tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294802012024-03-19T04:47:48.122-04:00serna Bible BlogChronicles my journey through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation (not in that order). Assuming I get that far, before being called home.David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.comBlogger925125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-3874135156856761102024-02-24T09:00:00.001-05:002024-02-24T09:00:00.137-05:00Inconsistent Lately<p>If I have any readers, they’ll have noticed I’ve been a bit inconsistent lately. My usual schedule is to post every Monday and Thursday at 9AM EST, but sometimes I’m hours (or days) late, and sometimes I don’t post at all for a week or two.</p>
<p>It’s all for good reasons: I’ve just been getting busier and doing more traveling for work, leading to a less consistent schedule. But you should know I don’t take these variances lightly! I get reminders on my phone every Monday and Thursday at 9AM, and if I haven’t posted I give myself a guilt trip until I do – or until I finally give up, and suffer a <em>worse</em> guilt trip. 🤣</p>
David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-51561633988016774982024-02-23T09:59:00.002-05:002024-02-23T09:59:26.014-05:002 Chronicles 17<p><a title="2 Chron 17 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+17&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 17 (NIV)✞</a>: Jehoshaphat King of Judah<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>In this passage we move on from Asa to <strong>Jehoshaphat</strong>. Asa was a <em>mostly</em> good king, but one who faltered in the end and moved away from God. Jehoshaphat, on the other hand, seems to have been a good king throughout his reign. (I tried to compare the 2 Chronicles version of events with the 1 Kings version of events, but couldn’t find a good correlation that just describes Jehoshaphat’s reign in Kings. I probably just missed it.)</p><p>Jehoshaphat’s reign is covered in a very straightforward manner – perhaps because he <em>was</em> a good king, so not much nuance is required! Just going through the chapter:</p><ul>
<li>He strengthened Judah militarily</li>
<li>He followed God, as his father<sup><a href="#user-content-fn-1" id="user-content-fnref-1">1</a></sup> David had done; because of this, God blessed him and made him wealthy</li>
<li>He removed the high places and Asherah poles, which were a perennial problem in Israel/Judah<ul>
<li>Given the fact that I’ve been writing about high places so much lately—and expect to continue doing so for the duration of the Old Testament!—I’ll say that it’s possible Jehoshaphat didn’t remove <em>all</em> of them. Conflicting accounts are given as to how well his father Asa did in this regard. But the author(s) of Chronicles are definitely viewing him as doing the right thing in regard to high places and/or Asherah poles.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>He sent a bunch of his officials, along with Levites and Priests and the Book of the Law, and they went around the country teaching people from it. (The Old Testament, as we have it, didn’t exist in this state at that time, but the Book of the Law essentially refers to the first five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.)</li>
<li>Jehoshaphat became so powerful that the fear of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> fell on all of the surrounding nations, who refrained from trying to go to war against Judah. The Philistines and the Arabs even brought tribute. (At this point in history I’m not sure what people group was referred to as the Arabs. I’ll assume they were ancestors of the same people groups that are referred to as Arabs in today’s world, but I could very well be wrong on that.)</li>
</ul>
<h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>The only thing I’ll call out here is that sons are not doomed to follow in the footsteps of their fathers – or, as in this case, can choose which parts of their fathers’ lives to reject and which to emulate.</p><p>Asa was a very good king… until he wasn’t. Jehoshaphat, on the other hand, seems to have followed the good example of his father (and his ancestor David), while not rejecting God at the end of his life as his father did.</p><p>I typically reject simplistic readings of the Bible—especially the Old Testament—in which people are used as object lessons; “emulate this person,” and “don’t be like that person.” However, even if the Bible is more nuanced than that—<em>way</em> more nuanced than that!—it’s also clear that we should choose who to emulate and who not to emulate. Jehoshaphat chose wisely.</p><hr/>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<ul><li>Another reminder that the Old Testament often uses the term “father” when we would probably use the term “ancestor.” <a href="#user-content-fnref-1" id="user-content-fn-1">↩</a></li></ul>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-21172386544413557412024-02-20T09:15:00.001-05:002024-02-20T09:15:40.414-05:002 Chronicles 16<p><a title="2Chron16 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+16&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 16 (NIV)✞</a>: Asa’s Last Years<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>Over the last few passages the focus has been on <strong>Asa</strong>, king of Judah and, from the perspective of <strong>godliness</strong>, things have been overwhelmingly positive for him: he’s been removing idols and bringing people back to worship of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>. The only negative thing the author(s) have had to say about him so far are that the “high places” were not removed—and even then, it’s a matter of them not being <em>fully</em> removed, since he <em>did</em> remove them at one point—but I don’t remember any instances, in all of the Old Testament history of God’s people, where the high places <em>were</em> fully removed – so, all in all, Asa has been a great king!</p><p>Until now. </p><p>After all the good things Asa did throughout his reign, he now faces <strong>Baasha</strong>, king of Israel, who attacks Judah and starts fortifying the city of <strong>Ramah</strong> (which, I <em>believe,</em> is a city of Judah that Baasha has captured), preventing anyone from entering or leaving Judah – which, of course, would cripple the nation. How could people survive without being able to send and receive goods outside of their borders? </p><p>Unfortunately, instead of relying on God, as he’s always done in the past, Asa relies on the <strong>king of Aram</strong>. He takes a bunch of gold and silver from his treasuries (both the treasuries of the palace and the treasuries of the Temple) and sends them to <strong>Ben-Hadad</strong>, king of Aram, to form a treaty with him – or rather, he wants Ben-Hadad to <em>break</em> his treaty with Baasha/Israel, and form a <em>new</em> one with Asa/Judah.</p><p>When he hears about it, Baasha withdraws from Ramah.</p><p>A prophet comes to confront Asa about this:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>7</sup> At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. <sup>8</sup> Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, he delivered them into your hand. <sup>9</sup> For the eyes of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.16.7-2Chr.16.9 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+16%3A7-9&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 16:7–9 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Given all that we’ve read about Asa so far, we’d expect that he’d humble himself in front of God but he does the exact opposite:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.16.10 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+16%3A10&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 16:10 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>The chapter ends with a note that later in life Asa contracts a severe illness in his feet, but <em>still</em> doesn’t seek help from the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, only “from the physicians” (<a title="verse 12" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+16%3A12&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 12✞</a>).</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>This chapter is definitely a warning to Christians who feel they’re doing pretty good in their walk with God. Even if you are doing well, in this particular moment, will that always be the case? Or will you be like Asa, who did so well for so much of his life, and yet, at the end, seemingly fell away from God? Fell away so hard that, when confronted by a prophet about his sin, instead of repenting, doubled down on his sin and started oppressing the people?!?</p><p>I don’t think it’s helpful for the Christian to be in a constant state of worry or fear—in fact, Jesus specifically warns us <em>against</em> worrying—but, at the same time, Paul also tells us in <a title="2 Cor 13:5" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+13%3A5&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Corinthians 13:5✞</a> that we should examine our faith. It <em>is</em> worth taking time, occasionally, to think about what it is you believe and whether you’re trusting in Jesus’ work or your own. Not because I believe the true Christian can ever lose their faith, but because even true, repentant Christians can sometimes fall into the temptation of trusting in our own selves instead of trusting in Jesus.</p><p>And, like Asa, we can sometimes resist people who try to correct us. (Don’t they know how righteous I am?!?) We can focus on how badly they’re getting their point across—and that might actually be true! perhaps the person <em>is</em> being self-righteous; perhaps the person <em>is</em> taking joy in pointing out another’s sin—but the point isn’t how well they’re delivering the message, it’s how well I’m receiving it. If I ever need to correct someone, <em>then</em> I’ll worry about how the message is delivered; if I’m being corrected, I need to focus on whether the message has truth behind it, regardless of how it’s delivered.</p><p>In other words, I don’t see the story of Asa as teaching us about losing our faith. I <em>do</em> see it as a reminder to examine our current walk, however, to see if we’re trusting too much in ourselves.</p><p>Also, as a side note, I don’t believe <a title="verse 12" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+16%3A12&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 12✞</a> is, in any way, meant to be a warning against trusting in physicians/doctors. I go to doctors to look after my health on a regular basis! Asa’s problem was not trusting in physicians, it was trusting <em>only</em> in physicians; if you trust in God, and let the physicians do their work, you’re fine. If you have no room in your heart for God, and trust only in physicians, you’ve got some spiritual problems.</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-73593537671533158212024-02-08T13:19:00.001-05:002024-02-08T13:19:28.248-05:002 Chronicles 15<p><a title="2 Chron 15 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+15&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 15 (NIV)✞</a>: Asa’s Reform<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>In this passage we continue on from <a href="/2024/02/2-chronicles-14.html" title="null" target="_blank">the previous one</a>, still looking at <strong>King Asa</strong> of Judah. The author(s) continue to portray Asa as a good, Godly king.</p><p>This chapter starts with a message from an otherwise unknown prophet named <strong>Azariah</strong>, who brings Asa (and his people) a word of encouragement:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>1</sup> The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. <sup>2</sup> He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. <sup>3</sup> For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. <sup>4</sup> But in their distress they turned to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. <sup>5</sup> In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. <sup>6</sup> One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. <sup>7</sup> But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.15.1-2Chr.15.7 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+15%3A1-7&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 15:1–7 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>I was at a momentary loss when I read verses 3–4; <em>when</em> was Israel without God? And then the <em>ESV Study Bible</em> reminded me: Oh yeah, the time of the Judges! I’ve been in Samuel/Kings/Chronicles for so long that I forgot what came before it…</p><p>Regardless, Azariah’s words encourage Asa, as they were meant to, so he removes all of the idols from the nation and repairs the altar of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>. (Which implies that the altar had been in need of repair; Asa was a good king, but that doesn’t mean every aspect of worship of God was being taken care of properly.)</p><p>Asa also brings all of the people of Judah together to offer sacrifices. In fact, it’s not just people from Judah but also some folks from the northern kingdom of Israel, who have seen that God is with Judah and have come down in large numbers to join God’s people. In addition to the sacrifices they enter into a covenant to seek God with all their hearts and souls – which, in a sense, shouldn’t be necessary, they’re already supposed to be doing that, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing to occasionally rededicate yourself to things you know you should be doing! In fact, verse 15 includes an interesting note on this:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, <strong>and he was found by them</strong>. So the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> gave them rest on every side.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.15.15 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+15%3A15&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 15:15 (NIV)✞</a>, emphasis added</p></blockquote><p>I love that language! They sought God, and He was found; it’s the second time this chapter has phrased it that way. Though… everything still wasn’t perfect:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>16</sup> King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. <sup>17</sup> Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> all his life.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.15.16-2Chr.15.17 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+15%3A16-17&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 15:16–17 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>The author(s) are going out of their way to point out that Ass is a good king, and in the last passage he removed the high places, but apparently there are still a bunch left! (<a title="Verse 17" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+15%3A17&version=NIV" target="_blank">Verse 17✞</a> says he didn’t remove the high places “from Israel,” but I assume this is an instance of the book of Chronicles sometimes referring to Judah as Israel – not holding Asa to account for removing the high places from a different nation.)</p><p>The chapter ends with a comment that that God gave Judah rest from war until later in Asa’s reign. We’ll read about war in the next chapter.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>I don’t know if it was the authors’ intent, but it’s… well, it’s <em>humbling</em> to read Chapter 15 right after Chapter 14<sup><a href="#user-content-fn-1" id="user-content-fnref-1">1</a></sup>. I went on and on in the last passage about the fact that Asa had removed the <strong>high places</strong> from Judah, and about how difficult it was to root that sin out – but even after all of that, Asa <em>still</em> has to then remove <strong>idols</strong> from the land – <em>and</em> the high places aren’t even completely gone! Why is that humbling? I may not be an ancient Israelite, but this shows how much the human heart would prefer to worship <em>anything</em> other than God when left to its own devices – how lost we’d be if Jesus hadn’t paid the way for a true relationship with God, and the Holy Spirit hadn’t come to start working on our hearts.</p><p>But I’ll point out the flip side of this, too: yes, the people of Judah were so sinful that even a good king like Asa had trouble rooting out all of the sinful worship, but they were also so much more righteous than the people of Israel that large numbers of northerners moved back down to Judah to worship God. The Christian life should be like that: we’re so far from the standards of righteousness set by God, and yet, when the world looks at us they <em>should</em> see people who are more righteous than others. Whether they actually <em>do</em> see that… well, we’ve got work to do.</p><hr/>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<ul><li>Which, we should assume, is how <em>most</em> people read the book; one chapter after the next… <a href="#user-content-fnref-1" id="user-content-fn-1">↩</a></li></ul>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-81958952811327843722024-02-01T12:44:00.004-05:002024-02-01T12:44:42.460-05:002 Chronicles 14<p><a title="2 Chron 14 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+14&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 14 (NIV)✞</a>: Asa King of Judah<a name='more'></a></p><p>As I’m looking at this chapter, I realise I should have made the previous passage span 31:1–14:1, instead of just Chapter 13, if I’d been properly following the NIV section headings (which I usually do). But oh well; it doesn’t change anything I wrote for that passage, nor what I write for this one.</p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>After the reign of <strong>Abijah</strong> in the last chapter, the next king of Judah is <strong>Asa</strong>. I wrote a lot about how mixed Abijah’s reign was, but there’s no such confusion for Asa: he was a good king, who followed God wholeheartedly.</p><p>As is often the case with such good kings, specific mention is made of Asa removing the “high places:”</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>3</sup> He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. <sup>4</sup> He commanded Judah to seek the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. <sup>5</sup> He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.14.3-2Chr.14.5 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+14%3A3-5&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 14:3–5 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>In addition to this Asa built up some of the cities in Judah. Mention is made in <a title="verse 6" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+14%3A6&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 6✞</a> that he wasn’t at war with anyone “during those years,” which gave him the opportunity to spend some time and resources on these fortifications.</p><p>“During those years” doesn’t mean for his entire reign, however, because he did end up at war with the <strong>Cushites</strong>. (<a title="1 Kings 15:9-24" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+15%3A9-24&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Kings 15:9–24✞</a>, which also covers Asa’s reign, mentions that he was also at war with Baasha king of Israel throughout his reign, so the period of peace must have been somewhat short.)</p><p>Like his father before him, Asa trusted in God:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>11</sup> Then Asa called to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> his God and said, “<span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>12</sup> The <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, <sup>13</sup> and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. <sup>14</sup> They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there. <sup>15</sup> They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.14.11-2Chr.14.15 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+14%3A11-15&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 14:11–15 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>“High places” are places where the people worshipped gods; usually false gods, but I believe they also worshipped <em>the</em> God in those places – at least some of the time. (They weren’t <em>supposed</em> to, that’s what the Temple was for, but they sometimes did.) I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before—probably many times—but the fact that every single time Judah got a good king he had to remove “high places” from the land is an indication that every single chance they got, God’s people kept creating them!</p><p>In a way, this is kind of a minor thing. Compared to, say, sacrificing their children in fire to false gods, having high places is a lower “crime.” On the other hand, it was much, much more <strong>insidious</strong>. The very fact that it’s not that big of a deal compared to other forms of false worship means that it got entrenched in the culture of God’s people. “What’s the big deal?” they thought (if they thought about it at all). “We’re just treating the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> like any other ‘god’ – we worship Him, and we worship them! Every ‘god’ gets his due!” Which is exactly the problem: He <em>isn’t</em> like any other “god,” and making Him “just one more god, among many” is exactly what He wanted His people to avoid!</p><p>There are modern-day equivalents of this which are just as insidious, and therefore we don’t always think in those terms. When God’s people went to a high place and made sacrifices to Him and to other gods, He might very well have questioned them: “Why are you trusting in ‘gods’ that are not gods, instead of trusting in Me?” If I think to myself, “what’s the big deal, I go to church on Sundays but I also follow my horoscopes,” then God might very well question me: “Why are you trusting in predictions that are no predictions, instead of trusting in Me?” If I lie or cheat or steal in order to make more money, then God might very well question me: “Why are you trusting in money, which cannot save, instead of trusting in Me?”</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-15546287928182014222024-01-29T14:23:00.002-05:002024-01-29T14:23:35.429-05:002 Chronicles 13<p><a title="2 Chron 13 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+13&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 13 (NIV)✞</a>: Abijah King of Judah<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>In this passage we have another example of the author(s) of Chronicles focusing on the good – in fact, a rather extreme example! When <strong>Abijah</strong> is covered in <a title="1 Kings 15:1-8" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+15%3A1-8&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Kings 15:1–8✞</a> the author(s) tell us only that he didn’t follow the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> wholeheartedly (as his father<sup><a href="#user-content-fn-1" id="user-content-fnref-1">1</a></sup> David had done), and… actually, that’s it – that’s <em>all</em> we’re told in Kings! Here, however, we’re told of a particular incident in Abijah’s life in which he <em>did</em> follow the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, and… actually, that’s it – that’s all we’re told.</p><p>And that incident is easy to follow: Abijah and the soldiers from Judah line up for battle against <strong>Jeroboam</strong> and the soldiers of Israel, but there are twice as many soldiers from Israel as from Judah. Nonetheless, Abijah trusts in the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> and believes that this trust will pay off. How can Jeroboam and his people <em>possibly</em> defeat the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>?!? He even gives a speech in <a title="verses 4-12" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+13%3A4-12&version=NIV" target="_blank">verses 4–12✞</a> in which he says so: the people of Israel have abandoned their God and are worshipping idols instead; if they war against God, they will fail.</p><p>Before the battle even commences, however, Jeroboam has sent some of his troops around to the rear of the troops from Judah, surrounding them, so the next thing Abijah knows he’s fighting a battle on two fronts!</p><p>It was at this point that I fully expected to see Abijah getting defeated. (Shows how well I remember my Bible from reading to reading…) He is written off in Kings as… well, not a <em>bad</em> king, but not a <em>good</em> one either, and God <em>had</em> given Jeroboam the northern kingdom of Israel, so I expected this to be a story of a king’s hubris coming back to bite him: he <em>thought</em> God was on his side, but was He really? </p><p>I was wrong: not only does God defeat the people of Israel on behalf of the people of Judah, but the casualties end up being higher than the number of soldiers originally brought by Judah in the first place. (That is, we’re told that there are 800,000 soldiers from Israel, 400,000 from Judah, but after the battle we’re told there are 500,000 casualties from Israel!)</p><p>Verse 18 sums it up nicely:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, the God of their ancestors.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.13.18 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+13%3A18&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 13:18 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>The chapter summarises the rest of Abijah’s reign by saying that he grew in strength, taking a number of wives and having a number of sons.