I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    We are told that Asa, Rehoboam’s grandson, was a king who did what was pleasing in God’s sight. He drove the temple prostitutes out of his kingdom and deposed his grandmother from her position of authority because of her promotion of the worship of idols. In the meantime, king after king rose to power in Israel, each one more evil than the last. At the end of Asa’s reign, Ahab became king in Israel. While Ahab was king, God called Elijah to serve Him. Elijah went to King Ahab and told him that it would not rain in Israel until Elijah gave the word for it to do so once more.

    The story of Elijah and the widow has one of the most important lessons for us. When God sent Elijah to the widow, she had barely enough food for one more meal for herself and her son. Yet, she did as Elijah asked in God’s name and fed him before feeding herself and her son. The woman had been planning to die after having one more meal with her son. However, because she did as God instructed through Elijah, God provided for her until times changed and she was once more able to provide for herself. God will do the same for us, if we but trust Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    When I read the account of the prophet who prophesied that Josiah would kill the pagan priests in Israel I feel bad for the prophet. He was deceived into violating God’s commands. I, also, resent the old prophet who deceived him. I still feel that way, but today I realized that what happened to the prophet is an encapsulation of what happened to Jeroboam (there is a little more to the lesson than that, but I will get to that in a moment). Jeroboam followed God’s instructions in leading the northern tribes in rebellion against Rehoboam. However, as soon as he gained independence, he went against God’s commands and set up idols for the people to worship. From there he went into ever greater violations of God’s commands. The prophet followed God’s commands and refused to eat with Jeroboam, but shortly after he left Jeroboam’s presence he allowed someone else to convince him to break God’s command and eat before leaving Israel. It is not enough to follow God’s commands at the crisis points in our life, we need to follow God’s commands even when nothing much is on the line.

    As I promised I want to look at the lesson we get from the story of the prophet. When Jeroboam asked the prophet to come and eat with him in return for a gift, the prophet rejected the offer. He did so because God had told him to do so. When the prophet rejected Jeroboam’s offer, everyone was watching. In addition, the prophet knew that Jeroboam had made the offer as a political ploy. The prophet’s rejection of Jeroboam’s offer was also a political ploy. Jeroboam was trying to show his people that he would strive to be reconciled with the prophet and with God. The prophet was making the show that neither he nor God could be bought off by Jeroboam’s superficial gesture. However. when the old prophet invited him to eat, the prophet thought that no one was looking. Therefore, he thought that the “show” was not necessary. The mistake the prophet made was that when God gives us commands, they are not just for show.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    God responded to Solomon’s prayer. He stated that He had indeed set the Temple apart as holy. God promised to watch over the Temple for all time. However, God warned that the people of Israel would only benefit from His watch so long as they did not abandon Him nor disobey His commands. God acknowledged Solomon’s petition and will do the same for anyone who turns to Him, even those who have never before known Him.

    Every time I read the story of the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon I wonder what was going here. I think from the context that the Queen’s visit was a trade mission. I believe that the reason the Queen of Sheba was so impressed by Solomon was because he did not try to make the trade negotiations a win-lose deal. Instead, he dealt with her so that both came out as ahead. She arrived prepared to use his attempts to defeat her at the trade table to defeat him. Instead, Solomon made trade deals with her that were calculated to bring benefit to both sides. I could be reading my own bias into the story, but it is clear that Solomon was a master of trade. My experience is that those who truly reach the pinnacle of trade do so by making deals which benefit their trade partners as much as themselves.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    David had his mighty men, the Three and the Thirty. Solomon, on the other hand, had his advisers and his district governors. David had a strong military and used them to exert control over the various factions in Israel, but it was a balancing act that he had to constantly maintain. Solomon built an administrative government and subjected all of the factions to those administrators. By dividing up the country into twelve units and making each unit only responsible for supporting the government one month out of the year he was able to make the burden seem bearable. He followed a similar pattern when he instituted forced labor to build the Temple. In this manner Solomon was able to build a stable state which did not need war to maintain itself.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    I had previously spoken of those who believe that Bathsheba was an ambitious woman who caught David’s eye on purpose in order to gain power. At that time I expressed my doubts about that scenario. Today’s passage is inconsistent with the idea of Bathsheba as someone who schemed to gain power. If Bathsheba had truly been the player of palace politics that some believe her to be she would have recognized Adonijah’s request to marry Abishag (David’s last concubine) for what it was. If Adonijah had been able to marry Abishag he would have had one more claim on the throne of Israel and would have been in a position to threaten Solomon’s rule. It is interesting that Solomon did not exile Abiathar or execute Joab for their support of Adonijah’s attempted usurpation of the throne, but he did so in response to this action by Adonijah even though neither seemed to be involved. It was also after this attempt by Adonijah that Solomon took action to neutralize Shimei. Perhaps Adonijah’s ploy caused Solomon to realize that he needed to eliminate those power bases which were controlled by people whose loyalty was not to him.

    When Solomon was asked by God what he wanted most, Solomon replied by requesting wisdom. This should be our inspiration. We should desire wisdom, and to do what is wise, more than pleasure, more than wealth, even more than health and long life. Solomon received wealth and a healthy long life because he chose wisdom. However, God does not promise us that such will always be the case. Nevertheless, it is wisdom which we should desire above all else. Of course, the beginning of wisdom is fear of God.