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God’s message to me: God has a purpose, plan and place for me. While the genealogies may seem pointless and refer to people we don’t even know, they show the plan that brought great things. While the you may need to check center column references you will see many names you have heard before. Some people were known by other names and, translation sometimes resulted in different spellings over time but, the references can show you the name you are familiar with. You’ll see the line of king Saul, the line of the priests. The line of later kings and other lines to important figures, even prophets.
Promises: God planned things long before we got here. You can see through these genealogies the path that brought high priests and kings into power and provided a place for the prophets. You can see how that plan was developed over generations and began to take shape decades or even centuries before the major players were born.
Commands: Another command for Israel. Take a census every ten years. The US Constitution provides for a census every 10 years based on that command. For us it is a simple count of the population to establish political districts. In Israel it was an exercise in Genealogy. Keep in mind that these were not separate family trees. These are all part of the same family tree going back to Jacob (Israel) for the family of Israel and beyond to Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Esau and others because they are cousins to the brothers of Israel. The relationship of Israel towards Edom and the Ishmaelite was determined by their familial relationship. God commanded Israel not to harass them because they were brothers. Edom and the Ishmaelite weren’t quite as good about recognizing that reason for peace which led to conflict and eventual destruction for them as we will see.
Timeless principles: No matter how much we try to stand out as individuals, our heritage will always be a factor in our lives. Whether we are descended from royalty or rug makers, Whether our families were rich or coal miners, we are a product of our background. Family ties are generally the strongest and determine how we interact with others. Even if we don’t like our family we are stuck with them and the influence us.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: The genealogies become more interesting as we realize how they effected who was king and how different kings were influenced by family loyalties. We’ve seen the line of kings in Israel (Samaria) and Judah (Jerusalem), these genealogies make it easier to understand the family ties that caused people to chose different kings.
more to learn for in-depth study: As the genealogies bring us up to date on where the major players came from we approach the details of stories we already heard. King Saul is the first person we see in the next section and we will flesh out details for a great many more.
tomorrow: First Chronicles 10-12
Showing posts with label kings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kings. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Second Kings 12-15
God’s message to me: God will tolerate wrong for only as long as necessary. He promise Jehu that his sons would sit on the throne to the 4th generation. Jehu and each generation after him, continued to lead the people in idolatry and Jehu’s great -great-grandson(the fourth generation) held the throne 6 months be fore being killed in a coup.
Promises: God’s covenant stands through all time. His blood covenant to keep Israel forever has never been taken back. Despite the sins of the Israelites, God never allowed the oppression they suffered as punishment to destroy them. God always preserved a remnant to keep his promise.
Commands: Follow God or suffer the consequences. Continued idolatry led to the nation of Israel losing more cities and territories to neighboring Syria and Assyria. Eventually, the failure to fully remove false worship in Judah led to similar attacks against them by neighbors including Israel.
Timeless principles: It’s hard to overcome momentum. While Judah, routinely, went through purges of false religion, the “high places” remained from the time of Solomon to the time of this passage and beyond. Many of the false religions sought to gain a closer relation ship with the gods by sacrificing, burning incense and worshiping at the highest point available. Natural high points, like hills and mountains were enhanced by building mounds to reach higher, places that lacked high points would add towers to large structures. The idea went back to the tower of Babel which was meant to be the ultimate high place.
People had a tendency to adapt these places to worshiping God. Tradition told them to go to a high place in order to be close to god so they felt that the high place brought them closer to God, the Father. Of course, it also left an opening for those who continued to practice false religions as well. After so many years of doing it momentum carried them along the same path even when they were trying to do right.
Christians today are no different. A large part of the mistakes made in modern churches come from momentum and adapting “good parts” of false worship to true worship. This has led to political correctness, acceptance of things the bible calls sin, protests against practices the bible endorses, and even the idea of biblical evolution. They are wrong but, they creep in and get accepted because people do not want to stand up for the word of God. They think if they attack what is wrong and preach what is right they will offend someone and cause them to leave the church.
