Through the Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 9-12

Posted on 06/06/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, June 4: 1 Kings 1-4
Tuesday, June 5: 1 Kings 5-8
Wednesday, June 6: 1 Kings 9-12
Thursday, June 7: 1 Kings 13-17
Friday, June 8: 1 Kings 18-22

The overall year’s plan is here.

1 Kings 9: Eternal Security

I have to say something about eternal security here, the teaching that once you accept Jesus, you have a free entrance to heaven no matter what you do in the future. The first nine verses of this chapter begin by reiterating God’s promises to David, but God then makes it clear that those promises do not apply if Solomon or his sons turn away from following God.

There is nothing Scriptural about reaping God’s promises unconditionally. Colossians 1:21b-23a is a great example:

Yet now he has reconciled [you] in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, blameless, and unreproveable in his sight, if you continue in the faith grounded and settled. (KJV)

As we go further in the New Testament, you might want to mark the "ifs" as we come to them. They tell an interesting story, and that story is not eternal security.

I know that when I apply 1 Kings 9:1-9 to the subject of eternal security, I’m using an Old Covenant passage to apply to New Covenant people. My justification for that is 1 Corinthians 10:1-12. If for some reason you don’t trust what I’m saying here, even though it was the only and universal teaching of the early churches formed by the apostles, read through that passage. I shouldn’t have to explain that the point of that passage is to tell us Christians that we should look at the way God treated Israel and realize that he is going to treat us the same way. It ends with, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

1 Kings 9

The definition of the name Cabul can’t be pinned down certainly, but it sounds a lot like a Hebrew phrase that means "good for nothing." It may also come from an Akkadian root (the Akkadians preceded the Babylonians as a civilization) that means "restricted" or "bound."

It appears most Bible notes prefer "good for nothing" as the meaning.

The NASB that I usually use has "Millo" in verse 24 that Solomon built for Pharaoh’s daughter. The New English Translation Bible says the word means "terrace," and they render the verse that way, but Strong’s Concordance says it’s part of the fortifications of Jerusalem.

Ophir is probably in southeast Arabia, though there’s disagreement about that. You can read the arguments for or against that at the link I just gave you (which is very short and to the point).

1 Kings 10: The Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba is a well-known figure, and her story is central to Ethiopia’s history. Surprisingly, however, archaeologists can’t say for certain where Sheba is! I read some arguments for Ethiopia and some for Yemen, and the archaeological arguments that ancient Sheba was in modern Yemen seemed the best to me.

Ethiopia, however, has a better story. They say the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon and came back pregnant (cf. v. 13). She had a son named Menelik. When Menelik was grown, he visited Solomon, and Solomon offered to let him reign in his place when he died. Menelik turned him down and returned to Ethiopia, but not before stealing the ark of the covenant with his entourage. Ethiopia claims to this day to possess the ark of the covenant and to know exactly where it is.

This story is at the very basis of the nation of Ethiopia, giving its kings the divine right to rule, but there’s no primary evidence for it. It’s just such a prominent, well-known story that it’s hard to believe there’s absolutely no basis for it. While the details may not be true (like the legend that she had one goat’s foot), the prominence of the story does provide some evidence that the queen of Sheba was from Ethiopia.

If you want to calculate all the amounts of metals, here’s how to do it (ref):

1 talent = 60 mina = 3600 shekels = 30 kg. (66 lbs.)
1 mina = 60 shekels (the Jewish Virtual Library says 50 shekels) = 500 g. (1.1 lbs.)

Thus, a shekel is about 1/3 of an oz.

The 666 talents of gold that Solomon received each year was, according to my calculator, 43,956 pounds or just over 20 tons.

Finally, I can’t help remembering God’s command to Israel’s king not to multiply gold and silver to himself, nor to build up horses from Egypt (Deut. 17:16-17). Solomon violated this so badly that silver was worthless in his day!

1 Kings 11

In the first few verses of this chapter, the scribe who wrote Solomon’s history finally stops praising him for violating the Law of Moses. He doesn’t reference the Law of Moses, which forbids the king multiplying wives to himself, but he does point out that the Lord had warned the Israelites not to become too friendly with the nations that Solomon was getting his wives from. The danger was that they would shift their allegiance to foreign gods, and that is exactly what happened to Solomon.

The reason that only eleven tribes (ten for Jeroboam, one for Solomon and Rehoboam) are mentioned is not certain to me. It is probable that the tribe of Levi is left out because they did not have any land of their own; thus, they are included in both kingdoms and "owned" by neither.

History says, though, that David’s house held onto not just Judah, but Benjamin as well. Eventually, the ten northern tribes (which included Manasseh and Ephraim, the two sons of Joseph, rather than just Joseph) became lost to history after their capture by Assyria. Judah remained, however, and that is why the Jews were called the Jews, short for Judah.

Thus, in the apostles’ writings we read about descendants of Judah and about Levites, but not about any of the other tribes except Benjamin. Paul is from the tribe of Benjamin (Php. 3:5).

Finally, the Book of the Acts of Solomon (v. 41) is not known to us today.

1 Kings 12

This is the story of the split of Israel into Israel and Judah. I tell this story to children all the time. It’s one of the more popular stories I tell. (Several of the stories in Daniel are very popular with children, too.)

In verses 20 and 21, you can see the Judah/Benjamin difficulty. Verse 20 says only the tribe of Judah followed Rehoboam, but in verse 21 we see him gathering warriors from Judah and Benjamin.

I’m not sure why the terminology in Kings is like that, but it is. The one tribe of Judah included Benjamin. That’s not a mistake. It’s repeated consistently. For some reason, that seemed normal to the scribe who wrote this portion of the Book of Kings.

The chapter ends with Jeroboam’s faulty reasoning about how to keep his kingdom. His decision would lead to his family losing the throne within a few generations, and eventually would lead to Israel, the northern kingdom, becoming so evil that God let them be dragged off permanently, lost to history.

