First Kings 22

God’s message to me: You cannot hide from God. Ahab knew that the enemy would seek to target the king so he disguised himself as a soldier and left Jehoshaphat to ride in the full splendor of the king of Judah. The Syrians went straight for Jehoshaphat but recognized, when they got close, that he was not the king they were targeting. Meanwhile, a random shot by a Syrian archer put an arrow in Ahab’s back. Propped up in his chariot, Ahab slowly bled to death over the course of the day. The prophecy was fulfilled when his chariot was washed out. The dogs licked up his blood.

Promises: God fulfills His promises and justice is served. Ahab humbled himself before God and God let the judgment for his sin fall after his death. This did not change the fact that his family was wiped out. It didn’t change his untimely demise and it didn’t change the curse that his remains would feed the dogs. His son took the throne and did all Ahab had done and worse. Ahab’s son Ahaziah only ruled two years because of his sin and the sin of his family and the families leading the nation into sin against God and worship of false gods.

Commands: This should be obvious by now. ‘I am the Lord thy God and Thou shalt have no other god’s before Me’

Timeless principles: Good advice is nothing but an annoyance to those unwilling to hear it. Ahab wanted to attack the Syrians. He had hundreds of the best prophets money could buy telling him God would be with him in the war. He didn’t want advice from a God fearing prophet because he knew it wouldn’t agree. When the prophet agreed with him he demanded to know if it was a lie. When the prophet confirmed the advice of the other prophets was a lie and that this war would lead to Ahab’s death, Ahab had him locked up and went to war anyway. Ahab died on the battlefield that day. Truth wins even if you don’t like it.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Worship God and do not be led to false worship of false god’s. (the loving god that would never judge people for their lifestyles and wouldn’t send someone to hell for petty sins like lying, is a false god you must not worship.)

more to learn for in-depth study: The chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah are historical references, not scripture. While they are referred to in this text, they are not necessary to understand what God wants us to learn. For those who are curious I would suggest contacting a messianic Jewish organization such as Zola Levitt Ministries. http://www.levitt.com/

tomorrow: Second Kings 1-3

First Kings 9-11

I fell behind again. Go figure

God’s message to me: It’s easy to lean on God when everything is going wrong and you feel you have no where else to turn. It’s also easy to forget where your loyalty should lie when everything is going right. When life is good and God’s blessings are overwhelming it is all the more important to remember Who provided your good life.

Promises: This portion describes all God did for Solomon. Solomon asked only for wisdom and because that is all he asked for he received wisdom greater than anyone before or since. He also received wealth and power as God had promised so that he was the richest and most powerful king in the world.

Commands: Do not turn from God. God had commanded that the Israelites not intermarry with the people of the surrounding nations and the nations that he was rejecting from the promised land because they would turn their hearts to false gods. Solomon took 700 wives and 300 concubines most of whom came from the nations they were not supposed to marry into.

To keep his wives happy he built temples and alters to the false gods they served and he worshiped those gods with them. This act against God resulted in the second half of God’s promise. The kingdom of Israel was divided after Solomon’s 40 year reign and those who David and his generals had put down were the ones who came back and took over the portion that was not under control of the house of David. For the sake of His promise to David and His promise to place his name in the temple Jerusalem and the territory it was in remained under control of David’s decedents.

Timeless principles: The greatest blessing can lead to the greatest fall. Solomon had it all, literally. He had more power, wealth and wisdom than anyone. He got to comfortable in it and turned from God who had given it to him. He sacrificed the future for the pleasures of today.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: “it’s not hurting anybody” is not an excuse. Doing the right thing is required even if the wrong thing doesn’t seem to do any harm. We answer to God in the end and He judges on whether we followed His law, not on whether others liked us, not on how successful we were and not on whether we did something that didn’t hurt anyone.

more to learn for in-depth study: The book of the acts of Solomon is yet another reference to a book that is not found in the bible. Many books of Jewish history are mentioned throughout scripture. They are not scripture but historical reference. Some can be found in the Talmud and other works of significance to the Jewish faith and might prove useful to historical interest. They should not; however, serve as a replacement to scriptures. The bible is the divinely inspired word of God and is meant to provide us with all we need to know in order to serve Him. While other books are of interest to learn of the times in which biblical events occurred they are merely historical reference and not religious guidance. The books of the Apocrypha found in the Catholic bible are such documents. The Rabbis who provided the original document later translated into our modern bibles specified that these books were not seen as or treated as scripture which is why the translators of bibles used by most of the protestant faiths did not include them. Following the tradition of separating scripture from reference they left these books out of the bible so that the bible would remain purely the word of God.

tomorrow: First Kings 12-13

Judges 1-3

God’s message to me: Finish the jobs God gives you. Don’t waste time with half an effort

Promises: If God gives you a job He gives you the ability to complete it.

