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

Solomon took many wives, and many of them were from nations from whom God had warned the Israelites against taking wives.  God’s specific warning was that wives from those nations would turn the hearts of the men who married them away from God to the gods of those nations.  So, despite the fact that God had appeared to Solomon twice, he married women who worshiped other gods, and joined them in their worship.  Not only did he worship those gods, he built shrines to them just outside of Jerusalem.  The writer tells us that as a result of this, God raised up Hadad the Edomite to be a thorn in Solomon’s side in Edom.  David had conquered Edom and had all of the men of Edom destroyed, but Hadad, the son of Edom’s king, had escaped to Egypt with some of his father’s officials. The Pharaoh had arranged for his sister-in-law to marry Hadad and provided shelter for Hadad.  Later, Pharaoh provided support to Hadad when he wanted to return to Edom to cause problems for Solomon.  Pharaoh did this despite Solomon being his son-in-law.  Or, perhaps the writer is suggesting that Pharaoh supported Hadad because Solomon had so many wives in addition to his daughter.  I suspect that the writer was partially saying this second interpretation as a way to further condemn Solomon taking multiple wives.

The writer goes on to tell us the story of Jeroboam.  While Solomon was still king a prophet came to Jeroboam and told him that God would take 10 tribes of Israel from Solomon’s son and give them to Jeroboam.  Further the prophet told Jeroboam that if he did what was right in God’s eyes by obeying his commands, God would establish his dynasty.  Yet almost his first act after becoming king of the Northern Tribes was to set up a shrine to an idol in two separate locations in his new kingdom.  In addition, he set up shrines throughout his kingdom and appointed priests who were not Levites.

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 want to start writing about what God told Solomon when He appeared to him after Solomon “had achieved all he desired to do.”  When God told Solomon that if he (and the Israelite people) turned away from Him the temple would become a heap of rubble and all who passed by would ask why the Lord has done such a thing? And others would answer that it happened because they forsook the Lord their God, and embraced other gods.  That reminded me of the situation in Jerusalem today, not only is the temple a pile of rubble, there is a temple to another god built upon it.  Now, I do not want to spend much time on the idea that the Jewish people have forsaken the Lord.  Nevertheless, the fact that the temple is a pile of rubble is a reminder to us of the consequences of forsaking God and turning to other gods.  Of course, the fact that we know where the temple Solomon built was also reminds us that God put His name there forever.  However, the status of the temple in Jerusalem should be a cautionary tale for us as well, a warning against turning away from God and serving other gods.  God has now set up His temple in our hearts.  So, let us walk faithfully before God with integrity of heart, otherwise He may turn our hearts into a pile of rubble.

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.

When Solomon was crowned at David’s orders, he allowed his brother Adonijah, who had attempted to take the throne without their father’s blessing, to live with the agreement that he would retire to his estates and allow Solomon to rule.  Solomon also allowed Joab and Abiathar to keep their titles: Joab as commander of the army, and Abiathar as priest (possibly High Priest).  However, Adonijah would not settle for that and attempted to set himself up to challenge Solomon’s rule by marrying the last of David’s concubines.  Solomon was not fooled and ordered Adonijah executed.  In addition, Solomon appears to believe that Joab and Abiathar played a role in Adonijah’s ploy.  So, he ordered Joab executed and forced Abiathar into retirement, turning all of his priestly duties over to Zadok.  Or, perhaps Solomon was just taking advantage of Adonijah’s plot to eliminate threats to his authority, because immediately following this he called Shimei to the palace and ordered him to never leave Jerusalem again, on pain of death.  Shimei’s response to Solomon’s command seems to suggest that he had been using his position and connections to undermine Solomon’s authority .  I would guess that Shimei was not seeking to overthrow Solomon’s rule, merely to have a powerbase with which Solomon would have to negotiate.

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 20-22.

Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, made war against King Ahab.  He besieged Samaria and demanded tribute from King Ahab.  When King Ahab acceded to his demands, Ben-Hadad increased them to demand that Ahab allow his soldiers to loot the city.  King Ahab resisted this latter demand and defeated Ben-Hadad’s forces.  The following year, Ben-Hadad attacked Israel again.  This time, King Ahab not only defeated Ben-Hadad’s forces, he captured Ben-Hadad.  Despite Ben-Hadad’s repeated unprovoked attacks on Israel, Ahab treated him as a friend and made a treaty with him.  We see here that Ahab had more fellow-feeling with the ruler of his nation’s enemy than he did for his own people.  In a similar manner, King Saul had spared the life of the king of the Amalekites after he defeated them.  Again and again, we see that those who rise to leadership positions in one nation make common cause with the leaders of other nations, against the interests of their own people.

