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 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.

     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.

     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.

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