1 Kings 7
One fascinating thing that I noticed today was something I hadn’t thought about before which was how in Exodus the tabernacle furnishings were done entirely by Jews enabled by the Holy Spirit (Bezalel and Oholiab) and how here in Kings Solomon used Hiram (in Chronicles he’s also called Huram) a half Gentile whose father was from Tyre here.
An interesting thought is could the emphasis in the design of Solomon’s Temple being more imperial and regal reflecting his own dwelling house versus the simplicity of the original Tabernacle (back in Exodus), which was designed and built empowered by the Holy Spirit?
Interestingly I didn’t see any reference here in the text to the Spirits enabling the worker (Hiram) like we see in Exodos 31. It’s not perhaps a major point to make, but it’s possibly signalling the dangers of spiritual drift and an early indicator that things were shifting in Solomons kingdom towards personal excess leading ultimately to the sad period of idolatry at the end of his reign.
Which is something for us to ponder and pray about in our own lives. How does spiritual drift away from the Lord manifest in your life? Do we prioritize our comfort over His worship? Our hearts are subtle and we can easily be deceived by them (Jeremiah 17:9). Let’s pray today ask the Lord to alert us to any spiritual wandering in our hearts and keep us close to him. Cathedrals and Temples may be impressive to the human eye but never forget that to God what matters is where our hearts are focussed.
I also love this ending illustration in Dale Ralph Davis’ commentary on 1 Kings which counterbalances my previous point a bit as there is also an important beauty in the detail of the construction (Davis is commenting on the great detail in this chapter that tends to bore the modern Western reader of it):
“Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror pass on the story of a European craftsman who traveled to America to give his life to some of the most intricate work in one of its grandest places of worship. A tourist was viewing the edifice one day and noticed this craftsman doing meticulous work high up near the ceiling, focusing his skill on some symbol all but invisible from the floor. In fact, he was occupied with a detail that faced the ceiling, out of view of any worshiper. So the sightseer asked, ‘Why are you being so exact; no one can even see the detail you are creating from this distance?’ The busy artist shot back, ‘God can!’
Is that not the position of the writer of 1 Kings 7? Is he not suggesting that intricate, carefully wrought beauty is most fitting for the God of the Bible? Is he not implying that nothing can be too good, too lavish, too well done for such a marvelous God? We must never offer slop to him. Who would have thought that the Holy Spirit might use 1 Kings 7 to convict us of the flippant and casual procedures we sometimes call ‘worship’?”
1 Kings 8
Interesting isn't it that Solomon prays for foreigners (v.41-43). The Temple was always meant to be missional, not just for the Jews. A place for forgiveness atonement for all who would believe. Christ is that fulfillment for us. In His Temple we are forgiven and healed.
Only he [the king] must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. (Deuteronomy 17:16–17, ESV)
1 Kings 17
Simple encouragement for our uncertain economic times from the beginning of Elijah’s ministry. Despite famine, worldly hostility and persecution, God provided for his faithful people often through surprising means. While ravens may not bring you bread and meat, the Lord is not indifferent to your daily needs for food, shelter, companionship and work and He is still faithfully and ingeniously at work for those who love Him and have been called to His purpose. Don’t forget to pray and ask for what you need and pursue life faithfully. Yahweh yireh, the Lord will provide.
1 Kings 20
Lots could be said about this fascinating chapter, but, the main takeaway here is that it is not human righteousness that drives God's sovereign purposes. That is tremendously good news for sinners like you and me. Ahab was a wicked king and yet the Lord mercifully gave him victory so that all would know that He is Yahweh.
Likewise our salvation is not meritorious, but, according to God's will.
What this practically means is that we are called to recognize and submit to God when we see His mercy and remember our covenant of salvation with Him unlike Ahab, who did not respond to mercy with repentance (instead flattering and making covenant with God's defeated enemies). God' mercy and patience are truly "awe" and worship inspiring. But if we withhold worship from Him and worship other things we will eventually face his judgment and wrath (as Ahab did).
