Bible in 90 Days - Day 25 (1 Kings 7:38-16:20)

God, source of all light,

by your Word give light to our lives. Amen.

We see the heights and the depths of Solomon’s reign. What could be more glorious than the dedication of the temple and the reports of Solomon’s wealth? What could be more heartbreaking than the way Solomon turned away from God? Somehow all that world famous wisdom didn’t protect Solomon from incredible foolishness. (And then I see my finger pointing back at myself.)

As we begin to look at the kings and the downfall of Israel and Judah, I think we would do well to look at two flashbacks to Moses in Deuteronomy:

Deut 12:2-3 “Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.”

Deut 17:14-20 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.”

Bible in 90 Days - Day 24 (2 Samuel 22:19-1 Kings 7:37)

Living God,

help us to hear your holy Word with open hearts

so that we may truly understand;

and, understanding,

that we may believe;

and, believing,

that we may follow in all faithfulness and obedience,

seeking your honor and glory in all that we do.

Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

2 Samuel 23:39 is one of those examples of a list of names being more than a list of names. Uriah the Hittite, husband of Bathsheba and victim of David, was one of David’s inner circle of mighty men.

Solomon’s first recorded downfall is in 1 Kings 3:3. There was a draw to worship at the high places (as opposed to what God had commanded – worship at the one place where he put his Name), and not all of that worship was directed toward the one true God. Here we see Solomon worshiping the Lord, but tomorrow that will change. This “worshiping at the high places” will be a pattern to watch for among the kings.

1 Kings 4:20 speaks a broader truth. God has fulfilled his promises. The people are happy, and they are numerous. Even the language comes from God’s promise to Abraham.

Bible in 90 Days - Day 23 (2 Samuel 12:11-22:18)

God, our helper,

by your Holy Spirit open our minds

and lead us into your truth

for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Two patterns today:

In 14:14 the wise woman from Tekoa says, “Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.” She is giving wisdom about God for Absalom to come back, but this is a phrase that tells a universal truth that applies directly to us as well. God makes a way where it seems there is no way. This is a timeless pattern for God.

In 15:25 David refuses to try to manipulate God by bringing the ark along. For all of David’s impulsiveness, we don’t find him trying to use God for his own advantage. This is David’s pattern (and the pattern for good leadership). Unfortunately, this will not always be the pattern for Israel and Judah.

Bible in 90 Days - Day 22 (1 Samuel 28:19-2 Samuel 12:10)

Gracious God,

we do not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from your mouth.

Make us hungry for this your Word,

that it may nourish us today

in the ways of eternal life.

Through Jesus Christ, the bread of heaven. Amen.

There are actually only 88 days of reading, so we are ¼ of the way through!

2 Samuel is the book of David’s rule over Israel. A phrase that comes up several times is “David inquired of the LORD.” That is not a phrase associated with Saul.

There are a lot of memorable stories in today’s reading, but I want to draw your attention to 7:12-16. God is going to stand by this promise to keep a descendant of David on the throne, and he does it even when David’s descendants break covenant. Ultimately Jesus will come through this family line, and we know that he is now reigning forever!

Today we also encounter David with Bathsheba. Uriah will come up again briefly in Wednesday’s reading, and that brief mention will make this story even more heart-breaking.

Bible in 90 Days - Day 21 (1 Samuel 16:1-28:19)

Guide us, O God,

by your Word and Spirit,

that in your light we may see light,

in your truth find freedom,

and in your will discover your peace,

through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

In this reading about David we really see the sharp contrast between David and Saul.

Compare the choosing of David to what we read yesterday about Saul: “There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish ... He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the others.”

Note that Saul is so possessed by evil that he will even destroy a town of God’s priests to satisfy his bloodlust against David. Saul takes matters into his own hands in extreme ways. In contrast David will not lay a hand on Saul, even though he easily could, simply because God anointed Saul king. In David’s mind only God can revoke that. David leaves matters in God’s hands in extreme ways.

26:20 – I hope by now your ears are tuned to listen for references to God’s presence. These are the words of David, and we will hear David’s voice talk about God’s presence many times in the Psalms.

Bible in 90 Days - Day 20 (1 Samuel 2:30-15:33)

Prepare our hearts, O God,

to hear your Word

and obey your will.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

God’s presence, his rule, and his faithfulness are all themes that are all woven through today’s text.

4:3 marks the first time that God’s presence is manipulated by people deciding to move the ark. Look at how verse 4 describes the ark. This is not just a fancy box! Verse 8 shows again how God’s reputation precedes him and has a greater effect on his enemies than on his people.

