JUNE 8
1 Kings 3:4-4:34
It will take
us several chapters to get to the sobering part of Solomon’s story, but the
final verse from yesterday says that Solomon really loved the Lord. That is not
to be doubted. Yet, that love can fade or get out of tune. Jesus gave us a
tuning fork to keep our love for Him always at the right pitch. - Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And
he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest
myself to him. (John 14:21) As we read of Solomon’s life, we’ll see
that the wisest man on earth wasn’t very alert to keeping God’s commandments.
When we read Solomon’s final journal entries regarding life on earth,
Ecclesiastes, we’ll see that although God gave Solomon wisdom, Solomon didn’t
know God well at all.
1 Kings 3
Vs. 4-14 This is a very famous portion of
Scripture.
V. 4 Notice that Solomon offered sacrifices
on this high place. How do you process the fact that it was forbidden in the
law to sacrifice anywhere other than at the tabernacle, which was in Jerusalem
at this time?
It seems to me that God was willing to show a
lot of grace and forgiveness in encouraging people to approach Him. Just so we
all understand it, this is still a violation of the law; and this violation,
sacrificing in places other than the tabernacle (and later, the temple), will
lead the people into such idolatry that Israel will be thrown out of the land
into exile. I’m sure it was allowed by the kings because the sacrifices were to
God, but it seems to me, particularly following Christ in this world in this
time, it is utterly dangerous for us to disobey and then say we’re doing it for
God. God’s silence doesn’t always mean He approves.
V. 6 As you think of what you've read and
know about David, and then read the statements you see here regarding David's
faithfulness, righteousness and uprightness in heart, how do you understand
God's grace and kindness to us? What does God really want? Apparently, He
received that from David.
V. 7 Solomon was between 20 and 24 when this
happened.
V. 12 This seems like an unconditional
promise. Solomon would be the wisest, most discerning person that ever walked
the planet, other than Jesus. If you know the story of Solomon’s life, that’s
pretty sobering news. Knowing wisdom doesn't mean acting wisely, but more on
that later. The sin within us can make fools of the best of us.
V. 15 It's interesting that after God spoke
to him in the dream, Solomon made an offering to the Lord in the tabernacle in
Jerusalem. It may be that God's kindness inspired Solomon to obedience.
Vs. 16-28 This is a cool story and Solomon
was probably the only one who could have pulled this off. He must have seen
something in the women that told him this "ploy" would work. We can
see that God brought this situation about, so that He could make Solomon's
wisdom known.
1 Kings 4
This chapter is kind of a general summary of
the good years of Solomon's reign. It not only shows the blessing of God on
Solomon and Israel, but it shows the effects of the wisdom God gave Solomon.
We'll see in 1 Chronicles that David did a lot of organizing too, but Solomon's
wisdom wasn't just in poems and proverbs, he was a master of organization.
We'll see this again with some other kings. A sign of God's blessing was that
He gave them the ability to order the land and the worship of the people.
Vs. 1-28 The grandeur of Solomon's kingdom is
not judged or commented on as being wrong. It was allowed by God. However,
Solomon did some things wrong here, even within this description. The point, I
believe, is to show that Solomon, humanly speaking, could have made an empire.
What he actually chooses to do is something no great king would have called his
crowning achievement.
V. 8 A famous movie is hiding here.
"Ben" meant "the son of."
Vs. 29-34 God's wisdom in Solomon was
becoming a witness to the world, and that wisdom would draw many nations to
Israel.
Acts 6
When
thinking about the decisions the Jewish leaders made, and particularly the
words of Gamaliel in the last chapter, it is interesting to wonder where Luke
got his information, especially when he is quoting what went on behind closed
doors.
First, Paul had
been a Pharisee and may have been in some of these meetings.
Second, many
Pharisees and priests came to Christ. Also, many Roman officials came to
Christ. Paul mentions a guy at the end of Romans, Erastus, the city treasurer
of Corinth. In this case now, in Jerusalem, with so many people coming to
Christ, there weren't too many closed doors to talk behind any more.
Third, the Holy
Spirit was also there, listening through the keyhole.
Vs. 1-6 Growth brings challenges. So where
did the widows come from? According to Robinson's Word Pictures it
worked like this:
First, you had two types of Jews: Jews who
were more conservative and Hebrew in background and Jews who grew up in other
lands and were more tolerant of other cultures. Those Jews in Israel and in
deeply conservative circles spoke Hebrew and Aramaic. Those Jews, like Barnabas
and Stephen, who lived outside of Israel, though they followed the law and
didn't live like pagans, spoke their home language and Greek. Greek was the
common language of the Roman Empire. There was friction between these different
types of Jews.