1 Kings 22 and 2 Kings 1
Isn’t the Bible truly fascinating? It reveals our character and points to our need and the solution in Prophet Priest and King Jesus. We are seeing the decline of the kingship in Israel and the clear need for a Saviour. But God allows us to experience the consequences of sin - truly a warning. The interaction with Micaiah is puzzling though. On the one hand he promises only to speak the truth v.14, but, in v.16 when he’s asked about it, he speaks a “lying spirit” from the presence of God. (By the fascinating way this raises the multidimensional issue of the Divine Council of God - which we’ll see later in Job, Zechariah and Psalms and gives us a picture of heaven before the final casting out of Satan described in Rev. 12 after the resurrection of Jesus). When he’s pressed, later by Ahab who doubts his initial prophecy, Micaiah tells the truth. There’s so much to unpack about prophecy, heaven etc., we will have to take a look at it together when we gather together again.
But in brief, Micaiah’s prophecy in v.16 seems to be an apparent contradiction with what he faithfully affirms in v.14 although he corrects it when pressed by Ahab in v.19. So what’s going on here? I (and commentators like Davis agree) that in v.16 Micaiah is speaking a holy sarcasm. He’s imitating the sycophants in Ahab’s court. Ahab has no love for Micaiah but knows he speaks truth (note his reluctant admission of his faithfulness back in v.7). He also knows when Micaiah is speaking sarcastically, which he calls out in v.16. After which Micaiah speaks the full prophetic vision of heaven revealing the lying spirit. So what does this point to:
- Ahab’s court was corrupt and truth had to be cajoled out of Micaiah because he was a wicked and unjust king. The heavenly court is pure and “lying” is completely exposed and ultimately submissive to the secret will of God.
- Even lies (like Josephs brother told back in Genesis or here) are under God’s sovereign power. We should not fear the apparent triumph of the wicked. They like Ahab will be defeated.
Remember ultimately, the promise of God - the truth shall set you free! Turn away from sin and lies and tell the truth as it has been told you in love. Though it may cost you much here on earth it gives you inner peace and a clean conscience before God which is better than all the pleasures of an earthly king’s court, and it anticipates a glorious eternity with Him in peace, truth and justice.
2 Kings 2–3
The focus here in these chapters is really on the Word of God. The continuity between Elisha and Elijah is the continuity of God’s word. The three kings despite their military might are nothing without the “life-giving” word (bringing the necessary water of life to men) that comes only when they seek it. It’s God’s word that matters and the message is life without it is very problematic. It’s not Elisha’s grumpiness that is the problem with the bear attack, it’s the seriousness of denigrating the prophet of the Lord who is the mouthpiece. So the point of application today I took away was not neglecting or depreciating the value of access to and acceptance of God’s word.
Additionally, and this is more of an aside, I was struck by Elisha twice telling people to be quiet as Elijah’s “chariots of fire” were to come to take him home. He obviously knew that Elijah’s ministry was ending. The question I have is was his grief and emotion driving the call to be quiet or the seriousness of what was happening? The commentators are divided. I suspect it’s probably a case of both/and not either/or. We are humans created to love one another and to respect our fathers in faith and to revere the work of the Lord. I might be getting too personal here, but, I feel a (and this is entirely subjective so take it for what you will) connection to Elisha here even as I reflect on those that have been a blessing to and who have discipled me in the Lord.
2 Kings 8–9
One of the more serious themes of the books of the Kings is the judgment of God. 2 Kings 8-9 is filled with political assassinations – Hazael murdering Ben-Hadad (k/o Syria), Jehu killing Joram (s/o Ahab, k/o Israel) and Ahaziah (s/o Jehoram, k/o Judah), and then returning to incite the murder of Jezebel (Ahab’s wife). The graphic portrayal of these killings is not pleasant, but neither is the judgment of God.
Jehu’s swift flight on horseback was symbolic of the sudden arrival of Yahweh’s judgment – certain, unavoidable and with pinpoint accuracy. “Is it peace?” were the strange (almost comical) cries of wicked Joram and Jezebel, only to realize that the word of God did not bring Shalom to them.