*8:7 marks a turning point for the whole nation. God acknowledges that the people have rejected him as king, and he is now going to grant their request for a king.

8:19-20 “But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.’” Think how disastrous this statement would have been if they had said it to Joshua right when they crossed the Jordan! This is exactly the opposite of what God’s plan for them was.

12:22 – “For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.” God is faithful – take note.

Bible in 90 Days - Day 19 (Judges 15:13-1 Samuel 2:29)

Lord, open our hearts and minds

by the power of your Holy Spirit,
that we may hear your Word with joy. Amen.
 

Samson is an enigma to me, but I think that is because I’ve been looking for godliness in humans as the thread to follow. I just don’t see that in Samson. When the blind Samson is brought in to the Philistines, they say, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” The theme that comes up over and over with Samson is that God uses him to deliver the Philistines into God’s hands. Samson himself is not very godly, but through him God shows himself to be much more powerful than Dagon. Ah yes, this is ultimately a story about God, not Samson.

Maybe that is one of the keys to understanding this last gruesome story – it is a story about people. After Samson’s death, God doesn’t show up until it is time to get rid the evil, and then we find it isn’t just the tribe of Benjamin that takes a beating. The section begins and ends with the phrase, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” God should have been their king. This story is not in chronological order with the rest of the stories. It comes at the end to make a point. The last word in Judges is that the people are lost.

Ruth is and incredible piece of literature and a great testimony to God. In a sense it is also a transition story. It begins with a reference to the time of the judges and ends with the genealogy of David the king, so it is a good bridge between Judges and 1 Samuel. Naomi goes away from God’s land thinking the answer to her problems lies with a “godless” people. She comes back even emptier. In the emptiness God provides. God is always the one who provides, and in the bigger picture he is providing a king for his people. In the even bigger picture he is paving the way for Jesus. Ruth is the final woman in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.

Samuel is the last judge of Israel. That helps us understand where we are in the story, and it may come in handy if you are ever playing a Bible trivia game. Note the recurring theme: God’s great provision comes out of barrenness.

Bible in 90 Days - Day 18 (Judges 3:28-15:12)

God of Jesus Christ,

give us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Christ,

so that the eyes of our hearts might be enlightened.

Help us to know the hope to which you have called us,

the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints,

and the immeasurable greatness of your power at work in us.

Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

—based on Ephesians 1:17-19

There are some striking small details in the story of Gideon. Gideon is threshing his wheat in a winepress. Threshing should be done on a high spot where the wind can blow the chaff away. A wine press is a low place. The situation is dismal when people are threshing in the press.

When the angel appears, Gideon wants to make an offering. It strikes me that his offering is pretty generous considering the “economic downturn” Israel is facing. We keep seeing details in Gideon's life that show that he understands what God wants (clues we don't really get from judges like Samson).

To understand the offense of 6:25-26 it is helpful to know that the bull was the symbol for Baal. It is like God is saying, “Rebuild Baal’s altar as my altar, then burn Asherah to sacrifice Baal to me.” Talk about killing two birds with one (set of altar) stone(s)! What does it say about God’s people when they respond to God’s altar by wanting to kill the one who built it? That is the story of Judges.

8:1 – Wouldn’t it be great to be able to say this never happens in churches anymore? The Ephraimites show up again in the same type of situation in 12:1! I think I have met these people.  

8:23 – Again Gideon shows incredible wisdom in this statement, but the people won’t submit themselves to the LORD as their king. This will also be a turning statement that we’ll read on Saturday in 1 Samuel.

11:14-27 – Jephthah knows his history well, and he interprets history well! A key theme in Judges is that those who forget the story of God suffer miserably, and those who remember and respond triumph. We are on a 90 day journey to know the story. May God bless us as we read his Word!

11:31-32 – These verses left me hanging for many years. A few years ago I heard Kenneth Bailey speak, and he explained how it was common to bring the animals into the house at night both for safety and for warmth for the family. The animals would then go back out in the morning. It is still a rash promise that Jephthah makes, but at least there is a plausible context.

From the story in Judges 12 “Shibboleth” has become a word in our vocabulary. The Miriam Webster Student Dictionary defines Shibboleth – 1 a : a slogan especially of a party or group b : an idea or saying that is commonly believed 2 : some behavior or use of language that identifies a person as belonging to a group. 
Even for those who don't believe the truth in the Bible, it is still a book that shapes our society.

And now Samson. Oh Samson, what are we to do with you? We’ll pick up this story tomorrow.

