June 5

Ahab and Jezebel - 1 Kings 20:1-43, 22:1, 21:1-24, 21:27-29, 22:51, 22:2-28; 2 Chronicles 18:2-3

King Ahab's evil hasn't done a whole lot for the name Ahab.  I mean, do you know someone named Ahab?  Thought so.

(There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.  He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols....) 1 Kings 21:25-26

"Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite:  'Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me?  Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.'" 1 Kings 21:28-29

Wow, if the Lord will forgive or, at least, make a reprieve on punishing Ahab, who will he not forgive?  Yes, He is the righteous and jealous, God.  It all just makes His forgiveness so incredible so beautiful so loving in contrast.  How great is our God.  He knows us.  Knows our failings.  And knows how to take care of it all for us.  From Solomon and Ahab, from the wisest to the wickest, both idol worshipping kings, God forgives.  

Lord knows.

June 4

Elijah the Prophet - 1 Kings 17:1-24, 18:1-46, 19:1-21

"The power of the Lord came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel." 1 Kings 18:46

Miracle or poor roads?  I like to think of it as a miracle.  The text suggests he was able to do it because "the power of the Lord came upon Elijah."  

Here's Ahab riding in a chariot and Elijah going by foot.  I'm told it's 17 miles from Mt. Carmel to Ahab and Jezebel's summer residence in Jezreel.  And Elijah outruns the chariot.  Pretty good piece of running.  Of course, this takes place after God's amazing miracle on top of Mt. Carmel with Elijah battling and defeating in front of King Ahab the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Ashrerah.  So outrunning a chariot the 17 miles from the mountain top to Jezreel is something of a lesser miracle compared to fire from heaven consuming a sacrifice awash in buckets of water.  But I like it.  Elijah the cross country runner.   Some suggest that this run is Elijah's way of honoring Ahab as King, running like a servant of the King ahead of his chariot as was an Ancient custom.  He was honoring Ahab so he would more deeply consider God's superiority to the gods of Baal and Asherah that he had seen defeated.  

Maybe.  But I think of it as more of a race. Here's Ahab trying to outrun the coming rain in his chariot, perhaps fleeing from the scene of a horrific event where the gods he had entrusted his fate and faith to are overcome and their prophets murdered.  As he rides along in frustration and perhaps anger, stinging from Elijah's taunts of his gods and their defeat, what does Ahab see out of the corner of his eye?  The prophet Elijah running just ahead of him.  He speeds up.  But he cannot get away from Elijah. He cannot distance himself from what he has seen and the picture of it burned in his head.  He speeds up again.  And again.  

But the God of Elijah cannot be outrun.

Miracle or custom?  Lord knows.  But I'm thinking miracle and like the picture of a man alone with his God able to out run the King and his machine.

June 3

Two Kingdoms in Contrast - 1 Kings 15:8-11; 2 Chronicles 14:1-8; 1 Kings 14:19-20; 2 Chronicles 13:20; 1 Kings 15:25-28, 15:31, 15:33-34; 2 Chronicles 14:9-15, 15:1-8, 15:17-19; 1 Kings 15:12-22; 2 Chronicles 15:9-16, 16:1-10; 1 Kings 16:1-34, 15:23-24; 2 Chronicles 16:11-14, 17:1, 20:31-33; 1 Kings 22:43, 22:46-47; 2 Chronicles 17:2-13, 18:1, 17:13-19; 1 Kings 22:44

"In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet.  Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians." 2 Chronicles 16:12

So King Asa is a pretty good guy.  His "heart was fully committed to the Lord, all his life." [2 Chronicles 15:17]  He destroys the false gods.  The people of Israel are drawn to Judah and Asa and leave Israel for Judah when they see the Lord is with Asa and his people.  The people renew their commitment to the Lord under Asa.  "They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them.  So the Lord gave them rest on every side." [2 Chronicles 15:15]  But Asa makes mistakes as we all do.  He looks elsewhere other than God from time to time.  Relies on the king of Aram "and not on the Lord" and so is condemned always to be at war.  (How is Asa being punished by war when it's the people on both sides of the conflict that are going to die?)  Asa is obviously frustrated with this judgement and takes it out on the seer who told him this and the people.  And then finally relies on his physicians rather than God to cure him from his disease.

Do we blame him?  It's hard for me to blame him.  Scripture says his "heart was fully committed to the Lord, all his life."  Is this hyperbole?  Or the truth of his heart?  Was he hurt because he had tried so hard in his life to renew the covenant and bring the people of God together only to make a mistake of judgement and face punishment?   Has he had it with God?  And so consults his physicians and not God on his ailment?  Is he feeling hurt and will not turn to God out of spite or pride?  Because, in his heart, he knows that God can heal him.  But he won't go there.