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>I keep mentioning it over and over, but very few of the people in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, are wholly “good” or “bad.” They’re usually a mix of the two – just like everyone <em>else</em> who has ever lived! So for a book like Chronicles, which is trying to highlight the ways God has provided for His people, there are a lot of instances that can be called out, even for kings that weren’t “good” kings.</p><p>And, again, we must remember who Chronicles was written for: God’s people have been pulled out of their land for hundreds of years, under the Assyrians then the Babylonians and then the Persians (and I might be missing an empire or two), but when Chronicles was written a remnant of them were finally returning back to the land God had given them. What would those people need more than anything? Reminders of times when their ancestors had trusted in God, and that trust had been rewarded.</p><p>So when I add up all that we know of Abijah’s reign, he ends up being… so-so. Not a great king, but not a terrible one. Not faithful to God the way his father David had been, but not evil like so many other kings were. He’s so middle of the road that the author(s) of Kings can dismiss him as not good while the author(s) of Chronicles can highlight his successes – and both are right!</p><hr/>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<ul><li>Remember that the Bible sometimes uses the term “father” rather loosely, meaning “ancestor,” not necessarily literal, direct <strong>father</strong>. <a href="#user-content-fnref-1" id="user-content-fn-1">↩</a></li></ul>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-8304171623172193112024-01-25T12:14:00.000-05:002024-01-25T12:14:29.299-05:002 Chronicles 12<p><a title="2 Chron 12 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+12&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 12 (NIV)✞</a>: Shishak Attacks Jerusalem<a name='more'></a></p><p>I hate to do this, but before I even get into this passage I have to get into a weird nuance, because we’re going to get thrown a curveball. 🙃 Let’s look at verse 1:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and <strong>all Israel with him</strong> abandoned the law of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.12.1 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+12%3A1&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 12:1 (NIV)✞</a>, emphasis added</p></blockquote><p>A huge part of the story of God’s people at this point is the fact that the nation that was previously called <strong>Israel</strong> has been split into two nations: <strong>Israel</strong> in the North, which immediately abandons God and never comes back to Him, and <strong>Judah</strong> in the South, which is ruled by the line of David and is hit and miss in terms of how well they follow God. Judah is the focus of the book of Chronicles, but Israel is also mentioned from time to time. Nice and clear.</p><p>Except… the book of Chronicles will sometimes use the name “Israel” when it’s referring to the nation of Judah. I think this is because of the reason for the book of Chronicles being written in the first place: God’s people are returning from exile—hundreds of years after the events that are described in this book—back to what used to be their land, and need to be reminded of all that God had done for them. They’re going to end up calling this land “Israel” again, so even though Chronicles is focusing only on Judah, the author(s) just generically use the term “Israel.” Except when they don’t, because the names “Israel” and “Judah” are intermixed in this passage!</p><p>I’m <em>assuming</em> I’ll keep using the name “Judah,” but we’ll see how consistent I am with that – I might get pulled into following the author(s) of Chronicles.</p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>This is an interesting event in Rehoboam’s reign over Judah. It starts off bad: as I quoted above, pretty much immediately after becoming king, Rehoboam (and the nation with him) abandons God. Actually, the author(s) have an interesting way of looking at it; let’s look at verse 1 again, and add verse 2:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>1</sup> After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him <em>abandoned the law of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>.</em> <sup>2</sup> Because they had been <em>unfaithful to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>,</em> Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.12.1-2Chr.12.2 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+12%3A1-2&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 12:1–2 (NIV)✞</a>, emphasis added</p></blockquote><p>I think this is consistent across all of the Old Testament: being unfaithful to God and abandoning His law are synonymous. If His people are being faithful they demonstrate it by following His Law; if they aren’t following His Law it’s a sign of a deeper abandonment of Him. In fact, it’s consistent in the <em>New</em> Testament as well:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">“If you love me, keep my commands.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="John.14.15 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A15&version=NIV" target="_blank">John 14:15 (NIV)✞</a>, Jesus speaking</p></blockquote><p>So, as mentioned in verse 2 above, because Judah has abandoned God and/or His Law, He sends the king of Egypt against them with what seems like an insurmountable force. And then this happens:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>5</sup> Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> says, ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak.’”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>6</sup> The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> is just.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.12.5-2Chr.12.6 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+12%3A5-6&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 12:5–6 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>It’s one of those seemingly rare cases in the Bible when a prophet brings a message from God to His people and they respond exactly as they should! Notice that they’re not even praying for deliverance (though I’m sure that was also happening), just recognising that He is… being just!</p><p>When He sees that His people have responded properly, God’s anger is ameliorated; He is still going to allow them to be punished by the Egyptians, but not completely destroyed. And that’s what happens: the Egyptians attack and carry off a bunch of plunder from the treasures of the Temple and the palace. </p><p>Remember those shields made out of gold by Solomon? Specific mention is made of the fact that the Egyptians carry those off, forcing Rehoboam to replace them with shields made out of bronze. Under the reign of Solomon the nation of Israel was overflowing with so much gold that silver was considered worthless, and now the king of Judah is having to resort to <em>bronze</em> for making his shields<sup><a href="#user-content-fn-1" id="user-content-fnref-1">1</a></sup>!</p><p>The remainder of the chapter is kind of mixed. It’s as if the author(s) can’t go too far talking about Rehoboam’s bad side before reminding the readers that he also had a good side – but then can’t go too far in talking about his good side without reminding us that he had a bad side, too!</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>12</sup> Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, <strong>there was some good in Judah</strong>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>13</sup> King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. <sup>14</sup> <strong>He did evil</strong> because he had not set his heart on seeking the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.12.12-2Chr.12.14 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+12%3A12-14&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 12:12–14 (NIV)✞</a>, emphasis added</p></blockquote><p>I say this all the time, but the Bible is <em>way</em> more nuanced than we sometimes want it to be. Was Solomon a <em>good</em> king, or a <em>bad</em> one? Yes. What about his son Rehoboam? Also yes.</p><p>The chapter closes with mention of the fact that there was continual warfare between Rehoboam/Judah and Jeroboam/Israel.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>This passage had me thinking, once again, about cause and effect, in a spiritual sense. Events in the Bible—especially in the Old Testament historical books—are often presented as if God is responding to certain events: the nation of Judah abandons God, so, as a result, He decides to punish them; then they repent, so, as a result, He decides to pull back on His punishment.</p><p>If we read this too simplistically we see a God who is <strong>reactive</strong>: He sees what His people are doing and responds accordingly, then sees what they do next and responds accordingly to <em>that.</em> That reading doesn’t properly account for the fact that God is in control of everything, nor does it account for the fact that God is outside of time, and already knew how Rehoboam and the people of Judah were going to respond long before they did it. On the other hand, if we read the entire passage as God simply doing what He wills that’s too simplistic the <em>other</em> way, and doesn’t account for the fact that Rehoboam and the people of Judah were humans with their own <strong>free will</strong>, and able to make their own decisions. It’s a tension that exists throughout the entire Bible – and, therefore, one I mention on a regular basis in this blog. 🙂</p><p>It’s also interesting to think about the treasures that the Egyptians take from Judah:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.12.9 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+12%3A9&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 12:9 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Yes, some of the plunder taken from Judah came from Rehoboam’s palace, but the author(s) emphasise that, actually, a lot of the plunder came from the Temple. What should we take away from that?</p><p>First—and the main point I usually think of, when I read about foreign nations plundering the nation and taking treasures from the Temple—is that there might be an aspect of the people giving up that which they care about the least: “Go ahead and steal from the Temple! That’s just <em>God’s</em> stuff; as long as you don’t take <em>our</em> stuff, we’ll be fine.” There are instances where that reading of events seems more explicit, when kings of Judah specifically take from the treasures in the Temple to give to foreign kings as tribute, and that kind of thing.</p><p>However, as I’m thinking about aspects of both people’s free will and God’s sovereignty, it also occurs to me that there’s an aspect of God allowing <em>Himself</em> to be stolen from, as part of His teaching Judah a lesson.</p><p>It’s not a <em>direct</em> analogy, in this case (I don’t think), but those of us who are familiar with the New Testament will see a pattern in God allowing Himself to be punished for the sake of His people…</p><hr/>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<ul><li>Aside from the symbolism of having to “downgrade” from golden shields to bronze ones, I’m kind of thinking that bronze might be a better metal to make shields out of anyway! Wouldn’t gold be too soft and heavy to make a good shield? <a href="#user-content-fnref-1" id="user-content-fn-1">↩</a></li></ul>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-56834719581487101732024-01-22T14:18:00.001-05:002024-01-22T14:18:12.076-05:002 Chronicles 11:5-23<p><a title="2 Chron 11:5-23 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A5-23&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 11:5–23 (NIV)✞</a>: Rehoboam Fortifies Judah, Rehoboam’s Family<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p><strong>Rehoboam</strong> was introduced in the <a href="/2024/01/2-chronicles-101-114.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a>, and we now explore a bit more of his kingship.</p><p>First, in <a title="verses 5-12" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A5-12&version=NIV" target="_blank">verses 5–12✞</a>, we see him taking into account that Judah is now a separate country: he fortifies its border towns and strengthens its defenses. I have to assume that this is, at least in part, due to the fact that he now has a new border with a frenemy: the nation of <strong>Israel</strong>. We’ll see that, despite their shared origins, the nations of Judah and Israel are going to have a fraught relationship; sometimes active enemies, sometimes uneasy allies. It’s smart for Rehoboam to start preparing himself against a new, potentially hostile nation! (Or, if you just go by who got to keep the name “Israel,” I guess Judah is the new nation and Israel is the “established” one…)</p><p>But then in <a title="verses 13-17" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A13-17&version=NIV" target="_blank">verses 13–17✞</a> he also fortifies Judah’s <strong>spiritual</strong> strength:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>13</sup> The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him. <sup>14</sup> The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> <sup>15</sup> when he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made. <sup>16</sup> Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, the God of their ancestors. <sup>17</sup> They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.11.13-2Chr.11.17 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A13-17&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 11:13–17 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Once again, Chronicles is assuming the readers already have knowledge from the book of Kings (or other sources, I suppose), about Jeroboam setting up idols in Israel and pulling the nation away from God. It only needs to be referred to, not explained.</p><p>Finally, in <a title="verses 18-23" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A18-23&version=NIV" target="_blank">verses 18–23✞</a>, we get some information about Rehoboam’s family and his rule over Judah, and I’ll just point out the last two verses:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>22</sup> Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maakah as crown prince among his brothers, in order to make him king. <sup>23</sup> He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and took many wives for them.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.11.22-2Chr.11.23 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A22-23&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 11:22–23 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>I assume we’ll get to <strong>Adijah’s</strong> rule soon enough, though the author(s) are kind of skipping ahead a bit by mentioning him becoming king because they’re not done talking about Rehoboam yet. </p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>The one thing I’ll say about this passage is that the author(s) are doing their best to resist a simplistic view of Rehoboam. If we judge him solely on his foolish action in the last passage we’ll miss some complexity.</p><p>Note especially <a title="verse 23" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A23&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 23✞</a> quoted above, and Rehoboam acting wisely. Whether he grew more wise over time, or whether he was always wise—he was Solomon’s son, after all—and the “I’m going to treat you even more harshly than my father did” incident was just a fluke, either way, the author(s) of Chronicles don’t want us to be too simplistic in how we look at Rehoboam. He wasn’t an unwise man, overall, even if he did an unwise thing. Or… maybe he <em>was</em> an overall unwise man who was also able to act wisely in some cases!</p><p>Part of the reason I make this point is that I’m still resisting the idea that Israel and Judah split because of Rehoboam’s foolishness in the <a href="/2024/01/2-chronicles-101-114.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a>; I’m not denying that it <em>was</em> foolish, but as I pointed out, God had already planned to split the nation before his foolishness, so it would be overly simplistic to call his action the main issue.</p><p>I’m <em>also</em> resisting the idea that Chronicles glosses over the messy bits of the history of God’s people – that this book shows a rosy picture of how good things were, while the books of Samuel and Kings show the unvarnished truth. It’s true that Chronicles has a different focus from Samuel/Kings, but not because the author(s) are trying to hide anything, it’s simply a different focus.</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-4988937774596044742024-01-18T17:05:00.001-05:002024-01-18T17:05:28.195-05:002 Chronicles 10:1-11:4<p><a title="2 Chron 10:1-11:4 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+10%3A1-11%3A4&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 10:1–11:4 (NIV)✞</a>: Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>In the <a href="/2024/01/2-chronicles-913-31.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a> we saw the end of <strong>Solomon’s</strong> reign, which means his son <strong>Rehoboam</strong> is now king of Israel – potentially. This passage begins with him going to <strong>Shechem</strong>, for “all Israel” to crown him king.</p><p>Why Shechem, instead of Jerusalem? The <em>ESV Study Bible</em> notes had an answer for that:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><strong>1 Kings 12:1</strong> <strong>Shechem</strong> is a place of covenant renewal (Josh. 24:1–27), and the place also where kingship first briefly intruded itself into the tribal life of Israel (Judges 9). It is the ideal place for a prospective king to be invited and confronted with the question of how he is going to exercise his kingship.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;">ESV Study Bible</p></blockquote><p>And… why did I put “all Israel” in quotation marks (even though it’s what <a title="verse 1" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A1&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 1✞</a> says)? Because the transition to power isn’t going to be as smooth as Rehoboam is hoping; another quote from the <em>ESV Study Bible</em> explains why:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><strong>2 Chron. 10:1–5</strong> Rather than simply make <strong>Rehoboam</strong> king (as he no doubt expected), the tribal leaders wished to negotiate the terms of his kingship, including relief from the forced labor imposed by Solomon.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;">ESV Study Bible</p></blockquote><p>This is an interesting point because the authors of Kings/Chronicles have gone out of their way thus far to say that Solomon <em>didn’t</em> conscript Israelites for forced labour; this passage indicates that that isn’t <em>quite</em> true, or that he was somehow extracting a lot of labour from them in <em>some</em> manner. So their negotiation is simple:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">“Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.11.4 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A4&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 11:4 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>A major player taking part in these negotiations is a man named <strong>Jeroboam</strong>. Chronicles skips over his backstory, other than to say that he’d fled to Egypt from Solomon and has now returned after Solomon’s death. (The book of Kings had more detail on why.) If I extend the previous quote it shows his active participation in this negotiation:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>3</sup> So they sent for Jeroboam, and <strong><em>he</em> and all Israel</strong> went to Rehoboam and said to him: <sup>4</sup> “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.11.3-2Chr.11.4 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A3-4&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 11:3–4 (NIV)✞</a>, emphasis added</p></blockquote><p>Regardless, Rehoboam doesn’t have a quick answer for the people; he requests three days to consider things. He consults some folks, but not in a way that we’d call wise – at least, not in retrospect:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>6</sup> Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>7</sup> They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>8</sup> But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. <sup>9</sup> He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>10</sup> The young men who had grown up with him replied, “The people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. <sup>11</sup> My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.11.6-2Chr.11.11 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A6-11&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 11:6–11 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>What I find interesting about this is that Solomon’s advisors—presumably the people who’d been advising Solomon when he was putting the “heavy yoke” on his people—are the ones telling Rehoboam to be “kind” to the people. Does that mean they have changed their mind since Solomon’s time? Or that Solomon had been extracting heavy labour from his people against the advice of his advisors? The text doesn’t say.</p><p>And, as a reminder that the Bible is not as chaste in its language as we sometimes like to pretend it is, it’s worth pointing out that the “my little finger” language is not talking about Rehoboam’s finger:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><strong>1 Kings 12:10–11</strong> <strong>My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs.</strong> The foolish advice of the younger men to Rehoboam is literally in Hebrew “my little one is thicker than my father’s thighs,” most likely a reference to his sexual organ rather than a literal finger. Power and sexual potency were very much connected in the ancient Near East (see ch. 1). The equally obscure <strong>scorpions</strong> (12:11) is probably a reference to a particularly vicious form of whip.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;">ESV Study Bible</p></blockquote><p>So Rehoboam follows the advice of his friends, gives the Israelites a harsh answer, and the people therefor reject him as king.</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.11.15 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+11%3A15&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 11:15 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Again, the author(s) of Chronicles expect the readers to know the story as told in the book of Kings; they refer to the word the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> had spoken to Jeroboam, but none of that backstory is included in Chronicles.</p><p>And this is the split of the nation of Israel into two: the northern part of the kingdom splits off under the leadership of Jeroboam (which is only implied, but the reader is expected to know), and the southern part of the kingdom becomes the nation of Judah, still under Rehoboam’s kingship.</p><p>It hasn’t really sunk in, in Rehoboam’s mind, that this has happened, however, because he sends out <strong>Adoniram</strong>, the man who’s in charge of forced labour—I <em>think</em> to Israel—and the Israelites stone him to death. Rehoboam himself seems to have been there as well, but manages to get into his chariot and escape back to Jerusalem.</p><p>Rehoboam now prepares for the next obvious step: he’s going to muster the army that’s still under his control and march out and regain the northern kingdom. However, before they leave the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> sends word to Rehoboam through a prophet that he shouldn’t do so; that this is all His doing. So—maybe a bit surprisingly—they listen to God and return home.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>Yes, it’s true, Rehoboam is foolish in this passage. He listens to advice he shouldn’t listen to, rejecting good advice.</p><p>We should not, however, view the splitting of Judah and Israel as Rehoboam’s fault. The text makes it clear that this is all God’s doing; Rehoboam rejecting good advice in the first place is part of God’s plan to split the nation, not the cause of it. I say from time to time that Solomon’s rule was mixed; he was a good king in some ways and a bad king in others. But God’s decision to split the nation—and give the majority of it to Jeroboam instead of to the line of David—was made in his time, not in Rehoboam’s.</p><p>Chronicles, of course, is not exploring this topic at all; we’re expected to know the story from Kings to fill in these details.</p><p>How do we apply this in our personal lives? First of all, there’s a surface message in this passage about <strong>wisdom</strong>. We should strive for it, and can see a negative example in this story of Rehoboam being unwise, and the consequences thereof. But there’s a <strong>deeper application</strong>, as well: there will be times when I <em>will</em> be unwise, and that might be because God had planned it that way! That doesn’t mean I don’t need to worry about it—again, I <em>should</em> be striving to be wise, and when I sin I need to repent of it—but it does mean that I need to trust in God’s providence <em>more</em> than I am trusting in my own wisdom.</p><p>I’m sure there were times when Rehoboam felt <em>miserable,</em> given the dire consequences of his momentary lapse of judgement. I’m reasonably confident I’ll never make a mistake with such large consequences! And yet, God was in control; the events that happened here, leading through the rest of the history of the ancient kingdoms of Judah and Israel, through their exiles, all led directly to Jesus Christ taking my punishment on the cross and enabling a relationship between myself and God. I can’t say that means Rehoboam did the right thing, but there’s a very real sense in which I’m glad it went down the way it did.