Day 110. 2 Kings 15-17

King Azariah of Judah is elsewhere called Uzziah (Isaiah 6:1), and is called by both names. When he comes to the throne he is hardly more than a boy, and he reigns fifty-two years in Jerusalem. During his long reign, we are told, Azariah does "what is right in the sight of the LORD." But he does not remove the "high places," and cultic worship continues outside of the Jerusalem temple, much to the compiler's displeasure. For reasons we are not told, Azariah is struck by the LORD with some sort of skin disease—our text calls it "leprosy," but in the Bible that is the name given to any number of persistent skin diseases. Because of this affliction, Azariah lives in a separate house outside the palace (15:5), and his son Jotham rules with him as a sort of co-regent. The long reign of Azariah is time of stability Judah, but chaos reigns in Israel and the court of Samaria continues its history of violence. One king after another is cut down by assassins after ruling only a few months.  Finally a strongman named Menahem seizes control using terrible violence against his own people (15:16).  He sends an enormous treasure to Pul, the King of Assyria –this is Tiglath-pileser III who ruled from 745-727 B.C.E.—in order that he "might help him confirm his hold on the royal power" (15:19). This bribe sets a dangerous precedent, as we shall see. Menahem's death ushers in another period of violence. His son Pekahiah is assassinated after reigning only two years in Samaria, and the crown passes to military man named Pekah.  Pekah continues the tradition in the northern kingdom and does "evil in the sight of the LORD" (15:28). During his reign the Assyrians capture territory in Israel and carry some of the population away into exile (15:29). This is a bitter foretaste of what is to come. Meanwhile in Judah, King Uzziah dies and is succeeded by Jotham. Jotham follows the pattern of his father and grandfather and does what is right, but without removing the "high places" (15:34-35).  The compiler of Kings maintains both an unwavering loyalty to these Judean kings of the house of David, while he looks back with longing to a time when the nation was united in worshiping the LORD only in the temple in Jerusalem, the city of David, and nowhere else. But the righteous Jotham is succeeded by a king who is arguably the worst in the history of  Judah—Ahaz. Ahaz not only tolerates the "high places," he himself worships "under every green tree." He even makes his son "pass through fire"—in other words, he sacrifices his child to the pagan god Moleck (16:3—see Deuteronomy 18:9-14).     When the Arameans wage war on Jerusalem, Ahaz sends the king of Assyria a desperate letter begging for help, accompanied with a vast treasure (16:7-8). The king of Assyria listens to him and attacks Damascus, destroys it, and carries the people of that country away into captivity (16:9). Aram is no longer a threat, but Israel and Judah exchange one enemy for a far more dangerous one. King Ahaz makes a number of dangerous innovations. When he meets the Assyrian king in Damascus, he sees there the altar that that king had erected. He sends instructions to the priest Uriah to remove the bronze altar from in front of the temple and construct an altar on the Assyrian model in its place (16:10-16). The bronze altar of Solomon is relegated to use for divination. Whether the offerings made on this new altar are sacrificed to the LORD or some other god we are not told. Whatever its purpose, to the conservative mind of the compiler of Kings the new altar and the other changes Ahaz makes  are not just a slavish way to curry favor with the king of Assyria (16:18), they are yet another form of unfaithfulness. In the north the Assyrian noose is closing upon the kingdom of Israel. King Hoshea first becomes a vassal of the Assyrian king, then, with the encouragement of the Egyptian Pharaoh, he withholds tribute (17:3). The reaction is swift and terrible. The Assyrians invade the land, and after a three year siege they capture Samaria in the year 722 B.C.E. The king is imprisoned and a significant part of the population is deported to Mesopotamia. They are never heard from again. In his history of the decline and fall of Israel the compiler of the Books of Kings seeks to draw an answer to the question--Why did this happen?  The reason he gives is a theological one—the nation falls and the people go into exile because they "[worship] other gods and [walk] in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel introduced" (17:8). The LORD sends prophets to warn them to turn from their evil ways and to keep his commandment, but they do not listen (17:13).  The compiler gives us a whole laundry list of Israel's sins and lapses (17:14-17). It is because of these that the LORD becomes very angry with Israel and removes them out of his sight, leaving none but the tribe of Judah alone" (17:18). After the deportation, the Assyrian monarch imports foreign people to repopulate the land. These people are pagans, and because they did not worship the LORD, the compiler tells us, lions devour many of them (17:25). An unnamed priest is returned from captivity to instruct "how they should worship the LORD" (17:28), but his missionary efforts are only half successful. These Samaritans, as they are later called, worship the LORD, but they also "[appoint] from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places," and these non-Levitical priests "[sacrifice] for them in the shrines of the high places" (17:32).  Pagan practices continue side-by-side with the worship of the LORD, and this unique form of syncretism continues in the northern territories into the time of the compiler of Kings, as we are told (17:41)