There is no perfect life.  No matter how good we are, how much we seek after God, one failure seems to make it all for nothing.  Maybe that's how Asa felt.  God forgives and punishes.  It's hard for me to put it all together when and why He does what.  I'm not like so many others who read the Bible and have it all figured out and are so ready with an answer.  More often I have questions.  And I study only to have more questions.  

But I know God is God.  My questions are my own.  I wrestle with them but I trust in Him.  The only physician who can cure what truly ails me.

Lord knows.

June 2

Division Between Israel and Judah (Continued) - 1 Kings 13:33-34, 14:1-18; 2 Chronicles 11:5-12, 11:18-23; 1 Kings 14:22-28; 2 Chronicles 12:1, 14, 12:2-12; 1 Kings 14:30, 14:21, 29; 2 Chronicles 12:13, 12:15-16; 1 Kings 14:31, 15:1-2, 15:7; 2 Chronicles 13:1-21; 1 Kings 15:3-5, 15:7-8; 2 Chronicles 13:22, 14:1

Fun Boam Boys Wine Bottle Fact: Google Jeroboam and Rehoboam and one of the things you're going to get is wine bottle sizes. From right to left (liters) Standard (.75), Magnum (1.5), Jeroboam (3), Rehoboam (4.5), Methuselah (6), Salmanazar (9), Balthazar (12), Nebuchadnezzar (15) So the better king gets a bigger bottle. Well, I suppose that makes sense.

So was it one of God's little jokes that Rehoboam reigns in Judah while Jeroboam is king in Israel? Was He rubbing it in that although these two men's names sound alike that their leadership was vastly different? What did the people think? What were the little jokes that passed between them about these two sound-alike kings? I'm sure there was some ribald poetry and song that rhymed the names.

But so different. Jeroboam who God told would rule over Israel blatantly turns to other gods while, when confronted by the prophet Shemaiah, Rehoboam and the leaders "Humbled themselves and said, 'The Lord is just.' When the Lord say that they humbled themselves, this world of the Lord came to Shemaiah: 'Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance.'" 2 Chronicles 12:5-8

Rehoboam and Jeroboam, Mr. Tax and Mr. Calf, so whichever-boam the people of God are moan-in the boam boys. Lord knows.

June 1

The Divided Kingdom - Division Between Israel and Judah - 1 Kings 12:1-33; 2 Chronicles 10:1-19, 11:1-4, 11:15, 11:13-14, 11:16-17; 1 Kings 13:1-32

"...The king [Jeroboam] made two gold calves.  He said to the people, 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem.  Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." 1 Kings 12:28

So this guy, Jeroboam, is the same guy who Ahijah, the prophet of Shiloh, had given a word from the Lord that he would be made king of Israel.  God went so far as to remind him: "If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statues and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you.  I will build you a dynasty...." [1 Kings 11:26-40]

So what's he doing making idols for Israel to follow? Has he forgotten?  Is he rationalizing?  And the irony of having the people worship two gold calves who he says "brought [them] out of Egypt" when it was worshiping a calf that caused them to wander in the wilderness once they got out of Egypt.  What is he thinking?  

But then what are we thinking when God promises us so much if we only follow Him and then we turn around and worship stuff, money, things, status, whatever?  When Jeroboam does it, it's so obviously sin.  When we do it, it's, well, because of culture or our desire to "take care of our families" and God wants us to fit in and take care of our families, right?

Lord knows.

May 31

Ecclesiastes (Continued) Life's True Meaning - Ecclesiastes 3:1-17, 11:7-12:8, 12:13-14; End of Solomon's Reign - 1 Kings 11:41-43; 2 Chronicles 9:29-31

"Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father." 2 Chronicles 9:30-31

That's it.  All scripture has to say about the death of Solomon, the wisest guy who ever walked on the earth, the writer/contributor to four books of the Bible, the son of David, the King of Israel, the builder of the temple.  And that's it.  No summary of how wonderful his rule was or the great things he did.  No walking with God in the mountains.  No fiery chariots.  No record of national mourning.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  Nil.  He seemed to live out his wisdom - everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.  I'd add only this to that thought:  When you worship Moloch and Ashtoreth.  Lord knows. 

May 30

Ecclesiastes (Continued) Value of Wisdom - Ecclesiastes 12:9-10, 7:7-12, 7:19-26, 10:1-11:6, 12:11-12, 7:1-6, 7:15-18, 7:27-29

"Do not pay attention to every word people say,

     or you may hear your servant cursing you -- 

for you know in your heart

     that many times you yourself have cursed others."

Ecclesiastes 7:21-22

This passage is actually part of my management philosophy.  There are managers who want to know everything their employees are saying about them.  I'd rather not know everything.  I only want to hear the things serious enough to bubble up to the surface.  And I'll take care of those.  So much of the rest is people dealing with stress, blowing off steam, venting.  I don't need to be overly sensitive to that.  Let people get it out while I stay above it.