</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-3210703013624522762024-01-15T15:46:00.003-05:002024-01-15T15:46:46.947-05:002 Chronicles 9:13-31<p><a title="2 Chron 9:13-31 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A13-31&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 9:13–31 (NIV)✞</a>: Solomon’s Splendor, Solomon’s Death<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>This passage rounds out Chronicles’ description of Solomon’s reign as king.</p><p>It starts with a recap of the amount of gold Solomon received every year, which was 666 talents (over 20 metric tons), and that he used some of this gold to make a number of gold <strong>shields</strong>, which he put in one of his palaces. And… he also made a throne, and overlaid it with gold. And… his goblets were made of gold. In fact, <em>all</em> of his “household articles” were gold – because gold had become so common that “silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s day” (<a title="verse 20" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A20&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 20✞</a>).</p><p>We’re told that much of Solomon’s wealth comes from his trading partnership with King Hiram of Tyre, but he’s also bringing in a secondary income just by providing wisdom to other kings!</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>22</sup> King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. <sup>23</sup> All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. <sup>24</sup> Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.9.22-2Chr.9.24 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A22-24&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 9:22–24 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Imagine being so wise that you get significant income just from people coming to hear you share your wisdom! (I have a career as a consultant, but that’s definitely <em>not</em> how I’d describe my job…)</p><p>In a day and time when military strength was measured in horses and chariots, a summary of Solomon’s wealth includes them as well:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>25</sup> Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. <sup>26</sup> He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. <sup>27</sup> The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. <sup>28</sup> Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from all other countries.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.9.25-2Chr.9.28 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A25-28&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 9:25–28 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>And I have the same thought I always have when I read this: Weren’t Israel’s kings specifically forbidden from having “many horses” – and even more specifically forbidden from getting them from Egypt? I think the author(s) are still trying to get the message across that Solomon was bringing a lot of wealth and power to Israel, but that there were warning signs already of what was to come. The book of Chronicles might not delve into those problems as deeply as the book of Kings did, but the readers would definitely know all of those details from Kings.</p><p>This passage ends with Solomon’s death, after his forty year reign, succeeded by his son <strong>Rehoboam</strong>.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>When I read this passage I can’t make up my mind if it’s <strong>fanciful</strong> or <strong>wasteful</strong>. Did Solomon <em>really</em> have all of his household articles made of gold? And the throne!</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>17</sup> Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. <sup>18</sup> The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. <sup>19</sup> Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.9.17-2Chr.9.19 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A17-19&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 9:17–19 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>So one of two things is happening. Either</p><ul>
<li>The author(s) of Kings/Chronicles are being <strong>fanciful</strong> in exaggerating how wealthy Solomon was, or</li>
<li>Solomon was <em>so wealthy</em> that he became completely <strong>wasteful</strong> in how he used all that God had given him, doing silly things like building huge thrones and making golden cutlery</li>
</ul>
<p>Either way, I think we’re meant to see some issues with Solomon. He was a good king, but one with faults; we often focus on his foreign wives as pulling him away from God, but might not his vast wealth have been doing the same? The Bible is full of warnings that wealth can be dangerous to our spiritual lives, and Kings/Chronicles are painting a picture of Solomon as one of the richest people who ever lived.</p><p>Incidentally, I know there’s always a problem in studying history where we focus on the rulers and forget about the common people, but in this case… I think the focus is <em>purposely</em> on Solomon himself. A couple of times, in writing this post, I was on the verge of talking about the wealth of <em>Israel,</em> instead of just the wealth of Solomon, but I held back because the focus, in this case, really does seem to be on the man. Which is not always a good way to write history, but <em>is</em> a good way to paint spiritual lessons for your readers.</p><p>Is this, perhaps, a matter of God showing us that our desires aren’t always what they should be? Because this is clearly the high point in the history of the ancient nation of Israel; God couldn’t possibly have blessed the nation more than He did – and what was the result? Marrying princesses from foreign nations was common practice to cement political alliances, but Solomon was so powerful that he married <em>hundreds</em> of them, which became a problem. God blessed His people materially, but I <em>think</em> that made the rulers of Israel (especially Solomon himself) trust in their wealth and their power instead of trusting in Him.</p><p>On that point, God had prevented King David from building a Temple, at least in part because David had been a man of war, but God has now granted peace to His people so they can build Him a Temple – but has that peace made them complacent?</p><p>I think, overall, we’re seeing a very common pattern playing out here, of people trusting in the things God has given them instead of trusting in God Himself. We’ll see the fallout of this in the very next chapter: Solomon’s son <strong>Jeroboam</strong> isn’t going to be the kind of king his father Solomon was, or even close to the kind of king his grandfather David was, and Israel isn’t going to be prepared to handle such a situation; they’re too used to not having to worry about anything because God has blessed them beyond the point of <em>having</em> to worry…</p><h2>The <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span></h2>
<p>I don’t want to read too much into things, but to continue the previous point, I also notice that the <strong>personal name</strong> of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> doesn’t appear in this passage. The whole thing is “Solomon did this” and “Solomon had that” but not “the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> did this for Solomon” or “the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> gave that to Solomon.” The closest we get is <a title="verse 23" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A23&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 23✞</a>, in which all of the kings of the world are coming to hear the wisdom that <strong>God</strong> had put in Solomon’s heart – but not that “the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> had put in Solomon’s heart.” </p><p>Some background, so you can see where I’m coming from: When we see the name “<span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>” in the Old Testament, rendered in all capitals like that (usually in “small caps,” for readability) that’s God’s <strong>personal name</strong>—and we see it <em>all over</em> the Old Testament, because God is personally intervening with His people <em>all through</em> the Old Testament—but when we see “God” it’s less personal; “God” is more of a title than a name. Yes, there is only one God, so when the Bible refers to God it’s talking about that one God, but that’s not the same as referring to Him <em>by name.</em></p><p>Let me quote an article from the folks who created the English Standard Version translation of the Bible, which, I think, applies to most modern English translations of the Bible:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><strong>7. In the translation of words referring to God, the ESV takes great care to convey great nuance when it comes to the Hebrew and Greek terms.</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">Concerning terms that refer to God in the Old Testament: God, the Maker of heaven and earth, introduced himself to the people of Israel with a special personal name, the consonants for which are YHWH (see <a title="Exodus 3:14–15 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+3%3A14-15&version=ESV" target="_blank">Exodus 3:14–15 (ESV)✞</a>). Scholars call this the “Tetragrammaton,” a Greek term referring to the four Hebrew letters YHWH. The exact pronunciation of YHWH is uncertain, because the Jewish people considered the personal name of God to be so holy that it should never be spoken aloud. Instead of reading the word YHWH, therefore, they would normally read the Hebrew word <em>’adonay</em> (“Lord”), and the ancient translations into Greek, Syriac, and Aramaic also followed this practice. When the vowels of the word <em>’adonay</em> are placed with the consonants of YHWH, this results in the familiar word Jehovah that was used in some earlier English Bible translations.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">As is common among English translations today, the ESV usually renders the personal name of God (YHWH) by the word <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> (printed in small capitals). An exception to this is when the Hebrew word <em>’adonay</em> appears together with YHWH, in which case the two words are rendered together as “the Lord [in lowercase] <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">G</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">OD</span> [in small capitals].” In contrast to the personal name for God (YHWH), the more general name for God in Old Testament Hebrew is <em>’elohim</em> and its related forms of <em>’el</em> or <em>’eloah,</em> all of which are normally translated “God” (in lowercase letters). The use of these different ways to translate the Hebrew words for God is especially beneficial to English readers, enabling them to see and understand the different ways that the <em>personal</em> name and the <em>general</em> name for God are both used to refer to the <em>One True God</em> of the Old Testament.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://www.crossway.org/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-esv-translation/" title="null" target="_blank">10 Things You Should Know About the ESV Translation</a>, with small caps formatting applied and some Scripture links added</p></blockquote><p><em>Incidentally, this is also why you don’t see the word “<span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>” written like that in the <em>New</em> Testament – you only see “Lord,” never the all-capitalised “<span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>.” The New Testament was written in ancient Greek, not ancient Hebrew—technically, “ancient Greek” and “even</em> more <em>ancient Hebrew”—and they didn’t have this convention of a special word, such as YHWH, that they used for God’s personal name. In the New Testament they just use the Greek words for “Lord” and “God.”</em></p><p>So we see that the Bible sometimes uses a <strong>personal name</strong> for God (He is the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>), and sometimes uses a <strong>general name</strong> (He is God). We do the same thing today; for example, I’m an Elder at my local church, and, at the moment, happen to be the only one. (The Pastor is technically an “Elder,” just a paid Elder, but we’ll set that nuance aside.) So if someone approached someone else from my congregation and said, “the Elder said I should talk to you,” it would be clear who was meant: the person is talking about me. But it would also be clear that this person doesn’t <em>know</em> me; maybe they’re new to the church and haven’t yet gotten to know everyone, or maybe I’ve just done a terrible job of making myself available to the congregation. On the other hand, if they said, <em>“David</em> said I should talk to you,” that shows more of a personal relationship. It’s not necessarily a close, intimate friendship, but it’s at least enough that the person is on a first-name basis with me. </p><p>So now let’s compare the last passage (<a title="verses 1-12" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A1-12&version=NIV" target="_blank">verses 1–12✞</a>) with the one we’re looking at here. As mentioned, the personal name of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> doesn’t appear at all in this passage but in the previous passage (about the visit of the Queen of Sheba) it appears four times. Twice the author(s) of Chronicles (and probably Kings) refer to “the temple of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>” (verses <a title="4" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A4&version=NIV" target="_blank">4✞</a> and <a title="11" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A11&version=NIV" target="_blank">11✞</a>), and twice the Queen of Sheba herself—who is not an Israelite—refers to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> when talking to Solomon:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">Praise be to <strong>the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span></strong> your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for <strong>the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span></strong> your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.9.8 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A8&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 9:8 (NIV)✞</a>, emphasis added</p></blockquote><p>So all that to say… I’m wondering if the author(s) are making a point about Solomon by <em>not</em> including the personal name of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> in this passage, in which Solomon’s reign is summarised. After all, it would have been easy to write this text in such a way as the personal name of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> <em>did</em> appear; for example, let’s look at a few verses:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>22</sup> King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. <sup>23</sup> All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. <sup>24</sup> Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.9.22-2Chr.9.24 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A22-24&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 9:22–24 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Those verses could easily have been written like this instead:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>22</sup> <strong>The <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> made</strong> King Solomon greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. <sup>23</sup> All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom <strong>the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> had put in his heart</strong>. <sup>24</sup> Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.</p></blockquote><p>Very simple changes—and, frankly, consistent with how much of the Old Testament is written—so I wonder: why <em>didn’t</em> the author(s) write it that way? Again, I worry that I’m in danger of reading too much into this, but it <em>feels</em> like a choice. It <em>feels</em> like there’s less of a personal relationship between Solomon and the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> than there had been with his father David.</p><h3>My Methodology</h3>
<p>Incidentally, I should mention that I’m basing this on instances where the all-capitals version of the word “<span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>” appears in the translation(s) I’m looking at. I’m not able to read ancient Hebrew, so I’m relying on the translators’ skills. </p><p>That being said, the NIV, ESV, NKJV, and KJV—all of which follow the convention of putting the personal name of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> in all capital letters—all agree on where it appears in this chapter (and where it doesn’t), as does the ASV which renders the personal name as “Jehovah” instead of “the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>” but still puts the name “Jehovah” in the same places where the other translations put “the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>.” So I may be reading too much into it, but I <em>am</em> confident as to where the author(s) are putting the personal name of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> and where they’re not.</p><h2>666 Talents</h2>
<p>When I blogged through 1 Kings 10, which also mentions the 666 talents of gold that Solomon received each year, I said this:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><strong>Wait… 666 talents of gold? Does that mean–</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">No. I don’t see the number 666 as being significant. I don’t think this is the author trying to sneak in a secret message about Solomon being evil or anything like that. Sometimes a number is just a number. I could be wrong—the number 666 sounds overly precise—but I’m not reading into this number in any way.</p></blockquote><p>Let me revise my thinking on that; the author(s) <em>could</em> be sneaking in a message here. But, before anyone’s head goes there, I’m <em>not</em> thinking that Solomon was the Antichrist, or that this has anything to do with “the number of the beast” outlined in <a title="Rev 13:8" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+13%3A8&version=NIV" target="_blank">Revelation 13:8✞</a> – except that both authors might have used the number <code>666</code> for similar reasons.</p><p>I feel like I just said this recently (or maybe my memory is going?), but we should remember that the authors of the Bible—especially in the Old Testament but I think it continues into the New—didn’t use numbers the way we use numbers. Speaking from my own personal experience I know that makes a lot of modern-day North Americans very uncomfortable, but it’s just how it is. I mean… they didn’t even have a numbering system that would allow for the kind of precision we have.</p><p>So numbers are intended to convey meaning in addition to—or even instead of—numerical precision. For example–and I’m making this example up—if I’m a biblical author writing about a very large army, and want to get across the fact that it’s a very <em>good</em> army—“perfect,” even—I might say it’s <code>70,000</code> people. It conveys that the army is big, but also that it’s perfect, because I’m using the number <code>7</code>. </p><p>Is it actually 70,000? Or 73,950? Or 50,000? Who knows? I don’t have the kind of precise numerical system that can be accurate about it anyway, unless the numbers very coincidentally happen to be nice round numbers. And, frankly, the difference between 70,000 and 50,000 and 73,950 aren’t that meaningful to me anyway. (If we’re honest, those differences aren’t meaningful to the modern reader, either; if someone tells me they were at a recent concert with 23,000 people in attendance, and someone corrects them and says no, it was actually 24,000 people, is that a meaningful distinction to me? Yes, we have a numbering system—and technology for tracking tickets—that can tell me <em>precisely</em> how many people were at the concert, but I can’t visualise the difference between 23,000 and 24,000.)</p><p>I said that <code>7</code> is the “perfect number,” but <em>why</em> is <code>7</code> so significant? Any discussion I’ve seen usually points back to Genesis, when God rested on the seventh day of creation. The Bible Project has a good comment on it:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">Seven was symbolic in ancient near eastern and Israelite culture and literature. It communicated a sense of “fullness” or “completeness” (שבע “seven” is spelled with the same consonants as the word שבע “complete/full”). This makes sense of the pervasive appearance of “seven” patterns in the Bible.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://bibleproject.com/podcast/significance-7/" title="null" target="_blank">Bible Project</a></p></blockquote><p><a href="https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/why-is-number-7-so-important-in-the-bible.html" title="null" target="_blank">Another</a> site I looked at mentioned that there are over 700 times in the Bible where they use the number <code>7</code>. (No, I don’t think they used the number 700, in this case, just to include the number <code>7</code> in it…)</p><p>So what does that have to do with the number <code>666</code>? The best explanation I’ve heard of this number is that it’s intended to show that it’s <strong>falling short of the perfect number</strong>, <code>7</code>. Is Solomon “perfect?” I mean… he’s close, but no, he’s not perfect. So… maybe a <code>6</code> instead of a <code>7</code>? Or <code>6-6</code>, which is even closer? Or <code>6-6-6</code>, which is <em>really close</em> to being perfect but still not quite? (That’s the best explanation I’ve heard as to why the number of the beast in Revelation is <code>666</code>. He’s trying to pass himself off as the Christ, but he’s not, no matter how much he tries to look like Him.) Again, this still doesn’t ring true to modern readers – but let’s remember that ancient Israelites didn’t have fractions or decimals. If they had, maybe whey would have said <code>6.66</code> instead of <code>666</code>. We’re reading this as a very literal number, and “six hundred sixty-six” is nowhere close to “seven,” but that’s not the meaning the ancient writers were trying to convey. Solomon received “six hundred sixty-six” talents of gold, but the readers weren’t expected to be thinking “six hundred sixty-six,” they were expected to be thinking “six-six-six,” or, “not-quite-seven, not-quite-seven, not-quite-seven.”</p><p>I’m probably not getting nuances here, but I’m trying to point out that modern readers should neither be thinking of a very precise number of “six hundred sixty-six talents,” nor should we be thinking, “this is the number of the beast!”</p><p>So I still agree with part of my earlier point from my 1 Kings 10 post—I don’t think the author(s) of Kings or Chronicles are trying to say Solomon is “the antichrist”—but I’ll soften my stance to say that the author(s) of Kings/Chronicles might have been using that number to subtly show that Solomon wasn’t “perfect.”</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-2265254089926053012024-01-11T09:18:00.002-05:002024-01-11T09:18:43.029-05:002 Chronicles 9:1-12<p><a title="2 Chron 9:1-12 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A1-12&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 9:1–12 (NIV)✞</a>: The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>In this passage the author(s) continue in the story of the reign of Solomon, and talk about the famous visit from the <strong>Queen of Sheba</strong>. The <em>ESV Study Bible</em> (which I’ll quote from later) tells me that Sheba (or <strong>Saba</strong>) was where the modern state of <strong>Yemen</strong> is located, meaning that Israel and Sheba/Saba were at opposite ends of the Red Sea. (From the map I’m using, <strong>Tanis</strong> was almost in Israel’s way, but there was a narrow inlet from the Red Sea that would reach Israel – of course, I don’t know how accurate a map from 946<span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">B.C.</span> is…)</p><p>Regardless, the queen comes to Israel to visit Solomon “to test him with hard questions” (<a title="v1" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A1&version=NIV" target="_blank">v1✞</a>). She brings a lot of gifts for him—spices, gold, and precious stones—though <a title="verse 12" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A12&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 12✞</a> tells us that she actually left with more than she came with. (I think it’s left as an exercise for the reader to determine whether this just means wisdom or also includes material wealth.)</p><p>As she sees all of Solomon’s wealth, she is “overwhelmed” (<a title="v4" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A4&version=NIV" target="_blank">v4✞</a>):</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>5</sup> She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. <sup>6</sup> But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. <sup>7</sup> How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! <sup>8</sup> Praise be to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.9.5-2Chr.9.8 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A5-8&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 9:5–8 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>In this midst of all of this (which I’ve told completely out of order from how it was written), we’re parenthetically reminded in <a title="verses 10-11" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A10-11&version=NIV" target="_blank">verses 10–11✞</a> about the gold that King Hiram is delivering from Ophir (which was mentioned in the <a href="/2024/01/2-chronicles-8.html" title="null" target="_blank">last chapter</a>). We’re also told that Solomon uses something called “algumwood” to make steps for the Temple (as well as for the palace), and to make harps and lyres for the musicians, the likes of which had never been seen before. If you’re not sure what “algumwood” is never fear – a footnote explains that this is “Probably a variant of <em>almugwood,”</em> which… is still not helpful. But a quick internet search says that it’s probably a variety of sandalwood.