June 16, Reading Notes

1 Kings 15:25-17:24

It is interesting to see that some of these kings reigned for decades. In the US, a president is in office for eight years and no more. In Israel back then it wasn't unusual for a king to reign for 20 - 40 years. If it was a good king, that was great. If it was a bad one, it would mean that a culture of ungodliness was created. What we are witnessing here is that once evil was introduced into the lifestyle of the people, it never went away. There was compliance and things went underground during the reign of a good king, but the ungodliness returned "bigger and better" as soon as an evil king came in to power. Israel is now on the road that will lead to exile. God will do some pretty mighty things to prevent this, but in the final event, the miracles will only serve to justify the judgment of God on the people. When you see God doing amazing things, it always means that a critical crossroads in history has been reached. Today those crossroads are reached and one of the most famous of OT prophets steps into the gap, Elijah. Elijah would be used to try to direct the hearts of the people back to God, just as John the Baptist would try to do the same through his preaching years later, to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus, their Messiah.

1 Kings 15:25-34

Notice that God used an assassin to bring judgment on the house of Jeroboam. Just like the proverb for today, evil is repaid by evil. It is stunning to think that an evil man like Baasha ruled for 24 years. That would be like 3 presidents in the US, each filling 2 complete terms. Sin was now completely entrenched in the people and culture of the northern kingdom.

1 Kings 16

V. 2 Notice who took responsibility for making Baasha the king. He does the same today, therefore we need to be careful about bashing those in authority. For disciples of Christ following him in the US, the harvest, not the White House, is our focus and mission.

V. 5 We'll read over and over about the mighty things these kings did. They did, in fact, fight battles and do good things. Here, however, the point of the history is the explanation of what drove the nation of God to ruin and how He fought to show them grace to repent.

V. 7 Note that God was still sending prophets.

V. 15 This guy Zimri becomes a by-word. Later Jezebel will call another guy named Jehu, a "Zimri." Notice that he only reigned for seven days.

V. 23 Omri only reigned 12 years, but he would introduce the most evil of all into the already terminally ill nation. He did this through his son Ahab and the wife that he chose for him.

Vs. 29-34 Notice all the mentions of Baal and Asherah. This was all very sexually driven.

V. 34 Notice that Jericho is rebuilt under the influence of Ahab. As Joshua prophesied in his curse on Jericho, the builder lost his oldest and youngest son. There was no fear of God or regard for His Word. I'm sure the people knew about the curse, but either thought it was all superstition or that their gods would defeat the curse.

1 Kings 17

Enter Elijah. Now, just to understand how important this time and these character are, look ahead and answer this question: How many chapters of 1 and 2 Kings are about Ahab and/or Elijah?

V. 1 Draught and famine were "promised" curses for disobedience. Why this happened now was that God was giving Israel fair warning.

V. 3 Elijah's life was in danger, but God promised to care for him. It's interesting that when a miraculous event happened that only God could perform, they wanted to kill the messenger, as if that would make it go away.

Vs. 8-16 Jesus will almost be killed for referring to this story years later.

Notice that the woman had great faith/obedience. She was at the end of her resources, yet she had heard about Elijah and obeyed when he tested her.

Vs. 17-24 There would be many "random" miracles performed by both Elijah and Elisha and you wonder why, especially knowing that the people will not listen and will go into exile. These acts of God were known, and these men, during their lifetimes, were well-known messengers. The people could have turned to these men. The miracles were evidence that God was present and would and could do anything. The miracles, especially with Elisha, seem very disconnected, but they accumulated into a huge cloud of witness. When the people didn't respond to God through the messengers He had sent, that "cloud of miracles" became a witness of judgment against the people.

In a way, this happens with us too, as disciples. Once we have witnessed to our neighbors and have established friendly relationships with them, they know something about where they can find help and get answers. Obviously we keep praying for them and try to further the relationships and help them, but it really is up to them. The sad reality is that if God couldn't get people to come to Elijah and Elisha through all the things these guys did, our neighbors wouldn't be impressed either if we did a miracle on the front lawn. Sin is deep and only God the Father can open a person's heart to Christ. We keep loving; and when they are ready, they'll ask.

Acts 10:23-48

Talk about a situation that God designed for God's glory.

V. 23 At this point we see that some "brothers" accompanied Peter. We'll see who they were later.

V. 25 You don't find someone more sincere than Cornelius. Remember, this guy was not just a commander, but he too, was a trained and deadly soldier of Rome.