We were created by God, and when our reasoning does not include him, we lose all wisdom and reap the results of that. We may feel very wise today, with our scientific advancement and our insights into the universe and evolution, but our society’s exclusion of the influence of God has led to rampant loneliness, depression, and crime. Science has not come up with a way to overcome the flesh. Only Jesus can do that. The great miracle of the New Covenant is to enter into fellowship with God through the blood of Jesus Christ, and to become children of God by being infused with his Spirit.

That can’t be measured, quantified, or put in a test tube, but it can produce results that can be seen and marveled at. That is why it is so important for us to live spiritually, being taught by God, and growing in unity and love, for our unity and love is the testimony to the world that Jesus is who he said he was (Jn. 17:20-23 and 13:34-35).

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Through the Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 5-8

Posted on 06/05/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, June 4: 1 Kings 1-4
Tuesday, June 5: 1 Kings 5-8
Wednesday, June 6: 1 Kings 9-12
Thursday, June 7: 1 Kings 13-17
Friday, June 8: 1 Kings 18-22

The overall year’s plan is here.

1 Kings 5

A lot of people worked on the building of the temple. There were 3300 supervisors, and it appears there were about 180,000 workers. Quite a project!

One of the groups said to be working on the project were the Gebalites (v. 18). Gebal was a city right on the Mediterranean coast south of Israel. For some reason, the KJV translates Gebalites as "stonesquarers." Since Gebal means "a boundary," I don’t know where they got that translation from, but no one translates it that way today. The Septuagint, the 2000-year-old Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, dodges the whole issue. It doesn’t include verse 18!

1 Kings 6

The temple was approximately 90’x30′, or 2,700 square feet. It was 45 feet tall.

There were additional rooms built outside the wall of the temple on the side, extending out up to seven cubits. Apparently, the wall was built step-style, so that a first, second, and third story of rooms, for the priests to live in, could be five, six, and seven cubits long, extending out from the wall, and the extra length would rest on the ledges in the wall.

This would have added about 20 more feet to the width of the temple.

Verse 7 is a great analogy of God’s work in us. All the work on the stones was done in the quarry. Once the stone was transported to the temple, it was simply set in place. No hammer, axe, or chisel was applied to the stone once it was part of the temple.

That is why it is so important for us to walk by the Spirit and allow God to mold us, even through trials and tribulations. This life is the quarry. Once we leave it, no more work is being done on us. We need to be ready to be dropped into the spiritual house of which we are living stones, the eternal dwelling place of God (1 Pet. 2:4-5).

The house had a sanctuary, the holy of holies, at the end which took the last 20 cubits (30 feet) of the house. It apparently had its own ceiling of cedar, too, because the holy of holies was only 20 cubits high, 15 feet short of the height of the whole temple.

The holy of holies was an exact cube, 30 feet wide, long, and high. New Jerusalem is an exact cube, too. It is mentioned in Revelation, a book full of figurative language, and New Jerusalem’s dimensions are so huge (around 1500 miles each dimension, including its height) that it is clear that it is symbolic of something (Rev. 20:16).

I’ll leave the symbolism of the exact cube to you. I have some ideas, but I’m not confident enough about any of them to want to get in the way of whatever the Lord would give you or you can come up with.

The altar mentioned in verses 20 and 22 has to be the altar of incense, not the large one for burning sacrifices, because it is said to be next to the inner sanctuary.

The problem is that the golden altar of incense is mentioned again in 7:48 along with a lot of other furniture that hadn’t been mentioned yet. 7:48 sounds like it is the altar incense, and there’s no reference in either chapter to the large altar for sacrifices.

It’s pretty confusing, but commentators seem to just accept the idea that 1 Kings 6:20 and 22 are referring to the altar of incense.

1 Kings 7

I have trouble picturing Solomon’s house. It had a hall of pillars that took up more than 1/4 of the house, a hall for the throne from which he judged, and his own home. It was 150 feet by 75 feet, so it was quite large, about 11,000 square feet.

It’s interesting to me that the pillars of the temple were named: Jachin and Boaz (v. 21). Jachin means "he will establish," and Boaz means "fleetness" or "strength." So their names basically say, "God will establish quickly" or "God will establish firmly."

Hiram made an elaborate basin, about 15 feet in diameter, standing on oxen. It held 2,000 baths. Since a bath was approximately nine gallons, that meant it could hold 180,000 gallons!

The basin was for priests to wash in before they offered sacrifices.

1 Kings 8

The ark of the covenant is brought to the Lord’s house. We read that only Moses two tablets are in it. Then Solomon refers to those two tablets as "the covenant of the LORD" (v. 21). Once again we are told that the 10 commandments qualify as the Old Covenant.

This day is probably the height of Israel’s glory. They are at peace. They have no enemies that can stand against them. They have just built the temple and the king’s house. They are wealthy enough to 142,000 animals as peace offerings. (Remember, in peace offerings, most of the meat is eaten by the priests and the offerers. It’s the fat and innards that are burned on the altar. There must have been quite a crowd there to eat all that meat!)

The rest of the history of Israel moves along very quickly. They never again achieved the heights that they held under Solomon. In fact, the nation was split in two during the reign of Solomon’s son. But we will get to that in a couple of days.

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Through the Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 1-4

Posted on 06/04/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, June 4: 1 Kings 1-4
Tuesday, June 5: 1 Kings 5-8
Wednesday, June 6: 1 Kings 9-12
Thursday, June 7: 1 Kings 13-17
Friday, June 8: 1 Kings 18-22

The overall year’s plan is here.

1 Kings 1: Solomon Becomes King

Gihon, where Solomon was anointed king, was very close to Jerusalem.