Day 109. 2 Kings 12-14

We might well experience some confusion regarding the names of the kings mentioned in our reading. King Jehoash of Judah and the King Joash mentioned earlier are the same person, and there is another king of Israel who shares both names. Jehoash of Judah is a good king who does "what is right in the sight of the LORD," but the compiler of the Books of Kings deplores that fact that he is unwilling or unable to repress those "high places" where the people continue to make offerings and sacrifices (12:3).  These cult centers are always viewed as a source of corruption and syncretism in the Books of Kings. Jehoash does, however, supervise much needed repairs to the temple in Jerusalem. His mentor, the priest Jehoiada, has a box made into which donations for necessary repairs are placed. A general atmosphere of rectitude and good order is established (12:15). The reign of good king Jehoash is marked, however, by the threat of Hazael of Aram. When this ambitious monarch sets his face toward Jerusalem and seems intent upon taking it, Jehoash is forced to strip the temple treasury in order to  buy him off (17:18). The bribe works and the city is spared (17:19). The king, however, falls victim to a conspiracy, is cut down by his own servants in the Millo (12:20-21), and his son Amaziah succeeds him. Meanwhile in the northern kingdom, Jehoahaz succeeds to the throne on the death of his father Jehu. The compiler of Kings delivers to Jehoahaz the usual condemnation he gives to all the northern kings—like Jeroboam of Israel, he does what is "evil in the sight of the LORD" (10:2).  But the people suffer at the hands of Hazael of Aram so horrifically, that the LORD has mercy on them and sends them "a savior, so that they [escape] from the hand of the Arameans; and the people of Israel [live] in their homes as formerly" (13:5). This "messiah" belongs to the long tradition of charismatic heroes going back to the time of the judges who appear in times of crisis and then vanish again when the danger passes. Nevertheless, in spite of the heroic efforts of this nameless "savior," under the reign of Jehoahaz the military might of the northern kingdom, numbered in chariots and horses, dwindles (13:7).   This is because, as we are told, "the king of Aram [destroys] them and [makes] them like the dust at threshing." So in due time Jehoahaz dies and is succeeded by Joash of Israel, who, unlike Joash of Judah, is an evil king. Joash does, however, come to call upon Elisha as the prophet is dying, and he uses the very same words Elisha himself cries out when he sees his master Elijah ascending into heaven—"My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" (13:14). Even this evil king recognizes that the prophet is the strength of the kingdom, its first line of defense.   But the dying Elisha is still a force to be reckoned with. He tells Joash to shoot an arrow through the window to the east. This, he tells the king, is "the LORD's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram! For you shall fight the Arameans at Aphek until you have made an end of them" (13:17).  