V. 28 This shows that there was tension in the church. Peter had not only known Christ for three years before the coming of the Holy Spirit, but this is more than three years after the coming of the Spirit. Even as a believer, Peter is still bound by Jewish custom and tradition. Nowhere in the Law of Moses did it forbid Jews to enter a Gentile's house. Peter might also have said this for the sake of the "brothers" who were with him.

V. 33 Cornelius brought in his entire household: wife, kids, servants and officers. This guy's heart was so open that it is another, "What must I do to be saved?" situation.

Vs. 44-48 Peter hadn't even finished speaking and they all had already believed and welcomed the truth of what he said.

V. 45 This is important. The believers from the circumcised were amazed. It doesn't say "Jews" because they were of the Circumcision Party: Christians who believed that a person could not be a Christian unless they were circumcised and held the Law of Moses. There was already a party within the Jerusalem church of red-neck fundamentalists. These are the brothers who had gone with Peter. They would become a major stumbling block to the church in Jerusalem, a problem in many churches Paul planted, and they would be a hindrance in Paul's ministry. Because of this entrenched, bigoted fundamentalism, the main hub of the early church as it reached out to the Gentile world would become the city of Antioch, not Jerusalem.

Notice that because of the suddenness and the way the Holy Spirit came, they were amazed. It is hard to be against something when you've just had your socks blasted off. And, Cornelius and those in his house had received the Holy Spirit without having to be circumcised. It was hard to argue that you couldn't receive the Holy Spirit unless you were circumcised or baptized.

This was a complete replay of what happened at Pentecost. They were hearing the Lord praised in the high Hebrew of Jerusalem and in the hick Hebrew of Galilee. Notice the difference however. On Pentecost, the unbelievers were spoken to by the miracle of hearing God proclaimed and praise in their home languages. Here, the "unbelievers" are bigoted Christians who didn't believe this could happen. Paul said that tongues was a sign for "unbelievers," but the nature of the unbelief was very Jewish. Jews would always be the focus of this gift in the New Testament.

V. 47 This is a challenge by Peter to the red-necks. Notice the words, "just as we have." The implication is more "in the same way we received Him." Peter will make this clearer when he says this tomorrow too.

V. 48 Since Peter did the commanding, that means the "circumcision" guys baptized the uncircumcised Gentile believers. Cool.

Tomorrow we get the rest of the story.

Just a word on being a "world" disciple: One of the most important passages for a missionary is found in 1 Corinthians 9:19-27. We are to reach out to all people and all cultures, giving our own race and culture no preference. The Bible, not a country or ethnicity, judges what is right and wrong in a culture. For Paul, as a former True Blue Hebraic Jew, this was not easy to give up his culture; but for the love of Christ he did it, giving up himself to belong wholly to Jesus.

The reality is, if some believers in North America were to actually see what Abraham, David, Daniel or Jesus looked like, they might be reluctant to have them in their churches. They would have been short and dark skinned. Abraham and Daniel might have worn an earring…or two (the Babylonian-Persian influence). Their garlic breath and hygiene would have probably sent us out of the room. Our pictures of Jesus as a tall, good looking Caucasian man (with long hair) are horribly inaccurate and feed our racial preferences. None of those men read the King James Version.

One more application to 1Cor. 9:19ff. If those verses apply to other cultures, they also apply to those we are trying to reach in our own culture. As disciples of Christ in the harvest, we need to be open to the harvest, becoming all things to all men. They are not required to adapt to our culture in the church. Anything unnecessary in our church culture that keeps them from understanding Jesus and coming to Him is an unnecessary hindrance. Paul and the Spirit say so.

Psalm 134

This sounds like the people coming to Jerusalem are asking God's blessing on those who serve at the temple. It's always a good idea to thank the Lord for the people who serve.

Proverbs 17:9-11

There is a lot of warning in these verses. So much of this is what you see in church fights, not to mention everywhere else.

Going backwards, it seems that in a controversy, a person shows the evil in their heart by being rebellious, in which case they encounter a punishment in keeping with their intent. The bad get bruised by someone badder.

In a controversy, a sensitive person suffers, but learns. The prideful just rant, not understanding the situation.

In a controversy, a good person overlooks the ranting, trying to make things work; but those who allow controversy to brew or even spread things, bring disunity between people and keep people from the truth.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.