further he said and dragged him out of the city and stoned him. As he died, Stephen cried out to God asking Him not to hold his death against them. I have trouble forgiving people who cut me off on the highway. How would I manage to forgive those who were causing my painful death?
     The writer tells us that the death of Stephen was followed by persecution of all of the believers such that most of the Church was scattered throughout the region. But despite being persecuted and scattered, the believers preached the Gospel wherever they went. One such story is that of the deacon Philip. He went to Samaria and preached the Good News. The crowds listened intently because he was a good speaker and performed miracles. The writer tells us that many were healed and came to believe and be baptized. One in particular was Simon the sorcerer, who had performed acts of power and presented himself as a “Power of God”. Simon had long been influential in the city of Samaria because he had astounded the people with his magic. But now the people were turning from him to follow Jesus. Simon could have been angry and become an enemy of the Church, but he did not. Instead, he became a believer and was baptized. Simon began following Philip around, recognizing real power when he saw it. Philip did not turn Simon away because of his past. Despite a background that suggested he would be hostile to the believers, Philip welcomed Simon when he asked to be baptized. The passage tells us that Simon was amazed by the signs and miracles Philip performed. Are those around us amazed at what we do in the name of Jesus? Why are we not performing similar signs and miracles?

Psalm 129:1-8

     The psalmist says that Israel has been persecuted from its beginning, but God has freed them from those who enslaved them. The psalmist requests that the enemies of Jerusalem be turned back in defeat. I believe that God has granted that request throughout history. Those who have driven the Jews out of Jerusalem have soon gone down to defeat.

Proverbs 17:1

     This proverb tells us that it is better to have nothing more to eat than the image in the above thumbnail if one is at peace with those around one than it is to have a feast if one is arguing and in conflict with those around.

Daily Bible Study

June 10, 2012 Bible Study

     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.

1 Kings 7:1-51

     This passage tells us that after building the Temple Solomon had a new palace built for himself. It took Solomon seven years to build the Temple, but it took him thirteen years to build a palace for himself. In addition to his own palace, the passage tells us that Solomon built living quarters for the daughter of Pharaoh that he had married similar to those he built for himself. My reading of this is that he built a second palace for Pharaoh’s daughter, although it may be that it was part of the palace that the passage tells us took thirteen years to build. In either case, this suggests that Solomon had a problem of priorities. He put a higher priority on his own comfort and prestige than he did on that of God. He took what was basically twice as long building his own house and he did building God’s House. One could suppose that he focused more strongly on building the Temple and that is why it was completed sooner. However, the description of Solomon’s palace indicates that it was a more complex structure than the Temple that Solomon built.
     The next part of the passage tells us that Solomon sent to Tyre for a master bronze worker to make the furnishings for the Temple. One of the interesting things about bronze is that it is actually a superior metal for most uses to iron (or any other metal available at that time). The reason that iron displaced bronze in the Iron Age is because iron is much more common that tin (a component of the alloy we know as bronze). Solomon could have chosen to make the Temple furnishings out of a mix of iron and copper, iron for items that required strength and copper for things where beauty was more important. Instead he chose the more beautiful, durable and expensive bronze.

Acts 7:30-50

     Stephen continues to testify before the Sanhedrin. The last passage ended with Stephen telling the Sanhedrin that the people of Israel initially rejected Moses. Here Stephen continues that theme. He tells the Sanhedrin that God sent the man the people of Israel had rejected, Moses, to be their savior from the Egyptians. Stephen further says that even after Moses saved the Israelites from the Egyptians, they rejected him again and asked Aaron to make them an idol to worship in the place of God. We today can see where Stephen was going with this, repeatedly pointing out how the people of Israel rejected the man God had sent to save them. Stephen then goes on to talk about how David asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for God, but it was Solomon who built it. Then he says that God does not live in a Temple built by human hands. How could we humans hope to build a dwelling place for the Lord that compares to the one He built for Himself when He made the universe? It seems to me that Stephen is building the argument that we, as humans, have repeatedly attempted to constrain God to meet our expectations, rather than accepting the need to allow us to remake us to meet His expectations. That the early Israelites asked Aaron to make them an idol that they could worship when God did not provide them with the luxuries in the wilderness that they had experienced in Egypt. That later, after Solomon built the Temple, the Israelites tried to limit God to living in the Temple. Stephen ends this segment by saying that God will not be limited by our human conceits.

Psalm 128:1-6

     If we follow the ways of the Lord we will receive joy. Our families will be like grapevines and olive trees, providing us with joy and pleasure. I will join in the psalmists prayer, may Israel have peace. While this is a good in itself, if Israel has peace, the whole world will know peace. Not because, the conflict in Israel leads to conflicts throughout the world, but because the conflicts throughout the world lead to the conflict in and around Israel. In many ways the diplomats around the world who are trying to arrange for peace in the Middle East have it backwards. They seem to believe that if they can resolve the conflicts in the Middle East and in Israel specifically, the conflicts in much of the rest of the world will be resolved. In fact, I believe that the conflicts in the Middle East and particularly in Israel are a result of the conflicts elsewhere.

Proverbs 16:31-33/a>

     The first of these proverbs challenges the common practice of our society. Our society encourages us to cover up the signs of aging. This proverb says that gray hair is a crown of glory. That age is not something to be hidden but rather something to be proud of. The second proverb tells us that self-control is more valuable to a person than raw power. The final proverb tells us that while we may allow things to fall to chance, they never do. God determines the outcome, even of the roll of the dice. You may think something is coincidence, but it happened because of the will of God. This is important to remember. God is in control of all that happens and nothing is too small for His attention. In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us that God provides for the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the field. If God will take the time to care for these, how much more will He take the time to care for even the smallest detail in our lives?