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>From time to time I remind myself that the book of Chronicles was written for God’s post-exilic people – that is, His people <em>after</em> the exiles to Assyria and then Babylon, as they—or at least some of them—are returning to the land He had originally given them. As such, let’s look at the <em>ESV Study Bible</em> summary of this passage:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><strong>2 Chron. 9:1–9, 12</strong> This section closely follows 1 Kings 10:1–13. <strong>Sheba</strong>, or Saba, corresponds roughly to modern Yemen and was a mercantile kingdom that traded in luxury goods from East Africa and India. The queen’s visit may have had commercial trade purposes (see 2 Chron. 9:1, 9) prompted by Solomon’s naval activities in the south of the Red Sea, but her visit is presented primarily as a quest for <strong>wisdom</strong> (vv. 1, 6). Solomon is acknowledged as excelling in both wisdom and wealth (see 1:12). The Gentile <strong>queen</strong> recognizes that Solomon’s greatness is from Yahweh (9:8; see 2:12) and that Solomon sits on God’s <strong>throne</strong> as his <strong>king</strong> (cf. 1 Kings 10:9, “the throne of Israel”). For the Chronicler, the Davidic kingdom is the earthly expression of God’s eternal kingdom (see 1 Chron. 17:14; 28:5; 2 Chron. 13:8). Recognition (esp. from a Gentile monarch) that God was the actual King of Israel could only encourage the postexilic community, when no descendant of David was on the throne.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;">ESV Study Bible</p></blockquote>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-51410925293479102222024-01-08T12:05:00.001-05:002024-01-08T12:05:26.057-05:002 Chronicles 8<p><a title="2 Chron 8 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+8&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 8 (NIV)✞</a>: Solomon’s Other Activities<a name='more'></a></p><p>In this chapter we get listed for us some of the things Solomon accomplished during his reign as king.</p><p>I think I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: Chronicles is paying much more attention to the “good stuff” than to the “bad stuff” in the history of the nations of Judah/Israel. That doesn’t mean the author(s) were trying to hide or ignore the nations’ histories—they’re fully expecting the reader to have read the books of <strong>Samuel</strong> and <strong>Kings</strong> and to know all of that backstory—it just means they have different purposes in writing. One of the purposes behind the writing of Chronicles is reminding God’s people, as they return to the land of Judah/Israel after the defeats to Assyria and Babylon, of all of the ways God has blessed them, even if it might have been difficult to remember that after hundreds of years of captivity.</p><p>Having said all of that, this chapter still feels a <em>little</em> mixed on Solomon. On the whole it definitely feels like a “good news story,” there’s a lot of good mentioned, but there are also some hints of warning signs included.</p><p>Because all of this is covered in Kings I’m going to be briefer than usual in going through all of these.</p><table><colgroup>
<col span="1" style="width: 12%;" />
<col span="1" style="width: 44%;" />
<col span="1" style="width: 44%;" />
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Verses</th>
<th>Activity</th>
<th>Thoughts</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td>1–6</td>
<td>Solomon built up a number of cities throughout the territory he controlled</td>
<td>I think I’ll firmly put this in the “good” category. The nation is getting stronger.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>7–10</td>
<td>Because there were still non-Israelite people in the land Solomon conscripted them as slaves. Specific note is made of the fact that Solomon didn’t make Israelites slaves, only the non-Israelite people in the land.</td>
<td>I think this is a warning sign, but I’m not sure that it’s anything to do with Solomon himself. When the Israelites first conquered the land they were supposed to destroy all of the inhabitants, which they didn’t do. God warned His people that these other nations of peoples would be “snares” to them, and, given the amount of idolatry that the Israelites will carry out for the rest of their history, He was right.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>11</td>
<td>I don’t know how many wives Solomon has at this point, but one of them is the daughter of Pharaoh of Egypt, and, since he believes the city of Jerusalem to now be holy (since the Ark resides there), he builds a separate palace for her in another city and has her moved there.</td>
<td>This is a definite warning sign for two reasons: Firstly, if Solomon thinks he shouldn’t have this foreign wife in the city of Jerusalem (I believe correctly), then why should he have married her in the first place? Political alliances through marriage have been common all throughout history, but in this case it seems that Solomon is trying to have it both ways: marrying someone he shouldn’t, but also not “polluting” the capital with his offence. Secondly, it seems a tad wasteful to be building an entire palace for one of his wives! (Perhaps he moves other non-Israelite wives there as well?) The word “palace” doesn’t necessarily mean huge and lavish, like his palace in Jerusalem – then again, it’s more than the kinds of houses a regular Israelite was living in.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>12–16</td>
<td>These verses mention the way Solomon made his sacrifices and kept the festivals required by God.</td>
<td>Everything in these verses seems like good news. At this point in Israel’s history the king, the priests, and the people all seem to be doing what they’re supposed to be doing to worship God.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>17–18</td>
<td>Solomon and Hiram (king of Tyre) set up a trading partnership whereby Hiram provides boats and experienced sailors, Solomon provides… additional sailors, I guess, and maybe funding for the trips, and start trading with a land called Ophir to bring back large quantities of gold. It says “which they delivered to Solomon,” but I have to believe Hiram got some kind of a cut, too.</td>
<td>I honestly don’t know if this is good or bad; I’m tentatively going to call it good. It sounds like a lucrative trading pact between Israel, Tyre and Ophir.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-91723470918631936642024-01-04T12:22:00.001-05:002024-01-04T12:22:18.322-05:002 Chronicles 7:11-22<p><a title="2 Chron 7:11-22 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+7%3A11-22&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 7:11–22 (NIV)✞</a>: The <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> Appears to Solomon<a name='more'></a></p><p>In the <a href="/2024/01/2-chronicles-71-10.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a> the Glory of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> filled the Temple, after which the Israelites offered sacrifices and held a festival to celebrate its opening.</p><p>After all of this is done—and, as <a title="verse 11" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+7%3A11&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 11✞</a> points out, after he’d also finished work on his <strong>palace</strong>, which I feel might be a subtle dig from the author(s) of Chronicles that Solomon’s loyalties weren’t <em>perfect</em>—God appears to Solomon again. (Remember that He already appeared to Solomon in <a href="/2023/12/1-chronicles-1.html" title="null" target="_blank">Chapter 1</a>.) I’ll go through God’s message to Solomon bit by bit.</p><hr/>
<p>First, God acknowledges Solomon’s prayer:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.</p></blockquote><p>What interests me about this part of God’s message is the fact that He has chosen the Temple for the place where the Israelites are to make their sacrifices. Wasn’t that spot <em>already</em> chosen? Does this mean there was a chance God would have come and told Solomon and the Israelites to move the Temple somewhere else?</p><p>And, in a <em>sense,</em> of course God could do that—the Israelites are to do whatever He <em>tells</em> them to do, without question, just like I am—but I don’t think that’s what He means. I think He’s just affirming to Solomon that the prayer, the offerings, the festival, and everything else the Israelites did in dedicating the Temple were pleasing and acceptable to Him.</p><hr/>
<p>And what effect will this have? It means that God will be among His people, and hear them when they petition Him:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;"><sup>13</sup> “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, <sup>14</sup> if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. <sup>15</sup> Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. <sup>16</sup> I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.</p></blockquote><p>Now… I’d <em>expect</em> that God would say something like, “I’ll bless my people but if they sin and repent I’ll hear and then forgive them,” which would harken back to the message He gave Moses in Deuteronomy, but He skips the first part starts immediately with, “I know you’re going to sin, but when you do, and I punish you, and you ask for forgiveness, I’ll forgive you.”</p><p>One could call this very pessimistic, but… having read the rest of the Old Testament, I think it’s simply a prophecy: this is how things are going to be. I think I said this in the last post too, but this dedication of the Temple is a high point in the Israelites’ relationship with God – which means that everything will be <strong>downhill</strong> from here! </p><p>They’ve had a very good king in David, who was intent on worshipping God; they now have a <em>pretty good</em> king in Solomon and a Temple where God Himself will dwell among them. But… pretty much immediately after this Solomon is going to start falling away from God—I know, it’s more complicated than that, and he’s not a <em>terrible</em> king, but… he’s also not living up to the standards set by his father—and after he dies the nation is going to split into <strong>Judah</strong> and <strong>Israel</strong>—the latter of which will <em>never</em> worship God properly, while the former will be, again, <strong>mixed</strong> in their devotion—and the nation will never again be like it was under King David, or like it is at this particular moment in time as the Temple is being dedicated.</p><p>The nation of Israel—and then the nations of Israel and Judah—are going to sin, and sin, and sin again, and the rest of the Old Testament is going to be a story of God having to choose, over and over again, whether to forgive them or not. And, in a sense, He will <em>always</em> forgive them, which leads to King Jesus – but, in <em>another</em> sense, the nation of Israel will cease to exist in a few hundred years and the nation of Judah will cease to exist a couple of hundred years after that.</p><p>But let’s get back to God’s message to Solomon…</p><hr/>
<p>Lest Solomon believe God is only talking generally about the nation, He has a specific message for Solomon, too. </p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;"><sup>17</sup> “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, <sup>18</sup> I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’</p></blockquote><p>And, as discussed—especially in Kings, though Chronicles isn’t going to dwell on Solomon’s faults as much—Solomon was mixed in his faithfulness, which didn’t immediately lead to him losing the throne, but it <em>did</em> lead to the line of David losing much of the nation immediately <em>after</em> Solomon’s reign.</p><p>Which is an important point: Solomon isn’t just a man, he’s also a <strong>king</strong>, so his sins have wider consequences than the sins of others:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;"><sup>19</sup> “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, <sup>20</sup> then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. <sup>21</sup> This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ <sup>22</sup> People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”</p></blockquote><p>As mentioned above, these prophecies are going to take hundreds of years to unfold fully, but the seeds will be sown pretty much immediately.</p><p>It’s very interesting to see God’s reasoning for all of this, though. Look at the last part again:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”</p></blockquote><p>We might expect God to uphold and protect His people no matter what, as a message to the other nations: “Your ‘gods’ are nothing; <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">I</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;"></span> <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">A</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">M</span> the only true God!” If God were to make the nation of Israel the strongest in the world it would show the world His power!</p><p>Except… firstly, it <em>wouldn’t.</em> The world would see Israel the same way they would see Assyria, or Babylon, or Persia, or Rome, or any other mighty nation: they’d see Israel as simply a mighty nation. There would be <em>talk</em> of gods, but I know of no case in history where a nation had one god, saw how powerful another nation was, and decided to switch to that nation’s god. That’s just the way the world works.</p><p>But secondly, and more importantly, God doesn’t have anything to prove to other gods or nations. It’s true, there have been numerous instances in the past where He made a point of defeating other nations to show them that their gods were nothing, but that’s only a side point. The main point is that God is to be worshipped; showing the other nations their gods are nothing would simply be petty, if there wasn’t a deeper message underneath it: “your gods aren’t real gods – therefore worship Me.”</p><p>And He is now predicting that, when Israel/Judah fall, it will be because He has a message to deliver to the nations: worship of Him is more important than everything else! Could He have kept the nation of Israel together, and mighty, forever? He already demonstrated He could, but He’s not interested in being the God of a mighty nation, He is interested in being the only God of a people who truly love and worship Him.</p><p>And let’s be clear: that’s <strong>exactly what happened</strong>! God let Israel, and then Judah, be conquered, just as He predicted He would. This eventually led to the coming of the <strong>Christ</strong>, who made the sacrifice nobody else was capable of making – leading, in turn, to a people who <strong>truly love God in Spirit and Truth</strong>.</p><p>In fact, we could ask: did anyone in any of the surrounding nations <em>actually</em> get the “message” God was sending when Israel and Judah were conquered? Did anyone from Assyria or Babylon or Egypt ever actually say to their friend that the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> allowed Israel/Judah to be conquered because they had forsaken the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and because they had embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them? Perhaps not. But I’m sure the Jewish people did – and Christians, throughout the centuries, have also taken away the lesson that worship of God is more important than anything else—more important than having a mighty nation—and actually learned the lesson God was trying to teach.</p><p>So yes, God <em>could</em> have maintained Israel at all costs, despite their apostasy, but that petty impulse to prove Himself would have meant I’d never be saved, and have a right relationship with Him. He doesn’t feel He has to prove Himself to anyone – especially when He has a larger plan in mind, that leads to <em>true</em> worship of Him.</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-15266547545736417682024-01-01T12:46:00.000-05:002024-01-01T12:46:08.414-05:002 Chronicles 7:1-10<p><a title="2 Chron 7:1-10 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+7%3A1-10&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 7:1–10 (NIV)✞</a>: The Dedication of the Temple<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>In the <a href="/2023/12/2-chronicles-52-642.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a> they brought the Ark to the Temple and Solomon prayed for it. This passage picks up at the end of that prayer:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>1</sup> When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> filled the temple. <sup>2</sup> The priests could not enter the temple of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> because the glory of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> filled it. <sup>3</sup> When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>, saying,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">“He is good;</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">his love endures forever.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.7.1-2Chr.7.3 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+7%3A1-3&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 7:1–3 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>After this they offer sacrifices; if we’re to read <a title="verse 5" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+7%3A5&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 5✞</a> in a modern sense (see more below on this point), they offered 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. So many that they couldn’t use the altar for that purpose – there were simply too many sacrifices for one altar! So they had to consecrate the courtyard in front of the Temple for making sacrifices and do it there.</p><p>All of this took seven days – and then they took an <em>additional</em> seven days to hold a festival! In addition to the sacrifices there was music and, I presume, food, because you can’t have a festival without food.</p><p>Finally, finally, Solomon sends everyone home:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.7.10 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+7%3A10&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 7:10 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>This is a pretty straightforward passage, and also marks a high point in Israel’s worship of God. From what I can tell, they’re doing everything right.</p><p>Even the point about having to use the courtyard instead of the altar for making sacrifices is important. It’s not just the number of sacrifices they’re making—elsewhere in the Bible God makes it clear that He isn’t impressed by sacrifices if they’re not made with a right heart—it’s the fact that they take the time to <strong>consecrate</strong> the area first. The word “consecrate” just means to make the area <strong>sacred</strong> – to <strong>set it apart</strong> for service to God. I like <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consecrate#kidsdictionary" title="null" target="_blank">Merriam Webster’s “Kids Definition”</a> a lot: “to devote to a purpose in a very sincere manner.” And I feel that’s exactly what Solomon and the Israelites are doing here: sincerely trying to dedicate the Temple in a way that will be acceptable to God.</p><p>God wasn’t impressed by the number of animals, except in the sense that the large number of animals was a sign of the Israelites’ heart.</p><p>Speaking of numbers, it’s worth mentioning that they didn’t use numbers in Old Testament times the same way we do. I know it’s <em>very</em> confusing to us, who have learned to use numbers in very specific ways—or rather, <em>one</em> very specific way!—but when it says 22K cattle or 120K sheep/goats it doesn’t mean they counted up the animals and that’s precisely how many there were. Numbers were used to communicate different information than what we’d call “scientific” – or even “mathematic,” I guess. </p><p>It doesn’t make the Bible inaccurate, it just wasn’t written to answer the questions we sometimes want it to answer, such as “how many animals were sacrificed <em>exactly</em> by the Israelites?” It’s why so many Bible commentaries will explain numbers used in the Bible according to their intended meaning (though my usual go-to commentary didn’t have anything to say about these numbers). Regardless, though, if the numbers weren’t <em>exactly</em> 22K and 120K, there were a <em>lot</em> of sacrifices made – enough that the altar couldn’t be used.</p><p>I figure this is a good passage to bring up this topic because it’s low stakes; nobody’s theology is going to be based on the specific number of cattle, sheep, and goats sacrificed by Solomon at the Temple<sup><a href="#user-content-fn-1" id="user-content-fnref-1">1</a></sup>. On the other hand, if I was to bring up this point when it comes to, say, <a title="Rev 13:18 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+13%3A18&version=NIV" target="_blank">Revelation 13:18 (NIV)✞</a>, I’m sure I’d get a lot of comments<sup><a href="#user-content-fn-2" id="user-content-fnref-2">2</a></sup>. 🙃</p><hr/>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<ul><li>I <em>say</em> that, but it won’t surprise me to hear at some point that someone <em>has</em> created some kind of theological point on these numbers – we <em>love</em> creating weird, complex theories that go beyond what the Bible is trying to teach us. 🤣 <a href="#user-content-fnref-1" id="user-content-fn-1">↩</a></li></ul><ul><li>Of course I’m kidding. I don’t have enough readers to generate “a lot of comments,” no matter <em>how</em> controversial my posts are… <a href="#user-content-fnref-2" id="user-content-fn-2">↩</a></li></ul>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-36331536304049119292023-12-21T09:05:00.002-05:002023-12-21T09:05:45.733-05:002 Chronicles 5:2-6:42<p><a title="2 Chron 5:2-6:42 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+5%3A2-6%3A42&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 5:2–6:42 (NIV)✞</a>: The Ark Brought to the Temple, Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>In the <a href="/2023/12/2-chronicles-21-51.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a> Solomon built the <strong>Temple</strong>, so now it’s time to <strong>dedicate</strong> it.</p><p>First, in <a title="5:2-14" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+5%3A2-14&version=NIV" target="_blank">5:2–14✞</a>, he has the <strong>Ark</strong> brought. He (and the “entire assembly of Israel,” <a title="v. 5:6" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+5%3A6&version=NIV" target="_blank">v. 5:6✞</a>) has a festival, sacrificing “so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted” (<a title="v. 6" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+6%3A6&version=NIV" target="_blank">v. 6✞</a>), and has the Ark brought into the <strong>Most Holy Place</strong>.</p><p>As a side note, <a title="verse 5:9" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+5%3A9&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 5:9✞</a> talks about the poles used for carrying the Ark and says that “they are still there today,” which shows that the author(s) of Chronicles were definitely taking material from earlier books (especially Samuel/Kings), since, by the time Chronicles was written, that statement would no longer be true: the Babylonians had destroyed the first Temple (which is being described here). The <em>ESV Study Bible</em> notes indicate that even the book of Kings wouldn’t have come to its final form until after Israel’s defeat by Babylon, so there were choices by the authors to leave this little bit of text in.</p><p>Regardless, this was the last time anyone saw the inside of the Most Holy Place—other than the High Priest who had duties to perform there once a year—until the Babylonians destroyed the Temple.</p><p>In fact, not only was the Most Holy Place now closed off, but the entire Temple was temporarily off limits at this point, as the “cloud” of God filled it:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>11</sup> The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. <sup>12</sup> All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. <sup>13</sup> The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span>. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> and sang:</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">“He is good;</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">his love endures forever.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">Then the temple of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> was filled with the cloud, <sup>14</sup> and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> filled the temple of God.