Bible Reading Challenge Blog

Here we have a very clear story of David sinning, but there is no real understanding of the motive for his sin except maybe he wanted to know how big and powerful her really was. So he told his underlings to take a census, which had always been something that had told him in no uncertain terms to ever do. But for some reason, and this is a bit puzzling to me, he clearly goes against God’s will for no real reason and for no real benefit. He even had an underling who told him that this wasn’t a good idea. This underling, Joab, refused to do a census for the Levites because he was furios that David had told him to do something that was clearly against God’s wishes.

Now that this is behind him, this sin, he sets to work to get things ready for his son Solomon to build the temple. We then get another geneology of the Levites. Why is this? Because it was the Levites who were in charge of the worship and in charge of all that took place in the Temple. This chapter focuses on the temple and here we have those who would be crucial in all things Temple.

Psalm 127 has a favorite quote where we read: Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. The house that is mentioned is the house of the Lord. The Temple has always been seen as the house of the Lord. This Psalm addresses that clearly. But we use it often to describe what we mean in our own homes or in churches. Again, we don’t believe that God lives in a building, but the buildings have always mattered.

We continue to look at the life and times of David and his kingdom. We see that David is a bit perplexed that he is able to live in a beautiful house made of cedar, but God, in the ark of the covenant, is still living in a box with a moveable tent. He beseeches God that he be allowed to make him a house worthy of who he was. But God says no, you will not build a house for me. But you will have a son and he will be the one who will build a house for me. David continues to defend the kingdom. He has a close friend in a fellow king who dies. He sends consolation to his son, but the son listens to his advisors who tell him that David wasn’t actually sending condolensces, but rather checking out the strength of their kingdom. That wasn’t the case, but they were determined to teach David a lesson. They humiliated the messengers of David.

Well, David wasn’t excited about that and wiped them out. Yeah, so that happened, and another chronicle takes place. Don’t sleep on Psalm 29. Powerful.

We continue to see a repeat of the stories that we have heard in Kings which describes the relationship between David and Saul and which is very fraught. Upon the death of Saul David takes over and takes on wives, priority #1, moves the ark of the covenant, priority #2, and establishes himself definitively, priority #3. He may have had his priorities wrong, but he does listen to the Word of the Lord and even takes the advice of God on military matters. These chapters are meant to solidify who David was and the authority with which he governs.

Psalm 28 provides another opportunity to hear the assurances that the Lord will always be our strength and our shield. This assurance, this promise which we heard in Psalm 28, seems to be impingent upon, however, our faithfulness. A bit of a dangerous proposition, but one that we see repeated over and over again in Scripture. God’s love for us has no limits. But our sins do have repercussion.

Arguably Psalm 27 is my favorite Psalm. A fair warning is that I have a number of favorite psalms, but 27 is on the very, very short list. The quote that I can’t keep out of my head is seen in verses 13-14: “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” That means here on this earth people. Do we believe that we will see God’s hand at work here and now, or are we relegating God’s work to the promise of eternal life. This Psalm tells us that we ought to believe, and blessed is he who believes, that we will see the glory of the Lord here and now. But then we are given a hint on how to experience the glory of the Lord. It is quite simple, look at vs. 14: “Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord.” Nothing quite as exquisite in all of Scripture as what we find here.

Chronicles does Chronicles, and ends with the death of Saul and the coronation of David. Not much narrative of import besides that.

There are very few places in Chronicles where you find a narrative. Some of the places in these chapters you will find the infamous prayer of Jabez, Chronicles 4, where culturally it has become a pseudo-prosperity Gospel. But there is nothing wrong in praying that the Lord would protect us and keep us. There is also a narrative dealing with in chapter 5 which describes the apostasy, so what’s new, of the Israelites and how as a result of the apostasy God abandoned them and allowed them to be taken into captivity. What we can’t forget in what might feel like somewhat mundane recitation of names is that the nation of Israel’s building block is built around memory and never forgetting who the Lord is and how the Lord has brought us this far. This memory has to be instilled and built up over the centuries. This recitation of names is more than just that, it is also a reminder of the constant faithfulness of the Lord. God has been faithful to me and to all those who preceeded me, is what is meant by these names.

