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

In yesterday’s passage the writer reported that Jeroboam set up a golden calf in Bethel and in Dan to discourage those in the Northern Kingdom from going to Jerusalem to worship God.  In addition, Jeroboam had shrines built at many high places and appointed people with no background in Scripture as priests (perhaps I am misinterpreting what the writer meant by what he wrote, but that is what I understand him to mean when he says that Jeroboam appointed priests who were not Levites).  Then, when Jeroboam was conducting sacrifices to the calf at Bethel, God sent a man to prophecy against him.  Jeroboam extended his hand to order the man’s arrest, but when he did so he suffered some kind of episode which prevented him from putting his hand down.  In response Jeroboam asked the man to intercede with God to restore the functionality of his hand.  However, Jeroboam did not recognize his sin and turn from it.  Rather, he asked the man, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.”  Jeroboam recognized God’s power, but refused to turn from the politically expedient idols he had chosen to worship and return once again to worshiping God.  God healed him, but the kingdom which Jeroboam had established and hoped to pass on to his descendants was given to another.  I want to make this point clear.  Jeroboam had set up the two golden calves to keep the people of his kingdom from going to Jerusalem to worship God, and deciding that they really owed fealty to the king in Jerusalem.  And he did this in order that his descendants might rule over those people.  While David’s descendants did not regain control of the territory Jeroboam ruled over, Jeroboam’s descendants were killed and another took the throne there.

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.

After Solomon finished dedicating the temple, God appeared to him.  God told Solomon that He would put His Name upon the temple forever and that His eyes and His heart would always be there.  This helps explain why Jerusalem plays such a major role in world affairs.  God also warned Solomon, and through him, the people of Israel, that if turned away from Him and stopped obeying His commands, Israel would become a byword and object of ridicule to all peoples.  In between those two things God gave Solomon a prophecy directed solely at him.  God promised that if Solomon walked faithfully before God with integrity and uprightness, He would establish his throne over Israel forever.  I am going to make a little bit of a leap here, but one which I believe is justified.  If we today, give ourselves to Christ and thus make our bodies into temples unto God, He will put His Name upon us forever, and His eyes and His heart will be within us.  Of course, if we then turn away from Him to worship other gods, we will become an object lesson for all who meet us.   On the other hand, if we walk faithfully before Him with integrity and uprightness, He will establish us in His presence for eternity.

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.

First, I want to note that this passage lists “Shimei son of Ela” as one of King Solomon’s governors.  So, perhaps the Shimei who failed to support Adonijah’s attempt for the throne was this Shimei rather than Shimei son of Gera, or perhaps that was a third Shimei.  I usually look at Solomon’s preparations for and then building the temple, but today I want to look at some other things in this passage.  The writer makes the point that everyone in Israel lived safely under their own vine and fig tree.  The phrase “everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree” seems to me likely to be an idiom.  Considering the context, I think it would be an idiom for safety and peace.  In fact, this expression is used twice more in the Old Testament: once in Micah and another time in Zechariah.

I think the writer is contrasting life for Israelites under Solomon to what things were like under the Judges and even under King Saul.  In those earlier times there was a lot more raiding between the various peoples of the region (take a look at the account of how David and his men lived while they were among the Philistines in Ziklag, and even what happened to Ziklag when David and his men went with the Philistine army).  Further, it gives us an idea about why David conquered the neighbors he did while remaining peaceful with the Phoenicians (or, more accurately as it is understood today, the Canaanites of the Tyre and Sidon regions).  The other areas around Israel spent a lot of time raiding their neighbors, while those we now know as the Phoenicians were more interested in trade with those they encountered.  Solomon’s borders were the Hittite empire to the north, the Egyptian empire to the south, basically desert to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east, except for the areas controlled by Tyre and Byblos (I believe that Tyre controlled Sidon at this time, while Byblos is mentioned as a separate entity in this passage) which were on the northern part of his eastern border.  We can learn from this that peoples prosper when they live by their own efforts and trade peacefully with those around them.

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.

I like reviewing the pragmatic, and fair, way in which Solomon dealt with issues he had left over from the situation surrounding his taking the throne.  However, today I want to write about the first part of David’s instructions to Solomon as Solomon took the throne.  In particular, David tells Solomon to “be strong, act like a man.”  I do believe that David meant that being strong was part of what it meant to act like a man, or to make this lesson more general being strong is part of what it means to act like an adult.  We should all strive to act like adults.  David goes on to tell Solomon to observe what God requires and walk in obedience to Him.  This was also part of what it meant to act like a man, or like an adult.  David tells Solomon that if he does these things, he will prosper in whatever he does and wherever he goes.  While there was a materialistic element to what David meant by prosper, I believe that plays a minor part in the message which God has for us here.  If we choose to be strong, observe what God requires and walk in obedience to Him, we will prosper in all that we do.  We may not obtain material wealth, but we will succeed in what we do.  As for what it means to prosper in all that we do, I heard a story recently:

A man felt compelled by the Spirit to witness to an atheist friend and co-worker, who he knew was not receptive to the Gospel. He tried to dismiss it, but he felt compelled to invite the man to upcoming Easter Services. So, he yielded to the Spirit and did so. As he had expected his atheist friend turned him down, after the man had once again made the case for Christ and the Resurrection. The man went about his way, thinking he had not succeeded on that day. Some years later, he ran into a former co-worker who had worked with in the same building. This co-worker extended his sincerest thanks to the man. It turns out that while the man was trying to convince his atheist friend to come to services with him on Easter, this other co-worker was beneath another desk in the same office, connecting wires and overheard the conversation. Having heard the case made by the man for Christ and the Resurrection, the co-worker went home and told his wife they should go to services that Easter morning. A year later the co-worker and his wife gave their lives to the Lord. So, the original man thought that he had failed, but he was mistaken. He had instead prospered in what he did because he walked in obedience to God.

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