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.5.11-2Chr.5.14 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+5%3A11-14&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 5:11–14 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Solomon now makes a short speech, recognising that God has fulfilled His promise to give the Israelites a king, as well as for David’s son to build the Temple, which is now complete. And then he gives his famous prayer of dedication in <a title="6:12-42" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+6%3A12-42&version=NIV" target="_blank">6:12–42✞</a>. I talked about that prayer when I was <a href="/2022/05/1-kings-81-99.html" title="null" target="_blank">blogging through 1 Kings</a>, so I won’t go through the whole thing again this time. There is, however, an addendum added here that isn’t in the version given in 1 Kings:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>40</sup> “Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;"><sup>41</sup> “Now arise, <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> God, and come to your resting place,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">you and the ark of your might.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">May your priests, <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> God, be clothed with salvation,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;"><sup>42</sup> <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> God, do not reject your anointed one.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">Remember the great love promised to David your servant.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.6.40-2Chr.6.42 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+6%3A40-42&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 6:40–42 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>The <em>ESV Study Bible</em> notes have some thoughts on this:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><strong>2 Chron. 6:41–42</strong> In place of the ending to this prayer in 1 Kings 8:50b–53 (an appeal to God’s mercy shown in the exodus), the Chronicler inserts a version of Ps. 132:8–10, which concerns the transfer of the ark into the temple. It functions here as a prayer that God will once again come in power and grace for the Chronicler’s generation and their temple, as he had done for the people and temple of Solomon’s day. Verse 42 of 2 Chronicles 6 is a prayer for the Davidic descendants, the recipients of God’s covenant promise of <strong>steadfast love for David</strong>. For the Chronicler, this enduring covenant is now the basis of the relationship between God and his people.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;">ESV Study Bible</p></blockquote><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>My thoughts on this passage have less to do with the events of the passage and more to do with the author(s) of Chronicles: why did they append a version of Psalm 132 to the end of Solomon’s prayer? Does that mean that this book is inaccurate?</p><p>And no, I don’t think that’s the right way to look at the book; we’re looking at the book through a modern lens, expecting the author(s) to be concerned with things that, frankly, they weren’t concerned with. “What <em>exactly</em> did Solomon say?” we ask, and the author(s) would respond, “we’re not trying to give you a verbatim account of Solomon’s words, we’re trying to give the Israelites—the people coming back to their land after the destruction brought by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, who are wondering if God even considers them His people anymore—a measure of comfort that yes, He really <em>is</em> their God, and they really <em>are</em> His people.”</p><p>Did Solomon say the words in 6:41–42, or did the author of Psalm 132? Psalm 132 is uncredited in the book of Psalms – should we assume it was written by Solomon? The author(s) of Chronicles aren’t trying to answer any of those questions; they’re trying to deliver a message of hope to God’s people, and the fact that some bits of it came from Solomon’s speech and other bits came from a Psalm don’t change the fact that <em>all</em> of those bits are from the Scriptures, and relevant to the people who are returning to the land of Israel after their exile.</p><p>I’m sure biblical scholars would have better-formed views on this, but this is my take.</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-56531127135026348052023-12-18T16:44:00.000-05:002023-12-18T16:44:06.767-05:002 Chronicles 2:1-5:1<p><a title="2 Chron 2-5:2 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+2%3A1-5%3A2&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 2:1–5:2 (NIV)✞</a>: Preparations for Building the Temple, Solomon Builds the Temple, The Temple’s Furnishings<a name='more'></a></p><p>Partially because so much of Chronicles is a repeat of material from Samuel and Kings, and partially because a lot of content about the plans for a building is boring to read, I’m combining together a lot of material in this one post. Which is exactly the <em>opposite</em> of what the Bible does; there are more words in the Bible devoted to the building of the Temple (including the Tabernacle, I believe) than any other topic.</p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>I’ll mostly go through it chapter by chapter.</p><hr/>
<p>Everything starts in <a title="Chapter 2" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+2&version=NIV" target="_blank">Chapter 2✞</a>, in which Solomon engages Hiram, king of Tyre, to supply not only <strong>materials</strong> but also <strong>expertise</strong>:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;"><sup>7</sup> “Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;"><sup>8</sup> “Send me also cedar, juniper and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours <sup>9</sup> to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.2.7-2Chr.2.9 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+2%3A7-9&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 2:7–9 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>In return, he promises to send Hiram a quantify of food that, I assume, is very large.</p><p>Hiram agrees, and the expert he sends to Israel is a man named Huram-Abi, whose father is from Tyre but whose mother is from Dan – that is, I believe Huram-Abi is half Israelite.</p><p>Solomon also sets up conscribed labour consisting of foreigners living in Israel to carry out the work: </p><ul>
<li>70,000 “carriers,” which is probably exactly what it sounds like: people to carry materials from one location to another. (When we marvel at things that were built in antiquity, this is a big part of what we marvel at.)</li>
<li>80,000 “stonecutters in the hills,” which I think might be less glamorous than it sounds: I think it’s essentially mining of the materials. I don’t think it’s called “mining” when you’re dealing with marble or other kinds of stone, but I don’t know if it’s skilled labour – I think it’s just labour.</li>
<li>3,600 foremen over the other 150,000 workers.</li>
</ul>
<hr/>
<p>In <a title="Chapter 3" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+3&version=NIV" target="_blank">Chapter 3✞</a> Solomon actually builds the Temple. He does it on “Mount Moriah” (see below), as decided by his father David, on Araunah’s threshing floor.</p><p>Chapter 3 gives a lot more detail, but the main things I’ll point out are that the Temple measured 27 metres (90 feet) by 9 metres (30 feet). Which… is not as big as I was thinking it was! 27 metres/90 feet is about the length of an adult blue whale, and 9 metres/30 feet is about the length of a typical stretch limo. So yes, big, but… in my mind I was thinking it was actually bigger.</p><p>Interestingly, the Most Holy Place—the inner, <em>inner</em> place where nobody was allowed to go except for the High Priest once a year—was 9x9 metres (30x30 feet). I always picture it as a room within a room, but it was the same width as the overall foundation, so it was more like a “back room” than an “inner room.”</p><hr/>
<p>In <a title="Chapter 4" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+4&version=NIV" target="_blank">Chapter 4✞</a> we’re told about the Temple’s furnishings, everything from the altar to the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls, and in <a title="5:1" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+5%3A1&version=NIV" target="_blank">5:1✞</a> we’re told that the Temple also had a treasury, which is where Solomon put a lot of other items that had been dedicated by King David.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>A lot of this is pretty straightforward, but one detail almost escaped my notice.</p><p>When I read in <a title="3:1" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+3%3A1&version=NIV" target="_blank">3:1✞</a> that the Temple was being built on <strong>Mount Moriah</strong> the name didn’t sound familiar – which is typical for me. I can’t remember every name mentioned in the Bible; I figured it was just another name for <strong>Mount Zion</strong>, though a less commonly used one. </p><p>But out of curiosity I looked it up, and that name is actually only used in two places in all of the Bible: here, and in Genesis 22 it’s where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac. (In Genesis it’s actually “the region of Moriah,” where God would show Abraham a particular mountain to use.)</p><p>I think the author(s) of Chronicles are trying to show us that this particular location has been of importance to God for many, many years. I don’t think that means it’s somehow “magic,” as if God is more there than He is elsewhere—though that’s definitely picture that’s painted when the Temple existed—but it seems to have been a special place of worship to Him since… well, since almost the beginning, going right back to Abraham!</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-89520553861275453492023-12-07T17:04:00.001-05:002023-12-07T17:04:09.009-05:001 Chronicles 1<p><a title="2 Chron 1 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+1&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 1 (NIV)✞</a>: Solomon Asks for Wisdom<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>I’m pretty sure this is similar, if not identical, to the story as told in 1 Kings 3, but I decided not to compare and just take this passage as it comes in the book of Chronicles. (Perhaps an invalid choice; I’m assuming the author(s) of Chronicles expected us to have read Samuel and Kings…)</p><p>1 Chronicles <a href="/2023/09/1-chronicles-2921-30.html" title="null" target="_blank">ended with celebrations at the beginning of Solomon’s reign</a>, which is where 2 Chronicles picks up the story. (Remember that Chronicles was originally just one book, not two; the author(s) didn’t envision a split between 1 and 2 Chronicles.)</p><p>He starts off in a very good place:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.1.1 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+1%3A1&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 1:1 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>We’re told in <a title="verse 2" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+1%3A2&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 2✞</a> that Solomon spoke to all of the people of Israel (though we’re not told what he said), and then they all went to the “high place” at Gibeon, where the tabernacle was, along with a bronze altar. The Ark was in Jerusalem, however, and I’m wondering if the author(s) are telling us this to get us thinking about the fact that, at this point, there isn’t yet a Temple. I’m guessing it would conjure up in the readers’ minds the idea of disorganised worship.</p><p>Regardless, it’s to the tabernacle and bronze altar that Solomon goes, whereupon he offers a thousand burnt offerings to God. And we’re led to believe he offers them all in one day, because <a title="verse 7" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+1%3A7&version=NIV" target="_blank">verse 7✞</a> tells us that God comes to visit Solomon “that night.” God has a very simple question for Solomon: “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”</p><p>Now… I’m guessing that anyone reading this is probably already familiar with this story, and knows how Solomon is going to answer, but it’s worth stopping for a moment to think about how <em>we’d</em> answer the question. If God—the Lord <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">G</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">OD</span> of all the universe—the one with limitless power and might to do anything He pleases—if <em>that</em> God came to me and bluntly told me I could ask for whatever I want from Him… what would I answer? In fact, let me not even think about how I’d answer Him, let me think about how I’d <em>want</em> to answer Him – what would my heart say, even before my mouth spoke? I mean, I’ve read the Bible, I know what I’m <em>supposed</em> to say if God were to come and ask me this question; I’d probably follow Solomon’s example and ask for wisdom (spoiler alert), or maybe echo the words of the father of a demon possessed boy in Mark and ask for stronger faith:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Mark.9.24 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+9%3A24&version=NIV" target="_blank">Mark 9:24 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Given time to think about it I’m sure I could come up with a “good” answer. But what would be the immediate, knee-jerk reaction in my heart, given such an opportunity? Riches, so I could retire and be lazy? To be half a foot taller? Something wicked? To have a long, healthy life?</p><p>As I said, though, most of us already know how Solomon responded and it seems <em>his</em> heart, in this instance, was in the right place:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>8</sup> Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. <sup>9</sup> Now, <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">L</span><span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">ORD</span> God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. <sup>10</sup> Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.1.8-2Chr.1.10 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+1%3A8-10&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 1:8–10 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>It seems to me that, in asking this question, Solomon is displaying the fact that he <em>already</em> has a good amount of wisdom; he’s not starting from 0, he’s asking God to augment what he already has.</p><p>And God grants Solomon’s request – and more:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>11</sup> God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, <sup>12</sup> therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.1.11-2Chr.1.12 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+1%3A11-12&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 1:11–12 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>After this Solomon leaves Gibeon to head back to Jerusalem and begin his reign. The chapter ends with the beginnings of that wealth and prosperity promised by God:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>14</sup> Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. <sup>15</sup> The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. <sup>16</sup> Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. <sup>17</sup> They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="2Chr.1.14-2Chr.1.17 (NIV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+1%3A14-17&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 1:14–17 (NIV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>And this is mostly good news! God is doing exactly what He had promised: Solomon is gaining in wealth and possessions, and it seems as if that wealth is extending beyond Solomon himself to his subjects. </p><p>There are some warning signs as well, however, because there is mention of the horses accumulated by Solomon as well as the fact that he’s getting at least some of them from Egypt, both of which were <em>explicitly forbidden</em> by God for any of Israel’s kings. The author(s) of Chronicles are warning us that Solomon’s reign isn’t going to be one of perfectly following his God…</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>I have some thoughts about the <strong>structure</strong> of this passage, the ways we can misuse the <strong>formula</strong> of Solomon’s request, and how God is blessing Solomon and Solomon is sinning <strong>at the same time</strong>.</p><h2>The Structure</h2>
<p>My first thought about this passage is about its structure; the “bookends” are interesting: we go from verse 1 telling us that God was with Solomon, making him exceedingly great, to verses 14–17 where there’s a hint that all might not be well. I’m pretty sure the author(s) of Chronicles did this on purpose. </p><p>I sort of vaguely remember, from way back when I was blogging through 1 Kings, that the author(s) were going out of their way to demonstrate that Solomon’s reign was mixed – at least in terms of his faithfulness to God. He did some things really well, and fell down hard in other areas, so the author(s) didn’t want to let us get away with simplifying his reign as either “good” or “bad” – there was a lot of good <em>and</em> a lot of bad. And it looks like the author(s) of Chronicles are following suit.</p><h2>The “Formula” of Solomon’s Request</h2>
<p>My second thought is that this passage presents an interesting challenge to the Christian – at least to those of us living in the 21<sup>st</sup> Century North America. We have a very strong “how to” culture, and love reading Bible passages in that light; “this is how you should pray to God,” we think, “if we want Him to bless us!” So there’s always a danger of seeing Solomon’s request here as a “formula” for how we should make requests of God: “If you ask for wisdom, He’ll give you a bunch of other things too!”</p><p>This is a nuanced thing, because there is a very real sense in which we can look at this passage, see the desires of Solomon’s heart, and meditate on how we can follow his example. Do I truly care about wisdom? And the <em>reason</em> Solomon wants that wisdom is to better serve his people – is <em>that</em> something I emulate? In this case, where Solomon is doing the right thing, how can I strive to be more like him?</p><p>That sense of following this example is good, but the “pray using this formula to get what you want from God” sense of reading this passage is not only un-Biblical, it’s also… foolish! Do we honestly believe God can so easily be tricked?!? “If I pray for wisdom then He <em>has</em> to give me health and wealth, too!” As if God wouldn’t know what was happening in our hearts! Or as if He’s thinking, “Well I wasn’t going to give him wealth but because he prayed in that way I guess I’m <em>bound</em> to!” Is there a more blasphemous way to think of God responding to a prayer?</p><p>In short: if you want wisdom, pray for wisdom. If you want wealth, or health, or anything else along those lines, feel free to pray for it (though you should also be reading your Bible to see what things are more or less important to the Christian heart) – but don’t pray for wisdom as if that somehow forces God to give you all of the things He gave to Solomon.</p><h2>Solomon’s Disobedience</h2>
<p>And my final thought on this passage is to say that yes, God blessed Solomon, and yes, Solomon disobeyed God. Both of those things were true, at the same time. </p><p>Just because God is blessing Solomon it doesn’t mean that all of Solomon’s actions were ok; just because Solomon was sinning it doesn’t mean the blessings didn’t come from God.</p><p>The same can be true in my own life. I’m <em>very</em> blessed by God, in nearly every way I can think of, but nobody should look at my life and assume that all of those blessings mean I’m properly following Him. I mean… I try to! But I also fail – regularly. I can, and sometimes do, choose to do bad things with the blessings He has given me. Just as Solomon did.</p><p>So yes, God really did bless Solomon – the blessings really did come from Him. And Solomon really did commit some sins, even as early as the very beginning of his reign. So… was he a good king, or a bad king? The answer is yes and yes. He was a good king, and he was also a bad king. He was as complicated as you or I.</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-56085640902745115972023-12-04T09:00:00.002-05:002023-12-04T09:27:24.938-05:00Romans Summary<p>Romans is a letter written by the <strong>Apostle Paul</strong> to the Christians who were living in the city of Rome, dispersed across a number of local churches in the city. I’m guessing there were geographical reasons for having multiple churches—that is, Rome was a big enough city that it made sense to have a place to worship that was closer to home—but there were also issues between <strong>Jewish and Gentile Christians</strong>, which Paul addresses a couple of times in this letter.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <p></p><p>Paul covers a <em>lot</em> of territory in this short letter. It’s only sixteen chapters, but there is <em>so much</em> in it! After a short introduction with Paul’s greetings and his longing to visit the Romans, he covers:</p><ul>
<li>The fact that the Gospel is available to both Jewish and the Gentile believers </li>
<li>The fact that God has <strong>wrath</strong> stored up for humanity because of our unrighteousness, and the fact that even His Law can’t save us from that wrath – that the Law actually makes things <em>worse,</em> if you can believe it! (This isn’t an isolated point he makes as an aside, it’s a core part that Paul spends some time on.) The point being that we are <em>all</em> unrighteous, whether Jewish or Gentile, male or female, “whatever” or “opposite of whatever.” (He points out that, yes, there are advantages to being Jewish, with thousands of years of history studying God and His ways, but that Jewish people are nevertheless under the same judgement as everyone else.)</li>
<li>However, despite all of our unrighteousness, God Himself is <strong>Gracious</strong>, and we can actually attain righteousness and have peace with God through <strong>faith</strong> – just as Abraham did. Though one man (Adam) had introduced death into the world, another man (Christ) brought life, which, ironically, now makes us dead to sin and alive to God, releasing us from the Law and freeing us to be “slaves to righteousness.”</li>
<li>God did all of this because He loves us.</li>
<li>Despite all of this, not all Jewish people believed (to Paul’s anguish), but some did, because the message of salvation is for all; and the Gentiles (as we now well know) were “grafted onto” the branch that was originally created through the Jewish nation. This has consequences for both Jewish and Gentile Christians.</li>
<li>Once we’re saved, God has different “gifts” for all of us, so we need to learn how to use our gifts in His service, and get along with people who have different gifts.<ul>
<li>Aside from what we think of as “gifts,” Paul inserts some commentary on how to truly be Christian, and that the truest fulfilment of the Law is to love one another as God loves us.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>A big part of this is learning how to interact with Christians who have different beliefs from ours, and managing not to cause someone else to sin as part of those interactions.</li>
</ul>
<p>As I leave the book of Romans, that last part is the part that sticks with me the most: there is so much theology in Romans—enough so that I was trepidatious about blogging through it, because I knew I couldn’t do it justice (as if I do justice to <em>any</em> book I blog through)—but Paul wouldn’t want us to leave his letter eager to debate one another about these things, he’d want us to leave his letter ready to get along with one another and bear with one another.</p><p>We often tend to think of this letter as having a few sections, something like:</p><table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Section</th>
<th>Topic</th>
<th>Theme</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td>Chapters 1–9</td>
<td>theology / doctrine</td>
<td>what Christianity is</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Chapters 10–11</td>
<td>God’s relationship with His Jewish people</td>
<td>The part we don’t like to think about</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Chapters 12–16</td>
<td>how to live the Christian life</td>
<td>how to apply the theology / doctrine</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p>These characterizations are incorrect, in my opinion. There is no part of Romans where Paul mentions “theology” or “doctrine” without also discussing how we should live, nor is there any part where he talks about how we should live without also mentioning <em>why</em> that is – that is, the theology/doctrine behind his instructions.</p><table border="0"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td style="border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 2px;"><ul><li><a href="/2023/06/romans-11-7.html" target="_blank" title="null">1:1–7</a>: Greeting</li>
<li><a href="/2023/06/romans-18-15.html" target="_blank" title="null">1:8–15</a>: Longing to Go to Rome</li>
<li><a href="/2023/06/romans-116-17.html" target="_blank" title="null">1:16–17</a>: The Righteous Shall Live by Faith</li>
<li><a href="/2023/06/romans-118-32.html" target="_blank" title="null">1:18–32</a>: God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness</li>
<li><a href="/2023/06/romans-21-11.html" target="_blank" title="null">2:1–11</a>: God’s Righteous Judgment</li>
<li><a href="/2023/06/romans-212-29.html" target="_blank" title="null">2:12–29</a>: God’s Judgment and the Law</li>
<li><a href="/2023/06/romans-31-8.html" target="_blank" title="null">3:1–8</a>: God’s Righteousness Upheld</li>
<li><a href="/2023/07/romans-39-20.html" target="_blank" title="null">3:9–20</a>: No One is Righteous</li>
