Monthly Archives: April 2021

Daily Bible Study

April 21, 2021 Bible Study King Solomon Welcomes All Who Turn To The Lord

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

I really like King Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the Temple. Solomon started by reminding those who heard the prayer that God had promised David that as long as his descendants faithfully obeyed God one of them would sit on the throne of Israel.  Then King Solomon made clear that he fully understood that no place could contain God, that God would not live in the Temple which he had built.  The Temple was there to unify the people of Israel in their worship of God, but God was not limited by it.  In his prayer, King Solomon encouraged people to physically turn towards the Temple when they realized they had sinned in order to symbolize turning towards God and repenting of their sins.  Perhaps the most powerful portion of his prayer is when he asks God to hear and answer the prayers of foreigners who turn to Him.  If God will hear and answer the prayers of those who were not part of His people, how can His people refuse to accept them?  The only other portion of Solomon’s dedication of the Temple is his injunction to fully commit our hearts to the Lord.

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

Daily Bible Study

April 20, 2021 Bible Study King Solomon Builds His Palace And Furnishes The Temple

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Kings 7.

Just as with the detailed descriptions of the design and furnishings of the Tabernacle, I am not sure what to make of these detailed descriptions of Solomon’s palace and the furnishings he had made for the Temple.  On the one hand, there is the description that King Solomon spent 7 years building the Temple and 14 years building his palace.  Does this represent the idea of putting a higher priority on his palace? Or is it just the result of in fact building 2 palaces. one for himself and one for his wife who was pharaoh’s daughter?  Of course, the fact that he married pharaoh’s daughter is problematic, since all of the evidence is that she never came to worship the Lord.  On the other hand there is the detailed description of the great expense and effort to which King Solomon went to furnish the Temple with furnishings which would honor the Lord.

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

Daily Bible Study

April 19, 2021 Bible Study Solomon’s Wisdom and Knowledge

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

We learn from this passage that King David had left Solomon a unified country with no enemies threatening it.  King Solomon was able to build upon this and maintain the peace for which his father had fought.  King Solomon established a bureaucracy which allowed him to spend time studying many other things without having to spend all of his time governing. It seems that this study did not just generate useless knowledge since the kings of many nations sent envoys to learn from King Solomon.

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

Daily Bible Study

April 18, 2021 Bible Study Solomon’s Wisdom

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

I noted yesterday that Shimei was one of the people who refused to support Adonijah’s bid to become King David’s successor.  Yet here in today’s passage we see Solomon ordering Shimei to never again leave Jerusalem, and having him executed when he eventually does so.  David’s instructions to Solomon regarding Shimei in this passage makes one wonder why David had been so angry with Abishai over Abishai’s wish to kill Shimei for cursing King David.  The only conclusion that I can reach is that Shimei controlled a political faction or trade which was essential to the well being of the kingdom of Israel. I would also note that there are hints here, and elsewhere, that Shimei may have worked to undermine King David’s attempts to consolidate power.

I always debate about writing about Solomon responding to God by asking for wisdom, or his decision between the two women.  Today, I am going to try to combine them.  When God told Solomon to ask him for whatever he wanted God to give him, Solomon asked for the discerning heart needed to properly govern God’s people.  This was consistent with the wisdom which Solomon showed in recognizing that Adonijah’s request to marry Abishag was a second attempt to steal the throne (Solomon had given Adonijah the benefit of the doubt on his first attempt as Adonijah could claim he thought the throne would come to him as the elder son), and in giving Shimei an opportunity to live out his life, despite Shimei’s apparent attempts to undermine the power of the throne.  Then in his judgement between the two women Solomon shows his true wisdom.  Usually I here people who comment on this judgement say that Solomon showed great wisdom in determining which of the women was the boy’s biological mother.  In fact, Solomon did not determine which was the child’s biological mother.  Instead, he determined which woman loved the boy in the way that a mother ought to love her son.  Solomon did not care which woman had given birth to the boy.  He sought to determine which woman would be mother to the boy, and the answer to that question was the one who would rather give up her claim than see the boy harmed. Let us judge people as Solomon judged these two women and let us treat others as the woman who was willing to see another benefit at her expense rather than see someone else come to harm.

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

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April 17, 2021 Bible Study Adonijah Tries To Claim The Crown

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

When King David was old and no longer able to actually rule, the eldest of his remaining sons, Adonijah, decided to make himself king.  Unlike when Absalom rebelled, it does not appear that Adonijah intended to take the throne from his father.  He appears to have merely intended to consolidate his position on the throne the moment King David died.  The passage makes it clear that while Adonijah had the support of some of King David’s most loyal retainers, he did not have the support of all of them.  I find the people listed as supporting Adonijah’s claim and those listed as not supporting it interesting.  Joab and Abiathar supported Adonijah, while Benaiah and Zadok opposed him.  So, a military leader and a religious leader on either side. I find it more interesting that Shimei is listed here as one of those who opposed Adonijah.  This is the same Shimei who cursed King David when he fled Jerusalem ahead of Absalom’s army.  I interpret this division of support to mean that Joab and Abiathar thought that Adonijah should become king because he was King David’s eldest living son, while the others thought he would make a bad king

When Nathan realizes that Adonijah has begun his move to take the throne he goes to Bathsheba and tells her to go to David.  Nathan instructs her to ask King David about a promise he supposedly had made to make Solomon king after himself.  This is the first place in the Bible where this promise is mentioned.  I have always wondered if Nathan was making the promise up, figuring that King David would not remember that he had not made it.  However, today when I read the passage I realized something I never thought about before.  Previously, whenever Joab thought that David needed to take an action (as in this case he appears to think that David should make Adonijah his heir apparent), he was able to convince David to take that action.  In this case, Joab did not even try.  This suggests to me that even if King David had never made the promise to which Nathan refers, everyone in his court knew that David intended for Solomon to succeed him on the throne.