Commands: There are tests before you. Follow God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. He will not look well on those who turn from Him. He will send salvation to those who ask for it.

Timeless principles: Peer pressure is the fastest way to trouble. Stay away from those who will not give themselves to God. Christ would often have dinner with sinners and spend a little time teaching them and encouraging them to turn to God. He never made a habit of hanging out with those who would not accept God. Neither should you.

By allowing some of the people in the promised land to remain the Israelites left themselves open to temptations and danger. The peer pressure from these enemy kingdoms led many in Israel to sin and turn to worshiping false Gods like their neighbors. They had married these foreigners and given their daughters in marriage to them. It wasn’t just a neighbor doing wrong, the Israelites had made these people a part of their lives and adopted their ways instead of following God’s ways.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Ignore the modern thinking of modernizing the church. Many have said that the church needs to change with the times and update it’s thinking on things like sex, homosexuality, reproduction, abortion, etc. Remember that these are not new things. These issues were a problem all the way back to the first five books of the bible. God didn’t change His thinking then and He won’t now. The people who insist on us changing to fit their views are NO DIFFERENT from the Canaanites that led Israel into worshiping false Gods. They must be ignored and we must follow GOD’S WAY.

more to learn for in-depth study: This passage begins with the list of those kingdoms the Israelites didn’t destroy. It wasn’t that they couldn’t it was that they didn’t. They made excuses(their chariots are iron, they refused to leave, they persist) and didn’t finish the job. In other words, they were lazy. They took the easy fights and ignored the difficult ones. God would have been with them in every fight but, because they refused to finish the job God left the others in the land to test them. They were there to offer false worship(which the Israelites did), to take the Israelites captive as punishment for their acts against God(which happened on a regular basis), and they were defeated only slowly and in small groups so that the Israelites would have them there as a test but God still got to eventually run the Canaanites out of the land for their transgression.

The third chapter begins the time of Judges. The Israelites would turn to false worship, God would punish them by letting a neighbor take them captive, they would cry for God’s help, God would send a Judge to lead them to victory. While the Judge was in charge Israel would normally continue following God, remembering their recent victory through Him. After the Judge died and memory faded they would turn back to false gods and the process would repeat itself.

tomorrow: Judges 4-6

Joshua 22-24

God’s message to me: Never forget God whom you serve. Never forget His other servants. Never forget to stand with those who stand with God. Never place yourself above others who serve God. Never stand against those who serve God. Never, Ever, ever forget God’s chosen people Israel. There is no replacement of the covenant with Israel. We are grafted into the family of God and joint heirs with the family of Abraham but, we have not replaced them. They are our brother. They were born to the family, we are adopted. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, pray for the strength of Israel.

Promises: God will give you the desires of your heart, He will give you ease, rest, wealth, health, supply and comfort and all the rest. He will clear your enemies from before you and give you the power to strike such fear in them that one of you can chase 1,000 of them, so long as you serve and love Him. Turn from the path of faith, serve false gods and betray your faith in Jehovah, and He can swiftly bring on you the destruction He brought on those who refused Him and stood against you in the past.

Commands: Choose today, whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Timeless principles: In times of ease, it is easy to forget the Powerful Hand of God which brought you through the times of turmoil. It’s convenient to adapt to what is around you and easy to fall into false worship. It’s easy to forget worship altogether. It’s easy to forget God’s commands and look to enrich yourself at the expense of your tithes, offerings, and following the moral behaviors God set down for you. That is when God will punish your actions and bring you to misery in order to refocus your attention on the One who can bring you out of trouble.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: The world is filled with tempting ideas. Tendrils of false religion pretending to be acceptable within the true faith. Astrology, yoga, transcendental meditation, “biblical evolution” and so many more. Make no mistake, these are false religions serving false gods. An image you set up in your mind of a god that does not match the God of the bible is a false god and graven image. The loving god incapable of dooming anyone to hell is a false god. The god who uses evolution to accomplish his goals instead of simply speaking things into existence is a false god. Recognize and reject false gods and false religions. Choose to follow I AM unequivocally, and do not turn from that path. Do not turn your worship to any false methods that are not in keeping with what is commanded in the bible.

more to learn for in-depth study: These passages start by describing the events following the wars to conquer the promised land. The Tribes which had land on the other side of the Jordan River were given leave to return to their homes after the land had been conquered for the other tribes. They built an alter to be a reminder that they were indeed part of the tribes of Israel and followers of Jehovah just as their brethren in the promised land were.