It’s not known for sure who the Cherethites and Pelethites, who were with David, were. The majority of commentaries seem to consider them Philistine mercenaries who fought for David. They also suggest that both words can refer to the Philistines in general. There is a Jewish tradition (Haggadah) that they were the Sanhedrin (the ruling Israelite council) of that time, but I think almost no one believes that the Sanhedrin existed that early.

1 Kings 2

Much of chapter 2 seems harsh to me. Why didn’t David do something about the murder of Amasa by Joab when it happened?

I just chalk all of it up to a different culture and time. Just because a historian reports the activity of a king, it doesn’t mean God approved of that activity.

1 Kings 3

Solomon begins being dragged away from God by becoming Pharaoh’s son-in-law. Deuteronomy 17:14-20 gives some requirements for a king of Israel, should Israel ask for a king. The king was not to multiply horses, wives, silver, and gold for himself, both of which Solomon would end up doing, but he was also not to do anything to cause the people to turn their hearts toward egypt. Marrying an Egyptian princess violates that command, and it would be a major part of turning Solomon’s heart away from God.

The rest of the chapter is much more positive. God gives Solomon great wisdom as a reward for seeking what was best for his people rather than what was pleasurable for himself. The result of that is the book of Proverbs, which has been dispensing wisdom for 3,000 years.

1 Kings 4

Here is another place with a person, Zabud the son of Nathan, whose job in the kingdom is described simply as "the king’s friend." Hushai the Archite fulfilled that role for David.

If there is any office that would be the best to be called into in Jesus Christ’s kingdom, it would surely be as the King’s friend. What’s great is that this relationship is offered to all of us (Jn. 15:14-15).

Solomon’s entire kingdom and his great wisdom are described in this chapter. There are even a few wise men listed, and Solomon is said to be wiser.

On the negative side, Solomon had 40,000 horses, which I believe clearly qualifies as "multiplying horses to himself." In that passage in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, the horses are tied to Egypt, which apparently was the best source of horses at that time.

In Scripture, both horses and Egypt are tied to trusting in the flesh, in the power of man (e.g. Isaiah 31:1-3).

One final note. The provision for Solomon’s household and officers was immense. 300 bushels of flour, 600 bushels of meal, 30 oxen, 100 sheep, plus hunted animal every day. A measure (KJV) or kor (NASB) was about 10 bushels.

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Through the Bible in a Year: Psalm 38-41, Proverbs 14

Posted on 06/01/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, May 28: 2 Samuel 21-24
Tuesday, May 29: Psalm 26-29, Proverbs 11
Wednesday, May 30: Psalm 30-33, Proverbs 12
Thursday, May 31: Psalm 34-37, Proverbs 13
Friday, June 1: Psalm 38-41, Proverbs 14

On Monday, we will begin 1 Kings.

The overall year’s plan is here.

Psalm 38

Here we get a picture of how thoroughly David mourned over his sin, crying out to God and staying close to God despite a conscience that was killing him. It sounds like he was also suffering from some sort of physical judgment from God, but he awaited God’s mercy in confident trust anyway.

Even our own sin must not deter us!

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you double-minded! Lament and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up. (Jam. 4:7-9)

Quite a picture of thorough repentance, isn’t it?

Psalm 39

I have to wonder if Psalms 38 and 39 were written right after each other concerning the same judgment. Psalm 39 doesn’t feel so trusting. ("Turn your gaze away from me that I may smile before I depart and am no more"—v. 13, NASB.) David seems beat down, which is probably what God wanted to happen in sending him whatever disease of judgment David is talking about here. Perhaps Psalm 38 was written toward the start of his judgment and Psalm 39 toward the end.

Psalm 40

Psalm 40 proclaims David’s deliverance from all his troubles, though verses 12 and 13 make it sound like he’s still in them.

Verse 4 reminds us that there are those who do not continue in trust in God when they face trials and afflictions. They turn to proud or wicked men who don’t follow God, and they look for earthly answers rather than waiting patiently for the Lord, as David says he did in verse 1.

Sacrifices

Modern Christians almost exclusively teach that the reason we don’t sacrifice animals anymore is because Jesus was the final sacrifice, offered once for all (Heb. 7:27).

There is, of course, truth to this. Jesus did offer himself up for us, brought us the New Covenant, gave us the Spirit, and delivered us from our sins. However, the earliest Christians, members of churches started and taught by apostles, did not explain the cessation of Old Covenant sacrifices the way we do. They used passages like Psalm 40:6-8 (in today’s reading), and there are many of them.

They explained that God never wanted sacrifices (Jer. 7:21-23), and sacrifices don’t purify. A sacrifice offered by an impure person is rejected by God. It does him no good. Ask Cain about that, Adam’s son (see also Amos 5:21-22). Instead, sacrifices are purified by the offerer. A person who has purified their heart with the true sacrifices of God, a broken heart and a contrite spirit, will have their sacrifices accepted (Ps. 51:16-19).

Hebrews 10:5-10 talks about the fact that God is not looking for sacrifices and quotes several passages, including Psalm 40:7-8, to establish that.

Psalm 41

I looked at some commentaries, and I couldn’t find any that took a guess at when this was written. It’s a psalm of David, so I was wondering who was this close friend who turned on him (v. 9).

My thought was that maybe it was Ahithophel, who was his counselor, but then who sided with Absalom when Absalom had his few days in power. But if that’s so, why isn’t this psalm more despairing? Possibly, though, his discussion of his enemies and their expectation of his death is a reference to the Absalom uprising.

Otherwise, I have no commentary on this psalm.

Proverbs 14

I like to leave proverbs without comment, but there’s a couple here I need to address.

First I just want to tell you that there’s something I find humorous or poignant about, "The stable is clean when you have no oxen, but much revenue comes from the strength of an ox" (v. 4).

