Author: SFJ Bible

1 Kings 18:20-40

The Prophets of Baal Defeated

20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” 32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs¹ of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34 And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

Footnotes

[1] 18:32 A seah was about 7 quarts or 7.3 liters

(ESV)

1 Kings 17:1-24

Elijah Predicts a Drought

17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe¹ in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the LORD came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

The Widow of Zarephath

8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life² come into him again.” 22 And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”

Footnotes

[1] 17:1 Septuagint; Hebrew of the settlers

[2] 17:21 Or soul; also verse 22

(ESV)

Going Deeper

Solomon (4-16-16)

Wisest man that ever lived. Had more wives and concubines than any other man in history. Was the most prosperous King in Israel’s history. Was part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. Author of several books of Scripture. Heart turned away from God by women. Built the most glorious temple Israel ever saw. Sacrificed the most animals recorded in Scripture. Second son of Bathsheba to King David. Wrote a love poem/story. Said, “there is nothing new under the sun.”. Penned the words to a great American song 2000 years ago ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

Which one of these would you like written on your tombstone? Each one of these statements are true of Solomon. Many of them are great, but one of them is the worst statement that you could put on somebody’s tombstone.

As we look at the life of Solomon we see a man that started out well and ended badly. You have read about the beginning of Solomon this week. This beginning was challenging but it is important for us to understand the significance of a few of these events. Today we will look at Solomon’s beginnings, God’s blessing of Solomon, the judgment of God on Solomon, the consequences of Solomon’s action. We will then close with some reflection for us.

First off, David honors a promise made to put Solomon on the throne (I Chronicles 22:9, II Samuel 7:12). David acknowledges his promise to put Solomon on the throne. Not only does David say this, but he puts his plan in motion to bring about the kingship of Solomon.  He swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.” (I Kings 1:28-30). A couple things we should take note of here. First, notice David’s declaration about who God is and what he has done. Is there any doubt that David is trusting in God! David acknowledges God as his redeemer. David trusted God so much that he would not harm the person that was God’s anointed as king. David waited until God removed all obstacles. This is what real faith looks like.

In 1 Kings chapter 3 we see these words about Solomon “Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father,…” It should be noted that two verses before this it is stated that Solomon made a marriage alliance with the Pharoah. This is important note that you should remember. If you remember in the Old Testament, Israel was not to make any alliances but to trust in the Lord. Whenever we break God’s commands bad things happen. I do not think Solomon realized that this was a slippery slope. Still, God blessed Solomon because he obeyed his statutes like David his father.

Solomon is significant in that God ask him what He (God) might grant him (Solomon). How would you answer that question from God?  Solomon ask for wisdom to guide the people of Israel. God is pleased with this decision, and grants even more abundantly than what Solomon ask for.

If only we could end the story of Solomon there, but we cannot. Solomon built the temple of God David wanted to build but God said no. (II Samuel 7:11FF, I Chronicles 22). We see that Solomon amassed slaves, land, gold and women.

“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of pharaoh… He had 700 wifes, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was hold his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth…So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord… And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away fro the Lord, the God of Israel who had appeared to him twice.” (I Kings 11:1-10).

I hope you feel the weight of these verses. There is a reason God told the Israelites not to collect foreign wives. They lead your heart astray. We see this multiple times in Scripture. This is one of the reasons why God tells us in Corinthians not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers for what fellowship hath light with darkness, or God with idols. If we link ourselves to those who have a different world view and are not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, they will lead us astray. There are few things as potent and powerful to pull someone way from the Lord then a love relationship with another who does not press you into Christ.

The Lord then promises to take the kingdom away from and raise up adversaries against Solomon. God tore the kingdom in half under Rehoboam, and from there the downward spiral of the Israel progressed. Solomon laid down with his fathers and slept.

During his life Solomon wrote Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and most of Proverbs. It is amazing that someone who knew so much could still slide down the slope of sin so late in life. Solomon was old the text says when he was corrupted by his wives.

Now that we have looked briefly at the life of Solomon. There are some lessons we can glean from it. I hope these are a blessing to you as you meditate on this text.

