Bible Reading Challenge Blog

There is so much back and forth between who is reigning in Judah, the south where Jerusalem is, and who is reigning in the Israel, the north where Samaria is. This back and forth continues to show a continuity. Did you notice that in the south not only is the king identified but also the mother of the king. I thought that was fascinating and I wished I had a reason for why that is. The only similarity that I can find is I know is that whether a person can actually self-define as Jewish or not depends on the mother and not on the father. If the mother is Jewish then the son or daughter can define as Jewish, but not vice-versa. Again, I don’t know the historical or religious reasons behind that, but it seems to carry out in our reading as well.

We see a mention of Jonah as well as Elisha in these verses which describe the many convoluted passing downs of the reign from one king to another. So much blood and violence is involved in all of these stories it is no wonder that people are confused as to the nature of God. We also see Joash and Joahash mentione both in the north and the south so there is a period of time where the two seem interchangeable and yet they are clearly two separate people even while they are reigning at the same time.

It is easy to get a bit lost in which king is which. The way to keep track of it all is again to hear who is the king of Israel, which would be the north, and who is the king of Judah, which is the south. Remember Samaria is the capital of Israel, but we did hear about the golden calves that still existed in Bethel and Dan which used to be the two capitals before Samaria was appointed capital of the north. In these Scriptures we see a bit of an alliance between the North and the South, so much so that both of their kings, Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah, were killed on the same battlefield by Jehu who then became king of Israel.

We also see the death of Jezebel who is thrown down from her window by two of her servants. It was a pretty brutal death. The sheer violence of all that happens in this chapter remind us of a different time when things were done quite differently. That is, at least, what we would like to think. The sheer violence that we see in Gaza, the sheer violence that we see Ukraine, the sheer violence that we see promulgated by our policies and institutions which keep the poor poor is not foreign to what we see in the Old Testament. Lest we find ourselves feeling better by calling others savages, it is fairly important to see our own savage tendencies which may be hidden, but exist nevertheless.

We continue along with the story of Elisha the prophet and all of the things that he was able to do, both miracles and deeds that were clearly from God. But before we enter into the life of Elisha fully, we see the final acts of Elijah including his ascending into heaven in a chariot of fire. It does remind me of the movie with the same title, although I don’t clearly see the parallel. The literal passing on of the mantel from Elijah to Elisha, see where this concept came from?, this literal passing is seen in chapter 2 where Elisha literally picks up the mantel of Elijah that he leaves behind. From then on he is seen as the prophet of the Lord.

The healing of Naaman is one of the more well known stories of Elisha and reminds us of the power of God. But we see this same power as Elisha is able to increase the oil in the widows jar, and heal the Shunamite widow’s son, and other stories that remind us that the power of God was upon Elisha just as powerfully, if not more, than on any other prophet of his day. You also see in the story of Gehazi that it is really hard to find good help.

Proverbs continues to warn against thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side, especially in light of relationships and marriage. There is an interesting, and somewhat disturbing line, about the preference of a prostitute over adultery. Let’s not go down that path, let’s just remain faithful in all counts.

We continue along with the story of Ahab, the king of the North, and his military exploits and how, even in his unfaithfulness, the Lord still accompanies him into victory in battle. That is until he decides that he is going to spare a king and not kill him, against the will of God. Then we find this interesting alliance between the North and the South, and Ahab is able to convince the southern king, Jehoshaphat, to wear the king’s robes so that he would be an obvious sitting duck in the middle of the battle field. I’m always curious as to why Jehoshaphat agrees to this, but he does, and it actually ends up sparing his life. Ahab then dies in battle.

In the meantime we do see an interesting humbling of Ahab as he asks for forgiveness for taking the vineyard from Naboth, even though it was basically his wife trying to cheer him up who does it. The Proverbs Scriptures all begin with a reference to “my son” or “my child”. The author is obviously writing to someone whom he considers a mentee and gives him life directions on how to live as a child of God. There are many admonitions to stay on the right path especially in regards to not straying from the love of your youth to pursue someone who might entice you in the moment. Pretty powerful stuff whose insight has made it through the ages.

Keep in mind that we are now looking at the Northern Kingdom all the while in the South Asa is reigning over Judah. We are now fully in what is called the divided kingdom with emphasis on the north and all that is happening there. We are introduced to the prophet Elijah who was a prophet in the North and all the atrocities and the apostasy which was present in that region. Ahab is seen as the worst with him following Baal whole heartedly. He was also the one responsible for making the capital of the North Samaria.

The encounter between the prophets of Ahab and Jezebel is legendary with Elijah conquering and killing the prophets once he wins. What is also legendary is the still small voice which manifests itself as the presence of the Lord over the wind, earthquake, fire, and all the other natural elements that one would think would be the presence of God. This is a great section with a lot of stories, the widow and her son for example, that are keepers and remind us of what we can do if we were just to have the faith of a mustard seed.

James also mentions Elijah as on who had the prayer of faith and was able to stop the rain for 3 and a half years and bring down the rain after that. I found this to be a meaningful section.

We begin the divided history of Israel. It is really important to be able to follow along with what is happening in the chapters that we have assigned for today. Solomon clearly turns his back on the Lord as a result of his many wives and their religious backgrounds and affiliations. He wanted to please his wives so he brings into being the sacrifices and the high places and the altars to different gods. That was the one thing that God you shall not do. God tell him clearly that because you have done this then I will maintain my promise to you that your children shall reign over the people, but only a portion of the people. You will reign over the southern end of Jerusalem, that is called Judah. It will encompass Jerusalem and that is pretty much it, just two tribes you will reign over. The rest of Israel, the other ten tribes in the northern section of where you are now ruling, I will give to someone else.