Here’s a basic principle. If the truth causes someone to lose faith and leave God then they never had Him in the first place. The truth can be a jarring thing. Consider how many new Christians you know that would be offended by the passages we have been reading if they heard them and believed them. This is the reason they are so eager to see the bible as allegorical and inaccurate. It allows them to dismiss the parts they find offensive. If they cannot reconcile with God over the parts they don’t like then they are not His servants. You need to begin again to teach them the truth until God can help them accept it.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: When God gives you a task do it thoroughly. Even if it is silly, symbolic or hard to understand. Jeroboam was told to strike the ground with a bundle of arrows when he was told to strike Syria and destroy them. He struck the ground 3 times and Elisha told him that he would only strike Syria 3 times and not destroy them. I can’t say I would have done differently under the circumstances but, given what I learned here, I wouldn’t stop hitting the ground until I was told to. The order came from God and so the task was from God.
more to learn for in-depth study: Here is a quick rundown of several kings. The passage just touches on some highlights from each administration with emphasis on the kings relationship to God and the results of that relationship. They say “the good die young”. I have to say that the bible shows they get long lives and long administrations while the evil ones get proportionally shorter amounts of time to cause damage. Having studied the gunfighters of the Old West the same seemed to hold true there. Without wasting to much time on details, the ones who sold their skill for a fast buck and personal gratification at the expense of the innocent never lasted 20 years. From the day of their first gunfight to their death was always under the 20 year mark and often much less. A few, who served others and made their reputations as peace officers or helped peace officers, not only lived much longer but died peacefully.
Jehoash and the high priest establish the offering box in this portion. The priests had been ordered to bring all the offerings, that the law did not specifically grant to them, to the temple to be used for construction and repair. When they didn’t do it the box was established so that all offerings brought to the temple that were not, by law, dedicated to the priests, would be collected and used to fund the repair of the neglected Temple of God.
The year count seems to get more out of sync the farther we get from David and Solomon but that was not unexpected. These accounts were pieced together after the fact from multiple sources and dates could be a bit mangles since years are measured but not months. In these circumstances, 23 months would count as 2 years but so would 14, since portions of 2 years were involved. Worse yet, if a six month period included the new year it might be marked as 2 years or compare to 2 years in the other kingdom.(king 1 rules six months king 2 rules 12 years. King 2 took the throne at the same time as king 1 and king one died in the second year that he was on the throne. You see how, after several generation, this gets the time line skewed over 2 kingdoms) This lines are repeated elsewhere with more details so, for those keeping track of the time line like I am, you will find details later to make them more accurate. The coup of Shallum over Zachariah in Israel is a perfect example. Zechariah took the throne in the 38th year of Azariah’s reign and was replaced in the 39th year of his reign but he only held the throne for 6 months.
Case Study: Meneham was a strong king whose government was quite effective in it’s goals. He executed the king and took over. Then he attacked a revolting city and brutally murdered all pregnant women. He continued to lead the Israelites in Idolatry. When the king of Assyria came to attack Israel, Meneham hired taxed the rich and gave the money to the Assyrians as a bribe so that they would work with him to force the Israelites to serve him then leave. This evil ruler held the country in an iron grip through his reign and his son’s reign until the coup that killed his son.
tomorrow: Second Kings 16-17
Promises: God’s covenant stands through all time. His blood covenant to keep Israel forever has never been taken back. Despite the sins of the Israelites, God never allowed the oppression they suffered as punishment to destroy them. God always preserved a remnant to keep his promise.
Commands: Follow God or suffer the consequences. Continued idolatry led to the nation of Israel losing more cities and territories to neighboring Syria and Assyria. Eventually, the failure to fully remove false worship in Judah led to similar attacks against them by neighbors including Israel.
Timeless principles: It’s hard to overcome momentum. While Judah, routinely, went through purges of false religion, the “high places” remained from the time of Solomon to the time of this passage and beyond. Many of the false religions sought to gain a closer relation ship with the gods by sacrificing, burning incense and worshiping at the highest point available. Natural high points, like hills and mountains were enhanced by building mounds to reach higher, places that lacked high points would add towers to large structures. The idea went back to the tower of Babel which was meant to be the ultimate high place.
People had a tendency to adapt these places to worshiping God. Tradition told them to go to a high place in order to be close to god so they felt that the high place brought them closer to God, the Father. Of course, it also left an opening for those who continued to practice false religions as well. After so many years of doing it momentum carried them along the same path even when they were trying to do right.
Christians today are no different. A large part of the mistakes made in modern churches come from momentum and adapting “good parts” of false worship to true worship. This has led to political correctness, acceptance of things the bible calls sin, protests against practices the bible endorses, and even the idea of biblical evolution. They are wrong but, they creep in and get accepted because people do not want to stand up for the word of God. They think if they attack what is wrong and preach what is right they will offend someone and cause them to leave the church.