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 18-19.

It is easy to overlook the significance of Obadiah in this passage, but we shouldn’t.  Obadiah was a devout follower of God, yet he worked as palace administrator for King Ahab, a dedicated worshiper of Baal.  From his position serving King Ahab, Obadiah was able to save 100 prophets of God from Jezebel’s effort to exterminate them.  We don’t know how Obadiah found himself as King Ahab’s palace administrator, but he used that position to serve God.  Let us strive to do likewise.  Then when Obadiah brings Ahab to Elijah, Ahab calls Elijah the troubler of Israel for announcing God’s judgement for the sins which Ahab was responsible.  All too often those who have rebelled against God will blame their troubles on those who pass God’s word on to them.  Let us pay no more attention to such accusations than Elijah did here.

After his great success on Mount Carmel, Elijah was greatly depressed by Jezebel’s threats against him.  He fled into the wilderness to Horeb, the mountain of God.  When God asked him why he was there, Elijah replied that the Israelites had rejected God and killed His prophets so that Elijah was the only one left.  Elijah felt like he was a failure.  He was sure that, despite his best efforts, the people of Israel had turned from God and chosen to worship Baal.  Elijah was ready to give up, he felt there was nothing left that he could do.  But God was not done with Elijah.  He sent Elijah to anoint Hazael king in Damascus and Jehu king over Israel.  In addition, Elijah was to anoint Elisha as his successor.  Elijah thought that the Israelites were done with God, but God told him that He was not done with the Israelites.  Elijah thought that he was the last remaining servant of God in Israel, but God told him that not only was there Elisha, who would succeed Elijah as God’s prophet, but there were seven thousand others who had not bent the knee to Baal.  Elijah thought the “culture war” was over and that the side of righteousness had lost.  God’s answer to him was, “Not so fast.  I have reserved seven thousand who are faithful to Me.”  It may seem today that the culture war is over and those rejecting God have won, but God’s answer to us is, “Not so fast. I have reserved those who are faithful to Me.”  And those whom He has reserved are a lot more than 7,000.

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 15-17.

In Israel, the Northern Kingdom, king after king fails to establish a truly stable government.  Jeroboam turned over the throne to his son, who was overthrown by Baasha after reigning for two years.  Baasha ruled in a similar manner to Jeroboam, including encouraging his people to worship the golden calves which Jeroboam had installed.  After Baasha’s death, his son ruled for a little over two years before being overthrown by Zimri, who killed all of Baasha’s family.  However, Zimri was unable to hold the throne and killed himself rather than be killed by Omri.  Omri, we are told, followed the ways of Jeroboam but sinned more than those who preceded him.  Nevertheless, his son, Ahab, was able to rule after him and turn the throne over to his son, the grandson of Omri.  Ahab married a princess of Sidon, Jezebel, and, at her instigation, made Baal worship the official religion of Israel, the Northern Kingdom.

In response to Ahab’s reign, God raised up the prophet Elijah.  God sent Elijah to Ahab to tell him that it would not rain until Elijah said otherwise.  As James writes, “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.” James wrote that to remind us of the power of prayer.  While we are often called upon to pray for healing, or other good things, for those who are suffering, sometimes, like Elijah, we are called upon to pray that people receive the consequences of their sin.  We need to remember that while the Holy Spirit healed many through Peter, He also struck down Ananias and Saphira through Peter.  So, let us remember that God calls us to pray for redemption of sinners, and sometimes that means praying for them to reach the end of their rope.

I, also, want to point out that during the drought which Elijah prayed upon Israel and the surrounding region, God sent Elijah to a widow of Sidon.  Because that woman provided a meal to Elijah in faith, God provided for that woman for the duration of the drought.  Today, I noticed for the first time, that this widow was from Sidon, just as Jezebel, who led Ahab into Baal worship, was from Sidon.  Jezebel, a woman from Sidon, led many in Israel to abandon worship of God, and God sent Elijah to a woman from Sidon to care for her through the drought which resulted.  I am not sure of the significance of the connection between Jezebel being from Sidon and the widow being from Sidon, but I hope to look into that more in future years.

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