Then verse 7: So many Christians waste their breath and vex their emotions arguing with a fool. It is important to know that overall, people are not that interested in truth. When someone has their ears blocked and refuses to listen, presenting stronger arguments is not going to make any difference at all. You should leave the presence of a fool, otherwise you will eventually become like him, an argumentative person with no ability to listen to others.

Verse 12 is one of the more famous Bible verses, memorized and quoted by Christians everywhere.

Verse 24 says that riches are the crown of the wise. Remember, the blessings of the Old Covenant were physical blessings because it was an earthly covenant made with an earthly Israel. We are the Israel of God, and our covenant is a spiritual one with spiritual (and thus eternal) blessings. A wise man under the New Covenant has treasures stored up in heaven, not on earth (Matt. 6:19-21).

Verse 33 is a little difficult to understand. The NASB reads, "Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, but in the heart of fools it is made known."

Wisdom is made known in the heart of fools? I don’t think so!

The LXX, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, changes this around and says wisdom is not known in the heart of fools. The LXX is a translation, not an original, but it was translated almost a thousand years before our earliest Hebrew manuscripts. Sometimes it is a better witness of the Hebrew text than the Hebrew texts we possess.

It has also been suggested that this proverb means that wisdom rests quietly in the heart of a man of understanding, but fools blurt out what they think is wisdom without any check on their tongue.

My guess is that the "not" was lost somewhere in the transmission of the Hebrew text and that the proverb originally said that wisdom is not known in the heart of fools.

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Through the Bible in a Year: Psalm 34-37, Proverbs 13

Posted on 05/31/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, May 28: 2 Samuel 21-24
Tuesday, May 29: Psalm 26-29, Proverbs 11
Wednesday, May 30: Psalm 30-33, Proverbs 12
Thursday, May 31: Psalm 34-37, Proverbs 13
Friday, June 1: Psalm 38-41, Proverbs 14

The overall year’s plan is here.

Psalm 34

The introduction to this psalm throws us a curve ball. Clearly, this is a reference to 1 Samuel 21:10-15, where David feigned insanity in order to be saved from King Achish of Gath. Here, though, it calls him Abimelech.

Commentators suggest that Abimelech might have been a title of the King of Gath. The word means "my father is king," and perhaps that city honored their king as a father-king.

What is of note in the psalm itself is that this psalm was written at the very start of David’s troubles. He had fled Israel because Saul was pursuing him, and now he had to pretend to be insane in order to escape a king in Philistia. He was not delivered. He was being forced to return to Israel where the king of the whole country (not just one city, as in Gath) was intent on killing him.

Yet this psalm is not one of despair, but of triumph and trust.

Keep the context in mind as you read the incredible promises of this psalm. Many of its verses are in Christian’s promise boxes and promise books and posted on their refrigerators. Psalm 34:20 is quoted by John as a prophecy concerning Jesus on the cross (Jn. 19:36). Psalm 34:12b-16a is quoted by Peter (1 Pet. 3:10-12).

Psalm 35

This prayer for deliverance is very interesting. David prays freely for the thorough destruction of his enemies, but he says that when they were sick he fasted and prayed for them.

It makes me think of the end of Romans 12 …

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but allow room for wrath [from God], for it is written, "’Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord." Therefore, if your enemy hungers, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for in doing so you will heap burning coals upon his head. (vv. 19-20)

Burning Coals in a Bucket?

Some extremely nice and well-meaning Christians have suggested that Romans 12:19-20 has a cultural meaning completely different from the way it seems to read. They say that in ancient Israel men and women would carry coals in a basket on their head to heat their hearths with and cook over. They say that others could heap burning coals in that basket as a favor to a person, not as a judgment like it sounds.

That’s just silly. No one who says that can quote where they heard it, and it makes no sense in context. If heaping burning coals on your enemy’s head is a kindness which results from your kindness, how are you leaving room for the wrath and vengeance of God by being kind? Further, have you ever tried to carry a basket or even a metal bucket of burning coals on your head? Or can you imagine letting someone scoop a shovelful of coals into it while it’s on your head? Definite OSHA violation!

Fun fact for you: The same is true of those who say that the "eye of a needle" is really a small gate in a city wall that a camel had to get on its knees to go through. No one can tell you where that rumor originated, and no commentary will back it up authoritatively with a source. It’s just a clever invention someone came up with to make "a camel going through the eye of a needle" difficult rather than impossible.

Psalm 36

This psalm begins with a very useful description of the ungodly. It’s useful because it applies so well to all of us, giving us some precise things to think about and work on:

  • There is no fear of God before his eyes.
  • He has ceased to be wise and do good.
  • He sets himself on a path that is not good.
  • He does not despise evil.

Those are all specific things that we can ask ourselves about.

Fear of God: Do we keep the fear of God before our eyes? Do we worry about what God thinks about what we’re doing, or just what our culture thinks is good or acceptable. Are we afraid to take stands where God takes a stand? On the other hand, do we refuse to show mercy and tolerance because other Christians have made some particular sin or political position a central issue when God has not?

Keeping the fear of God before our eyes means thinking about it. The Scriptures instruct us to set our mind on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5). They instruct us to consider how to provoke our brothers and sisters to good works (Heb. 10:24). We are instructed to meditate on the words and laws of God (Ps. !:2; 119:15).

Be wise: This really falls into the idea of meditating and considering. Are we trying to be wise, or are we just coasting along, figuring God is merciful and everything will work out. God does not like being taken for granted. He is more important than that (Malachi 1:13-14).

Set on a Path: What path are you set on? Have you considered the end of it? Will your career path simply lead to money, or are you planning it so that you grow in godliness as well? What about your family path? Your recreational path?

Despising Evil: This is truly a time when vileness is exalted among the sons of men (Ps. 12:8). We must know and fear God if we are going to appropriately despise evil, something that we must do if we do not wind up being one of the ungodly. It is entirely possible to count yourself a holy, kind follower of God, but to really be a supporter of vileness. Sin is deceitful (Heb. 3:13).