Here’s a basic principle. If the truth causes someone to lose faith and leave God then they never had Him in the first place. The truth can be a jarring thing. Consider how many new Christians you know that would be offended by the passages we have been reading if they heard them and believed them. This is the reason they are so eager to see the bible as allegorical and inaccurate. It allows them to dismiss the parts they find offensive. If they cannot reconcile with God over the parts they don’t like then they are not His servants. You need to begin again to teach them the truth until God can help them accept it.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: When God gives you a task do it thoroughly. Even if it is silly, symbolic or hard to understand. Jeroboam was told to strike the ground with a bundle of arrows when he was told to strike Syria and destroy them. He struck the ground 3 times and Elisha told him that he would only strike Syria 3 times and not destroy them. I can’t say I would have done differently under the circumstances but, given what I learned here, I wouldn’t stop hitting the ground until I was told to. The order came from God and so the task was from God.
more to learn for in-depth study: Here is a quick rundown of several kings. The passage just touches on some highlights from each administration with emphasis on the kings relationship to God and the results of that relationship. They say “the good die young”. I have to say that the bible shows they get long lives and long administrations while the evil ones get proportionally shorter amounts of time to cause damage. Having studied the gunfighters of the Old West the same seemed to hold true there. Without wasting to much time on details, the ones who sold their skill for a fast buck and personal gratification at the expense of the innocent never lasted 20 years. From the day of their first gunfight to their death was always under the 20 year mark and often much less. A few, who served others and made their reputations as peace officers or helped peace officers, not only lived much longer but died peacefully.
Jehoash and the high priest establish the offering box in this portion. The priests had been ordered to bring all the offerings, that the law did not specifically grant to them, to the temple to be used for construction and repair. When they didn’t do it the box was established so that all offerings brought to the temple that were not, by law, dedicated to the priests, would be collected and used to fund the repair of the neglected Temple of God.
The year count seems to get more out of sync the farther we get from David and Solomon but that was not unexpected. These accounts were pieced together after the fact from multiple sources and dates could be a bit mangles since years are measured but not months. In these circumstances, 23 months would count as 2 years but so would 14, since portions of 2 years were involved. Worse yet, if a six month period included the new year it might be marked as 2 years or compare to 2 years in the other kingdom.(king 1 rules six months king 2 rules 12 years. King 2 took the throne at the same time as king 1 and king one died in the second year that he was on the throne. You see how, after several generation, this gets the time line skewed over 2 kingdoms) This lines are repeated elsewhere with more details so, for those keeping track of the time line like I am, you will find details later to make them more accurate. The coup of Shallum over Zachariah in Israel is a perfect example. Zechariah took the throne in the 38th year of Azariah’s reign and was replaced in the 39th year of his reign but he only held the throne for 6 months.
Case Study: Meneham was a strong king whose government was quite effective in it’s goals. He executed the king and took over. Then he attacked a revolting city and brutally murdered all pregnant women. He continued to lead the Israelites in Idolatry. When the king of Assyria came to attack Israel, Meneham hired taxed the rich and gave the money to the Assyrians as a bribe so that they would work with him to force the Israelites to serve him then leave. This evil ruler held the country in an iron grip through his reign and his son’s reign until the coup that killed his son.
tomorrow: Second Kings 16-17
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
First Samuel 12-14
God’s message to me: Be certain that your brain is in gear before you engage your mouth. Think before you speak. Saul demanded that no one eat until he had revenge and he made everyone swear to it. His son didn’t know about the oath and he ate. Obviously he couldn’t take an oath he didn’t know about but, then he led those around him into sin by telling them they should eat. Famished after a long day of fighting without eating, the army took it’s first opportunity to kill and eat animals plundered from the enemy. They didn’t drain the blood or cook the meat and sinned against God by eating the blood.
Saul insisted on continuing the attack through the night but, when he was reminded to ask God’s council, he was given no answer from God. He drew lots to see if the sin blocking communication came from the army or from him and his son and the lot fell on him and his son. Jonathan told him about eating the honey and, true to his word he decided to execute his son. The army prevented him because it was Jonathan’s initial attack that put the enemy on the run.
