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

The story of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath contains a wonderful lesson for us about how God will provide for our needs.  I usually seek something else in this passage to write about because this story is talked about so often.    Of course, this story contains a powerful lesson on how God provides, which is the reason it gets talked about so much.  And today, the power of this story struck me to write about it.  The story illustrates both Elijah’s faith and the widow’s faith.  When Elijah arrived in Zarephath, the widow was about to make one last meal for her son and for herself.  Yet when Elijah asked her to make him some bread, with the promise that if she did her oil and flour would not run out, she took him at his word and did so.  The power of this story really hit me when I read this phrase “For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.”

Which brings us to Elijah’s faith, he had the faith to make that promise to the widow, believing that God could and would make it true.  Now Elijah had reason to have that faith, having just spent some period of time in the Kerith Ravine being supplied with food by ravens.  Nevertheless, that was just between him and God, now he needed to take the risk of telling someone else that they could rely on God.  Not really much of a risk, but isn’t it one which we often find hard to take?  So, we often focus on the widow’s faith and God rewarding her for it.  She was willing to give of the last little bit she had to someone in need, and , as a result, God provided for her.  But think about Elijah, he had to ask for help from someone in almost as desperate need, if not more desperate need, than himself, and he had to trust that God would provide for them because he certainly was unable to do so.  Think about this, the widow was provided for because Elijah asked her to give him some assistance.  Do we have the faith to ask someone to help us?  Do we have the faith to believe that God will provide for the needs of someone because they helped us?  Please note that the widow from whom Elijah requested aid was not even one of the people of God.

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

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

When I read this passage I wonder about what motivated the “old prophet” to pursue the “man of God” who prophesied against Jeroboam in front of Jeroboam’s altar in order to convince the man of God to break God’s command to him.  I also wonder why the man of God listened to the old prophet.   I really want to write about the lesson we need to take from this episode, but it feels both obvious and like it can be taken too far.  So, here is the lesson: be careful when someone who claims authority from God tells you something contrary to what you understand God to have said to you directly.  I struggle with this lesson because I also believe that we should test what we believe the Holy Spirit to have told us against what others hear God saying.   In this case I think I understand where the man of God in this story went wrong.  He did not know this “old prophet” and had no basis for believing that God had spoken to him.   Another aspect of this is that we do not know why the old prophet lied to the man of God.  We need to remember that some people who we believe to honor God will seek to cause us to go against God’s will for reasons of which we will never be aware.  I hope my point comes through.  It is clear in my head, but I do not feel like it is coming through in the words I have written.

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

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

Often when I read the books of Samuel and Kings I connect the dots between King David’s affair with Bathsheba and the division of the Kingdom of Israel under Rehoboam.  And while there is a connection there, today’s passage shows us that King Solomon’s idolatry was really what led to that division.  And since Solomon’s idolatry stemmed from his marriages to foreign women one might say that the division of Israel resulted from Solomon’s polygamy.  Early in his reign, King Solomon united his kingdom by drawing the people of Israel to worship God in the Temple which he built.  However, as time went by and King Solomon became wealthy and powerful, he married many women from many different lands.  In order to keep his many wives happy, King Solomon built altars to the gods they had worshiped before he married them.  Then in addition to the regular sacrifices which King Solomon offered to God in the Temple, he offered sacrifices to these other gods, and otherwise took part in their worship.  As a result God allowed opposition to rise against Solomon among people whom David had thoroughly subjugated (and my reading of the relevant parts of the Old Testament suggest had begun integrating into Israel itself).

Having written that first paragraph I want to make another point.  God had sent a prophet to tell Jeroboam that He was going to take part of Israel away from the House of David and give it to him, Jeroboam.  The prophet told Jeroboam that this would happen because of Solomon’s idolatry.  The prophet went on to tell Jeroboam that if Jeroboam faithfully served and worshiped God, God would make his dynasty as lasting as King David’s.  Yet, despite this when Jeroboam became king, he feared that if the people continued to worship God at the Temple in Jerusalem their loyalty would revert to David’s House.  As a result, Jeroboam established the worship of idols to replace the worship of God.  So, the point I want to make: the writers of the Old Testament disapproved of a man having more than one wife, but did not consider it to be, in and of itself, a sin.  I believe that their view reflects that of God.  So, while it was King Solomon’s polygamy which led him into idolatry, it was his idolatry which caused the division of his kingdom, not his polygamy.  King Solomon’s polygamy was a mistake which exposed him to the temptation to commit idolatry, but it was not a sin.  Not all of our mistakes are sins, but our mistakes often lead us into sin.  Jeroboam’s kingdom suffered its own divisions and problems because of his idolatry.  In the same way, the idolatry which our nation, and our world, is practicing is leading to divisions and disasters today.

