2 Kings 10:32-12:21
2 Kings 10:32-36
What strikes me in this portion is the length of time Jehu was king. If he had been a godly king it would have made all the difference in the world. But that's not to say Jehu was a "bad" king. He might have been a great administrator and good for the people. Godliness is an entirely different element in a person and how it effects God's working in and for a nation. Israel was shrinking.
2 Kings 11
Vs. 1-3 Athaliah is the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel who Jehoshaphat had marry his son. Although Jehoshaphat is dead, this is the curse he brought on Judah by joining with Israel and its ungodly rulers.
Apparently the temple was a good hiding place, since Athaliah worshipped elsewhere.
Vs. 4-21 It took all 6 years of work to wrestle the power away from Athaliah. Jehoiada the priest is the hero here. The entire action of the rebellion seems easy as we read it, but I think that is just because God allowed it to go easy at this point.
V. 17 Jehoiada was a very godly priest and made sure Jehoash's (Joash's) reign began with a commitment from him and the people to follow the Lord.
2 Kings 12
Now this story is pretty straightforward except for a couple of strange things.
V. 1 Notice how long he ruled. How old was he when he became king? This should raise some questions.
V. 2 If you read this verse in another version you'll notice the "because" is not there. It should read 2 Kings 12:2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. NIV
Do you see the different sense of the verse?
V. 3 This is a constant refrain revealing a very deep weakness in the culture of the people and worship of God. As disciples this should tell us that to do everything right, except one very vital and important thing, is to build ruin into what we are accomplishing for Christ.
Vs. 4-8 I wonder why they didn't do the repair on the temple all of those years.
Vs. 17-18 It is interesting that Joash was willing to give this all away to keep the peace. Unlike the rulers before him, he didn't seem bound by getting and keeping gold.
Vs. 20 Joash died by assassination. The examples of kings we have met who were assassinated should raise some questions here. We won't find out why he died like this until we read about him in 2 Chronicles 24. What is interesting is that this account in 2 Kings makes him seem like a good guy. 2 Chronicles 24 will help understand why verse two is a very conditional verse. The death of Christ is seen in something Joash did.
Acts 18:1-22
The church at Corinth was an important church. Corinth was the leading city of Greece financially and therefore was very international. The canal was a major shortcut between the Aegean and Adriatic seas. Corinth also had a big Jewish community. This is also one of the few cities where God spoke to Paul and told him to stay and work. We also get two pretty good books of the Bible from this church. Finally, this church was almost entirely Jewish. In Romans, Paul talks to the Jews in some places and the Gentiles in others. In 1 Corinthians, Paul never makes a distinction and talks to the leaders as though they were fully Jewish, 1 Cor. 10:1, for example.
V. 2 Paul's meeting of this very important couple pinpoints the date of Paul's arrival in Corinth to around 49 or 50 AD. Because of some calendar mishap, Jesus actually died and was raised in 30AD. This is now 20 years later.
Notice that Paul's main ministry at the beginning of the work in Corinth was to Jews.
V. 7 This will be important. Notice where the church in Corinth began. It is next door to the synagogue. In many countries, the houses have open gardens and courtyards in the back, separated only by a wall. That means that if the church met outside in that courtyard, the voices would go over the wall. This, I believe is why the gift of tongues was so pronounced in Corinth (did you catch the pun?).
V. 8 The leader of the synagogue came to faith. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that he personally baptized him.
Vs. 9-10 God lets Paul know this is an important place for him to work.
V. 17 The frustrated crowd had to beat someone. Sosthenes, the new ruler of the synagogue, is welcomed to office. Read 1 Corinthians 1:1 to see what became of poor old beaten Sosthenes.
Psalm 145
They say that the good part of being beaten over the head with a baseball bat is the sense of relief when it's over.
From our reading, we know David was pursued and that it was a long time, over a decade, before he had peace. This outpouring of David's heart must have been after the running had stopped and all of God's promises had been fulfilled. For us as disciples, the simple truth is that in order for us to sing this psalm as David wrote it, we have to go through all those trials and all those valleys too. Then our praise will sound like this.
Proverbs 18:1
I wonder if the Lord had the age of computers in mind when He wrote this. This is as true today as back then. We enjoy sinning privately, and even when we know we're doing wrong, we still do it.
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.
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