Finally, Psalm 36 is another excellent praise psalm. We can use the psalms to learn how to actually praise God rather than just saying, "Praise the Lord," which is a command, not actual praise. This psalm praises his divine attributes. We can borrow its words until we learn God’s attributes better on our own and can offer praise in our own words.

Psalm 37

Having said all I said about meditating and considering in Psalm 36, let me say this about the first 6 verses of Psalm 37.

I find these first 6 verses remarkably restful. If God calls us to go off as a missionary, we must do that, of course. Most of us, however, are not called to go, we’re called to stay. The "Great Commission" was spoken to the apostles alone (read the context of Matt. 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-16). The apostles never repeated that commission in any of their letters to the churches. In fact, the apostle Paul says, "How shall they go unless they be sent?" (Rom. 10:15).

Instead, for most of us, the command we should obey, one that’s actually written to the church, is:

Make it your aim to live a quiet life, to do your own business, and to work with your hands, as we commanded you. (1 Thess. 4:11)

Psalm 37:1-6 sounds like 1 Thess. 4:11 to me. "Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. … Commit your way to the Lord" (NASB).

It then goes on to say, "Trust also in him, and he will do it" (NASB, emphasis added).

Our job is not to go out and win the world by knocking on doors. Our job is to live a life of obedience to God, so that we have ears to hear if does call or send us. By living in this way, we can provide a good testimony which will take away the shame which Christians have put on the name of Jesus by their commonly careless, unloving, and often evil way of life.

Peter tells us to always be ready to give an answer to those who ask a reason for the hope that is in us (1 Pet. 3:15). How often are Christians really asked to explain the Gospel?

Those that live lives that honor God 24 hours a day, minus whatever stumbles they may have as they diligently seek to please the Lord, are often asked about the reason for the hope that is in them.

Something must be different about our lives or no one will ask. The best difference is the fragrance of Christ that rests upon those who have fellowship with him. I have heard numerous people that I have witnessed to in the past tell me that they reason they were willing to talk to me is because of some Christian in their past who lived such a spiritual life that the person could feel the presence of God when that Christian was around.

When we think of conversions, we think of preaching and altar calls. When the early church thought of conversions, they thought of …

He has exhorted us to lead all men, by patience and gentleness, from shame and the love of evil. And this indeed is proved in the case of many who once were of your way of thinking, but have changed their violent and tyrannical disposition, being overcome either by:

  • the consistency which they have witnessed in their neighbors’ lives,
  • or by the extraordinary forbearance they have observed in their fellow travelers when defrauded,
  • or by the honesty of those with whom they have transacted business.

(Justin, First Apology 16, c. A.D. 150; formatting and bullets mine)

Well, Psalm 37 is a long psalm, but I’ve already written a lot of commentary today. I’ll let 37:7-40 stand on its own as not in need of commentary.

Proverbs 13

Proverbs are to be weighed and considered, so commenting on them just gets in the way, unless there’s some reason that most people will misunderstand words in a proverb. That’s not the case here, so I’ll leave Proverbs 13 without comment, too.

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Through the Bible in a Year: Psalm 30-33; Proverbs 12

Posted on 05/30/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, May 28: 2 Samuel 21-24
Tuesday, May 29: Psalm 26-29, Proverbs 11
Wednesday, May 30: Psalm 30-33, Proverbs 12
Thursday, May 31: Psalm 34-37, Proverbs 13
Friday, June 1: Psalm 38-41, Proverbs 14

The overall year’s plan is here.

Psalm 30

This psalm provides a great picture of waiting for the Lord. His anger is only for a moment, but his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping only lasts for a night, but in the morning there will be a shout of joy. He turns our mourning to dancing, takes our sackcloth off of us, and dresses us in gladness.

Our job is to stay steadfast until deliverance comes. Trials produce patience and that patience will make us complete (Jam. 1:2-5; Rom. 5:3-4). I’m sure we all realize that it is often those who have suffered most, especially if that suffering was without complaint, who have the most depth as a person.

Psalm 31

And here David gives us an example of how he waited on the Lord. He spends time crying out to be delivered from his situation. His life is spent in sorrow, and he’s become a reproach and an object of dread so that when people see him they flee from him. He’s slandered, terrified, and his enemies are scheming to kill him (vv. 10-13).

But David says, "You are my God," and he acknowledges that his times are in the hand of the Lord.

After his prayers for deliverance and his expressions of trust, he says, "How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those that fear you" (v. 19, NASB). He confidently knows his deliverance is coming, and throughout his life that is exactly what he experienced. His dark days of fleeing and trouble—and even sin—always came to an end, and he became the standard for all future kings.

Psalm 32

The first two verses of this Psalm are quoted in Romans 4, and they were discussed thoroughly here and here.

Verses 3 through 5 explain why it’s so important for us to confess our sins, and sometimes that means not only to God but to each other (Jam. 5:16). Our hearts can only have peace when our consciences are clear, and followers of Christ with a clear conscience are empowered and free. A guilty conscience is crippling to a disciple.

I love verse 7 and the picture of God as our hiding place. He even ‘surrounds us with songs of deliverance.’ It reminds me of Zephaniah 3:17, which says that not only is God mighty to save, but he will rejoice over us with singing!

Verses 8 and 9 are a picture to me of the New Covenant. We should be continually instructed by God. We live by the words that proceed (present tense) from his mouth, not just the words that proceeded from his mouth two to three thousand years ago and are recorded in the Bible (Matt. 4:4). Isaiah 50:4 says that God will waken us morning by morning so that we can listen the way the learned do.

This is what it means, in my opinion, to be instructed, taught, and counseled by God. The bit and bridle, on the other hand, is the Law, the Old Covenant, where we live by the letter rather than by the Spirit, threatened with punishment to keep us under control. When we live by the Spirit we turn our eyes to Christ when we are tempted, and the mind set on the Spirit provides life and peace (Rom. 8:5).