<li><a href="/2023/07/romans-321-31.html" target="_blank" title="null">3:21–31</a>: The Righteousness of God Through Faith</li>
<li><a href="/2023/07/romans-41-12.html" target="_blank" title="null">4:1–12</a>: Abraham Justified by Faith</li>
<li><a href="/2023/07/romans-413-25.html" target="_blank" title="null">4:13–25</a>: The Promise Realized Through Faith</li>
<li><a href="/2023/07/romans-51-11.html" target="_blank" title="null">5:1–11</a>: Peace with God Through Faith</li>
<li><a href="/2023/07/romans-512-21.html" target="_blank" title="null">5:12–21</a>: Death in Adam, Life in Christ</li>
<li><a href="/2023/07/romans-61-14.html" target="_blank" title="null">6:1–14</a>: Dead to Sin, Alive to God</li>
<li><a href="/2023/07/romans-615-23.html" target="_blank" title="null">6:15–23</a>: Slaves to Righteousness</li>
<li><a href="/2023/07/romans-71-6.html" target="_blank" title="null">7:1–6</a>: Released from the Law</li>
</ul></td><td><ul><li><a href="/2023/08/romans-77-25.html" target="_blank" title="null">7:7–25</a>: The Law and Sin</li><li><a href="/2023/08/romans-81-11.html" target="_blank" title="null">8:1–11</a>: Life in the Spirit</li><li><a href="/2023/08/romans-812-17.html" target="_blank" title="null">8:12–17</a>: Heirs With Christ</li><li><a href="/2023/08/romans-818-30.html" target="_blank" title="null">8:18–30</a>: Future Glory</li><li><a href="/2023/08/romans-831-39.html" target="_blank" title="null">8:31–39</a>: God’s Everlasting Love</li>
<li><a href="/2023/09/romans-91-29.html" target="_blank" title="null">9:1–29</a>: God’s Sovereign Choice</li>
<li><a href="/2023/09/romans-930-104.html" target="_blank" title="null">9:30–10:4</a>: Israel’s Unbelief</li>
<li><a href="/2023/10/romans-105-21.html" target="_blank" title="null">10:5–21</a>: The Message of Salvation to All</li>
<li><a href="/2023/10/romans-111-10.html" target="_blank" title="null">11:1–10</a>: The Remnant of Israel</li>
<li><a href="/2023/10/romans-1111-24.html" target="_blank" title="null">11:11–24</a>: Gentiles Grafted In</li>
<li><a href="/2023/10/romans-1125-36.html" target="_blank" title="null">11:25–36</a>: The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation</li>
<li><a href="/2023/10/romans-121-2.html" target="_blank" title="null">12:1–2</a>: A Living Sacrifice</li>
<li><a href="/2023/10/romans-123-8.html" target="_blank" title="null">12:3–8</a>: Gifts of Grace</li>
<li><a href="/2023/10/romans-129-21.html" target="_blank" title="null">12:9–21</a>: Marks of the True Christian</li>
<li><a href="/2023/10/romans-131-7.html" target="_blank" title="null">13:1–7</a>: Submission to the Authorities</li>
<li><a href="/2023/11/rom-138-14.html" target="_blank" title="null">13:8–14</a>: Fulfilling the Law Through Love</li>
<li><a href="/2023/11/romans-141-12.html" target="_blank" title="null">14:1–12</a>: Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another</li>
<li><a href="/2023/11/romans-1413-23.html" target="_blank" title="null">14:13–23</a>: Do Not Cause Another to Stumble</li>
<li><a href="/2023/11/romans-151-7.html" target="_blank" title="null">15:1–7</a>: The Example of Christ</li>
<li><a href="/2023/11/romans-158-23.html" target="_blank" title="null">15:8–13</a>: Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles</li>
<li><a href="/2023/11/romans-1514-21.html" target="_blank" title="null">15:14–21</a>: Paul the Minister to the Gentiles</li>
<li><a href="/2023/11/romans-1522-33.html" target="_blank" title="null">15:22–33</a>: Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome</li>
<li><a href="/2023/11/romans-16.html" target="_blank" title="null">Chapter 16</a>: Personal Greetings, Final Instructions and Greetings, Doxology</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-31122616079364950662023-11-30T14:54:00.001-05:002023-11-30T14:54:28.835-05:00Romans 16<p><a title="Rom 16 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+16&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 16 (ESV)✞</a>: Personal Greetings, Final Instructions and Greetings, Doxology<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>I’m grouping together all three of the ESV’s section headings for this chapter, in which Paul closes out his letter to the Romans. And we’re reminded that this <em>is</em> a letter because he ends it the way anyone would end a letter: “Tell so-and-so I said hi, don’t forget to do such-and-such, …” Paul’s letter to the Romans is filled with high Christian doctrine but it’s also a <strong>letter</strong>, written to a set of people in the city of Rome – some of whom were the author’s close and personal friends.</p><h2>Greetings</h2>
<p><a title="Verses 1-16" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+16%3A1-16&version=ESV" target="_blank">Verses 1–16✞</a> begin with a series of personal greetings to various people in Rome. (<a title="Verses 21-24" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+16%3A21-24&version=ESV" target="_blank">Verses 21–24✞</a> have<sup><a href="#user-content-fn-1" id="user-content-fnref-1">1</a></sup> some additional greetings.) This is the kind of section we usually just skip over, but someone with a lot more knowledge might pull out some nuggets of wisdom. I, however, don’t have that kind of knowledge, so I can’t do much with this section. </p><p>One thing I am reminded of, though, is that there isn’t a single church in Rome, there are a number of them. (Verse 5 even mentions a particular church that met in the house of Prisca and Aquila, with instructions to have the letter read there.) So Paul seems to have expected that this letter would be taken around to all of them. Given how much of this letter is devoted to admonitions to the Romans to be unified, that seems fitting! (Perhaps someone in the modern day should make a journey to all of the churches in a particular city to read the letter of Romans to them; they could start with Toronto, where I live…)</p><h2>Instructions</h2>
<p>In <a title="verses 17-20" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+16%3A17-20&version=ESV" target="_blank">verses 17–20✞</a> Paul gives some final instructions:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>17</sup> I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. <sup>18</sup> For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. <sup>19</sup> For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. <sup>20</sup> The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.</p></blockquote><p>I don’t think Paul is trying to raise any new points, just reiterating things he’s already said throughout the letter.</p><p>Interestingly, though, we see the same tension that Christians have always faced (and continue to face): we are to hold fast to the doctrines that Paul has taught, but we are also not to be divided. So… how do we know what doctrines are the ones we are to hold to, and what doctrines are ones that we are going to disagree on, but not in a way that divides us?</p><p>Of course we have some <em>specific</em> examples, because Paul gave them to us:</p><ul>
<li>Is someone worried about what they’re allowed to eat or drink? Paul says we’re allowed to eat or drink whatever we want—speaking from the point of view of doctrine it’s valid to eat and drink whatever you want—but that we can disagree on this point (as long as we’re not doing it in ways that cause divisions). </li>
<li>Is someone worried about special days and celebrations from their previous way of life before becoming Christian? Paul says there is no right or wrong answer, so we can do whatever we want (as long as we’re not doing it in ways that cause divisions).</li>
</ul>
<p>So if someone raises either of these two questions we can point directly to Romans and have an answer. But there are a <em>lot</em> of other things upon which Christians disagree, and I’d wager that people believe, in most cases, that what they’re disagreeing on is a matter of doctrine, not a matter that we’re allowed to disagree on. And I’m not going to weigh in on those arguments in this blog post; the general point is that we need to be very careful before labeling something as blasphemy when it could just be a difference of opinion, while, at the very same time (and just as importantly), also paying close attention to the Scriptures and trying to determine what is the will of God. Romans 16 doesn’t let us off the hook on either of these points; Paul is saying they’re both important. So we’ll need the Spirit – both for divining “core” issues from non-core issues, but also for knowing how to communicate our disagreements with each other.</p><p>And then there’s the point about God “soon” crushing Satan under the Romans’ feet. What are we to make of that? The <em>ESV Study Bible</em> reminded me that this is an allusion to <a title="Gen 3:15" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+3%3A15&version=ESV" target="_blank">Genesis 3:15✞</a>, and that point alone leads me to believe that Paul means “soon” in a relative sense, not in an immediate one. He’s reminding them of Christ’s final victory over Satan. We should never give in to the world’s notion of God and Satan being equally-matched adversaries, each hoping to win a final battle between good and evil. Satan isn’t even close to being a match for God, and the end result is not in question: God has won. Jesus has already defeated Satan, it’s just a question of time as to when we see the final result. That would have been of comfort to the Romans as they wrestled with all of the issues Paul raised in his letter, and should be of comfort to us as well.</p><h2>Doxology</h2>
<p>Paul ends this letter with one of the most famous doxologies we know in the Christian church. (A <strong>doxology</strong> is, from best I can tell, a form of short hymn of praise to God; in essence, there are a few short passages in the Bible that we often use in church services to, for example, close the service, or that kind of thing. If it’s a short passage in the Bible and we use it to close a church service we call it a doxology.)</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>25</sup> Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages <sup>26</sup> but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— <sup>27</sup> to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.</p></blockquote><p>This doesn’t feel to me like Paul is repeating points he’s made earlier in the letter, but it <em>does</em> feel like a natural conclusion to all that Paul has said. After studying the fact that we are sinners—all of us, every single human who has ever lived (except for one)—but that God, in His Grace, has saved us anyway – that Jesus, the only human who ever <em>was</em> sinless, died on our behalf and took our punishment, so that we could have His righteousness; then talking about how God’s Grace has extended beyond His chosen people the Jews to <em>all</em> people; and then talking about the fact that we can have unity with one another even when we disagree with one another on doctrine (i.e. what “Christianity” actually <em>is</em>)… after all that, how do you sum up such a letter? By praising God. </p><p>None of what Paul has written in Romans—or any other of his letters, or any other book in the Bible—should lead to squabbling, it should lead to praise. <em>This</em> is the God we worship!</p><p>But we <em>do</em> squabble, and even here, in this doxology, he continues to hold onto the complexity of unity vs. doctrine we just thought about: How does God strengthen us? According to the <strong>Gospel</strong>. Wait… any old “gospel?” No, specifically the Gospel of Paul, and that Jesus preached. Which means two things:</p><ul>
<li>Paul clearly believes that the Gospel he teaches is the same as the Gospel Jesus taught, and</li>
<li>There are <em>false</em> “gospels”</li>
</ul>
<p>I’ve mentioned the “‘health and wealth’ or ‘prosperity’ gospel” many times on this blog; it’s an example of a perversion of Christian teaching. I don’t believe Paul would have said it was something we could validly disagree on—I just finished calling it a “perversion of Christian teaching”—but those who preach it would say I’m wrong, we <em>can</em> disagree on it. How do we treat such situations? I believe people who are promoting the “prosperity gospel” are perverting Christianity and leading people away from Christ, so how should I respond to that?</p><p>With love. With the strength given to me by God through the Gospel and Jesus’ preaching (verses 25–26), in light of the fact that the mystery of God’s salvation has been revealed to me but is still secret from many (verses 25–26), as I do my best to be faithful to Him (verse 26), and in praise to Him (verse 27) instead of just trying to win an argument.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>In a way, I think it’s highly appropriate that I find so much complexity in the final sections of Paul’s letter, because there is a <em>lot</em> of complex theology in Romans and complex theology leads to disagreements among Christians. (Frankly, I’m guessing Paul already knew that; this isn’t something the Church started arguing about hundreds of years after Romans was written – I’m sure Paul had conversed and argued and discussed many of these points with his fellow believers in the years leading up to the writing of this letter.) And there are definitely parts of Christianity that are <strong>essential</strong>; we can’t hold to a religion that denies Christ’s <strong>divinity</strong>—or His <strong>humanity</strong>, for that matter—and still call it “Christianity,” for example. That’s a core part of what makes Christianity Christianity.</p><p>As I said earlier, though, there can be genuine disagreement between genuine Christians about some things – and in many cases those disagreements will be seen (on one or both sides) as “fundamental.” An example I often cite is that of <strong>baptism</strong>: Who can be baptised? And when can we baptise them? And how are we supposed to do it when we do baptise them? I think it’s safe to say there are disagreements between genuine believers as to how fundamental these things are; I’m sure there are Christians who believe, in light of the Scriptures, that this is an issue we can disagree on and still call ourselves Christians, and there are other Christians who believe, in light of the Scriptures, that this is a fundamental issue and those who baptise “wrong” are not true Christians.</p><p>But as I leave Romans, my parting thought is not the urgency of getting these things right or holding fast to our core beliefs—as important as that is—but of doing our best to <strong>get along with one another</strong>, even when we disagree – and even when those disagreements are about fundamental things.</p><p>Suppose I come across someone who <em>doesn’t</em> hold to some of these fundamental beliefs; someone who calls himself a Christian but, for example, doesn’t believe Christ was really God, He was just a good man who had some important things to say. What should I do? I should approach them in love and humility. Maybe this person isn’t a genuine Christian (just as I wasn’t, at one point); maybe this person is a genuine Christian but is so new to the faith that he still has things to learn (just as I was, at one point); maybe this person is a genuine Christian but has been attending a local church with bad preaching from the pulpit (which I’ve experienced from time to time, though I’ve never attended a church full time with this problem). It doesn’t actually matter to me why he believes what he believes, and, in a sense, it’s not even my job to convince him of “the error of his ways.” I mean… it <em>is,</em> in a sense, but it also isn’t – because I view this very much the same as evangelising to a non-Christian. It’s my job to try and explain the Gospel; it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to have the message (as well or as badly as it might have been delivered) to penetrate the heart.</p><p>If I approach a situation like this as an argument to be won, I’m not following Christ. If I approach a situation like this in love and humility, wanting this person to have the same love of God that I have, and to fully experience the “revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed through the prophetic writings” and “has been made known to all nations,” so that he’ll praise God for who He truly is, then at least I’m starting off from a good place.</p><hr/>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<ul><li>Some versions have a verse 24 and some don’t. The ones that do will say something like, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” <a href="#user-content-fnref-1" id="user-content-fn-1">↩</a></li></ul>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-6608116305356020642023-11-23T09:41:00.002-05:002023-11-23T09:41:42.186-05:00Romans 15:22-33<p><a title="Rom 15:22-33 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A22-33&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 15:22–33 (ESV)✞</a>: Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>This passage feels more “practical” than “theological,” in a way. Paul has never visited Rome before but has wanted to, and here he explains his plans to finally come and visit them.</p><p>He ended the <a href="/2023/11/romans-1514-21.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a> by mentioning that he’d been traveling far and wide spreading the Gospel to places that had never heard it before; but a person can only be in one place at a time, so all of these travels have prevented him from visiting Rome:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>22</sup> This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.</p></blockquote><p>A person can only be in one place at a time, after all!</p><p>But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t wanted to come, and now he finally can:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>23</sup> But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, <sup>24</sup> I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.</p></blockquote><p>As we see here, though, he’s not intending to <em>stay.</em> Paul’s work as a missionary is never ending!</p><p>However, despite his perception that he no longer has “room for work” in the regions where he’s been, and his longstanding desire to visit the Romans, it’s not time yet:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>25</sup> At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. <sup>26</sup> For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. <sup>27</sup> For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.</p></blockquote><p>Paul doesn’t just mention that he has a task to complete before he can visit Rome; he also calls out, once again, the fruit of the Spirit being demonstrated by the Gentile Christians: they were “pleased” to contribute financially for the well-being of the Jerusalem-based church – most of whom would have been Jewish Christians (I think). In the previous passage Paul pointed out “signs and wonders” as proof of the Gentile Christians’ salvation; here he points out their generosity as further proof.</p><p>But when Paul has finished his task in Jerusalem he’s planning to go to Spain – which will allow him, finally to pass through Rome:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>28</sup> When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. <sup>29</sup> I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.</p></blockquote><p>Interestingly, however, Paul has some trepidation about going to Jerusalem, so he asks his fellow believers in Rome to pray for him:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>30</sup> I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, <sup>31</sup> that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, <sup>32</sup> so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. <sup>33</sup> May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.</p></blockquote><p>Those trepidations were founded! Paul’s trip to Jerusalem ended with him being imprisoned; we read about that in <a title="Acts 21-26" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+21-26&version=ESV" target="_blank">Acts 21–26✞</a>. In the end, yes, he ended up coming to Rome – but not as he’d planned! He came as a prisoner, to bring his case before Caesar.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>The <em>ESV Study Bible</em> notes provide some interesting context on this passage:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><strong>Rom. 15:23–24</strong> Paul now feels that his work in the east has come to an end. So he hopes to see the Roman church, and desires that they would function as his base of support for his mission to <strong>Spain</strong>. By the first century <span style="text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;">A.D.</span> Spain was firmly a part of the Roman Empire. Spain provided significant crops to the empire, and it was the fatherland of several important Roman authors (and a few later emperors); thus it would have been a strategic location for Paul to evangelize. No visit of Paul to Spain is recorded in the NT, but it is possible that he went there after his release from prison in Rome (after Acts 28:30–31). There is some historical evidence after the NT suggesting that Paul did preach in Spain, but it falls short of clear proof.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;">ESV Study Bible</p></blockquote>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-60978752920917287332023-11-20T10:01:00.001-05:002023-11-20T10:01:26.902-05:00Romans 15:14-21<p><a title="Rom 15:14-21 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A14-21&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 15:14–21 (ESV)✞</a>: Paul the Minister to the Gentiles<a name='more'></a></p><p>In the <a href="/2023/11/romans-158-23.html" title="null" target="_blank">previous passage</a> Paul called out the fact that Christ is the hope of Jewish and Gentile people alike, and in this passage he builds on that to point out that he himself has been the minister to the Gentiles.</p><hr/>
<p>He starts by resetting the conversation; yes, he’s been pointing out a lot of truths to the Roman Christians, but <em>not</em> because he thinks they’re worse sinners than others – quite the opposite:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>14</sup> I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.</p></blockquote><p>Paul feels free to share such deep truths with the Roman Christians because they’re able to take it – in fact, not only hear and understand it but apply it in instructing one another.</p><hr/>
<p>However, even strong Christians have their blind spots, and need to be reminded of things from time to time:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>15</sup> But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder,</p></blockquote><p>Remember that part of the reason Paul is writing this letter to the Roman Christians is because of divisions in the churches there – especially between Jewish and non-Jewish Christians. (It hasn’t been <em>as</em> prominent a feature of the letter to the Romans as I’d been expecting, but it comes out from time to time.)</p><p>You can be a strong Christian and still have your blind spots. At the time I wrote this post fresh war had broken out between Israel and Gaza and I’m <em>sure</em> a lot of Christians were exhibiting either anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim <strong>hate</strong>; they needed reminding of the Gospel. In the 1980s many Christians were exhibiting anti-Communist hate, and needed reminding of the Gospel. (Or, in some cases, it’s not hate but <strong>fear</strong> – which is a lack of faith, meaning they also need reminding of the Gospel.)</p><p>What are <em>my</em> blind spots? I don’t know, I’m blind to them; but I should listen when others try to point them out to me. They may or may not be right, but if I reject them outright I’ll never know which is which.</p><p>Though… maybe I should listen harder to comments from some than from others:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">because of the grace given me by God</p></blockquote><p>The Christians in Rome knew who Paul was, and so would/should have been listening hard to all he had to say. There are Christians in my local church who have proven themselves to have that same Grace, and I’ll listen even harder when they talk.</p><hr/>
<p>… but I interrupted Paul in the middle of a point, which we should never do.</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">because of the grace given me by God <sup>16</sup> to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.</p></blockquote><p>Ah! God Gave Paul this Grace for a reason: to minister to the Gentiles! And it’s not just something Paul decided to do on his own; he’s doing it in the priestly service of the Gospel of God – God put Paul into this work.</p><p>And when Paul talks about the Gentiles being acceptable and sanctified he’s using Jewish language; in fact, he’s using Temple language. The Temple is where sacrifices were made in the Old Testament system; the utensils and other items in the Temple had to be sanctified to be used for their purpose in the worship of God. However, Gentiles weren’t even allowed in the Temple. (There were inner and outer courts of the Temple, and they were allowed in outer places, but not in inner places.) But, to use New Testament language, not only are Gentiles now “sanctified” by the Holy Spirit, they’re <em>part</em> of the “temple”—the Church—just as much as Jewish Christians are!</p><hr/>