Second, you had all sorts of people coming to
Christ, including different types of Jews and widows. Widows were usually given
financial help from the temple offerings. Now that these widows claimed Christ,
they had lost their social security. Suddenly the church was thrust into the
role of helping these new believing widows, because their new faith in Christ
had caused them to lose financial support.
This situation was a ticking bomb. Believe it
or not, the Jews back then were deeply nationalistic. If you mentioned the word
"Gentile" in the wrong setting, they went ballistic. Look at Acts
22:21-23. Believe it or not, the believing Jews were almost as bad. Nationalism
dies a slow death even among believers, and we will see this in Acts. In fact,
this prejudice on the part of the Hebrew Christians will be important to
observe.
V. 2 Note that there was no teaching on gifts
yet. Notice too that the apostles had been helping in the distribution.
V. 3 This seems to be the official beginning
of the office of deacon.
V. 5 Note that they all had Greek names.
V. 7 You can imagine that if the growth
caused challenges in the church because of the need to feed widows, then having
a priest come to Christ would also create some challenges. They would no longer
have jobs or income. And, they would come fully loaded with a lot of religious
baggage. But back to the good news, they were now followers of Jesus.
Vs. 8-15 Miracles had become a major
aggravation to the Jewish leaders, but up until now, the only signs that had
been done were by Hebrew Christians, the Apostles. The Jewish leadership was
already struggling with that. Now, signs are being done by a Hellenistic (Greek)
Jewish Christian. O Weh!
V. 9 Some think this was Saul of Tarsus'
synagogue. Saul (Paul) may have been one of those who tried to argue with
Stephen.
V. 12 This is the first time in Acts that
Luke mentions the people being mad at Christians. It is interesting that it was
directed toward a Hellenistic Jewish Christian. There is a tone of nationalism
in this.
V. 15 The council
would have been the Sanhedrin. This was the same group that ordered the death
of Jesus. Nick and Joe belonged to, or had belonged to, this group. Some think
that Saul the Pharisee was part of this group. Obviously, as this story
proceeds, we know that Saul was present.
So, what does the face of an angel look like? That sounds impressive, but in
three days they will be throwing stones at him. This young Hellenistic believer
was about to become the first person who was killed for his testimony for
Jesus. Figuratively speaking, he is standing in the harvest proclaiming Christ,
bearing an invisible cross on his shoulder. He was willing to die to follow
Christ in the harvest.
Psalm 126
This psalm was apparently written by one of
the worship leaders after the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon. It was
a slow rebuilding process with many dangers and challenges. Some of this
rebuilding, and the emotion thereof, is recorded in Ezra 3:8-15. It might have
been during that time that this psalm was written as an inspiration and comfort
for the people to look to the future.
Vs. 1-3 This was like phase one of God's
blessing. He had brought them back from captivity. That was something almost
unheard of in that ancient world, and as we'll see, it was a great work of
grace on God's part.
Vs. 4-6 Now they prayed for God to turn the
fortunes of the people. The empty riverbeds of the people's lives were to be
restored to freshness like the empty riverbeds in the desert after a rain.
There were tears that would be replaced by joy, and the one who sowed in the
empty land would rejoice with a great harvest. I'm sure the writer meant this
both literally and figuratively.
Proverbs 16:26-27
Laura and I were talking this morning how it
seems that all of us would look and live a lot better, if God dumped us into a
place where the need was desperate, where we had to care for others, where
living the mission as disciples caused us sacrifice and hunger. Our bodies and
our minds would be more toned and ready for action.
The reality for us as disciples is that we don't
have to be thrown into the ghettos and jungles of the third world to find
desperation. We live among it; the harvest is here. But it takes walking by the
Spirit to see it. Unfortunately, because it is so easy to live a life focused
on comfort and the flesh, as opposed to the spirit, we struggle to see the need
around us and we struggle even more to live a focused life.
This worthless
person, in contrast to the one who is forced to act because of his need,
doesn't have an urging that commands his time and energy and drive. Instead,
his lack of focus tends to run downhill into trouble.
God has given us this mission for our health
too. Blessed are those disciples who hunger now. That hunger is a choice to be
focused on following Christ in the harvest. Once we have that hunger, we can
make it work for us; and Jesus promises that if that hunger drives us, we will
be satisfied.
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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