In verse 11, I want to point out once again the difference between the righteous in heart and the upright, even though those are usually the same people. Being upright in heart depends on us. We have to "repent, turn to God, and do works suitable to repentance" (Acts 26:20). This is uprightness.

Uprightness is not enough.

Righteousness of heart is provided by the grace of God, and he will give righteousness as a gift to the upright in heart (Ps. 36:10).

Also in verse 11, we have to realize that rejoicing and being glad in the Lord are not just privileges, but commands (e.g., Php. 4:4). That doesn’t mean that we should simply force ourselves to act joyful. It means that like David, we should meditate on the goodness of the Lord, building trust in our hearts, and we will have good cause for joy!

Psalm 33

Have you ever thought about what verse 1 says? Praise is "becoming to the upright" (NASB). The word means beautiful or appropriate.

Verse 3 mentions a shout of joy again. That’s the third time we’ve seen this in two days, as shouts of joy were mentioned in Psalm 27 and 32 as well.

I have been a part of prayer meetings—in fact, this applies to most prayer meetings I have been part of—where praise to God is expressed in words like, "We praise you, Lord," and "praise the Lord."

If someone came to you and said, "I praise you," wouldn’t you ask why?

Saying "I praise you" is not praise. Praise is something like, "You did a great job on that project yesterday."

Most of us don’t know how to praise the Lord, but Psalms can teach us. This is a superb psalm of praise. It recounts his works, how he made everything, and it expresses awe at his power and deliverance.

We need to be taught by these psalms so that we not only state that we are praising him ("I praise you, Lord"), but we actually praise him!

Proverbs 12

I try to limit my comments on Proverbs, but I have to comment on verse 1. The NASB reads, "He who hates reproof is stupid."

All of us hate reproof by nature. You will not overcome this without effort. However, the effort is critical. The very purpose of the Scriptures—contrary to the opinions of so many who are addicted to doctrinal debate and division—is teaching, reproof and correction that is geared towards equipping us for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

However hard it is, we must become those who love discipline and accept reproof.

Otherwise we’re stupid.

Verse 9 can be applied to spiritual things. It is results that matter. It is not those who honor themselves by talking about spiritual things who are approved by God, but it is those who live in obedience to God and produce fruit.

Verse 11 has a lot of application to the modern era. We have more temptations to amusement and idleness than any generation in history. It is very, very easy in the 21st century to apply ourselves to "worthless things" rather than tilling the land and having plenty of bread.

Tilling the land and having plenty of bread can be applied to actual work and income, of course, but it can also be applied to spiritual things. Amusements don’t build us up spiritually (in most cases). We have to till the land, meditating on the Word of God, being in fellowship with one another, getting before God in prayer. This will produce "plenty of bread," and our bread is obeying the Word of God, which is what it means to do the will of the Father (Jn. 4:34).

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Through the Bible in a Year: Psalm 26-29; Proverbs 11

Posted on 05/29/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, May 28: 2 Samuel 21-24
Tuesday, May 29: Psalm 26-29, Proverbs 11
Wednesday, May 30: Psalm 30-33, Proverbs 12
Thursday, May 31: Psalm 34-37, Proverbs 13
Friday, June 1: Psalm 38-41, Proverbs 14

The overall year’s plan is here.

Psalm 26

This psalm is a great illustration of the difference between our obedience, which the Bible calls uprightness, and the righteousness of God, which is in the state of being in good standing with God, sins forgiven, and empowered to do his will.

David begins Psalm 26 by asking God to vindicate him. This is despite the fact that he has ‘walked in his integrity’ and ‘trusted in the Lord without wavering.’ He still needed to be vindicated. We are to give our best, to be upright and to trust without wavering, but it takes the impossible and amazing grace of God to span the gap between our humanness and his divine nature. God takes us, through grace, from faith and repentance to salvation, making us new creatures in Christ and partakers of the divine nature.

It is Psalm 36:10 that I feel expresses it best …

O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart. (NASB)

The upright in heart still need God’s righteousness. We are not after simple obedience, even though we must obey. We are after the righteousness of God, which is so much greater, deeper, and less self-regarding than our righteousness.

The things that were gain to me, I counted loss for Christ. Yes indeed, I count everything loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: … and be found in him, not having my own righteousness … but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. (Php. 3:7-9)

Psalm 26:4-5: Avoiding Evildoers

Some Christians won’t witness or befriend those who are in great need because of their sin. We have to be willing to be a friend to those in need.

We cannot forget, however, that "bad company corrupts good morals." It is one thing to help or befriend someone in sin; it is quite another to condone or partake of their sin. Your "good buddy," with whom you’re on equal terms, cannot be a deceitful man, a pretender, or an evildoer.

Psalm 27

This is a great psalm of trust in God. Every time I read it, I ask myself whether I desire God the way David did. Is there really only one thing I desire, and is that all I seek?

Notice also David’s ideas on how to praise and celebrate God. There are shouts of joy involved, sacrifices, and songs.

Some of us are quiet, but we all need to consider that there ought to be times when it is proper and right to shout for joy to honor God, not just to express some emotional feeling within us. Others need to occasionally suppress their shouts of joy for the sake of order because it’s not about expressing our emotion, it’s about honoring God.

Finally, in verse 13, note that David was comforted by the fact that he would see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Our comfort is not just in "the by and by." God promises to give righteousness, peace, and joy right here in our current life.

For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 14:17)

And Jesus answered, " … There is no one that has left home, brothers, sisters, or father, mother, wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and for the Gospel’s except that he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time … and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30, emphasis added)

Psalm 28

This psalm begins by asking God for personal help. The last verse, however, calls for God to save his people and shepherd them.