Then he tells the king to take his remaining arrows and strike the ground, which he does three times. Three times is not enough, however, and Elisha is angry. Jehoahaz should have struck them more and made an end of them. Now he will strike the forces of Aram three times, but not destroy them utterly. And having said this Elisha dies, but even his bones, we are told, have power in them sufficient to raise the dead (13:20-21).  During the reign of Jehoahaz of Israel, Hazael of Aram continues to oppress Israel, but God does not forget his covenant. He is "gracious to them and [has] compassion on them; he [turns} toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them" (13:23). Israel holds on. Then Hazael dies. A window opens, and true to the prophets words Jehoahaz's son Joash does in fact manage to wrest back some of Israel's territory from Hazael's son Ben-hadad II. "Three times Joash defeated him and recovered towns of Israel," we are told. But Aram will remain a threat for a little while longer, until it is eclipsed by the rising power of Assyria, which will menace the very existence of the two little kingdoms. In the southern kingdom, Joash of Judah dies and is succeeded by his son Amaziah, who like his father is a righteous king, "though not like his ancestor David," we are told (14:3). He revenges the murder of his father, but he does not put to death the children of the murderers, which this compiler of Kings regards as a failure (14:5-6). And he also tolerated the "high places," which is regarded as an even greater fault. Nevertheless Amaziah's early reign was marked by some encouraging victories. Then he makes a tragic mistake when he challenges Israel, perhaps in the hope of reuniting the kingdom of David and Solomon. He is soundly defeated by Joash of Israel, who breaks down a large section of the wall of Jerusalem and sacks the temple and the treasury of the king's house, before returning to Samaria with hostages to ensure Amaziah's future good behavior. Amaziah continues to reign though with a diminished authority, until he, like his father before him, is cut down by assassins (14:19). He is succeeded by his sixteen year old son Azariah. In the northern kingdom Jeroboam II succeeds his father Joash of Israel, and predictably does "what is evil in the sight of the LORD," leading his people into sin as his forebears had (14:23). Nevertheless we know that the reign of Jerobaom II is a prosperous one.  During this period the prophet Jonah is active, though the Book of Jonah was written much later, and the prophet Amos appears at Bethel to condemn the wanton luxury and indifference of the king and his people. The compiler of the Books of Kings tells us that in spite of his moral failures the LORD is able to use Jeroboam II to save Israel. God sees the bitter distress of his people, and has mercy on them because they are left alone without allies (14:26-27). Throughout his reign the threat of Aram is diminishing, eclipsed by the rising power of Assyria. In the vacuum created, Israel is left in relative peace. At the end of long reign Jeroboam II is succeeded by his son Zechariah.