The next portion is a description of the events around 25 years later just before Joshua dies. He reminds the Israelites that they serve a jealous God. Those who choose to serve God and then turn away to follow false gods can expect swift revenge from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israelite history starts with the father of Abraham in the land on the other side of the Euphrates. There the serving of false God’s was common. Abraham was brought into the promised land and traveled through out it as did his son Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob’s brother was given the mountain lands which is now Edom while Jacob, then called Israel, moved his family to Egypt. where other false gods were served. God brought them out of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the promised land where He fought for them and overcame the enemies in the land so they could inherit it. He drove out the others because they followed false gods, and some still dwelt in the land that followed false gods. Jacob warned the Israelites to choose to follow the One, True God, Jehovah or be brought down by Him for disobedience.

Finally, the passage reminds us that the bones of Joseph were brought out of Egypt with the Israelites. They are finally buried in the tomb of the patriarchs which Abraham purchased in the land to bury His wife and later became the burial place for Himself, Isaac, Isaac’s wife, Jacob’s wife and Jacob himself in a funeral attended by the royal guard of Egypt. Joseph made the Israelites promise to bury him there as well when the time came that God brought them out to inherit the land He had promised them.

tomorrow: Judges 1-3

Deuteronomy 10-13

God’s message to me: Certain religious traditions, many of them Christian, have, in the past, made a habit of incorporating the practices of other religions and cultures into their own system to reach others and out of a desire to improve their own worship. While the Goals are lofty the method is all wrong.

God isn’t honored by worship in the style of false religions no matter how beautiful or uplifting their ceremonies may be. These religions were abominations to Him before and their practices are still abominations now, even if they are done in His name.

Promises: God provides us the good of the land and does not hold it back. Eating meat wasn’t just a religious practice reserved for temples, wild game and cattle slaughtered for meat but not for sacrifice could be killed, butchered and eaten at home.

Commands: Do not do anything which follows after false Gods. Here is a command opposite of what we do and think. When conquering the enemy, destroy all temples, religious art, religious artifacts, religious icons and writings, worship sites, alters and anything else having to do with the false religion. Do not adopt their practices no matter how good they seem. Do not use their religious sites no matter how beautiful they are. Do not salvage their artifacts and paraphernalia no matter how nice or valuable it seems to be. I’ve said it before, the Taliban made us all look bad when they had the guts to destroy the giant Buddahs in the mountain on their land. The followed their religion and, despite the fact that our religion teaches the same thing, we condemned them for it.

Timeless principles: Why do we go to church? That question could develop a lot of study and detail but the basics start here. God set aside places which where to his name where people could go to worship and bring sacrifices. The Tabernacle and the local temples of the tribes were the proper place for the religious practices. Religious ceremonies like sacrifices that were held elsewhere were considered worship to false Gods, with only rare exceptions(e.g. Passover). As we see in the teachings of the New Testament, He caused His people to gather at certain locations to ensure what God calls “the fellowship of the saints”.

Having a place of gathering causes believers to come together for mutual strengthening rather than living apart and unconnected. The Way of God is not a solitary path but one of community. Each member of the church has certain abilities, talents and gifts to bring to the table and only together can they be effective. No one has all the abilities within themselves and that is because God wants us to work together.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Signs and wonders cannot replace knowledge of the bible. Chapter 13 describes clearly the idea of being told to do something you shouldn’t. God never contradicts Himself. Let’s create an example based on the chapter.

Pastor Christian Pilgrim of Christian Heritage Ministries has a Television ministry that has become a worldwide phenomenon. In two years he went from a local congregation of 50 members to a world wide TV ministry to over 1.5 billion viewers and has safely secured TV ratings better than any other Sunday broadcast. Reverend Pilgrim comes on the air on the first Sunday in January and says that he has received the world of the Lord. He says that God told him everyone who truly loves God and wishes to go to heaven should purchase a small statue of Jesus from his ministry for $1 and pray to that from now on. He also says that they should not do so now. Instead, he says that God will provide proof that what he says is true. He says that God has promised a great wonder, to prove Himself and that on the first Saturday in February it will snow in Tahiti. If the sign does not come then he is false.