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

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

I have been trying to link my thoughts about God’s answer to Solomon’s prayer dedicating the Temple and my thoughts about the visit from the Queen of Sheba without much luck.  God told Solomon that He had consecrated the Temple by putting His name there forever.  While God told Solomon that He would always see and care about what happened at the Temple Solomon had built (and by extension all of Jerusalem), He also warned about what would happen should the people of Israel fail to keep God’s commands.  In my mind we see a fulfillment of both parts of God’s promise to Solomon in the existence of the Western Wall in Jerusalem.  The fact that the Western Wall still exists reminds us that God still cares about Jerusalem, its people, and the Israelite people.  But it also reminds us that, for all of their special status with God, were unable to remain faithful to Him.  Some people see this as a reason to hold the Jewish people in contempt, but they are seriously misunderstanding God’s point.  If the Jewish people suffered such devastation for disobeying God’s commands, how can we who do not hold such a place in God’s heart think that we can escape punishment for our sins?  Of course, when we think on this we should remember what Jesus said to His disciples, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  So, let us not think that we are better than the Israelites who failed to keep their side of God’s covenant and think that we can do better, but also let us pray to God and trust His ability to help us, even to cause us, to do His will each and every day.

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

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

King Solomon inherited a kingdom at peace, and was able to maintain that peace (for the most part, a later passage touches on some of the disturbances which happened later in his reign).  Solomon maintained peace in his kingdom by delegating authority to well chosen subordinates.   As a result, King Solomon was able to dedicate time to becoming knowledgeable about many different subjects.  This passage shows the important connection between wisdom and knowledge.  Wisdom will lead us to seek the knowledge necessary to make wise decisions, but knowledge does not make us wise.  I wrote above that King Solomon maintained peace by carefully delegating authority.  However, another element in maintaining the peace within his kingdom was the fact that he built the Temple.  The passage tells us that Solomon was able to build the Temple because he had peace, but it also allowed him to maintain that peace.  By focusing the practice of worshiping God in Jerusalem, he brought the people of Israel together.  They came from all parts of his kingdom with a common interest in worshiping God.  That connection made them feel like one people, and it caused them to have a unified understanding of what it meant to worship God.  It should encourage us to gather with other Believers so that we can both learn from them what God has revealed to them and teach them what God has revealed to us.

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

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

On his deathbed King David asked Solomon to settle some scores that he, David, had never been able to settle.  David asked Solomon to make sure that Joab and Shimei did not go into the grave in peace, but he also asked Solomon to care for the sons of Barzillai.  I find it interesting that King Solomon did not take action against Joab or Abiathar until after Adonijah asked to marry Abishag, King David’s final concubine.  It is clear that Solomon considered Adonijah’s request to marry Abishag as an attempt to position himself to take the throne from Solomon, a study of the history of dynastic wars shows Solomon to have reason to believe this to be the case.  So, did Solomon take action against Abiathar and Joab at that point because he believed that they had conspired with Adonijah to make this move?  While the passage does not tell us that they had so conspired, they may well have done so.

The passage then goes on discuss King Solomon’s wisdom.  When Solomon had a dream of God telling him to ask God for whatever he wanted God to give him, Solomon responded by requesting discernment in order to better govern the people of Israel.  God was so pleased by Solomon’s request that He promised to grant Solomon discernment, wealth, and a long life.  The writer is not even trying to be subtle in praising King Solomon for his wisdom.  If we ask God for wisdom, He will always grant it to us.  That wisdom may lead us to wealth and a long life, but even if it does not, we will still have wisdom.  On the other hand, if we seek wealth and/or a long life as our first priority, the pursuit of those things will not lead to wisdom, nor the joy which comes from wisdom.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Kings 22-25.

I have always admired King Josiah’s faith.  When he heard what was written in the Book of the Law and realized how badly the people of Israel had failed to follow God’s commands his first response was to tear his clothes in grief and send messengers to inquire of God what he should do.  Then, after learning that nothing he could do would turn aside God’s judgement against Judah, he called the people to rededicate themselves to worshiping God.  He followed that up by systematically destroying the idols, and places of idol worship, throughout both the Kingdom of Judah and the lands which had been part of the Kingdom of Israel.  Finally, he called the people of Israel to celebrate the Passover in full accordance with God’s commands.  The writer tells us that this celebration was unlike any previous Passover celebration in the Land of Israel.  Throughout his life, King Josiah strove to bring the people back to God.  Unfortunately, it was not enough and as soon as he died the people returned to their idolatry.

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