Just a warning – tomorrow’s reading includes what I think is one of the most difficult Bible stories to stomach. Even that is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that all of God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17).  

Bible in 90 Days - Day 17 (Joshua 15:1-Judges 3:27)

Lord God, we wish to see Jesus.

By your Spirit’s power, give us eyes to see his glory.

Through Christ we pray. Amen.

—based on John 12:21

 

John Walton, the teacher in the videos we watch on Sunday morning, says that Joshua is the story of God’s faithfulness and Judges is the story of the people’s unfaithfulness. That is a great way to think of the transition. The name “Joshua” means “the Lord saves,” and “Jesus” is the Greek form of “Joshua.” Even in the people’s unfaithfulness we will see that God never abandons them.

Joshua 22 – The Eastern tribes return home. This is a very encouraging scene. The nation of Israel as a whole takes its relationship with the LORD very seriously.

22:34 (KJV) – I mention this verse because the wording in the King James Version makes me smile: “And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.” An altar named Ed – I like that. (Ed is the Hebrew word for Witness.)

23:3 – “You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you.” The entire chapter 23 is the elderly Joshua’s testimony of God’s power. It was only God’s hand that brought Israel into the promised land.

Joshua 24 – It has been said that this chapter is the foundation for worship. God uses the pronoun “I” 18 times in 10 verses (in the NIV) to tell what he has done. Read through verses 2-13 and see which actions are God’s. God has the first word in worship, and we respond.

24:31 – “Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.” This is the summary statement for how the Israelites responded to God’s actions during this conquest period. It is a sharp contrast to what is about to happen throughout the book of Judges.

Judges is another book that speeds through history to tell a big story. Genesis covered many centuries very quickly. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy combined cover a period of about 40 years. The main action of Joshua is maybe a decade. Judges now covers several centuries.

Joshua 1:1-2:6 tell the story of a transition where Israel no longer experienced complete success. Since complete success is the story of complete reliance on God in the book of Joshua, this is now the story of straying from reliance on God. 2:6-9 is a flashback that shows the stark contrast between the obedience of the generation that entered the land with Joshua with the disobedience of the successive generations. 2:10-19 is the summary of every story that will happen in this whole book. 2:20-23 is the theological overview from God’s point of view. The people became covenant breakers. Although God is angry, he never abandons the people.

3:6 is the end of the introduction, and it succinctly spells out Israel’s response to living among people with other gods. Moses had said at the beginning of Deuteronomy 7, “When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” Israel is going down exactly the wrong path, but this is not the end of the story.

Bible in 90 Days - Day 16 (Joshua 1:1-14:15)

Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life!

Help us now to hear and obey what you say to us today.

Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

—based on John 6:68

This is a whole new chapter in the life of Israel, and a lot of things happen rapidly to mark that. Note how many of them are echoes of how God revealed himself to Moses and shaped the Israelites as they were coming out of Egypt:

1. Chapter 3 starts out with the command to follow the ark, and it sounds like the command to follow the cloud in the desert. The ark is the main symbol of God’s presence now.
2. The Israelites were baptized in the Red Sea crossing as God called them to be his holy people (1 Corinthians 10:2), and now the new generation is being “baptized” in the Jordan River as they enter the promised land.
3. The covenant sign of circumcision is renewed.
4. Manna is now officially gone. The bread of heaven is replaced with local milk and honey.
5. Joshua is commanded to remove his sandals just as Moses was at the burning bush.

Rahab is an interesting character. We don’t know much about her, but she gets mentioned three times in the New Testament – twice for her faith in this action (Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25), and she is one of the three women in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1 (we already met Tamar, and later this week we meet Ruth). She gives quite a testimony in 2:9-13. For one thing, the Red Sea story is already 40 years old, and it is still circulating in a land where the Israelites have not travelled yet. Second, Rahab recognized the LORD as the God over all gods – even the Canaanite gods. Finally, and most interestingly, the fear of God that was supposed to guide the Israelites seems to have more effect on the nations around them! Jericho is melting because of the 40 year old Red Sea story, but Israel whined through the desert for 40 years after being the ones who actually walked through the Red Sea. This testimony of foreigners is repeated with the Gibeonites.

Extra notes:

1:9 – “Be courageous” is a command here again; it is not merely an encouragement. The penalty for cowardice is disastrous when one is supposed to go forward in God’s name!

I love the way people are asked to tell the truth (as Joshua does to Achan): “Give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give him the praise.” Truth-telling glorifies and praises God.

The scene in Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim is exactly what Moses commanded in Deut 11:29