Author: Bob Bronkema

We see some of the favorite stories of Elisha that I have preached on consistently. We have the widow and the oil that pretty much never runs out until it is enough. We have the death of a son who then is raised after he was born against all odds. We have the cleansing of Naaman in the Jordan, which while it was not nearly the type of rivers that Naaman was used to, not nearly the size nor the power, served its purpose. Elisha continues to follow the Lord, even while he is the only one in all the land, and he is changing hearts and minds.

Proverbs warns against laziness and infidelity. Now, not that these two are related, they are not, but according to the author of Proverbs, they both produce that which the Lord abhors.

We see that King Jehoshaphat brings the two kingdoms together by going to war, a war which they lose by the way. But it at least begins the peace that is between Israel and Judah, a peace that is not often seen in Scripture. They do not combine the two nations into one, but at least there is peace between the two of them. We see that the South remains faithful and the North remains idolatrous.

Proverbs encourages the reader to pursue wisdom, for it is the the fear of God which defines itself in the presence of wisdom. Interestingly wisdom is portrayed almost as if it were the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity in how it is described. It could be somewhat dangerous to take that metaphor and go too far with it lest we fall into the same trap that Israel did in worshipping that which is not God.

There is a nice concurrence between the Old and the New Testament readings that we have today. In I Kings we are introduced to the prophet Elijah who lived during the time of the worst of the worst kings who took the people of Israel away from God, Ahaz. Remember, there are two kingdoms now. The South, called Judah and who was stable and faithful under the rule of Asa during this time, and the North, called Israel who had a succession of bad kings and established their center in Samaria, where a lot of idol worship and offerings took place. Elijah is the prophet to the North, to Ahaz, and he challenges the prophets of Baal during a time of very, very severe drought. He wins the battle of the prophets and the drought is broken.

James speaks about our faith and the resulting actions that can take place if we have the faith that God actually wants us to have. We would be able to start and stop the drought just as Elijah did if we had that power. I love the Scripture in James that commands believers to go to the elders of the people if they are sick so that they can be prayed over. We need to do more of that.

Just when we thought that Solomon had it figured out and that he would be the one who obeyed the Lord to his death, we see that he turns his back on God. We read that he had many wives and as a result of those wives he wanted to please them and so he allowed them to worship their many gods in the ways that they were used to worshipping their many gods. He allowed them to build edifices and locations where they were allowed to worship their gods, and Solomon actually participated. This is as clear of a violation of what God wanted His people to do as you could imagine. God says that he would take away the rule from Solomon’s house, which is also David’s house, because of Solomon’s disobedience, but not until Solomon had died. He would take it away from his son’s hand.

Not a whole lot of time passes when after Solomon dies then the house of God becomes divided between Israel in the north with a different king serving, and Judah in the south (with Jerusalem) with a king serving that was of the line of David. Things get really bad and sketchy alliances are being made. Basically, we read that as a result of the disobedience of the people of God peace is not able to be found. What a great lesson for all of us. Proverbs 3 reminds us not to seek out after our own understanding, but that is exactly what God’s people had done so they turned their back on God as a result.

We transition from the crowning of Solomon to the building of the temple through the work and the wisdom of Solomon. The temple in these chapters is built and Solomon gives a dedication of the temple in chapter 8 that is incredibly powerful because it seems more like a dedication to the people than it does of the temple. He puts forward every possible scenario in life and in each of these scenarios the people are commanded to go to the Lord for help and for refuge. It is a dedication that would be good to use whenever a building is given up to the Lord for Him to bless.

We didn’t mention Proverbs the last time posting but it is very fitting that as we look at the life and the work of Solomon we also hear his words in the book of the Bible that he is given credit for writing, which is Proverbs. I know that at one time I have used the phrase that Solomon is like a cross country trip with your mother in law, but that isn’t fair. I loved my mother in law, she was awesome. I know that this is said in a way that is meant to be disparaging, but Solomon is filled with jewels that we would do well to remember, especially from the last post in 1:8.