Just under a month later, for no reason anyone can explain, the tourists in Tahiti wake up to find the temperature has dropped to 30 degrees Fahrenheit and there is 3 inches of snow on the beaches. The next morning the preacher demands everyone recognize God’s sign and worship the statuettes of Jesus.

God forbade us to make statues of Him or to Him. He would not let the Israelites see anything but a pillar of cloud or fire so that they would have nothing to make statues or images of. God commanded us to never worship any such image. Given the sign of the snow compared against the Word of God, how would you worship? Deuteronomy 13:3-4 should give you your answer.

more to learn for in-depth study: Isn’t it harsh to say, Kill the false prophet? Consider this. for the past year you have been hounded by a local hoodlum. He hasn’t much power and his gang is of about 8 people but he has become a criminal mastermind in that he never seems to get charged, let alone arrested for his crimes. You see him, on average, twice a month. You don’t intend to but, it’s impossible to avoid him completely in the small city in which you live. Every time he sees you he tries to kill you. What do you do?

The false prophet is trying to lead you from the path of life eternal in Jesus Christ and in the presence of Almighty God to the eternal death and damnation of separation from God and eternal torment in the lake of fire. Left to his own devices, Rev. Pilgrim will do whatever it takes to keep his place of power and wealth and lead much of the world to Hell. Would you preserve the life of someone who wiped out 1/6 of the worlds population? What about someone who led 3,000,000 to the gas chambers, that’s about 10% of the US Population. 37,000 people is about .01 percent of the population of the United States. Is it reasonable to assume that atheists have led 1/100 of one percent of the population to hell? What would you want to see happen to someone who killed the entire population of Minot, ND as an act of terrorism. The population of Minot is less than 37,000 according to the 2000 census.

tomorrow: Deuteronomy 14-17

For the record, I'm feeling a lot better today and hope to finish these studies for you by the end of the day so that we are caught up for the week and continue in the morning from where you should already be.

Leviticus chapter 15-17

My sincere apologies. It’s been a rather hectic couple of days so I will catch up here and now before I go to bed.

God’s message to me: It does no good to do all the things a Christian is supposed to do and then, when your away from the church, go back to acting like one who doesn’t know God.

Promises: God promises to turn against those who worship the false gods and who eat blood and involve themselves in the other pagan rituals that glorify false gods and insult The God who created them.

Commands: God has a time and place for things. Aaron’s sons rushed out to offer incense when they weren’t supposed to. In their zeal to act on behalf of the priesthood they ignored God’s timing and died. It is good to serve God and better to desire to serve Him but to do so in a way that isn’t His is to trivialize the act. God called us to teach and to baptize but running around and randomly dunking people in His name is insulting to Him and to everyone who truly desires to know His will.

Timeless principles: Oprah Winfrey did a show about charity work. In one episode a man was sent out to help a family at their home. He saw the garage needed cleaning and he cleaned it. He saw some odd jobs that needed done and did them. What he didn’t do, was ask them what they needed. Because of that, he missed the opportunity to help them with things they truly needed outside help to get done. He lost the task. That is what it’s like to serve God inappropriately. Doing a good thing, in the right spirit does not make it the right thing at the time.

Churches can often be overwhelmed by people volunteering for little projects in their favorite areas but still find themselves unable to find people who will do the things that really need to be done. Volunteering to clean the bathrooms is a wonderful thing but if there are several people willing to do that and none willing to help teach Sunday school to elementary school aged children the church is in trouble. I have known pastors who would gladly spend the week scrubbing the church if someone could take a class of school-age children for lessons while the sermon is being given.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Pray, search God’s word for direction, seek His will for your life and ask where you can be useful. God doesn’t pick the perfect person for the job. God make the willing person perfect for the job.

more to learn for in-depth study: Chapter 15 can be seen as strange to modern eyes but followed simple and reasonable treatment of bio hazards. The fact is that responsible handling of bodily fluids, particularly when they are associated with potential illness is something we could learn from. The biggest fear of anti-terrorist agents is the bio-weapon. Drop a couple of suicidal terrorists, infected with a deadly virus into a couple of our major population centers to mix and mingle and we could see hundred to thousands dead, ten times that sick and the country shut down. How many people do you know who go to work when their feeling a little ill because there are to many problems associated with staying home?

