June 17, Reading Notes

You can see by the number of chapters we'll read about Elijah, that this time was very crucial and deciding for Israel.

1 Kings 18

V. 2 It is interesting that it never says that there was a famine in Judah. Jehoshaphat was a very godly king in the line of David; and somehow his kingdom, just south of Samaria, didn't suffer to the same degree.

V. 4 This is not the same Obadiah who wrote Obadiah years later after the fall of Jerusalem.

V. 17 You would have thought that everyone could see that the famine was God's doing, but here, the messenger is blamed.

V. 20 This event would have taken some time to set up and have everyone gather at the Mediterranean Sea, miles away from the city of Samaria. Mt. Carmel was thought to be the dwelling place of Baal. There were the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah, Baal's girlfriend. So then, the 400 prophets of Asherah were the cheerleaders.

V. 26 Baal's power, supposedly, was at its peak at noon.

V. 29 They finally stopped at about 3pm, making this a bloody, six-hour ordeal.

Vs. 30-40 Notice the significance of Elijah rebuilding the altar of the Lord that had been destroyed.

The water that was used was from the Mediterranean Sea. Notice that there is no yelling and crying out by Elijah. Elijah's prayer not only showed what God's purpose for him was, but that Elijah knew that

V. 39 It's hard to say what the total effect of this was on the people, but here they were awestruck and willing to see the prophets of Baal as fakes and willing to kill them under Elijah's direction.

Vs. 41-46 Apparently in the planning for this event was the festive "afterglow" and feast. You might wonder why Ahab goes up to enjoy the feast and why he didn't feel defeated. I think it is because Ahab was a spiritually eclectic, wishy-washy, girly man. It's interesting to me that when it talks about King Herod in the NT, that he imprisoned John the Baptist, but was afraid of John, and so protected him from Herodias. He was perplexed when he listened to John in prison, yet heard him gladly. Ahab was this weird, lost, pseudo-spiritual guy like Herod; fascinated by the spiritual and believing that Yahweh was real, just not convinced he needed to follow him.

V. 43 Elijah knew the cloud would come, but he persisted in prayer until it appeared. And look at how he prayed with all his body and all his soul. A lesson for us all.

V. 46 Elijah was given super human power to run these 25 miles, beating the chariot.

All of this wonder and all of these signs. Guess what happens next?

Acts 11

Now this council or trial was important. God would use it to make some people face the fact that His Word and salvation in Christ was going out to all men. Remember earlier when it said that many of the priests became believers, well so did many Pharisees. Between those two groups, a party came into being that became a threat.

Vs. 2-3 These men didn't have any hesitation criticizing Peter. Their education would have been better, but God had especially given Peter a status, through the signs and through the conversions, that they couldn't touch.

In all of what Peter says here, you see how beautifully and graciously God set this up. Not only did this happen to Peter, but it happened to six other brothers of the circumcision party. Not only did God open the door, but he did it in such a way that it sliced through any objections, saving the church from a possible division.

Vs. 19-30 The center for outreach will now switch to Antioch.

V. 19 Notice that as they went out, the Christians only spoke to Jews. This is mentioned as if it had happened yesterday for them, but more than 10 years have passed. God was setting up pockets of Christians that no one knew of.

V. 20 Again, it was the Jews from Cyprus and Cyrene (Barnabas was from Cyprus and remember Simon of Cyrene) who were open to speaking to non-Jews (Greeks) and many were saved.

V. 25 The words used indicate that Barnabas hunted Paul down. Barnabas apparently never lost full contact with Paul over these 13 years. His contact with Paul was good enough to know that Paul was gifted for this work. Not only that, Barnabas must have known from Paul's testimony, that Paul would be sent into Gentile ministry. Or it could just be that the Spirit told him to get Paul, or all of the above. Paul was working in Asia Minor, preaching and traveling.

V. 26 Agabus isn't exactly known for good news. We'll see him again in 20 years.

V.28 Finally we have a time reference. In Galatians 2:1 Paul says he returned to Jerusalem after 14 years. Claudius reigned from 41-54 AD. So, if Jesus was crucified in 30AD and Paul first visited Jerusalem 3 years after his conversion and now 14 years later, it might be 17 years since Jesus died and was raised, so around 47 AD. This means that Paul had dropped out of sight for years, working up in Asia Minor (Turkey), as he says, where no one knew him.

In Galatians, it says that Paul and Barnabas took Titus with them, a Greek, just to test the water, and no one required Titus to be circumcised.

Just like in the OT, we sometimes think things just happened without gaps of time. Even here, God prepared Paul in isolation. Paul worked by himself, learning a skill, studying the Scripture, testing out all his arguments, preaching to people, getting over his past mistakes and radical jewish-ness, being prepared to become the apostle to the Gentiles.

Many times in the Bible, people God uses, disciples included, are trained in adversity and in isolation. The isolation is not just the removal from ministry or people, it is a time of wrestling with God and self, and learning to depend on Him. Vision and personal mission are things which are formed in quietness and conviction. Sometimes being around people and in the stew of tolerance, keeps firm convictions from forming. When Barnabas found Paul and mentored him for that year, he saw in Paul someone God had already prepared to do some mighty things. All Barnabas needed to do was what he did best, encourage this leader to lead.

Psalm 135

It is interesting that the psalm begins and ends with the servants of God who serve God by serving the people.

Proverbs 17:12-13

Not only is foolishness a hazard for others, but for the fool himself. I take it that a fool would return evil for good and so bring a curse on himself.

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.