Saul stopped people from eating when his army needed the energy to fight. Jonathan ate the honey and told the soldiers around him his father’s command was stupid and should be ignored. The army of Israel ate blood. Saul pursued battle well beyond reasonable limits for his army. Saul rashly called for the death of whoever countermanded him. The sins of this day were universally sins of impatience and unthinking reaction. People acted and spoke without considering consequences.
Promises: When God’s people move wholeheartedly to gain what God has promised he will not fail to give it to them. The surrounding people of Canaan had oppressed Israel for generations because they had not pursued the destruction of these enemies when God told them to. Saul led the army of Israel to beat back these enemies, knowing that he was made king to lead Israel in defeating oppression. God was with the army and Israel defeated it’s enemies on all sides in battle. So long as Saul continued to follow God’s command and wipe out the enemies of Israel they did not fail in battle.
Commands: Be patient. Do not take on yourself the duties that don’t belong to you. DON’T ASSUME. DON’T PRESUME. Saul waited for Samuel but when Samuel was late he decided to make a sacrifice to God without him. This was not his place, duty, privilege or station. It was no better than offering to a false god because the sacrifice was made outside the bounds of God’s law.
You see this mirrored in the first episode of KINGS. The king is ready to begin the ceremony celebrating the beginning of his new capitol city and Rev Samuels is late arriving. The king decides that his son should make the opening prayers so that they don’t keep the people waiting. Rev Samuels tells him the same thing Samuel told Saul. You and your family could have been rulers forever but, you did wrong in God’s eyes and he has replaced you. God has chosen someone who is after His own heart to lead his people and replace you as commander of His people.
Timeless principles: “I gotta do something even if it’s wrong.” I hear this line a lot and it’s as stupid as it sounds. Don’t just do something, STAND THERE. Acting without patience or thinking and doing things you shouldn’t do just because you think they need done will do nothing but make your life worse. God has His own timing and His own choice for who will accomplish what. Jumping the gun out of impatience just means your interfering with God’s plan and that doesn't work. No one can change God’s plan or step outside it. Doing things that are outside the plan will not interfere with it those things will simply fail. Often they will fail dramatically and with dire effects on the person who chose his own timing over God’s.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Wait On GOD. “Be still and know that I am God.” This isn’t just comforting words it’s a command. When things seem off the rails and you think you have to go outside the boundaries to fix them, it’s time to stop and pray. If God wants you to do something it will be clear what to do. If not then you need to stop, remember that the one in charge created everything you know in 7 days, nothing you can do is going to rearrange His plan and, no matter how much you worry, it won’t change anything. “What man among you can, by worrying, add one cubit to his height.” Stop trying to help God. He is there to help you. You are there to obey Him. He has the power, you have only the ability He gives you.
more to learn for in-depth study: In the dawn of the age of kings, Samuel reminds the Israelites of their history.
When the Israelites were oppressed in Egypt God raised up Moses and Aaron to lead them to the promised land. When they forgot the Lord, He gave them into the hand of Sisera, commander of Hazor’s army, the Philistines, and the King of Moab. When they cried out for forgiveness of their idolatry and asked God’s help he sent Jerubaal(Gideon), Bedan, Jephthah and Samuel to deliver them from oppression.
When the king of the Ammonites came the Israelites said “No, but a king shall reign over us”, but the Lord God was their King. This demand for a human king was an affront to God but, he appointed a king to rule the Israelites. He chose Saul. Like Gideon he came from the least of the tribes to the highest position. Saul was easily noticed as he was head and shoulders taller than all the other Israelites. His bearing and good looks made it easy to see him as king. Saul, on the other hand, took a while to get used to the idea. Once appointed king, he went home to plow the family farm.
God warned that the people and the king must continue to follow the commands of God or be given over to oppression again as in the past until they learned to turn back to the Lord.
The first and primary purpose of government is defense. Israel had always had it’s militia. Every man of fighting age, who wasn’t afraid, recently married, recently purchased land, etc. was expected to go to war to defend the land when called. Saul fulfilled God’s warning by drafting 3,000 Israelites into a standing army that was established outside of war time. 2,000 were garrisoned with Him and 1,000 with his son.
tomorrow: First Samuel 15-16
Saul insisted on continuing the attack through the night but, when he was reminded to ask God’s council, he was given no answer from God. He drew lots to see if the sin blocking communication came from the army or from him and his son and the lot fell on him and his son. Jonathan told him about eating the honey and, true to his word he decided to execute his son. The army prevented him because it was Jonathan’s initial attack that put the enemy on the run.