<p>In his role of evangelising to the Gentiles Paul has done a good job:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>17</sup> In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.</p></blockquote><p>But, Paul being Paul, he has to remind us that it’s not really him, it’s Christ who accomplished it:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>18</sup> For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me</p></blockquote><p>This is something all Christians would do well to remember. We’re pretty good at prefixing every sentence with “Lord willing”—“Lord willing I’ll see you at church next week,” or “Lord willing I’m going to work tomorrow,” or whatever—but do I actually believe and remember in our hearts that anything I accomplish is actually something that was accomplished by Christ, and not by myself?</p><hr/>
<p>I’ve done it again and interrupted Paul in the middle of a sentence, but the remainder of the sentence goes on to say what Christ has been accomplishing through Paul:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, <sup>19</sup> by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—</p></blockquote><p>I find it interesting that Paul doesn’t speak here of the Gentiles “believing” or even “receiving the Holy Spirit”—though he could have—but instead calls out that the Gentiles have been brought “to obedience.” I’m guessing one of the Jewish Christians’ biggest complaints/worries about the Gentile Christians would be whether they’d ever <strong>obey</strong> God. Those wild, lawless people! They didn’t know God’s <strong>Law</strong> like the Jewish Christians did!</p><p>Not that Paul is claiming the Gentile Christians are obeying the Law—meaning the Old Testament rules and regulations—he’s already talked about the Law a <em>lot</em> in Romans. But the Gentile Christians are obedient to God in the same way that the Jewish Christians are; there’s no room for Jewish Christians to scoff at those “wild, disobedient Gentiles” who they might have been perceiving as invading their relationship with God.</p><p>And they proved their salvation with “signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.” In the New Testament, signs and wonders—miracles—are called “signs” for a reason: they’re never accomplished on their own, they’re accomplished to <strong>prove</strong> something. Jesus didn’t come to this world to perform miracles, but He performed miracles as a sign that He was who He claimed to be; the Apostles in Acts didn’t perform miracles because it was really cool—or even out of love for the lame and the sick—but as a sign to prove that they had authority from Jesus to act on His behalf.</p><p>When Peter first brought the Gospel to a set of Gentiles (<a title="Acts 10" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+10&version=ESV" target="_blank">Acts 10✞</a>), they spoke in tongues. When Peter reported back to the Church (<a title="Acts 11:1-18" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+11%3A1-18&version=ESV" target="_blank">Acts 11:1–18✞</a>) a number of the leaders there were initially hesitant; why was Peter eating with uncircumcised men?!? But when they heard that the Holy Spirit had descended on those Gentile listeners, they changed their minds completely: “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life,” they said (<a title="Acts 11:18" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+11%3A18&version=ESV" target="_blank">Acts 11:18✞</a>). Paul is hoping the Roman Jewish Christians will see the same thing: God is working through these Gentile Christians, they have the same Holy Spirit as the Jewish Christians.</p><hr/>
<p>Paul ends this brief passage by expanding on where he’s preached the Gospel – which is everywhere he could!</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; <sup>20</sup> and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, <sup>21</sup> but as it is written,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">“Those who have never been told of him will see,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">and those who have never heard will understand.”</p></blockquote><p>He had a very clear view of his mission: to spread the Gospel to people who’d never heard it before. (Given the context, we could say especially to the Gentiles, though from what we read in the book of Acts Paul typically <em>started</em> by preaching to the Jews whenever he got to a new town.)</p><p>Is there anything wrong with “building on someone else’s foundation?” Not at all! In fact, in a sense, that’s what the vast majority of preachers around the world do: the congregation has the Bible—the Word of God—and the preacher is expanding on that, and helping people to understand it and live it out in their lives. But some, like Paul, are called to be missionaries, spreading the Gospel to parts of the world where nobody has ever heard it before.</p><p>In a sense it was “easier” for Paul to do that, in that everywhere he went was in that state: Paul could travel to any city in the Roman Empire and be pretty confident they’d never heard the Gospel before! There are less places in that state in the world now than then.</p><p>In another sense, however, it’s just as “hard” as it’s always been, because wherever Christians go, in whatever time and place, to whatever culture, humans’ innate reaction will always be to reject it. However, the Holy Spirit is not powerless; in many places, at many times throughout history, the Gospel has taken hold and people have believed. </p><p>Paul’s quotation is from Isaiah 52:15; a larger portion of that passage is:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>13</sup> Behold, my servant shall act wisely;</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">he shall be high and lifted up,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">and shall be exalted.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>14</sup> As many were astonished at you—</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>15</sup> so shall he sprinkle many nations.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">for that which has not been told them they see,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">and that which they have not heard they understand.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Isa.52.13-Isa.52.15 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+52%3A13-15&version=ESV" target="_blank">Isaiah 52:13–15 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>As always, when Paul quotes the Scriptures he is expecting his readers—especially his Jewish readers—to recognise the context. When he says, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand,” he expects people to be thinking of this larger passage, and thinking of Christ—the Messiah that was spoken of in Isaiah—and how His truths would be spread throughout the non-Jewish world.</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-61172732648908633912023-11-16T09:00:00.005-05:002023-11-18T09:59:56.685-05:00Romans 15:8-13<p><a title="Rom 15:8-13 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A8-13&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 15:8–13 (ESV)✞</a>: Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles<a name='more'></a></p><p>In the <a href="/2023/11/romans-151-7.html" target="_blank">last passage</a> Paul reminded us that loving our brothers and sisters in Christ is following Christ’s own example of love for us.</p><p>But one of the main themes of Paul’s letter to the Romans is that of the fact that God has saved both Jews and Gentiles, and that that should have profound impacts on the Church. In order to modernise things I sometimes relate Paul’s examples to modern ones, but the specific examples he was giving were focused on the problems the churches in Rome were facing, specifically between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians (e.g. whether Christians needed to adhere to the Jewish dietary laws, or whether Christians needed to adhere to the special Jewish days and holidays). Paul returns to that theme here, reminding us that the Gospel applies equally to the Jew and to the Gentile.</p><p>He starts by reminding his readers that Christianity is rooted in Judaism:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.15.8 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A8&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 15:8 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>God gave certain promises to the <strong>patriarchs</strong> (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel), which were ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Jesus was born a Jew, lived among his Jewish people, and fulfilled the promises God had made to the Jews. (Not in a way anyone had anticipated, but that’s just God being God!)</p><p>However, God had made it clear, throughout the Scriptures, that these promises were going to go beyond the Jewish people:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">… <sup>9</sup> and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">and sing to your name.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>10</sup> And again it is said,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>11</sup> And again,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">and let all the peoples extol him.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>12</sup> And again Isaiah says,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">“The root of Jesse will come,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">in him will the Gentiles hope.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.15.9-Rom.15.12 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A9-12&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 15:9–12 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>The way I’ve broken this up makes part of Paul’s point unclear, so let’s see parts of <a title="verses 8--9" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A8-9&version=ESV" target="_blank">verses 8–9✞</a> together: “For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.”</p><p>As had always been the plan, God sent Jesus to fulfil the prophecies delivered to the Jews through the Scriptures, and, as had always been the plan, the fulfilment of those prophecies now enable the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy.</p><p>So… what should the result of all this be?</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.15.13 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A13&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 15:13 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>The result of all of this is <strong>hope</strong>. It’s joy and peace, it’s the power of the Holy Spirit working in my life, and the result of all of that is hope.</p><p>Speaking as a Gentile myself, this of course is specifically personal in the sense that I, personally, have hope that otherwise wouldn’t have seemed apparent if I’d only read the Old Testament Scriptures. But it’s wider than that: it’s a message about God Himself, who, throughout all of history, has been working this all out; through His people in the Old Testament, through His Son, and now—the biggest miracle of all—through ordinary people like me.</p><p>Confronted with a God like <em>that,</em> how can I do anything other than hope? (Meanwhile experiencing all of the joy and peace that He has bestowed upon me…)</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-89500443918170629372023-11-13T09:00:00.001-05:002023-11-13T09:00:00.147-05:00Romans 15:1-7<p><a title="Rom 15:1-7 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A1-7&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 15:1–7 (ESV)✞</a>: The Example of Christ<a name='more'></a></p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>In the <a href="/2023/11/romans-1413-23.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a> Paul talked about the fact that “strong” Christians might have to sometimes give up their “rights” for the sake of “weak” Christians<sup><a href="#user-content-fn-1" id="user-content-fnref-1">1</a></sup>, <strong>out of love</strong> for them. He expands upon that topic here, as well as pointing out something that should be obvious (but which we might sometimes forget when talking about doctrinal matters): when we are properly loving toward our fellow Christians, we’re actually following the example of Christ Himself.</p><hr/>
<p>The first bit of this is similar to what we’ve been reading:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>1</sup> We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. <sup>2</sup> Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. <sup>3</sup> For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.15.1-Rom.15.3 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A1-3&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 15:1–3 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Much of this is a summary of what Paul has already said, especially in the <a href="/2023/11/romans-1413-23.html" title="null" target="_blank">last chapter</a>. Verses 1–2, especially, feel like a pure recap.</p><p>But then Paul reminds us that doing so is also following the example of the One we claim to worship: <strong>Jesus</strong>. It’s easy to focus on certain moments in Jesus’ life as examples of him “not pleasing himself,” but frankly His <em>entire life</em> was such an example: He gave up being God and came to live as a human being. Pick any moment in Jesus’ life—even the very, very best moments, when He was the most happy and content—and in that moment He was still living as a human, having given up His place at the Father’s right hand. I’m not going to claim I fully understand the mystery that He was “fully God and fully human,” but, at least to some extent, He was not “as much God” as He had been before he was born as a human, as awkwardly worded as that is. That’s before we even get to the obvious, that He lived a perfect life—the only person who ever did!—and then got punished anyway, as if He was as sinful as… well, as I am. </p><p>Jesus’ purpose in coming—his <em>main</em> purpose—wasn’t to be an example, it was to <em>die</em> for us – but that doesn’t take away from the fact that He was also an example for us, too. It’s good for me to try and make every facet of my life as much like His as possible. And, to bring us back to the topic at hand, that means worrying less about pleasing myself and more about pleasing others. What is more Christ-like than that?</p><hr/>
<p>Paul then takes what feels, at first glance, as a bit of a detour from his main point:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.15.4 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15%3A4&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 15:4 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Now, I don’t think this <em>is</em> a detour—I pretty much never do, I always assume that whatever Paul’s writing he’s writing in context—but it takes a minute to think it through. Why, in the middle of writing about putting others’ pleasure above our own, is Paul talking about the endurance and encouragement?</p><p>I think what Paul is doing is reminding his readers that, since all of the promises of Scripture are true, we know that we’ll one day be with God, we’ll have put our sin behind us, and we’ll know pleasures far beyond what we experience in this life – namely, the pleasure of seeing God face to face and basking in His presence!</p><p>So… if I go out to dinner with some fellow Christians and have to refrain from taking a drink in case it might offend them, is that really such a hardship in light of all I’ll be experiencing in the life to come? When I will not only be experiencing better pleasure than just having a drink, I’ll also be receiving the reward for loving my brothers and sisters?</p><p>Even if I feel it’s a hardship to give up my “rights” or pleasures for the sake of other Christians, more than just not having a drink at dinner, it’s nothing compared to what Christ gave up to be my saviour and nothing compared to the rewards I’ll get from God. </p><hr/>
<p>Paul just advocated that we have endurance, given the encouragement of the Scriptures, and then reminds us of the <strong>source</strong> of all endurance and encouragement:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>5</sup> May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, <sup>6</sup> that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. <sup>7</sup> Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.</p></blockquote><p>And why is He granting us endurance and encouraging us? So that we’ll <strong>live in harmony</strong> with one another (regardless of our differences). So that, with one voice, we’ll <strong>glorify Him</strong> (regardless of our differences). That we’ll <strong>welcome one another</strong> (despite our differences), for the <strong>glory of God</strong>.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>Some topics that didn’t fit cleanly above, are to wonder why we can’t all just agree in the first place (given that we have the Holy Spirit), and reminding ourselves that the benefits aren’t <em>all</em> in the future.</p><h2>Why is it Like This?</h2>
<p>Why, we might ask, does He put us through all of this in the <em>first</em> place? Wouldn’t it be easier for Him to simply give us all unified beliefs, so that we wouldn’t have to go through all of this?</p><p>I’m not going to claim this is a fulsome answer to that question, but… suppose He did. Suppose Christians, from the moment they got saved, simply got zapped with knowledge about everything He requires. The minute the Holy Spirit enters our bodies we suddenly agree on what we’re allowed to eat, and when and how people should be baptised, and what type of music we should be listening to in church services, and all the myriad other things Christians disagree about.</p><p>If that were the case, and we all got along with each other… so what? What would we really have accomplished? Of <em>course</em> we’d all get along! It would be easy – it would be also be meaningless. If you have certain beliefs about how and when people should get baptised and I have the exact same beliefs as you do on that topic, our agreement isn’t an agreement at all, it’s just recognition that we have the same beliefs. But when we disagree, sometimes about small things and sometimes about big, important things, but still manage to get along and glorify Him with one voice, that’s powerful. That shows the world that our love for Him is bigger than our disagreements about how to worship and follow Him.</p><p>As I say, it’s not a full answer to the question, but I think it might be part of it.</p><p>The trouble, of course, is that we <em>don’t</em> love each other the way we should, or get along the way we should. It’s something the Church needs to work on as a whole, and that I need to work on as an individual.</p><p>Of course, this also fits into the message of the Gospel itself: I wasn’t saved because I was good, and the Church doesn’t worship God because it’s perfect. I was saved because <em>He</em> first loved <em>me,</em> and the Church worships God because He deserves it, regardless of how badly we mess up sometimes. Imperfect people worshipping a perfect God… that’s a huge part of what the Gospel actually is.</p><h2>Blessings in the Present</h2>
<p>Another point that didn’t fit cleanly into the points above: I’ve been focusing on the future rewards for “doing the right thing” here and now; if I have to give some things up, so be it, I’ll get rewards that will far outshine anything I’ve given up. That’s where endurance comes into play.</p><p>But… there are <em>also</em> rewards here and now, too! It might <em>feel</em> like it’s onerous to be giving up things, not enjoying pleasures we could have otherwise enjoyed, but there is also pleasure in serving Him, and there is pleasure in loving our brothers and sisters. It’s pleasure of a different kind, of course, but it’s pleasure nonetheless.</p><p>I paint a dour picture of grumpy Christians grumbling about having to give up our pleasures (because I think that’s how we often act), but we should all also know the pleasure we get from serving others. Even if we haven’t experienced it personally (to our shame), anyone who spends enough time in a local church will see this joy being experienced by others.</p><p>Christians who had a similar story to mine, whereby we came to Christianity later in life instead of being raised in a Christian home, will definitely relate to this. I know when I first started interacting with Christians, when I was a teenager—and, therefore, knew everything—I just thought those Christians didn’t know as much as I did about what “pleasure” is. “Sure,” I thought, “they <em>seem</em> happy, but that’s only because they are so ‘sheltered’ they don’t know what they’ve given up!” But the more I interacted with them the more I started to realise that some of these people had a lot more joy than I did; here I was pitying them (or at least scoffing at them), whereas, if they’d been less charitable, they should have been doing so for me! (And, not to put too fine a point on it, some of those Christians knew <em>exactly</em> what they were giving up, having experienced some of those “pleasures” much more deeply than my teenage self ever had – but they were still happier living lives for God than for experiencing those fleeting and, ultimately unfulfilling, “pleasures” of life.)</p><p>My point being that we shouldn’t be so quick to assume that giving up certain pleasures will be a hardship. In a sense, yes, it is, but in another sense it’s often not nearly as painful as we expect it to be, on the whole, when we add in the simple pleasure of having fellowship with other of God’s children and, whether we think of it this way or not, being more like Him in the process.</p><p>Not that I want to promote obeying God just for the sake of experiencing this pleasure—I’m not promoting a works-based Gospel whereby we obey God and, therefore, He has to bless us—but in His mercy He often <em>does</em> bless us anyway. And if He doesn’t… then endure, and one day we’ll be with Him face to face, and it will seem worth it.</p><hr/>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<ul><li>Why so many quotation marks? Well… although Paul clearly delineated, over the last few passages, that there are areas where Christians might be “weak” (e.g. not feeling comfortable eating food that Christianity calls clean), I think Christians are too quick to claim we’re “strong” when things might be more nuanced than that, so I keep putting quotation marks around “strong” and “weak” to emphasise that things aren’t so cut and dried. And as for putting quotes around “rights,” I just feel our modern emphasis on “rights” is something we can’t properly overlay over the concepts as outlined in the Bible. Thinking of my ability to eat and drink whatever I want as a “right” is <em>technically</em> correct, but that framing isn’t really one that appears in the Bible, and it also might get in the way of actually carrying out the message Paul is giving us in this passage. <a href="#user-content-fnref-1" id="user-content-fn-1">↩</a></li></ul>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-27751590483421196582023-11-09T09:00:00.001-05:002023-11-09T09:00:38.697-05:00Romans 14:13-23<p><a title="Rom 14:13-23 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A13-23&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:13–23 (ESV)✞</a>: Do Not Cause Another to Stumble<a name='more'></a></p><p>In the <a href="/2023/11/romans-141-12.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a> Paul talked about the fact that there are facets of Christianity that aren’t cut and dried—e.g., should a Jewish Christian follow the dietary laws, or the special Jewish days, or not?—and that we <strong>shouldn’t judge one another</strong> based on differences of opinion on these matters. One of the points I pulled out from that passage is that it’s more important to get along than it is to agree with one another (let alone convince others that we’re “right” on a particular matter), but in this passage Paul goes even further: we aren’t just to get along with one another, but always do what’s best for the other person – even if it means giving up our own “rights.”</p><p>Or, as he states it here:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.14.13 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A13&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:13 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><hr/>
<p>Paul starts with an example he touched on in the previous passage: what Christians are “allowed” to eat. For Paul, that question, in and of itself, is answered:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>4</sup> I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself…</p></blockquote><p>As far as Paul is concerned, and according to the teaching of Jesus Himself (e.g., <a title="Mar 7:14-23" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+7%3A14-23&version=ESV" target="_blank">Mark 7:14–23✞</a>), there actually <em>is</em> an answer to this: all foods are “acceptable” for a Christian to eat. So… end of story, right? Not so fast:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">… but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.</p></blockquote><p>We knew Paul wouldn’t be offering simple answers, right?</p><p>If you want to know whether Christians are allowed to eat certain foods, you can go to the Gospels and here in Romans and maybe other places and see that there aren’t any restrictions. It’s not sinful to eat anything, in and of itself. <strong>However</strong>, if you, for whatever reason, are not comfortable with that answer—or, more specifically, if you’re not comfortable eating certain foods—and you decide to eat them anyway even though you’re not comfortable with it, then that <em>is</em> sinful. Maybe you haven’t read those passages; maybe you have, but are sure you must be missing something because that doesn’t sound right to you. Whatever the reason, if you think it’s sinful but do it anyway you’re sinning.</p><p>In Paul’s day he was mainly thinking of Jewish Christians, who, in most cases, would have spent their entire lives being forbidden to eat certain foods; in today’s world, in addition to Jewish Christians we might also think of Muslim or Hindu Christians, who would have grown up with similar dietary restrictions, and I’m sure there are others as well. If such a person reads the Bible, sees that foods are no longer restricted for the Christian, feels comfortable with it, and starts eating those foods, that person is not displeasing God. If the same person comes to the same conclusion, believes fully in their heart that all foods are now clean, and still decides not to eat the foods that used to be restricted that’s ok too – the Bible isn’t <em>forcing</em> us to eat certain foods!</p><p>But if that person just can’t get over their discomfort with eating certain foods then they should continue to avoid them. This isn’t just about food and drink, if there’s anything you think is a sin and you go ahead and do it anyway, then you’ve made a choice to disobey what you think God’s will is. Even if it would turn out, in retrospect, that that thing wasn’t sinful—or, in this case, if it turned out that eating certain foods is no longer forbidden—you still made a choice that you <em>thought</em> was going against God’s will. Regardless of your actions, there was sin in your heart.</p><hr/>
