1 Kings 9-10
1 Kings 9
Vs. 1-9 So
when did this happen? Back when we read 1 Kings 7:1, it seemed that Solomon
could have built the temple and his house at the same time. Verse 10 says that
after twenty years, Solomon had completed the king's house. That would mean
that the seven years building the temple were followed by the thirteen years
building the palace. The Lord spoke to Solomon before he built the temple and
now, twenty years later. If the temple was finished and dedicated after seven
years, it means that since yesterday's reading, and the dedication of the
temple, thirteen years have now passed. I wonder why God waited until after
Solomon stopped building to speak to him. Maybe Solomon was too busy. Isn't it
interesting that if you don't look at the dates, you might think that God spoke
to Solomon the day after he dedicated the temple, simply because it's the next
thing you read. However, thirteen years had passed.
Vs. 4-5
Though the promise that the king who would reign forever would come through
Judah (and now through David) was unconditional, the promise for establishing
the throne under Solomon was conditional. He had to obey. We know the end of
the story: He didn't. After Solomon there would never again be an independent,
unified Israel. God is full of grace and forgiveness, but He doesn't play
games. The line of David would only rule over the land of Judah. After the
exile (which Solomon helps to launch), Israel will never again be a sovereign
nation with a king. Even though the first governor after the exile will be
Zerubbabel, who is in the line of David, he is only a governor under Persian
authority. After Zerubbabel, the line of David passes out of our sight until
Jesus.
Vs. 6-9
How ironic that God will bear testimony to His own righteousness and truth by
destroying all that Solomon built, should Solomon disobey. God was giving
Solomon a very kind and gentle warning.
Apparently,
completing the temple and his own house marked a specific point in Solomon's
life. Now what would he do? When people lose their goal in life, they often
drift. I'm amazed at the wisdom of the Lord in giving us a mission on earth. To
lose our passion for our mission just means we’re drifting on earth. What a
waste of time. But to live in the harvest following Christ, making disciples,
who make disciples, should keep our vision clear and our blood flowing right up
to the end. Too bad Solomon didn't have anything left but being Solomon.
Vs. 10-14
So, what is this story about? I think it is showing that there is something
wrong with Solomon, evidenced in how he treated his friend. The word Cabul is definable from the context:
worthless or good for nothing. Solomon put so much time into his own pursuits,
but very little into these cities. He could have turned these places into a
paradise, but his focus apparently was on himself.
Vs. 15-28
What do you find in all of this detail? I don't know. I think it's interesting
that there is one small mention of Solomon's worship and many references to his
other activities. This is a good place to remember what God had said about what
a king was to avoid and what he was to do.
Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to
return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You shall never return that way
again.” And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn
away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
And
when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book
a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with
him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to
fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of
this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted
up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment,
either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his
kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:16-20)
Notice in these verses, not only was a king
warned what not to do, but also in v. 19 it says he should read the law every
day of his life. If a king would have obeyed vs. 18-20, humbling himself before
the Lord, submitting to the Levites, making a copy of the law and reading it
every day, he would have been guided, protected and warned by the Lord every
day. And, according to John 14:21-23, he would have known the Lord intimately.
It is safe to say that none of the kings did this every day for his entire
life. We’ve seen the wreckage in David’s life, and Solomon will now excel David
in terms of damage done to the nation of God and the redemptive plan for mankind.
This is
written here for our instruction. If we think we can survive without being in
the Word every day, we are ignoring the seriousness of the sin within us and we
are ignoring what the Lord is saying to us through these men.
V. 28
Apparently Solomon liked gold and ignored Deuteronomy 17:17. Remembering that a
talent was 75 pounds makes it interesting to figure out the weight of all the
mentions of gold that Solomon acquired yearly. It isn’t pounds. It is tons.
1 Kings 10
Vs. 1-13 What do you observe in this story?
It seems to me that it shows the testimony that God was making to the nations
through His blessing on Israel. This was actually a part of the redemptive plan
that God sought to work through Israel to the surrounding nations. Moses expressed
this in Deuteronomy 4:5-9.
See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in
the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them,
for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the
peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great
nation is a wise and understanding people.” For what great nation is there that
has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to
us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has
statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
Only
take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your
eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.