Saul stopped people from eating when his army needed the energy to fight. Jonathan ate the honey and told the soldiers around him his father’s command was stupid and should be ignored. The army of Israel ate blood. Saul pursued battle well beyond reasonable limits for his army. Saul rashly called for the death of whoever countermanded him. The sins of this day were universally sins of impatience and unthinking reaction. People acted and spoke without considering consequences.
Promises: When God’s people move wholeheartedly to gain what God has promised he will not fail to give it to them. The surrounding people of Canaan had oppressed Israel for generations because they had not pursued the destruction of these enemies when God told them to. Saul led the army of Israel to beat back these enemies, knowing that he was made king to lead Israel in defeating oppression. God was with the army and Israel defeated it’s enemies on all sides in battle. So long as Saul continued to follow God’s command and wipe out the enemies of Israel they did not fail in battle.
Commands: Be patient. Do not take on yourself the duties that don’t belong to you. DON’T ASSUME. DON’T PRESUME. Saul waited for Samuel but when Samuel was late he decided to make a sacrifice to God without him. This was not his place, duty, privilege or station. It was no better than offering to a false god because the sacrifice was made outside the bounds of God’s law.
You see this mirrored in the first episode of KINGS. The king is ready to begin the ceremony celebrating the beginning of his new capitol city and Rev Samuels is late arriving. The king decides that his son should make the opening prayers so that they don’t keep the people waiting. Rev Samuels tells him the same thing Samuel told Saul. You and your family could have been rulers forever but, you did wrong in God’s eyes and he has replaced you. God has chosen someone who is after His own heart to lead his people and replace you as commander of His people.
Timeless principles: “I gotta do something even if it’s wrong.” I hear this line a lot and it’s as stupid as it sounds. Don’t just do something, STAND THERE. Acting without patience or thinking and doing things you shouldn’t do just because you think they need done will do nothing but make your life worse. God has His own timing and His own choice for who will accomplish what. Jumping the gun out of impatience just means your interfering with God’s plan and that doesn't work. No one can change God’s plan or step outside it. Doing things that are outside the plan will not interfere with it those things will simply fail. Often they will fail dramatically and with dire effects on the person who chose his own timing over God’s.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Wait On GOD. “Be still and know that I am God.” This isn’t just comforting words it’s a command. When things seem off the rails and you think you have to go outside the boundaries to fix them, it’s time to stop and pray. If God wants you to do something it will be clear what to do. If not then you need to stop, remember that the one in charge created everything you know in 7 days, nothing you can do is going to rearrange His plan and, no matter how much you worry, it won’t change anything. “What man among you can, by worrying, add one cubit to his height.” Stop trying to help God. He is there to help you. You are there to obey Him. He has the power, you have only the ability He gives you.
more to learn for in-depth study: In the dawn of the age of kings, Samuel reminds the Israelites of their history.
When the Israelites were oppressed in Egypt God raised up Moses and Aaron to lead them to the promised land. When they forgot the Lord, He gave them into the hand of Sisera, commander of Hazor’s army, the Philistines, and the King of Moab. When they cried out for forgiveness of their idolatry and asked God’s help he sent Jerubaal(Gideon), Bedan, Jephthah and Samuel to deliver them from oppression.
When the king of the Ammonites came the Israelites said “No, but a king shall reign over us”, but the Lord God was their King. This demand for a human king was an affront to God but, he appointed a king to rule the Israelites. He chose Saul. Like Gideon he came from the least of the tribes to the highest position. Saul was easily noticed as he was head and shoulders taller than all the other Israelites. His bearing and good looks made it easy to see him as king. Saul, on the other hand, took a while to get used to the idea. Once appointed king, he went home to plow the family farm.
God warned that the people and the king must continue to follow the commands of God or be given over to oppression again as in the past until they learned to turn back to the Lord.
The first and primary purpose of government is defense. Israel had always had it’s militia. Every man of fighting age, who wasn’t afraid, recently married, recently purchased land, etc. was expected to go to war to defend the land when called. Saul fulfilled God’s warning by drafting 3,000 Israelites into a standing army that was established outside of war time. 2,000 were garrisoned with Him and 1,000 with his son.
tomorrow: First Samuel 15-16
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