Day 108 2 Kings 9-11

The prophets of the Old Testament take an active part in the political affairs of the people—there is no separation of church and state here. As we begin the reading for today we hear how Elisha takes matters into his hands and orders the anointing of one of the descendents of King Jehoshaphat of Judah—Jehu--as king of Israel. He sends a young prophet to the commander ordering him to take Jehu aside and anoint him secretly. At the same time Jehu is entrusted with a bloody task—one which he is more than capable of discharging—to utterly destroy the house of Ahab. For the LORD it is an act of revenge for "the blood of [his] servants the prophets. The house of Ahab is "devoted"—it will be treated in the same way that the pagan inhabitants of Canaan had been treated. It will be utterly annihilated. At first Jehu keeps his anointing a secret from his fellow officers. When they ask him what the prophet wanted with him he says, "You know the sort and how the babble" (9:11). But they draw the truth from him and they immediately spread their cloak before him and proclaim him king. (We are reminded of the Palm Sunday story in the Gospels.) Jehu's revolt moves forward swiftly. He goes to Jezreel where king Joram is lying ill and King Ahaziah of Judah is visiting him. The two kings go out to meet Jehu together, recognizing him from a distance because "he drives like a maniac"(9:20). (The expression "he drives like Jehu" is still occasionally used.) Jehu summarily kills Joram with an arrow and orders that his body be thrown onto the plot of ground that his father Ahab had stolen from Naboth (9:25), thus fulfilling the prophecy of Elijah against the house of Ahab recorded in 1 Kings 21:19-22. He then pursues the fleeing King Ahaziah of Judah and shoots him down also. His body, we are told,  is taken back to the City of David to be buried. The Jehu then proceeds to Jezreel, where Queen Jezebel taunts him from her window as the murderer of his master. But her eunuchs throw her down, and Jehu tramples her with his chariot, leaving her body in the street. Later he regrets this--she is after all "a king's daughter" (9:34)--but by this time the dogs have already eaten her. And again the prophecy of Elijah is fulfilled—"In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the body of Jezebel" (9:36). The blood-bath has just begun, however. Jehu orders that the seventy sons of Ahab be beheaded and their heads brought to him in baskets.  Then he calls for a general massacre of "all who [are] left of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his leaders, his close friends, and priests, until there [is] no survivor" (10:11). Still he is not satisfied.  "Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD," says Jehu (10:16). And he goes on to Samaria to wipe out all who are left to Ahab there as well. It is hard for us grasp such fanatical "zeal for the LORD," but the compiler of the Books of Kings regards it as a necessary purge. The violence of Jehu's revolution is seen as a proper and proportionate reaction against the decadence and idolatry of the house of Ahab. It must be destroyed root and branch. So Jehu gathers the worshippers of Baal under the ruse of offering a sacrifice, and when they are penned up in the temple, he has them methodically slaughtered. No one is to be allowed to escape upon pain of death (10:24).  We have said before that in the Old Testament those who do not acknowledge the LORD as God are seen as less than human, as vermin to be exterminated. So even though God approves Jehu's violent reforms—The LORD blesses him for having carried out what he considers right (10:30)—for the compiler of the Books of Kings, Jehu does not go far enough. He does not remove the golden calves that Jeroboam had set up at Bethel and Dan. These were erected in direct and intentional competition with the Temple in Jerusalem, to ensure national loyalty in the people of the northern kingdom. But for the writer they are "sins" (10:29), and Jehu is faulted for condoning them. Neither is Jehu particularly scrupulous in following the Law of Moses (10:31). But he is seen nevertheless as necessary weapon in the hand of the LORD. He is a strong and ruthless commander, and yet under his rule the Lord begins to "trim off" parts of the territory of Israel (10:32). This is a period of general political decay. Following the bloody reforms of Jehu in the northern kingdom, a similar revolution takes place in Judah. Athaliah, the mother of the Ahaziah, whom Jehu has assassinated, sets about "to destroy all the royal family" (11:1). She then seizes power for herself and rules for a time in her own right. But unbeknown to her, Joash, one the king's sons, is hidden away in the temple, where he remains hidden for six years (10:3). But when Joash is seven years old, the high priest Jehoiada leads a coup in his favor.  The child is brought forth from hiding, crowned king, given "the covenant," and anointed king, to general acclamation and rejoicing. Athaliah is dragged screaming from the temple and put to the sword (11:16). Jehoiada then presides over a renewal of the covenant between the LORD and his people (11:17). The temple of Baal is destroyed and its priest killed (11:18). A new beginning is proclaimed. And our reading ends by saying that "all the people in the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been killed with the sword at the king's house" (11:20). The reign of King Joash will be a bright spot in the otherwise darkening history of Judah.