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

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April 16, 2021 Bible Study King David Takes A Census

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 23-24.

Today’s passage contains a list of David’s mighty warriors and their most notable accomplishments.  This compilation makes sense of why Absalom listened to Hushai’s advice.  Surely Absalom had heard these stories, and more, growing up.  In fact, he would have grown up hearing the stories about what a great war leader his father was, leading a group of great warriors.  However, after writing that I realized the significance both of that being recorded here, and of Joab’s objection to David’s census.  Since God had provided David with such mighty warriors, he did not need numbers.  David wanted a census taken so that he knew how large of an army he could muster.  Yet, over the course of his military career, God had provided him with warriors who demonstrated that, as long as he did God’s will, he did not need numbers to obtain victory.

When David received the results of the census, he realized that he had done wrong by not putting his trust fully in God and cried out to God for forgiveness.  I want to note that throughout the story of David there are multiple occasions when he did wrong, but when he realized his sin, he confessed it and turned once more to God.  That is what made David a man of God.  On this occasion, the prophet Gad gave David a choice between three options for punishment.  David’s answer was to beg God not to allow him to fall into the hands of his human enemies.  He threw himself upon God’s mercy, accepting whatever punishment God chose to mete out to him.  Then when David saw God’s punishment falling on his people, he begged God to spare them and allow himself and his family to bear the brunt of that punishment.

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

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April 15, 2021 Bible Study God As An Action Hero

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 20-22.

We see in today’s passage the political problems which King David faced reaching full bloom.  At the end of yesterday’s passage we saw the tribe of Judah claiming precedence over the other tribes because of their closer relationship with King David.  Today’s passage begins with Sheba son of Bikri trying to take advantage of both this dispute between the tribes and King David’s weakness following Absalom’s attempt to usurp the throne.  My reading of the situation is that King David attempted to strengthen his hold over the tribe of Judah by making Amasa commander of his army in order to compensate for his weakened support from other tribes.  When Amasa took too long to raise the levy of troops from Judah, King David sent the men he had out under Abishai, Joab’s brother.  Nevertheless, Joab went along, and, after killing Amasa, took command of the army.  It seems to me that at least part of the reason Joab killed Amasa was because Amasa had supported Absalom’s rebellion.

I love the imagery in the psalm of David recorded here. It brings to my mind the climactic scene of an action movie.  The “victim” has been brought low by their enemies and cry out to the protagonist, who rises from their place of power and comes out to rescue the “victim” from the villain.  When you see that scene in an action movie, you cannot help but think about the villain, “Oops, you didn’t want to do that.”  And that is the image which David tells us those who put their trust in God should keep in mind when the waters of life rise around them.  Do not put your trust in your own ability.  Instead put your trust in God and faithfully follow His commands.

When I wrote the above, I felt like the water was rising around me.  I was crying out to God in desperation because of events in my life.  Shortly after I finished writing it, I received communications, through two different media, that revealed to me that my concerns were unfounded. God is good.

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

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April 14, 2021 Bible Study King David Returns To Jerusalem

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 18-19.

Once again, Joab acts against David’s wishes in his best interest, and then confronts him about mourning for the son who betrayed him.  Then upon his crossing the Jordan, King David reprimands Joab’s brother for saying that Shimei should be executed for cursing the Lord’s anointed, which was the sort of thing which David had said about those who spoke ill of King Saul. The more I read these passages, the less I understand King David’s hostility towards Joab and his brother, who were his nephews.  Also as King David returned across the Jordan, Mephibosheth came to greet his return.  The passage makes it clear that Mephibosheth considered David’s being forced to flee a bad thing.  Further,it indicates that Ziba had lied about why Mephibosheth had not joined David when he fled.  Yet, for all of that, King David only revokes part of the reward which he had given Ziba for the aid which he brought.

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

Daily Bible Study

April 13, 2021 Bible Study Insight Into The Politics of David’s Kingdom

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 16-17.

King David’s reaction to Ziba has always made me wonder.  I may go into more detail when we get to David’s return to Jerusalem, but for now, his question about Mephibosheth comes just after he had told Hushai to not accompany him because he would be a burden.  Yet here David is wondering why Mephibosheth did not join him in his flight.  It seems to me that there is a connection here between King David’s reaction to Ziba and his interaction with Shimei.  Shimei, Ziba, and Mephibosheth are all from the tribe of Benjamin and connected with the clan of King Saul.  The Bible never really goes into it, but we can see a vague outline of the power politics of Ancient Israel which King David was balancing in these individuals.

Every time I read this I am impressed by how Hushai undermines Ahithophel’s good advice by appealing to Absalom’s ego and insecurity at the same time.  First Hushai plays up Absalom’s fear of his father’s military prowess, then he hints to Absalom the glory he would receive by being the field commander in charge when King David is defeated.

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

Daily Bible Study

April 12, 2021 Bible Study Joab Gets King David To Call Absalom Back From Exile

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 14-15.

Joab’s role in getting King David to revoke Absalom’s banishment always baffles me.  This is one of several times when Joab confronts David to get him to do what Joab believes to be in David’s, and the country’s, best interest.  Yet, there are also numerous stories where David expressed anger that he lacked the ability to get rid of Joab and his brother.  The best I can figure is that Joab and his brother did things which they believed needed to be done which David felt should not be done. In any case, every time I read this story it strikes me that King David was a poor father.  He only brought Absalom back from exile when Joab pushed him on it.  Then once Absalom had returned, David basically ignored him until Joab once more pushed him on the issue.  The best sense I can make of this story is that King David and Joab both at this point viewed Absalom as the heir apparent, intending that he would become king when David died.

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