This happens and Solomon’s son is given the throne, someone else rises up and takes over the northern kingdom, called Israel, and this will be the new norm here on out. These chapters lay the foundation to what we will be seeing in the Old Testament here on out. There will be two kings, one that rules over Israel, the Northern Kingdom with centers in Bethel and Dan. The first ruler of the north, Jeroboam, begins on the wrong foot by making golden calves so that the people could worship. Someone forgot their history and what happened the last time that golden calves were worshipped in the people of Israel.

So the story continues with rulers who are more or less faithful to the Lord, with the southern kingdom tending to be more faithful because, after all, that is where Jerusalem and the temple are located. We pretty much end with a recounting of the reign of Asa in the south who ruled for 41 years, yikes that’s a long time, and who was very faithful to God. A good way to end this reading. In Proverbs 3:5-6 we find the great verses: “Trust in the Lord Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” This is a good way to end the day.

These chapters in I Kings are dedicated to Solomon building the temple. We don’t quite go into the detail of how the temple is built like we do in other books of the Bible, but I like this condensed version. We do read that it took Solomon 7 years to build the temple and 13 years to build his own house. That seems a little off, but that is what Scripture says. I love what Solomon says when he dedicates the temple. It is less about what the people of God will do and more about asking God to do good things for the people of God. In one place he says, when we sin, for we will sin, and are carried off into captivity because the surrounding nations invade us, then when we realize our sin and confess it and turn our faces back towards you again, remember us and bring us back into the land. That is exactly what happens over the history of Israel more than once. They forget God, turn their back on God and worship idols and other gods, and then they remember the Lord and the Lord restores them. It is a back and forth of obedience and disobedience for the people of Israel. But the temple was supposed to be the constant.

Proverbs reminds us of what obedience looks like, you know, the obedience that the Lord requires. When Solomon prays to the Lord the Lord actually answers and promises to protect and keep the people of Israel.

I like this section of Scripture. It provides us with a historical account that serves us well to remember. We begin with David’s family being divided because one of his sins has claimed the throne in the wake of David’s failing health. Remember the kingdom is solid, powerful, and has never seen the prosperity that it is currently experiencing. But David had promised, because God had demanded, that Solomon would take over once David was out of the picture. Sure enough, David crowns Solomon, Solomon takes care of the various factions that were not totally on his side, and we begin with an Israel that is consolidated and powerful.

God asks Solomon what he might want as a ruler. Solomon asks for wisdom and displays that wisdom for the world to see in the famous cutting the baby in two story. Brutal, but compelling. We then see that Solomon is ready to build the temple and that he is able to build the temple because he has created peace among his neighbors, including marrying the daughter of Pharaoh. Could that be Cleopatra?

In Proverbs we see an encouragement to follow the way of the righteous and not to follow the way of the wicked. It is a them repeated over and over again in this book. Some have called Proverbs a cross country road trip with your mother-in-law. NOt my words, but the assumption is that there is a bit of a nagging quality to it because what is mentioned ought to be pretty self-explanatory. But we still don’t pursue wisdom and righteousness, we often just pursue our own desires. Proverbssets out to fight this urge.

We find ourselves during Lent in the readings that we have for today. Jesus and his disciples and the last supper is a Scripture that is often used when communion is served. I choose to use the I Corinthians 11 Scripture, which is a little more atypical. But we do have the steady stream of events leading up to Jesus’ death. You have Pilate who is told by his wife to let Jesus go because of a dream that she had where it pained her to have Jesus as a prisoner. But it was not to be, the crowd was too powerful and they were able to impose their will.

Jesus’ suffering is pretty evident in this Scripture, more so than the other Scriptures. He is stripped and beaten and forced to carry his cross and cries out in a loud voice as he is on the cross. He doesn’t get any sympathy from those with whom he is being crucified, unlike the other Gospels. His death comes and there is still interaction with the leaders who put him to death and his followers. We also see a lot more of the behind the scenes discussions, such as paying off the guards to tell the story that his disciples stole Jesus’ body.

The resurrection is powerful and gives us the Great Commission in Matthew 28: Go and make disciples. What a great way to end the Gospel narrative, a command to go and make disciples.

We have the opposite problem that we had with Isaiah. With Isaiah we didn’t have a whole lot to talk about each week since the chapters were so similar. With Matthew we have an abundance of material that we could cover. I hope what I cover is something that is of interest to you, and if I do not cover it please comment and I will respond in the comment section. I definitely wanted to cover chapter 20 and the parable of the hired workers. I have seen this parable come to life time after time in real life. People simply think that they are entitled to certain things because of their status as a child of God and because of the amount of time that they have been serving the kingdom. There is always a bit of jealousy when the newcomers are seen as enjoying all the benefits of those who have been at it for a long period of time. I see this in life, for example, in mission trips as we have been preparing for months and a new person comes on board and hasn’t done all the work that the others have done and there is sometimes a bit of a complaint that this person should make up for lost time.

We also see the entry into Jerusalem and Jesus riding both a donkey and a colt, weird. But we do see throughout these Scriptures a constant reference to prophets and how the religious leaders not only turned their backs on the prophets but killed them and completely did that which God did not want them to do. Jesus points to this and says, hey guys, you are doing it again.

The last one that I want to cover is Matthew 25 which is the chapter that has the verses that we have been focusing on forever. We are called to act in a way that reflects that our priority is to provide social ministries that delineate a loyalty to the kingdom not only in speech but also in action. What are we doing consistently to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. etc. That is a question that we have to ask consistently and not just once in a while. Doing this is just as important as prayer and reading Scripture.