Day 107. 2 Kings 6-8

The story of the floating ax-head seems like a rather petty miracle. Yet it is told not only to demonstrate the prophet's power, but it shows his compassion for someone who is in genuine distress—"Alas, Master! It was borrowed," cries the  prophet who lost it (6:5), and Elisha responds with kindness.  The story also demonstrates how precious iron tools are during the period recorded in our reading. We noted before that the prophets are considered by the compiler of the Books of Kings as Israel's "first line of defense."  This is demonstrated again in the story of how Elisha divines the plans of the king of Aram and passes them along to the king of Israel (6:10).  When the king of Aram discovers Israel's secret weapon, he sends an army to besiege the city of Dothan, where the prophet is with intention of killing him (6:14).  The prophet's servant is terrified when he sees the troops outside the city, but Elisha reassures  him—"Do not be afraid" (6:16). Then he prays, "O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opens the eyes of the servant so that he could see that "the mountain [is] full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (6:17). Again Elisha prays and this time the Aramean soldiers are struck with blindness--this is a story of miraculous seeing and miraculous blinding—and then he leads them helplessly into the city of Samaria. There he opens their eyes—but they are now prisoners of war. The king of Israel—we are not told which one—asks if he should kill them, but the prophet commands that their lives be spared. They are fed and released, and this act of mercy wins a respite in the hostilities, "and the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel" (6:23). This peace does not last--or the following story comes from a different time. In either case, Ben-hadad lays siege to the city of Samaria. Conditions in the city deteriorate to the point that mothers devour their own children (6:28-29). The king—we are not told which one—is so angry with the LORD for the misery of his people that he sends a messenger to kill his prophet. Elisha is warned by the LORD to bar the door against the assassin. But when the king himself appears he rants at the prophet—"This trouble is from the LORD! Why should I hope in the LORD any longer"—and his words echo the experience of anyone who in the extreme of suffering questions why the God who is supposed to care for us allows us to experience such pain (6:33). In response, Elisha foretells that the next day food will be plentiful and cheap in the city. But "the captain on whose hand the king leaned" expresses doubt at such an outcome. "Even if the LORD were to make windows in the sky, could such a thing happen?" he asks. But his skepticism wins him a stinging rebuke from the prophet. "You shall see it with your own eyes," Elisha tells him, "but you shall not eat from it" (7:2). That very day four lepers, driven by hunger, venture at twilight into the Aramean camp and find it completely abandoned. They start to loot, and then think better and go back to tell the people. It appears that the besiegers, hearing the approach of a great army, have fled. It was all from the LORD. "The LORD . . . caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, and horses, the sound of a great army." Terrified that "the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to fight against" them, they flee  (7:6-7).        So the people rush out to plunder the camp. The prophet's prediction was fulfilled—overnight food was cheap in Samaria. (7:18). But in the stampede the captain who had expressed doubt at the prophet's words is trampled to death, so that again the prophecy of the man of God is fulfilled (7:17). Remember Elisha's crafty servant Gehazi who was struck with leprosy for defrauding Naaman the Syrian (5:25-27)? Here he appears again, and we wonder if this story may have happened earlier and may now be out of chronological order. In any case, Gehazi tells the king—again we are not told which—the story of how Elisha had raised the son of the Shunammite woman. Impressed, the king acts on the woman's behalf to restore the land she lost when she fled to the land of the Philistines to escape a famine in the land of Israel (8:5-6). Again, the LORD is taking care of those who protect and care for his prophets. Now Ben-hadad, the powerful king of Aram, becomes ill, and he sends Hazael to ask the prophet Elisha if he will recover. The prophet replies that he should tell the king he will recover, but in fact, he will not (8:10).  Then the man of God weeps (8:11), and when Hazael asks why, the prophet tells him it is because of the terrible suffering he himself will inflict upon Israel when he is king of Aram (8:12-13).  Hazael delivers the prophet's message to Ben-hadad, the good news that he will recover, then "he [takes] the bed-cover and [dips] it in water and [spreads} it over the king's face, until he [dies]. And Hazael [succeeds] him" (8:15), just as the prophet had said he would. It isn't easy to keep these kings straightened out in our minds. Right now Joram the second son of Ahab is king in Israel. Jehoshaphat dies and his son Jehoram succeeds to the throne of Judah. He is married to one of the daughters of Ahab, and the compiler tells us that Jehoram is a wicked king on the model of the kings of Israel (8:18). But the Lord does not destroy Judah "for the sake of his servant David, since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his descendents forever" (8:19). The lamp of David will not go out—it is the great theme of hope in the Old Testament scriptures. But king Jehoram faces a revolt in Judah's vassal state of Edom, which he is unable to put down by force (8:20-21). The fortunes of Judah are sinking. Jehoram's son Ahaziah also connects himself to the northern kingdom by marriage, and he is also evil in the style of the northern kings. He allies himself with his cousin Joram of Israel to wage war against the rising power of Hazael of Aram.  Joram is wounded in the campaign, but survives. Nevertheless the future is dark for both kingdoms.