As for the sacrifices, I refer you back to God’s promise of health to the Israelites for following His commands. I should also note that sacrifices were not involved in the issues natural to marriage but I’m sure that’s one situation where most parties would be glad to call themselves unclean for a day.

tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 18-20

Exodus chapters 19-21

God’s message to me: God created all law, both criminal and civil, understanding His law makes other laws understood and give you a basis to judge those laws for their good or evil.

Promises: Honoring your father and mother brings the blessing of long life.

Commands: 10 Big Ones

1) You shall have no other gods before me
2) You shall make no carved image to bow down to
3) You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
4) Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
5) Honor your father and mother
6) You shall not commit murder
7) You shall not commit adultery
8) You shall not steal
9) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
10) You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor’s
There is more, I put it in the in-depth study

Timeless principles: Everyone claims to want God to speak to them. When they do hear Him they fear Him. Most will prefer to have someone else pass His message to them because they can’t handle hearing them themselves. The fact is, it’s a lot easier to ignore the message from a man without fear. When you hear it directly from God the penalty for ignoring it becomes all to clear. People can’t handle the that idea. That’s why they go to church on Sunday morning then let their bible collect dust all week. It’s easy to forget what the preacher said when your out doing things you shouldn’t. Ignoring God is much harder. Preachers might misinterpret, they might be overzealous, they might be just plain wrong. When you hear it directly from God you are (as a friend wrote on his blog) without excuse.

more to learn for in-depth stdy: Guod neither needs nor desires any icons. In fact He commands us not to make any image to be with him. He went so far as to command that the alter of sacrifice be made of dirt and not carved ornately. Any stone alter was to be made of uncut stone with no engraving. nothing was to be made ornate or symbolic for worship because of the potential of making the symbol more important than God. This problem continues today as great works of architecture and art are created with the goal of Honoring God and end up being admired and worshiped above God. How many times have you heard about people praying to a statue or image because it appeared at random or the statue cried. The second commandment condemns this.

Slavery was a 6 year term at best. On the seventh year the slave was freed unless he chose to stay . if he chose to stay he was, essentially, part of the family. A man selling his daughter did so as a bride. if the purchasing man did not take her as wife he had to give her back and had no right to sell her to anyone but her family. If he took her for his son then they followed tradition. She might go to another son and if she had no opportunity to raise up an heir with one of the boys then she would live as if she had been widowed. Multiple wives was common enough in those days but all the wives had to be treated equally. Fail to treat your earlier wife as well as before and she had the right to leave. No payment, no divorce no nothing, just split because you treated her unfairly.

Homicide is Homicide. Kill a man and you will be killed. The death penalty dates back to Cain and Able, though God gave Cain a reprieve. If it wasn’t a planned ambush you might find appeal in a city of refuge but, if premeditation is proven, the appeal is lost and you get killed. Kill your servant/slave. You’re still facing punishment. Cause a miscarriage or premature birth ending in the death of the child, you get put to death.

Honor they father an mother goes farther here. Curse or Hit your mom or dad and you face the death penalty.

Civil penalties are covered. If you hurt but don’t kill you owe the man for lost time when he recovers.

Cause a premature birth but don’t kill the baby. The husband gets to decide your punishment in addition to the judge fining you. If the baby is harmed but not killed, the eye for an eye principle. Any harm done to the baby will be done to you.

Mess with a bull and you get the horns but, the bull gets stoned to death. if the bull was in the habit of attacking and the owner didn’t try to keep it secured then the owner can get the death penalty. He may avoid the death penalty by paying a redemption. Whatever amount is ordered, that is what he pays or else he dies. Slaves can be redeemed for 30 shekels of silver.

If you dig a hole and don’t protect it you are liable for the cost of animals that fall in it. If Your bull kills another animal you split the money for the live bull and split the remains of the dead animal. If you didn’t restrain a bull known to attack then, you must replace the dead animal.

Reading assignment: Exodus chapters 22-24
Since I forgot to mention it yesterday, look at Exodus 17:14. As you can see God commanded Moses to put things in writing even before He wrote the 10 commandments. Oral tradition is not the only history the Israelites had.