Perhaps the imprecatory prayers of David make sense. David certainly had a better perspective of God’s judgment upon the wicked – he glorified God for it. Do we praise God for His judgment upon the wicked?
A more palatable (but difficult) message would be the call to repent, while today yet exists. The fate of Ben-Hadad, Joram, Ahaziah and Jezebel might have been ours, but for the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
An excellent reflection on the importance of the imprecatory psalms from a former Camp Shalom Speaker (2019) Pastor Jim Adams
2 Kings 10
It's important to think as we read through these historical kings. Jehu is an interesting example. He has all the zeal in the fulfillment of the judgment prophecy against the house of Ahab (see v.10). But, Jehu is not a "good" king - his reformation is partial (he destroys Baal worship but leaves the golden calf idols instead of returning people to the worship of God and goes and brutally kills Ahaziah's family without God's instruction). It does show that God carries out His plans and His word no matter what even through messy human choices (this is situation is what theologians call the complexity of human agency in Divine Providence). All of this shows the wisdom of God and the inevitability of His Divine plan. God's purposes won't be deterred by man's sinfulness. That is a true comfort to us who constantly struggle with sin. But the consequences of sin are also in view here - Ahab's sin is felt generationally.
Here's a short devotional that explores these themes a bit from Ligonier:
https://learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/jehu-destroys-ahabs-line
2 Kings 13–14
As we see the decline of Israel's kings after David and Solomon it is instructive and encouraging to see that God still hears the cries of Israel despite only partial (at best) obedience. His grace is greater than their sin and partial obediences. This is the grace of our God. Despite Jehoahaz’s evil reign, God shows compassion when he cries out under oppression (13:4–5). Also during the reign of Jeroboam II, God “saved them by the hand of Jeroboam” because He saw Israel’s bitter affliction: "26 For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27 But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash."
God is gracious to you too Christian. And there is so much more help is available. The bones of Elisha give life foreshadowing the resurrection power of Jesus Christ that we have. Go to work (or Shalom) today in the confidence of God's grace to you. Despite your partial obediences, He is kind and His mercies are new every morning. But also imagine the joy that a heart fully committed to Him enjoys and as our catechism puts it even after sin we... "endeavour after a new obedience"
2 Kings 18
What a fascinating chapter. Every time I read the Bible through there’s something new I come across. I don’t know how I missed this before, but, what jumped out in my reading was the fact that Israel kept the bronze snake used as a means of God’s salvation from a plague in Numbers 21:8 “And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it shall live.” The bronze snake was meant to be a type of Christ in that it’s the same imagery about Christ in John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”
Israel not only kept the snake (v.4) in our passage, they gave it a name Neshutan (which means “bronzy thing”!) and worshipped (!) it. Now this is so typical of us isn’t it? We can even take good things like this symbol and worship it! We can see this in our culture too as folks idolatrously venerate objects like we see in Catholicism and Orthodoxy. But this can also happen just as easily to us when we let anything (physical or not) take the place of the true Yahweh God as primary in our hearts and lives. Let’s pray today that God would reveal the idols in our hearts and like good king Hezekiah, we would be enabled to destroy them.
2 Kings 23
In light of recent talk of revival in the news, I thought this little article on biblical revival based on Josiah's reforms in 2 Kings 22-23 might be a good grounding for examining what true revival looks like. May God give it to us again by His Holy Spirit even as we seek to live by these biblical principles.
https://reformedbaptistblog.com/2020/04/23/marks-of-genuine-revival-in-the-life-of-josiah-2-kings-22-23/
2 Kings 24–25
One of the comforts of God is his justice. We see that sin cannot be ignored and that God acts eventually and finally in his timing and justice as we see the Israelites taken into exile. It’s a sober moment.
“Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon.”
2 Kings 24:3-4 ESV
But it is also not the final moment in these books of Kings. In the last chapter 25 we are left on a note of Hope and mercy as King Jehoiachin is released from captivity - anticipating the return of all Israel. This is our God. A God of mercy and justice. In His justice, he does not forget mercy. Praise God for his kindness to sinners like us.