Christianity is not and has never been an individual way of life. The church is the bride of Christ, and his love for the church is used as an example of how husbands should love their wives (Eph. 5:25). Let us never think that Christianity is about "Jesus, the Bible, and me." Jesus, through the Bible, warns us that we need exhortation and encouragement every day or we are in danger of being deceived and hardened by sin (Heb. 3:13).

He who separates himself seeks his own desire, he quarrels against all sound wisdom. (Prov. 18:1, NASB)

Psalm 29

I’ll limit my comments on this psalm to just one line. "Worship the Lord in holy array" (v. 2, NASB).

Have you ever thought like that? It’s not the way I would normally think. Worshiping the Lord is not just a personal thing. We must worship the Lord in "holy array." This would be purposeful worship, done in a group, with thought in advance given to it.

Proverbs 11

I do have some comments on these proverbs.

Verses 3-8: When my children are angry over some injustice or wrong, and I agree that they were treated unjustly by some wicked person, I remind them that both righteousness and wickedness are their own reward. More specifically, generosity and kindness is its own reward, producing peace, joy, and fellowship with God. Selfishness is also its own reward, possibly producing temporary pleasure, but no real joy, no real peace, no real intimacy with others, and separating them from God. Even before the eternal judgment, the wicked pay for their wickedness, even when it does not appear that they are.

Verse 10: In modern times, there’s a popular idea that we should think highly of everyone, hoping for the best even for the most wicked. The fact is, though, that it is not wrong to rejoice when a horrible dictator or a serial killer dies.

Verse 22: I have to admit I find this a pretty catchy Proverb, and I’ve used it in talks with young ladies several times. Life’s not about physical beauty, and having physical beauty without discretion is like putting a gold ring in a pig’s snout.

Verses 24-25: Give and it will be given to you. Withhold what is due, and you will not have God’s blessing. This is not to say that the wicked never prosper. The wicked often prosper, and we’ve seen psalms complaining about it. James talks about the rich like most of them oppress the poor, yet they are still "the rich." They are not in need, at least financially. Nonetheless, wickedness is its own reward. The wicked do not leave in peace, they do not know true joy, and they live at odds with God, who will eventually judge them.

Verse 30: The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls. Our lives, if we let Christ live through us, will bring life wherever we go. Conversion, the winning of souls, and obtaining the repentance of backsliders requires not just righteousness, but wisdom. Wisdom is something we are exhorted to seek diligently in Proverbs, and James 1:5 promises that if we ask for it, God will provide it.

Verse 31: The righteous will be rewarded in the earth, and the wicked and sinner will, too. We were made by God to live in love to humans and in obedience to God. That is what fulfills the heart with peace, joy and righteousness. The wicked live without those things, which is why I (and more importantly, the Scriptures) say that wickedness is its own reward. What society has provided more security and more of the luxuries of life than the US? Nevertheless, studies suggest that up to 30% of its citizens would be diagnosed as clinically depressed if they were to seek treatment. 10% of US citizens already are.

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Through the Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 21-24

Posted on 05/28/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, May 28: 2 Samuel 21-24
Tuesday, May 29: Psalm 26-29, Proverbs 11
Wednesday, May 30: Psalm 30-33, Proverbs 12
Thursday, May 31: Psalm 34-37, Proverbs 13
Friday, June 1: Psalm 38-41, Proverbs 14

The overall year’s plan is here.

2 Samuel 21

There’s no record of Saul’s attack on the Gibeonites. This is something that didn’t make it into Saul’s history, which is not surprising. Saul reigned 40 years, and only a few highlights of his life are covered.

In verse 19, a lot of Bible say that Elhanan killed Goliath the Gittite. 1 Chronicles 20:5, a parallel passage, says that he killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath. This is a problem with the text of 2 Samuel as it has come down to us. There’s little doubt it originally said that Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath. Some modern translations go ahead and render it that way rather than sticking to the obviously incorrect Hebrew text.

2 Samuel 22

This is Psalm 18, and in this case we get the exact context in which it was written. It’s one of my favorite psalms because of the awe-inspiring description of God’s rescue of David. I’ve already written commentary on it.

2 Samuel 23

Here we have a list of David’s mighty men. It’s a sad testimony that the list ends with Uriah the Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba whom David had murdered.

There was a group of three mighty men, Josheb-basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah. The New American Standard Bible then says that Abishai was the chief of the thirty mighty men. Only a few Hebrew manuscripts say thirty. Most Hebrew manuscripts, the LXX (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures), and the Latin Vulgate (the accepted Bible in Europe throughout the middle ages) all say that Abishai was the chief of the three.

This makes a second set of three above the thirty, and only two of this second set of three are named (Abishai and Benaiah). After that, 31 names are given, so it’s possible that "the 30" was a flexible number.

1 Chronicles 11, a parallel passage, adds another name to the 30 (making 32), and then adds 15 more names. A commentary I read said that they don’t believe those 15 are part of the thirty. Instead, Adina the son of Shiza was the chief of a group of 15 that were "with" the 30.

2 Samuel 24

I’m really not sure why it was such a bad thing for David to take a census of Israel. Perhaps the problem was motivation. Perhaps David was counting the people out of pride, glorying in the size of his kingdom. Joab’s response to David suggests this might be true (v. 3).

Somehow, though, that explanation has never been satisfying to me. The problem is that I don’t have an alternative.

So I wait. We won’t always get an answer to everything we wonder about.

Several of the cities that Joab went to can be found on this map.

The judgment fell on Israel in the form of a plague. David chose that over being pursued by his enemies and over seven years of famine. Remember, though, that this chapter begins by telling us that God was angry with Israel, and he provoked David to make this mistake because he wanted to judge Israel, not just David.

The plague is ended by David offering a sacrifice, ordered by God, that violates several tenets of the Law of Moses. David offered the sacrifices, which had been his habit anyway. The Law requires priests to offer sacrifices. The sacrifices were offered on Araunah’s threshing floor, not at the tabernacle. The Law commands that all sacrifices are to be offered at the altar of the tabernacle (or the temple after Solomon built it).