Day 106. 2 Kings 4-5

The miracle stories found in our reading for today present Elisha as the faithful servant of God and the conduit through which the power of God passes into the lives of a variety of people—men and women, Israelite and gentile—caught in number of circumstances. These wonder stories echo the miracles of Elijah and anticipate the miracles of Jesus. Each story, both the sublime and the silly—the purification of the pot of stew (4:38-41) falls into this last category--shows how God uses the prophet as his instrument of life-giving power. In the first miracle story (4:1-7) we meet the widow of "a member of the company of prophets" who has fallen into impossible debt. The miracle Elisha does in response to her need recalls the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16).  The prophet bids her pour oil from the one jar that remains to her into every container in the house. Only when there is nowhere else to pour it  does the oil stop pouring (4:5). She used the oil to pay her debts and save her family from slavery. And the story demonstrates that the abundant, overflowing mercy of God is available to those who depend upon the LORD and do as they are told by his prophet. Again the miracle story of the raising of Shunammite's son (4:8-37) harkens back to the story of Elijah's raising of the child of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17-24). Here we have another miracle child, like Samson and Samuel in the Old Testament and John the Baptist in the New Testament, given to barren and aged parents. As in the Elijah story, the Shunammite woman proves her worthiness by her hospitality to the prophet (4:10).  She is rewarded with a child. When the child dies, possibly of sunstroke (4:18-19), the prophet breathes life into him, "putting his mouth upon his mouth" (4:34), as God breathes the breath of life into Adam at creation (Genesis 2:6). The mercy of God enters the lives of his people through the prophet. The miracle story of how Elisha feeds a hundred men (4:42-44) with twenty loaves of barley anticipates the Gospel stories of how Jesus satisfied the hunger of the multitudes with a pitiful little (see for instance Mark 8:1-10). The word of God which the prophet proclaims is the bread of life which feeds the hungry world with the abundance of God's mercy. The story of how Elisha heals a Gentile leper (chapter 5) speaks to the nature of faith is and the relationship of faith to miracles. Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, has in his household a servant girl captured from the land of Israel on a raid. She starts the story in motion by telling Naaman's wife of the wonderful prophet in Israel—Elisha--who could cure Naaman of his leprosy. So the king of Aram sends Naaman with a great treasure  to the king of Israel with the  command he heal him of his leprosy(5:6). The king of Israel tears his clothing is frustration, but Elisha hears of it and sends message to the king—"Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel" (5:8). The miracle which the prophet will perform will give glory, not to the prophet himself, who is only a instrument of God's grace, but to the LORD the prophet serves. Elisha sends a message to Naaman, telling him to go and wash seven times in the Jordan and be clean (5:10). Naaman is insulted by the simplicity of the request and departs in anger. Again it is the servants who move the story along, speaking gently to mollify Naaman's wounded pride—"Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said was, 'Wash, and be clean'?" (5:13) So in the end Naaman's anger is softened, and he does what prophet commands, even though it seems absurd to him. And in this story faith is defined as obedience, a willingness to do as you are told even when you do not understand the command (5:14), and that absolute obedience is the catalyst necessary for the miracle to happen.  Naaman washes as instructed and is healed; his flesh [is] restored like the flesh of a young boy" (5:14). He then returns to the prophet with a confession of faith—"Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel" (15:15).  He offers rich gifts, which the prophet declines. The mercy of God must come free of charge—it cannot be bought So Naaman takes two mule-loads from earth the land of Israel, promising build an altar in his home country and offer sacrifice only to the LORD. He asks for pardon in advance for taking part in the pagan worship as required by his position at court—"When I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant on this one count" (5:18). And prophet gives it sending him away in peace. Some servants are instruments of the will of God in this story—but not all.  Gehazi, seeing that Naaman has got off lightly, pursues him with a concocted story to get for himself some of the treasure Naaman had offered his master. When his servant returns home with his ill-gotten gains the prophet confronts him—"Did I not go with you in spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you?" (5:26)   The mercy of God is offered freely; those who try to profit from it will be punished. Naaman's leprosy passes to the dishonest servant Gehazi and to his descendents forever (5:27).