<p>The focus of this passage, however, isn’t about the person who’s uncomfortable with certain foods; it’s about the person who has no problem eating anything:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>15</sup> For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.</p></blockquote><p>Regardless of what is or isn’t allowed—and regardless of what one <em>believes</em> is allowed or disallowed—there are times when a Christian should abstain from certain things for the sake of other Christians with “weaker” faith. (He used this word in the <a href="/2023/11/romans-141-12.html" title="null" target="_blank">last passage</a>, for this exact situation.) Paul is using the example of food here but it’s a larger point; another common example we could think of is that of alcohol, which isn’t forbidden by the Bible, but even if you’re convinced of that fact there will be times when you should refrain from drinking for the sake of other Christians.</p><p>Given the fact that I live in North America, which is highly individualistic, I’m sure there are people who would chafe at this admonition from Paul. “Wait,” they’re thinking, “you’re saying <em>I’m</em> not allowed to do something just because someone <em>else’s</em> faith is weak? Why should I have to suffer for their weakness?” And I believe Paul’s answer—it’s definitely <em>my</em> answer—would be yes, we <em>are</em> saying you aren’t “allowed” to do certain things under certain circumstances, and the reason you’re to abstain is out of love for that person.</p><p>By no means is Paul saying you can never eat or drink or do whatever the thing in question is; he’s talking about cases “if your [fellow Christian] <em>is grieved</em> by what you eat.” If you’re inviting someone over for dinner and you know she’s a former Hindu then maybe don’t serve beef, <em>just in case</em> she’s not going to be comfortable with it. Maybe she’ll be totally fine with it and beef would have been ok with her; maybe she’d be scandalised and you’d be hurting her faith; maybe she’s right in the middle on this issue, struggling to figure it out, and you’re just adding to her confusion.</p><p>Is it ok to ask her ahead of time, and have that conversation? Sure! My point—and I’m pretty sure Paul’s too—is not to set out a series of rules to follow, it’s to set out a general principle: do whatever you’re doing out of love for the other person.</p><p>This is why you seldom see alcohol at church events in North America: you just never know who’s going to have a problem with it. In theory there would be nothing wrong with serving alcohol at the church’s Christmas party, but there’s a high enough likelihood that people would have an issue with it that it’s better to refrain from it than to potentially harm some of the members of the congregation.</p><p>Or, as Paul states it more strongly:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.</p></blockquote><p>“Destroy” is a harsh word – but Paul is a smart enough man that we can assume he chooses his words with care, so “destroy” is exactly what he meant!</p><p>We don’t know what the effects are going to be when we are more worried about our own “rights” than we are about loving others. If I go out to dinner with other Christians and I have a couple of drinks when some of them have an issue with alcohol—whether I know it or not—that <em>could</em> lead them to thinking through this issue once more, and deciding that, yes, God is ok with alcohol, so they don’t need to worry about it. Or it could lead them to having a drink themselves, to fit in, thinking that what they’re doing is sinful – and therefore <em>making</em> it sinful. Or they could secretly think that I’ve just committed a sin, while they’ve kept themselves “pure,” and therefore why should they listen to anything I say, since I, a sinner, have no moral authority? </p><p>Or they could get <em>really</em> messed up. The worst scenario I can think of is another Christian seeing me drinking, and thinking, “well, if he’s drinking, maybe I have this whole ‘sin’ thing wrong! Maybe we have more freedom than I thought! So… I can drink, and I can have sex outside of marriage, and I can …”</p><p>It’s totally good and right to have conversations with fellow Christians on these issues—a point I’ll come back to in a second—but in the meantime I should focus less on what I’m “allowed” to do and focus more on what would be the most loving way to act toward others, which, in some circumstances, will mean abstaining from things that otherwise would have been fine for me to do.</p><hr/>
<p>Paul’s next point is somewhat aligned with the scenarios I outlined above:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>16</sup> So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.</p></blockquote><p>He doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to argue with other Christians who “wrongly” call our actions evil, he means we’re not to do those things in the first place (in certain circumstances), to prevent those ideas before they start.</p><p>If I believe it’s ok to eat pork, and a fellow Christian who comes from a Muslim background is uncomfortable with pork, then, as outlined above, I don’t invite him to dinner and serve pork and then spend the rest of the night arguing that he’s wrong to be uncomfortable with it and telling him he has weak faith. (Incidentally, many of these issues are as much cultural as they are spiritual, so he might not even <em>have</em> weak faith – he might be completely convinced that it’s not sinful to eat pork but still be uncomfortable with it, which, as outlined <a href="/2023/11/romans-141-12.html" title="null" target="_blank">in the previous passage</a>, is between him and God, not me.)</p><p>This is as good a time as any to say that it <em>is</em> ok to have these conversations with our fellow Christians. It’s not Paul’s point here, but it’s a logical place to mention it. If we have a brother or sister who’s uncomfortable with certain foods or alcohol or <em>whatever,</em> we can talk to them about the freedom we have in Christ. But—and this is important—we don’t <em>have</em> to, either! As mentioned, if that person is uncomfortable with certain freedoms, and doesn’t exercise them, that’s between them and God, and the previous passage indicated that God is going to “uphold” them (regardless of what I think).</p><p>So, again, I have to ask myself: what would the most loving action be in this circumstance? Is this person open to this conversation? Then we can have it, and have it respectfully and lovingly, and if I don’t convince them that’s <em>fine.</em> If I think that person isn’t ready for the conversation then it would be more loving to set it aside and leave that person be. If it means I have to give up something, when I’m with them, then so be it!</p><p>Importantly—and I’m really straying from the point at hand, but it follows the previous thought—Paul calls some Christians “weak” for not being comfortable with some things, but I don’t recall a single admonition from him to “strong” Christians that it’s our job to convince them! Paul <em>never</em> says, “Ok, you ‘strong’ Christians, go talk some sense into the ‘weak’ ones!” Paul himself calls them weak, so they’ll read that in the Scriptures, and, again, I don’t see a problem with having those conversations (given the right circumstances and with a focus on love instead of “being right”), but neither am I <em>commanded</em> to do so.</p><p>What I can say, however, from this passage, is that the way to start those conversations (if at all) is never by forcing someone to do something they’re not comfortable with doing and <em>then</em> having the conversation, or saying, “you’re wrong about this whole alcohol thing so I’m going to drink a beer while I tell you so.”</p><hr/>
<p>And, in fact, “strong” Christians don’t <em>need</em> to educate “weak” Christians in order for us to be a strong Church:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>17</sup> For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. <sup>18</sup> Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. <sup>19</sup> So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.14.17-Rom.14.19 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A17-19&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:17–19 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>More so in the previous passage than in this one Paul made the case that there are issues in the Church that are not cut and dried. His focus in this passage is to get us to see that it’s more important to love one another and pursue peace—even if it means there are times when I give up my own “rights” to do so—than it is to make someone understand something I think they’ve got wrong. If a brother is uncomfortable with alcohol then I’ll let him abstain from alcohol – and abstain myself when I’m around him, or in other circumstances where it might be problematic for him.</p><p>The last few verses serve as a summary for the whole passage:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>20</sup> Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. <sup>21</sup> It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. <sup>22</sup> The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. <sup>23</sup> But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.14.20-Rom.14.23 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A20-23&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:20–23 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>For the most part it’s just a recap of what he’s already said, but verse 21 jumps out at me: “It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.” In the previous verse Paul states it the way we’d normally think of it: it’s wrong to make another stumble by what we eat. But he goes even further in verse 21: it’s not just wrong to do it, it’s <em>right</em> for us <em>not</em> to do it!</p><p>So, with that in mind, let’s do good – let’s love our brothers and sisters by always trying to do what’s right for them, valuing their own needs above our own.</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29480201.post-75301593815540549072023-11-06T10:55:00.000-05:002023-11-06T10:55:17.630-05:00Romans 14:1-12<p><a title="Rom 14:1-12 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A1-12&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:1–12 (ESV)✞</a>: Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another<a name='more'></a></p><p>This passage contains a very famous sentiment, often quoted by non-Christians as a means of showing the hypocrisy of Christians, which Christians are sometimes quick to point out as an argument that’s not presented in good faith – as well as missing the point. Though… in context, I think it’s actually closer to the point than we might think, and we shouldn’t dismiss it too quickly!</p><p>But let’s set that aside for a moment and go through the passage. </p><h1>Passage</h1>
<p>Paul starts the theme with an example:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>1</sup> As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. <sup>2</sup> One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. <sup>3</sup> Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.14.1-Rom.14.3 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A1-3&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:1–3 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>As a side note, we often think of this in terms of a Christian who’s vegetarian as opposed to one who eats meat, but I’m not sure that that’s Paul’s point; it reads to me more like two extremes: one who feels free to eat <strong>anything</strong> as opposed to one who only feels free to eat almost <strong>nothing</strong>. I don’t think we have to reduce it to eating meat vs. vegetarians. In fact, Paul mostly likely had Jewish Christians in mind when he wrote this; people who were trying to figure out if they should continue obeying the Jewish dietary laws or not. Regardless, I don’t think that impacts Paul’s larger point: there are those who feel free to eat whatever they want to eat, and there are those with a “weak faith” that only allows them to eat certain things. </p><p>Why does that make them “weak?” For Paul, it’s a question of faith: they don’t have enough faith in Christ’s work, so they feel they need to be “extra good” for God. They get that Christ died for their sins, but… <em>just to be safe,</em> they’ll avoid eating things they feel might make them unclean. </p><p>So if I have “strong” faith that allows me to eat anything, I shouldn’t “despise” the one who only feels allowed to eat certain things; similarly, if I am trying to keep myself “clean” by only eating certain things I shouldn’t “despise” the one who pollutes their body with unclean foods. In either case I should be looking at my fellow Christian as one whom God has “welcomed.”</p><hr/>
<p>In fact, Paul takes this even further in the next verse:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.14.4 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A4&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:4 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>This is the famous verse I was mentioning earlier, that non-Christians sometimes like to levy against Christians, but we’ll set that aside (for the moment).</p><p>Paul is going further than just saying “bear with” the ones I disagree with; he’s saying it’s not my place to judge them <em>at all</em> – that’s God’s job. And, in this case, Paul says that God will uphold that person! So… if I try to stay clean I should know that God will uphold those who pollute their bodies, but if I’m one whose faith is strong enough that I can eat anything I should know that God will uphold <em>them,</em> too!</p><p>How can we both be right? But thinking about who’s right and who’s wrong is exactly what Paul is trying to get us away from – even in this case where he’s called out one side of the debate as being “weak.” </p><p>I don’t think Paul would have a problem with healthy debate on such matters (see below), but “healthy,” in this context, means being able to offer my opinions on the topic without feeling that you’re somehow less of a Christian than me if you disagree. If God is upholding you, who am I to disagree with Him?</p><hr/>
<p>But now Paul gets even more extreme: there are some questions around which there <em>is</em> no correct way of thinking: it’s not a matter of weak or strong faith, it’s just open-ended questions where we each need to make up our own minds:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>5</sup> One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. <sup>6</sup> The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.</p></blockquote><p>Gosh! So there are questions where we’re supposed to just… decide for ourselves? Wait… so Paul is telling me that some churches only do communion on certain days and other churches do it every Sunday, and… they’re both right?!? And that some Christians celebrate Christmas and some don’t, and… they’re both right?!?</p><p>And I think Paul would say, no, the point is that there <em>is no</em> “right” or “wrong” answer, and no answer we land on is going to bring us closer or further from God. If my local church does communion (or Lord’s Table or whatever we choose to call it) on the first Sunday of every month and your church does it every Sunday, Paul says we’re both serving God.</p><p>Paul likely still has Jewish Christians in mind. Are they allowed to keep observing certain special days or rituals in the Jewish calendar? Do they <em>have</em> to? Paul tells them they can decide for themselves. They were Christian but they were also Jewish; if they brought some of their Jewish culture with them that was fine, and if they decided they needed to set aside those things because of their newfound faith that was equally fine. <em>Equally.</em> As long as a person was “fully convinced in his own mind,” he was just as “correct” as someone who’d made a different decision.</p><hr/>
<p>What’s more, Paul says it’s more important for us to be getting along with each other than it is to be settling such debates:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.14.7 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A7&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:7 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Much as it pains me to admit this… I’m not the only Christian. 🙃 I’m not all on my own out here; it’s not just “me and God.” There’s an entire Church—a local church I’m part of, as well as the global Church I’m also part of—and I need to take that seriously. What I do and say—and how I debate matters of doctrine—impacts other Christians. It’s more important that I help them than that I be right.</p><p>This next part is less clear to me:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>8</sup> For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. <sup>9</sup> For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.14.8-Rom.14.9 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A8-9&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:8–9 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>Obviously it’s continuing the previous thought, where Paul said that none of us lives or dies to himself; I think I’m overthinking it because of the last phrase about Christ being the Lord of both the dead and the living. I think he’s just saying that we all belong to the Lord, He’ll do with us as He pleases—up to and including the manner of our deaths—which ties in with the larger point that I shouldn’t be judging His other children.</p><hr/>
<p>Paul finishes with a summary that recaps all he’s said so far:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>10</sup> Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; <sup>11</sup> for it is written,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 2em;">“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 3em;">and every tongue shall confess to God.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;"><sup>12</sup> So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.14.10-Rom.14.12 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A10-12&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:10–12 (ESV)✞</a></p></blockquote><p>I will be answerable to my God, as will those with whom I disagree. It is not my place to be the one to judge others—much as my sinful heart <em>wants</em> to judge others—it’s His. If anything, when I’m in disagreement with someone on some point of doctrine I should be remembering that God will uphold that person. Whether she’s right, or wrong, or neither right nor wrong because there <em>is</em> no right or wrong, she’s a child of God’s just as I am.</p><h1>Thoughts</h1>
<p>Some further thoughts concern the idea that we’re not to judge one another, as well as some thoughts on Christian debate of doctrinal matters.</p><h2>Do Not Judge</h2>
<p>I mentioned above the fact that non-Christians often use <a title="verse 10" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A10&version=ESV" target="_blank">verse 10✞</a> against Christians. “The Bible says not to judge,” they say, “so you’re a hypocrite if you say my actions are morally ‘wrong,’ according to your own Scriptures!” To which the Christian might reply, “We’re not to judge the person but we <em>are</em> to judge the actions; if you murder someone I can’t claim to be better than you, or morally superior to you, but I <em>can</em> say that murder is wrong!”</p><p>And that’s true. However, the entirety of this passage also shows that it can also be <strong>more complicated</strong> than that. Paul says there are examples where we can’t even judge the actions! I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but this kind of Biblical ambivalence makes some Christians uncomfortable. </p><p>We want to be able to look at an action and say whether it’s right or it’s wrong. So we’re ok with <a title="verses 1-4" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A1-4&version=ESV" target="_blank">verses 1–4✞</a>, where Paul uses the word “weak” to describe Christians who don’t eat certain foods—if they’re weak, that means that the Bible says it’s ok to eat meat, so we know what the “right answer” is on that point, even if there are those who don’t “get it” like I do—but then in <a title="verses 5-9" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A5-9&version=ESV" target="_blank">verses 5–9✞</a> Paul throws us all off by saying there is no “right answer” when it comes to special days! It’s not a matter of bearing with “weak” Christians who just don’t know any better, it’s a matter of there not being a right answer at all.</p><p>In fact, Paul makes it even worse in verse 5:</p><blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-left: 1em;">One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. <strong>Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind</strong>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><a title="Rom.14.5 (ESV)" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A5&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 14:5 (ESV)✞</a>, emphasis added</p></blockquote><p>That’s the kind of statement that drives Christians crazy! When I wrote this we were in the postmodern age, wherein the general public felt they could choose whatever religion was right for them, choose whatever rules and regulations were right for them, and Christians were having to say that, no, there is absolute truth, there is one God, what He says is true is actually true… but then Paul comes along and says that there are also areas where you have to decide <em>for yourself</em> what’s right and wrong, just like the postmodernists are saying.</p><p>So what are we supposed to do with this? Follow the overall guidance of this passage: not judge our fellow Christians when we have disagreements about how things are to be done. It’s very difficult to do—not least because I have to have enough humility to admit that <em>I</em> might be the one who’s “wrong” (if there is a “wrong” answer)—but it gets easier when we remind ourselves that these are not typically life and death questions; we don’t get saved by obeying rules or doing things the right way, so even if it turns out I’m “wrong” I’ll still be with my God forever – and if I’m “right” (if there is a “right” answer) I don’t somehow earn extra salvation for it.</p><p>And when a non-Christian comes up to me and says that Christians are hypocrites for judging people, I shouldn’t dismiss the thought too quickly. History is rife with examples where Christians have been vicious and nasty in how we’ve disagreed with one another, and we need to own that.</p><h2>Debate</h2>
<p>Is Paul saying we shouldn’t debate these matters? I don’t think so. A <strong>healthy</strong> debate on such topics is good for the Church; I think part of the reason Christianity doesn’t have hard-and-fast rules for Christians to follow—aside from the fact that we’re saved by faith not by works, and even well-intentioned rules end up becoming “laws” (such as what the Pharisees were doing in Jesus’ day)—is that such rules would have to evolve over time, as the human race evolves. </p><p>To use the most obvious of examples, rules around how Christians are to use modern technology never would have made their way into the Bible because such technologies didn’t exist. Can we use biblical principles to decide how to use technology, as Christians? Yes. Does that make the answers obvious? Not usually, no! So if someone disagrees with me on how technology is to be used, it should never enter into my heart to despise that person for honestly seeking to please God by living rightly, just as I am.</p><p>Maybe they have a weak faith where mine is strong; maybe <em>I</em> have a weak faith, where theirs is strong! Or maybe, as in some of the examples Paul has given here, there is no right and wrong – or it’s more of a postmodern example where we’re <em>both</em> right for ourselves!</p><p>If I can’t debate in this manner, then maybe it’s better for me not to debate at all. But if I can, I think it’s helpful; such debates move the Church forward. People will raise points that others might never have thought of, which can help us to have a better perspective on others’ experiences.</p><p>I should also be prepared, however, for the fact that there will be some things that are “ok” for someone else and not “ok” for me, or vice versa.</p>David Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08992882297558499646noreply@blogger.com0