It seems obvious to me that God is not as strict about rules as some of us who want to enforce his will. It is important for us to be spiritual and pay attention to the voice and guidance of God because it’s also not okay to simply avoid doing what we know to be right (Jam. 4:17).

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Through the Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 16-20

Posted on 05/25/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, May 21: 1 Samuel 25-31
Tuesday, May 22: 2 Samuel 1-6
Wednesday, May 23: 2 Samuel 7-10
Thursday, May 24: 2 Samuel 11-15
Friday, May 25: 2 Samuel 16-20

Monday, May 28, we’ll finish the last four chapters of 2 Samuel and finish the week with some Psalms and Proverbs. That will cause some change to the overall year’s plan. Sorry about that. I miscounted the number of chapters in 1 Samuel when I did the original plan. I made the changes on the year plan page, and I filled it out into August.

The overall year’s plan is here.

2 Samuel 16

Some of these stories are great discussion topics. Did David allow Shimei to curse him because he was turning his fate over to God as he left Jerusalem? Or was he simply so hurt by his son’s treachery that it didn’t seem worth it to retaliate for the cursing?

These stories don’t require any clarifications, though, so I’ll not comment.

2 Samuel 17

David is being saved not by military might, but by friends that he has made.

Mahanaim, if you remember, is about 40 miles east of the Jordan river. Abner fled there when David’s forces defeated Ish-bosheth’s forces in 2 Samuel 2.

Ahithophel makes a great discussion topic, too. His advice was regarded as the word of God itself, but this one time it was rejected for Hushai’s advice. In response, he killed himself. What would make a person do that? Pride?

2 Samuel 18

The reason Joab was hesitant to send Ahimaaz is because he had a good idea how David would take the news of Absalom’s death. Ahimaaz was the son of Zadok the priest, a friend of David’s, and Joab either did not want to put Ahimaaz through the king’s wrath or he wanted to spare him any possible punishment the king dished out.

We can see by David’s reaction just how emotional a man that he was. He was a poet and musician as well as a mighty warrior, and if anything marked his life, it was all-out passion in everything he did. Many great men of God have and had similar tendencies.

Here, though, there is little doubt that his "love" was causing him to think irrationally. I put love in quotes because there is nothing to indicate practical love from David to Absalom. He had emotional feelings about Absalom, but he refused to see him after his exile, and he did nothing at all to set Absalom on a right path after Absalom’s revenge killing of Amnon.

2 Samuel 19

Joab justly rebukes David for his poorly thought out emotionalism, and David repents and comforts the people.

2 Samuel 20

Gibeon, where Joab murdered Amasa, is just a few miles north of Jerusalem. Abel-Beth-maacah is far to the north, just a few miles west of Dan in the land of Naphtali, which would become Galilee in Jesus’ time.

It doesn’t appear that Joab received any punishment at all for the murder until the beginning of Solomon’s reign, when David will ask for vengeance on several people, including Shimei, who had cursed him as he left Jerusalem.

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Through the Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 11-15

Posted on 05/24/2012 by Paul Pavao

This Week’s Readings

Monday, May 21: 1 Samuel 25-31
Tuesday, May 22: 2 Samuel 1-6
Wednesday, May 23: 2 Samuel 7-10
Thursday, May 24: 2 Samuel 11-15
Friday, May 25: 2 Samuel 16-20

Monday, May 28, we’ll finish the last four chapters of 2 Samuel and finish the week with some Psalms and Proverbs. That will cause some change to the overall year’s plan. Sorry about that. I miscounted the number of chapters in 1 Samuel when I did the original plan. I made the changes on the year plan page, and I filled it out into August.

The overall year’s plan is here.

2 Samuel 11

This is the great sin of David’s life. The Law had warned the king not to multiply wives to himself, but neither David nor his son Solomon heeded that advice.

We overestimate our strength. Jesus taught us to pray, "Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." If we provide opportunities for the flesh (Rom. 13:14), our flesh will drag us into sin (Jam. 1:14-16).

2 Samuel 12

Jesus’ lineage is full of human error and human problems. He was a direct descendant of Rahab the harlot, and now adultery and murder are in his lineage, because Jesus descended directly from Solomon (Matt. 1:6).

The Bible doesn’t cover up the shortcomings of its heroes. There are some who didn’t seem to have any shortcomings, like Joseph the son of Jacob. Mostly, though, we see ordinary humans trusting in God and doing superhuman things, yet capable of great falls.

This does not mean that we can use this as an excuse. David had to repent with tears and never repeat his terrible sin. It does mean that we can hope and trust that God can use us too. The limit is how willing we are to courageously follow our faith and trust God, not the weakness of our flesh.

2 Samuel 13-14

This is the story of Absalom. The details are possibly worse than the details of David and Bathsheba!

As a note, the "200 shekels" that Absalom’s hair weighed (14:26), was about three pounds.

2 Samuel 15

Absalom pulls off a successful rebellion against his father. David, to his credit, continues to put his future in God’s hands.

Verse 7: Some Bibles say that it was 40 years before Absalom’s rebellion. This is obviously impossible, as David only reigned 40 years total. The Masoretic text, which is the Hebrew text carefully kept by the Jews during much of the first millennium A.D., has 40 years here. The texts we have in other languages, such as Syriac and Greek, say 4 years. Most modern translations know to use 4 years, no matter what the Masoretic text says, but several use 40.

One comment on Hushai, who is mentioned at the end of the chapter. He is described as the king’s friend. 1 Chronicles 27:33 makes it appear that this was his primary role in the kingdom, just to be the king’s friend!

We, too, have the opportunity to experience that role with King Jesus. In John 15:14-15, we read:

You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. From now on I do not call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, for everything that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

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