We begin I Kings and we see the life and the rule of David’s son, Solomon. This book begins somewhat inauspiciously with a different son of David seeking to be crowned king while David was failing in health. He doesn’t find out on his own, but rather Bathsheba and Nathan, two who had a real vested interest in Solomon, were able to find out how Adonijah was plotting behind the scenes, and they got Solomon into power before it was too late. David tells Solomon that there are certain people who cannot be allowed to live, and Solomon carries out his commands and kills those who were enemies to David and would have been enemies to Solomon as well.

Solomon consolidates his power and sets up peace upon the land and begins to make steps to build the temple because sacrifices were being done in places where in the past pagan sacrifices had been done. The scene where God tells Solomon that he can have anything that he wants and Solomon asks for wisdom does smack a bit like a genie in a bottle with one wish, but it is at the core of the life of Solomon. He asks for wisdom in order to rule the people of God wisely, and God recognizes that and gives him that wisdom as well as everything else: riches, long life, peace, etc. The reign of Solomon has begun.

The last day of Jesus’ life unfold before us. Judas is sorry that he did what he did, but it is too late, the damage is done. He goes and hangs himself. This is probably one of the least focused on passages in Scripture. The hanging of Judas is tragic, very tragic. It is the opposite of what the Gospel teaches, that there is always hope for the lost, always. Judas took that away from God, he took away God’s ability and willingness to forgive him.

We see Peter is also distraught because he has betrayed Jesus, and so he weeps bitterly. Jesus appears to the disciples and gives them the great commission in chapter 28 to go out and make disciples and to teach, and to baptize. It doesn’t say go out and plant churches, it says go out and make disciples. That is our primary goal.

We are going to cover two Scriptures that I understand to be fundamental to our status as followers of Jesus. The first is 22:34-40 where we see Jesus explain what the greatest commandment is: love God and love your neighbor. Some are good at the first but not so good at the second, and others are good at the second but not so good at the first. I would argue that if you think you are good at the first, but are actually bad at the second, well, then you actually aren’t good at the first. For loving God has to involve loving your neighbor. I would also say that if you love your neighbor but don’t know or don’t love God, well, then the purpose is defeated because, as Jesus said, you will have the poor with you always. Without the foundation of Jesus at the center of our love, then our love is like the wind. It comes and it goes and it leaves no mark and makes no difference.

The second Scripture that I want to emphasize is Matthew 25:31-46 which describes what it looks like to love God and to love your neighbor. In fact, the Scripture depicts God as someone who will be asking for an accounting of our work with our neighbor and if we come up short, well, then we are going to be separated out. This Scripture does not lead us to a works salvation, but rather a realization that God isn’t playing when he tells us to love Him by loving our neighbor.

The end of Isaiah is followed by the Psalms and the Proverbs which describe a God who has spent day after day, hour after hour, and year after year, even generation after generation looking to pour into His people, but they have turned their back on him. The description of God who almost doesn’t seem to learn that this people will not turn and worship him ever in a way that they should provides both hope and pity. Hope that God will never leave us or forsake us. Pity that our God continues to try to see the best in us, and expect something different from what we are currently doing, and yet never sees any true results. What’s that definition of insanity? Trying the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?

But that is why Jesus. Jesus came not so that we would behave different, but simply put, so that we wouldn’t have to behave differently. Because now it is not up to us. This is the difference. There are no expectations because our actions don’t create a righteousness. The righteousness by which we are defined is imposed upon us by the act of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection.

Finally after chapters of condemnation and descriptions of infidelity and unfaithfulness, the Scripture describes a complete restoration, but at the hands of God. We are not able to bring about the reconciliation that is required, but rather only through the hand of God is this able to take place. This can be called the good news of deliverance where Israel is no longer the target of the wrath of God for her unfaithfulness. She remains unfaithful, but it is time to bring her back into the fold since no other nation has been picked out as God’s people. The other nations will go to ruin while Israel, the people of God, will be built up.