For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I am starting to feel better and, God willing, should experience steady improvement to full recovery in a little over a week. I thank those of you have been praying for me.

    Once you start a quarrel you will not be able control its path or direction any more than you will be able to control a flood when a dam gives way. So, stop egging people on before the quarrel breaks out.
    When I was younger, I always thought the proverb writer was talking about two separate evils in the second of today’s proverbs. I have realized in recent years that they go hand in hand. A society that acquits the guilty will also condemn the innocent. When society does that it will see evil run rampant.

    This psalm would make a wonderful responsive reading, especially for two groups going back and forth. The whole psalm makes a wonderful point about giving thanks to the Lord, constantly coming back with “His love endures forever.” It does indeed.

    I certainly understand Peter’s reaction in this story. James, the brother of John, has just been executed, Peter is being held in prison awaiting his own execution. He is being held by four squads of four soldiers each. Peter was sleeping bound with chains between two guards with more at the entrance. Someone wakes him up in the middle of the night and tells him to put on his clothes and follow them. Peter followed the angel past the guards and out of the prison. It certainly must have seemed like a dream.
    The interesting thing for me is that, while the believers were gathered, praying desperately for Peter’s release, when he arrived at the door they thought it must be his ghost/angel. How often are we like this? When God answers our prayers, we have trouble that it has actually happened. Do we have the faith to expect God to answer our prayers?

    After his impressive victory over the prophets of Baal, Jezebel promised to kill Elijah. Elijah fled for his life and sank into depression. He traveled as if he was in a trance, eating the food put before him and moving on. Then Elijah came to Mt Sinai, where he spent the night in a cave. Elijah was convinced that he was the last man of God alive. Then God reminded Elijah who was really in charge and that power is not what humans think it is. This story always strikes me.
    God tells Elijah to stand before Him on the mountain. Elijah stands forth on the mountain. A windstorm hit the mountain, tearing rocks loose from the side of the mountain and tossing them around. But God was not in the wind, mighty as it was. Next an earthquake struck, but God was not in the earthquake. The earthquake was followed by fire, but God was not in the earthquake. Finally, when all of the sound and fury was over, there was a gentle whisper. Elijah knew that the gentle whisper was God. One more time God asked Elijah why he was there and once more Elijah proclaimed that all of the other men of God had been killed and that now they are trying to kill him. God’s reply is, “I’m not done with you yet…oh by the way, I have preserved for myself 7.000 other men who have refused to bow to Baal. Now, stop hiding.” There are times when God acts with sound and fury, but I firmly believe that when He is about to truly change history it begins with a quiet whisper.

     I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for over a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. 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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.

     When Ahab got home and told Jezebel what had happened, she sent a message to Elijah promising to kill him. Elijah was frightened and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and left his servant there. Elijah traveled from there into the wilderness. When evening came he sat down under a broom tree and prayed to die. He fell asleep under the tree. An angel woke him and told him to get up and eat. When Elijah woke up he saw some fresh-baked bread and a jar of water, so he ate the bread and drank the water. In the morning the angel once more woke Elijah and provided him with food. Elijah then traveled to Mount Sinai.
     When Elijah got to Mount Sinai, he complained to God that while he had zealously served God, but the Israelites had rejected God and killed His prophets, so that Elijah was the only one left. God instructed Elijah to stand before Him on the mountain. While Elijah was standing there a mighty windstorm came through, lifting the rocks with its force, but God was not in the wind. The windstorm was followed by an earthquake and then by fire, but God was not in either the earthquake or the fire. Then Elijah heard a gentle whisper and he knew that this was God. God asked Elijah why he was there and once more Elijah uttered his complaint. God responded by giving Elijah a mission to anoint a king of Aram, then a king of Israel and finally Elisha as his successor. In addition, God told Elijah that he was not alone in serving the Lord. Rather there were 7,000 who God had reserved for Himself who had not bowed to Baal, nor kissed Baal’s idols.
     On can understand why Elijah was depressed. He had just completed a mighty demonstration of God’s power, yet the powers that be were out to get him. He felt like all of his work was for naught and the people of Israel had refused to turn from their sin. God answered Elijah’s depression in three ways. First, He showed Elijah that the best place to see God is not in the flashy and showy events. The best place to see, and hear, God is in the quiet moments when we can hear God’s voice whispering to us. Second, God gave Elijah a job to do. He sent him to anoint two men to become king of different countries and to anoint his successor. Finally God told Elijah that he was not alone, that there was a sizable number of people who had remained faithful to God in the land of Israel. These can be lessons for us. We will hear God more clearly when we settle ourselves and seek out the quiet and still than when we immerse ourselves in the loud and busy. But once we have heard God’s word to us it is time to get to work and perform the tasks He has given us. Finally, we need to remember that we are not alone in serving God and spend time with our brothers and sisters who are also striving to do His will.

     Herod arrested some of the believers. He had James, the brother of John, put to death. When this was well-received by the Jewish leaders he arrested Peter, planning on doing the same thing to Peter after Passover. Herod had Peter heavily guarded. However, the church was praying hard for Peter. The night before Peter was supposed to be put on trial an angel appeared to him, waking him up and telling him to get dressed and follow the angel. Peter did as he was told, thinking he was having a vision. It was only when Peter was walking down the street and the angel disappeared that Peter realized that what was happening was real. At this point Peter went to a home where he knew some of the believers would be gathered in prayer.
     When Peter knocked at the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda went to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so excited that she forgot to let him in before she went back to tell everyone that he was at the gate. They thought she was crazy, but when she insisted they thought it must be Peter’s ghost. However, Peter kept knocking and eventually someone else opened the gate. Those present were astonished and Peter had to make some effort to get them to quiet so that he could tell them what had happened. He told them to tell James and the other believers about what had happened and then went into hiding (or left the city, the passage is not clear). In the morning, Peter’s disappearance from the prison caused quite a commotion. When a search for Peter failed to locate him, Herod had the guards who had been guarding him executed.
     Shortly after this a delegation arrived from Tyre and Sidon in an attempt to resolve a dispute that Herod had with those cities. The delegation wanted to mollify Herod because they were dependent upon food from territory controlled by Herod. After Herod addressed them at one point, they declared that he was no mere man, but a god. The passage tells us that Herod was immediately struck down with a sickness which killed him because he accepted their worship and did not give praise to God.

     Give thanks to God because His faithful love endures forever. The psalmist tells us that we should give thanks to God because He is good and His faithful love endures forever. The psalmist goes on to recount many of the wonders which God did for Israel. He then wraps up by telling us that we should give thanks to God because He provides food for every living creature.

     It is harder to stop a quarrel than it is to start one, so we would be wise to do our best to let the matter drop before it becomes a torrent which we cannot stand against. God detests a society that lets the guilty go free and punishes the innocent. You do no one any favors when you fail to hold wrongdoers responsible for their sins, even when there are extenuating circumstances, while you hold people accountable for overlooking hidden dangers.