1. God is merciful and gracious, His steadfast love endures. All through this story we see God’s promises being fulfilled. We also see God’s mercy and grace. By letting David live and giving him a second son with Bathsheba. God blessing in spite of sin of (polygamy). This was culturally accepted but was not God’s design for marriage which is one women and one man. God had every right to destroy David and Solomon but he didn’t he mercifully walked with them, and blessed them. Even in the end he is merciful to Solomon. God had every right to take the kingdom immediately from Solomon but he did not he left it because of his servant David walked in His statues. God is gracious to us in sending his son in our place to pay for our sins.

2. Slippery slope of sin. The small foxes spoil the vineyard. Solomon started making small concession. Then His pleasure ran away with him and he compromised his believes. “Sin will take us further than we want to go, keep us longer than we want to stay and cost us more than we want to pay.” I don’t think if Solomon knew the consequences of his sin would he be willing to take the same course of action. What ways are you allowing small sin to take you down a path you do not want to go? Sins pleasure are fleeting.

3. Guard your life until the end. I Kings 11:4 tells us that when Solomon was old his wives turned his heart away from God. We need to finish the race strong. The law of inertia states that an object will stay in motion unless acted upon. This acting upon will create friction. Friction in an engine will wear down parts so they need to be replaced or the engine stops moving. When we continually surround ourselves with the world thoughts and actions it will wear us down. This is the case with Solomon his pagan wives slowly wore him down over time, the constant influence on him. Please head the warning in this text to guard your heart. We are to go into the world and glorify God, but we are not of the world, we need to make sure that we are spending time with God and fellow believers who will not let us hold to, or be molded by the world and that will help catch us when we slip. Ways to guard our heart is to prayer, study of the word, biblical friendship/accountability, and not spending all our time in the world. We need go out into the world and actively seek to proclaim Christ.

4. We must keep Solomon’s point of view in mind. In Ecclesiastes 1:14 he says: “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Without God, human wisdom is meaningless (2:14–16); labor (2:18–23); amassing things (2:26); life itself (3:18–22); competition (4:4); selfish overwork (4:7–8); power and authority (4:16); greed (5:10); wealth and accolades (6:1–2); and perfunctory religion (8:10–14). When Solomon says, “Everything is meaningless,” he did not mean that everything in the world has no value. Rather, his point is that all human efforts apart from God’s will are meaningless. Solomon had it all, and he had tried everything, but when he left God out of the equation, nothing satisfied him. That’s why Solomon ends his book this way: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

I hope you have grown by this brief look at Solomon. The Lord used him greatly, and it is sad to read those lines in chapter 11 that Solomon’s heart was turned away from God. But, we can see that little miss steps along the way lead to bigger miss steps. Spend some time with the Lord and ask Him to show you how you are miss stepping. Confess them and Repent (change your practices).  Seek is commands in Scripture and diligently obey them so we can remain steadfast in our fighting this battle for our King.

By His grace and for His glory,

-Shepherd

Soldiers for Jesus MC

*Special thanks to Pastor Jason Taylor for his gospel partnership and help with this week’s devotional.

Ecclesiastes 2

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

2:1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.¹ 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines,² the delight of the sons of man.

9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

The Vanity of Living Wisely

12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Toil

18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment³ in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him⁴ who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Footnotes

[1] 2:1 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verses 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26 (see note on 1:2)

[2] 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

[3] 2:24 Or and make his soul see good

[4] 2:25 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts apart from me

(ESV)

1 Kings 4

Solomon’s Officials

4:1 King Solomon was king over all Israel, 2 and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 4 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king’s friend; 6 Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

7 Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. 8 These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.

Solomon’s Wealth and Wisdom

20 Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. ¹ 21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates² to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors³ of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates⁴ from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. 25 And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. 26 Solomon also had 40,000⁵ stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Footnotes

[1] 4:20 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew

[2] 4:21 Hebrew the River

[3] 4:22 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters

[4] 4:24 Hebrew the River; twice in this verse

[5] 4:26 Hebrew; one Hebrew manuscript (see 2 Chronicles 9:25 and Septuagint of 1 Kings 10:26) 4,000

(ESV)