Day 105. 2 Kings 1-3

King Ahaziah, Ahab of Israel's son, takes a fall in the palace and lies injured (1:2). He sends to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether he will recover. (The name of the god of Ekron is "Baal-zebul"—which means "Prince Baal." Baal-zebub—"the lord of the flies"—is an insult to the pagan deity.) The prophet Elijah gets wind of this from the LORD and confronts the king's messenger on the way with God's verdict—"You shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but shall surely die" (1:6). (Note that we are given a description of Elijah in 1:8—"A hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist." In the New Testament John the Baptist will don this uniform to connect himself with Elijah the prophet.) Elijah at first defies the summons of the injured king, twice calling down fire from heaven to consume the soldiers who are sent to bring him (1:9-12). But at last he allows himself to be brought to Ahaziah to deliver in person the message he has received from the LORD (1:16).  And King Ahaziah  does indeed die, and is succeeded by his brother Jehoram, because he has no sons. The time has now come for Elijah to be taken up "to heaven by a whirlwind" (2:1). His disciple Elisha struggles to let his master go in a passage which for pathos is unmatched in all of scripture (2:1-8). Finally when the departure can be delayed no longer, Elisha asks for a parting gift—a double share of his master's spirit (2:9). The double share is the inheritance allotted by Deuteronomy to a firstborn son (21:15-17).  The promise is made on the condition that Elisha be there to see his master go. So the two walk on together like father and son. Suddenly we are told a chariot of fire and horses of fire separate them, and Elijah is carried up into heaven by a desert whirlwind (2:11). Watching him, Elisha cries out, "Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" (2:12), by which he means that the prophet is a stronger defense to Israel than all of its cavalry. When Elijah has gone, Elisha picks up the mantle his master has dropped in his ascent and does wonders with it that prove that he has in fact received the double share of spirit he had asked for (1:14). The "company of prophets who were at Jericho" want to initiate a search for the missing prophet, reasoning that "the spirit of the Lord" may have "caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or in some valley" (2:16). Elisha reluctantly allows it, but when the search proves futile he says, "Did I not say to you, do not go?" (2:18). The miracles of Elisha may seem strange and a little barbarous to us—especially the mauling of the teasing boys by she-bears (2:23-24)—but they are intended as manifestations of his spiritual power. The message we are intended to draw is that prophets are not to be trifled with, not by anyone. The spirit of the LORD that can give life can also destroy life. We were told in 1:1 that Moab, which had been a tributary of Israel, is in revolt. Now in cooperation with Jehoshaphat of Judah and the king of Edom, Jehoram of Israel undertakes a campaign to bring the King of Moab to heel. The kings consult the prophet Elisha who first gives them water to drink and then used water to win them the victory. The story need not detain us long. But notice that Elisha calls for a musician to help put him a prophetic trance (3:15).   Because of the prophet Elisha the expedition is a success. The utter defeat of Moab seems inevitable, that is until in desperation the Moabite king takes his firstborn son, who is to succeed him, and offers him as a burnt offering on the wall of his city. When they see this act, we are told, "a great wrath" falls upon Israel (3:27).  What this means exactly is uncertain. Perhaps this "wrath" is shock and horror at such a monstrous act.  Perhaps it comes from the LORD, who had forbidden such acts as an abomination. Or possibly the wrath is thought to have come from the god of Moab, acting to save his people. Whatever the case, it works. The siege is lifted and the allied armies return home, and Moab though ravished by war remains unconquered and free.