Proverbs can pretty much be summed up with this one verse that we find in 12:1b – “those who hate to be rebuked are stupid.” I have never thought that calling something stupid was either a good argument or a way in which God would want us to talk. But here we have a real dichotomy of good vs. evil and the author has no hesitation in calling that which is evil stupid. There is also a strong sense that those who work for their living are really doing that which the Lord would consider righteous. There is so much back and forth between good and evil, the wise and the foolish, that which is blessed by God and that which is cursed. The path, if you were only to read Proverbs, seems pretty clear and pretty straightforward. But I think we know better. The good aren’t always blessed, actually they seem to be, at times, less blessed than the bad.

Titus has a few jewels tucked away in its three chapters as well. He makes a distinction between those who profess the faith and those who actually live the faith. That is a truth which is very applicable to today. There is an encouragement that our lives would reflect the piety that is required by God for anyone who calls himself or herself a disciple of Jesus.

I had forgotten what happened at the end of Esther, and I’m kinda wishing I had kept forgetting it. So, yes, the Jews are saved which is really the point of the story that Esther was able to, in her position as Queen and a Hebrew woman, save her people because she was willing to risk her life. But then the roles are reversed where the Jewish people not only are saved, but they go on a rampage against their enemies. I know Old Testament, right, but this one line really bother me and reminds me of what happened in the worst of times in Christian history. Look at Esther 8:17 where we read that many professed to be Jews, even when they weren’t, because they were afraid of the people of descendants of Abraham. Now this is troubling. Does God really want people who aren’t really His followers but rather are only professing to be His people because otherwise they just might be killed. I would think not.

So Esther ends with the people of God killing all of their enemies and this celebration has been passed down to generations to even today. I didn’t realize this dark side of the story of Esther or this dark side of the story of Purim, which would be the decimation of the enemies. Is there no in between instead of full peace or full destruction? It seemed like here there wasn’t. It does remind me a bit of what is happening in Gaza today. History certainly does have a way of repeating itself.

I love the story of Queen Esther. If you have not seen the Veggie Tales rendition of it, I highly recommed it. You can find it here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyMpbGYR-0A

It is this story that is celebrated in the festival of Purim. I have not attended the festival of Purim but apparently it is quite an event. Mordecai as the real villan is lambasted and the children take part fully in the festival. It reminds me a bit, just a little bit, of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, where people get fully engaged and involved in the movie. Again, not something that I have been to, but I have heard about it.

There is no stronger line in all of Esther than Mordecai’s words where he tells her: Maybe for such a time as this… This should be our theme in all times of our lives. Maybe it is for such a time as this that the Lord has chosen us, has asked us to serve Him in whatever capacity that he might want us to serve. If we keep that thougth before us, that the Lord has chosen us to serve Him in such a time as this, then there is no limit to what we can do in his name.

There is a pervading thought that the day of the Lord, judgment day, is one that many look forward to and are wanting to come quickly. Zephania gives us another perspectice on judgment day. While Paul speaks about a trumpet sounding and all of us being raised up with God, which is a celebration, Zephania speaks of the Day of the Lord as a terrible day in that judgment just may not be what we expect it to be. We need to be really careful in not taking our faith in God for granted. Our approach to God has to be one of reverence and awe and not one of entitlement and casualness otherwise the surprise on judgment day will not be a good one.

Proverbs once again matches in each verse what is going to happen to those who are righteous and offsets that with what is going to happen to those who are wicked. I was struck by these verses, 24-25, which, without going into the prosperity Gospel, tells us pretty clearly what happens when we tithe, which is that God meets our need. When we don’t we find ourselves often in need. It is counterintuitive, but it is how God works.

The baseline for the first two Scriptures, Amos and Obadiah, is continual prophecies against the nations of Israel and Juday because of their unfaithfulness by following other gods. This should be a theme that you have heard before because it is so recurring. Judah has disobeyed God and so has been destroyed. But be sure that you don’t laugh at Judah, oh northern kingdom of Israel, because you are also going to be destroyed. Interestingly historically it is Israel that is taken off into exile and then Judah.

Proverbs also provides the basic teaching that if you do what the Lord requires He will provide you with blessings. But if you disobey then you will experience of life which is a repercussion for your disobedience. Now, we know that this isn’t always true, but there is a certain wisdom that is imparted which mentions that a wise and hard working son brings pleasure to the father and lazy son brings ruin to a mother. Yeah, that’s the truth.