Make them known to your children and your children's children—
You can
see in what the queen of Sheba says in v. 9, that she understood this was of
the Lord. I wonder if the other "stuff" and all the "bling"
didn't get in the way of a full and complete testimony to the Lord.
Vs. 14-29
Think about all of this detail in terms of Deuteronomy 17 above. Even more than
Solomon ignoring what God said about going to Egypt for horses is that the
first thing he did as a king was to make an alliance with Egypt and marry
Pharaoh's daughter. The worst is yet to come and, ironically, Egypt really hurt
Solomon.
As
disciples, we have some very grave lessons to learn from Solomon. Up until now
we have seen some minor "cracks" in his life that seem completely
overshadowed by God's blessing and Solomon's expressive worship. But the cracks
remained and now appear to be getting bigger. Regardless of what we have
accomplished for Christ, no matter how glowing our devotion has been in the past,
allowing sin into our lives (as seen with David) brings disaster. Buckle up and
put on your helmet. What we'll see tomorrow with Solomon will be unbelievable.
What will be more unbelievable will be God's grace.
Acts 8:14-40
Vs. 14-25
Now, you might ask why Peter and John went to Samaria and not Thomas and
Thaddeus. I think it is because this was a very important event, and the
apostles wanted to send the two men that God had already singled out as the
authoritative voice of the apostles.
V. 16 The only been baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus doesn't mean anything was missing in the formula, but that everyone
knew that the Holy Spirit was missing.
It is
interesting that Peter and John had to lay their hands on the Samaritans. To
understand what this meant for the Christians in Jerusalem, like Peter and
John, try to imagine what it would have been like years ago in a very racially
bigoted area for a white preacher to have given an altar call and have a black
man come forward and lay his hands upon him. It shouldn't be assumed that just
because the apostles and other believers were saved and indwelt by the Spirit
that their racial prejudices fell away. They didn't. That is part of the drama
being played out here by God, withholding the Spirit until two leaders of the
Jerusalem church (true-blue Jews) saw for themselves how the Spirit came upon
the despised Samaritans as they laid their hands on them. I wonder if they both
went for the anti-bacterial gel after they touched them.
One more
thought here: How did they know the people received the Spirit? It doesn't say,
yet it was noticeable or visible, even by Simon the rat. It can be assumed that
there was a display similar to what happened to the disciples and apostles on
Pentecost. What happens to Cornelius (a Gentile) later, we know, will be
completely identical to the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. The reception of
the Spirit in a visible way was a point of connection that helped the Jewish
Christians let go of their prejudice toward the Samaritans and the Gentiles.
V. 18 This
whole drama with Simon seems like "just a story," but I think it is
similar to the story of Ananias and Sapphira. With A&S, the threat to the
church that would grow would be seeking position and status in the church
through giving. With Simon we see someone who recognized the status that would
come with using God's power. You probably think this would be impossible to use
God's power for personal gain, but Paul tells Timothy it was happening (1 Tim.
6:5); and Jesus said that many would come, calling Him Lord, who had
prophesied, done mighty works, and cast out demons. The problem was they didn't
know Him and He didn't know them. Here, I think, we see the first entrepreneur
who figured out how to market the blessing of God.
V. 21 It should
be noted that not everyone who recognizes Jesus' person and authority goes to
heaven. The demons know Jesus, but don't love and follow Him. Simon believed in
the reality of the power, but he didn't love Christ. He just wanted the power
and the honor. In that case, as Peter made pretty clear to him, he really
wasn't "saved" by what he believed, anymore than the demons are saved
by what they know to be fact.
V. 25 I think preaching through the towns of
Samaria was a big step for these two guys. At one point John was ready to call
down fire on the Samaritans. I'll bet Peter and John smiled at each other as
they realized that Jesus had prepared them for this moment. Maybe they realized
this was the fulfillment of part of what Jesus had told them in His final words
to them in Acts 1:8, But you shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the
earth.
Jerusalem:
Check! Judea and Samaria: Check! Now for the ends of the earth…
Vs. 26-40
The Ethiopian eunuch, not Cornelius, was the first Gentile we know who came to
Christ. So God used Philip, one of the seven, not only to open Samaria, but
also the ends of the earth.
V. 26 If
an angel of the Lord told Philip to do this, it means Philip must have seen the
angel. Later, Philip will be given instructions by the Spirit. I assume this
was an audible voice in his head. It must have been an angel that walked up to
Philip and told him what to do and Philip recognized him, by the Spirit, as
being such.
V. 27 What
is interesting is that the eunuch had come
to Jerusalem to worship; but because he was a eunuch, he was not welcome in
the assembly at worship. This would have put this guy a step below a proselyte.
So, he must have been a very convinced believer in Judaism since he had
everything else, nationality and physical state, going against him. (I mean,
really though, would they check you at the door?)
V. 31
Really. Another "What must I do to be saved?" situation. And the guy
was reading Isaiah 53 (which, by the way, you should memorize). In those days,
apparently, you read out loud, so Philip knew where he was in the text.
V. 36
Somehow this doesn't happen every day.
V. 39 So,
the eunuch, we assume, received the Holy Spirit. That would be normal: you
believe, you receive and the Holy Spirit silently comes in. Philip being swept
away was not normal then or very normative for today.
V. 40
Philip is an unsung hero as a disciple. What a guy. We'll see Philip again
twenty years later at Caesarea toward the end of Acts. Apparently he settled
there. Caesarea would become a very important hub for the church and the next
big Gentile adventure will happen there.
So, is
what we're seeing in Acts completely normative for today? We don't see
believers saved without receiving the Spirit. This was for the period of Acts,
to convince the apostles. I have never heard of anyone taken miles away
instantly after baptizing someone. Can God do it today? Sure. Is it a common
occurrence? No, not even in Acts. Yet, as disciples, the leading of the Spirit
in Acts, though not as dramatic today, might be closer to the norm than we
think. The question has more to do with our willingness to focus our lives on
following Christ in the harvest, making disciples and being led by the Spirit.
Psalm 130
I'm sure
as the pilgrims came to Jerusalem three times a year, many people couldn't
completely resonate with every psalm being sung, because their hearts were
being pressed by their circumstances. In worship there is a sense of knowing
that God is our only hope, and we wait on the deliverance and answer only He
can give. This psalm would have echoed their deep need to find hope and comfort
in God.
Vs. 1-2 At
this point we don't know why they are pleading for mercy, but they are
pleading.
Vs. 3-4 It
is for their personal sin. Which of us cannot cry out to God for mercy for what
we've done this past week, much less in the past three months or the past year?
Do you remember the weight of your sin before you knew Jesus? Do you sense the
weight of the sin within you now?
Vs. 5-6
What wonderful words. Our souls wait for
the Lord and we hope in His Word.
But our waiting is over because we know the living Word and we live with Him
every day.
Vs. 7-8
Notice all of the key themes of life: hope, love, redemption and forgiveness
from our sin, oh, and the Lord.
There is a
kind of living in affliction and waiting before God that is constant and godly,
and you are only trained for it by living on this planet, being afflicted and
having to wait. The result of momentary affliction is that we cry out to God
and learn that He is our hope and our deliverance. This can produce a spiritual
sense of affliction and waiting. You see the world as God sees it, and you make
the choice to be "hungry now" and to "weep now" as we walk
this planet following Christ in the harvest. You live, crying out, waiting on
and clinging to God, our hope. We learn to keep crying out even in joy. The
urgency of this life doesn't diminish if we’re doing well or in a good mood. We
learn to see things in the spiritual, and the spiritual situation is pretty
sobering and desperate.
Jesus said
that the person who is forgiven much…loves much. If we know how deeply needy we
are and how deeply urgent the drama of this life is, the love of Christ and His
calling are a great source of joy and worship.
If you
have some time and a computer search engine (or concordance), search for the
word "wait." Then read those occurrences you find in The Psalms and
in Isaiah.
Proverbs 17:2-3
I guess
many things can test the heart. Working for an immature, out-of-control master,
foreman or boss would not qualify as fun. Acting wisely is the key. Living for
the honor of God is the heart of our wisdom as disciples. The testing is not
God's "plan B." The Father prunes us to become more fruitful in the
harvest. That is "plan A."
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/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 complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
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.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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