Day 104. 1 Kings 21-22

The incident of Naboth's vineyard illustrates again, if that were still necessary, the despicable characters of Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab comes off as resentful and sulky, moping around because Naboth will not sell him his family property. In contrast Jezebel is decisive, but utterly unscrupulous and profoundly evil (21:8). She is the real power behind the throne. She writes letters in Ahab's name and seals them with his seal, ordering Naboth to be accused falsely of cursing God and the king (21:8-10).  The plot goes over without a hitch, Naboth is stoned to death, and Ahab goes off merrily to take possession of the vineyard. There is, however, a fly in the ointment.  In the vineyard he meets the prophet Elijah. "Have you found me, O my enemy," the king says (21:20), but it is not the prophet but the God he serves who is Ahab's real enemy. And it is in the name of the LORD the God of Israel that Elijah pronounces a terrible verdict upon Ahab and Jezebel for their idolatry and and cruelty. The dogs will lick the blood of Ahab, he says, and the dogs shall devour Jezebel in the city of Jezreel (21:19 and 23). For the writer of 1st Kings Ahab is the worst among villains, "who sold himself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, urged on by his wife Jezebel" (21:25). But when Ahab repents in sackcloth, God postpones the terrible judgment that will consume his house until after his death (21:29). In chapter 22 we see something very unusual happening. The two kingdoms—Israel in the north and Judah in the south—have been engaged in a low-temperature war ever since their separation following the death of Solomon.  Now Ahab of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah form an alliance to confront the growing menace of Aram. But before Jehoshaphat will go into battle he insists on consulting the LORD about the success of the campaign (22:5). So Ahab produces four hundred prophets, who unanimously endorse the war. But Jehoshaphat, perhaps suspecting that these prophets are "tame," wants to consult another.  Ahab suggests Micaiah, although he admits frankly—"I hate him, for he never prophesies anything favorable to me, but only disaster" (22:8). Micaiah is incorruptible in his integrity—he tells Ahab's messenger that "as the LORD lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that I will speak" (22:14).  But contrary to expectation, Micaiah prophesies success for the campaign—"Go up and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king" (22:15), he tells Ahab. But pressed further, Micaiah admits that all prophesies of victory are a deception, and that in fact the LORD has decreed disaster for the allies. The spirit of the prophets is determined to entice Ahab into defeat and death (22:21). Ahab imprisons Micaiah on short rations with the promise he will deal with him on his return. But the prophet replies, "If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken to me." (22:28) As prophesied the campaign is a disaster. In the chaos of the battle, the Arameans pursue Jehoshaphat, mistaking him for Ahab. But Ahab, who is disguised, is shot by a stray arrow (22:34). He is propped up in his chariot so his troops will not be disheartened, his blood puddles in the bottom of his chariot. At sunset the battle ends in rout (22:36). The troops of Israel and Judah "are scattered on the mountains" as Micaiah had prophesied they would be. King Ahab dies, and when the chariot is washed out, the dogs lick his blood, as foretold (22:38). The 1st Book of Kings ends with a brief account of the reign of Jehoshaphat, who survives the defeat at Ramoth-gilead to rule for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. He is a good king, "doing what was right in the sight of the LORD" (22:43). But the compiler of 1st Kings faults him for not taking away "the high places," where the people continue to sacrifice and offer incense (22:43). The author views centralization of worship in Jerusalem as crucial to its purity. Jehoshaphat makes peace with Israel, but when he is offered a commercial treaty with Ahaziah, Ahab's son and successor, he declines (22:49). The two kingdoms will go their own ways. So in the north Ahaziah continues the melancholy tradition established by his predecessors, serving Baal and doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD.  "He provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger," we are told, "just as his father had done" (22:53).

Day 103. 1 Kings 19-20

The slaughter of the priests of Baal we read about yesterday infuriates Queen Jezebel, and she swears an oath to kill the prophet Elijah. Elijah confronts King Ahab again and again without fear, but the fury of his wicked queen seems to be enough even to unnerve the prophet. He flees for his life, first to Beer-sheba, the southernmost outpost of the southern kingdom of Judah (19:1-2), and then on into the wilderness. There he sits down under a solitary broom tree and begs to die (19:4). He does not in fact die, instead his discouragement and exhaustion overcome him and he sleeps. Twice he is awakened by an angel to a miraculously prepared breakfast. Then, his physical needs for sleep and food provided, he is commanded by the LORD to venture on a journey, which takes forty days and nights, back to Mount Horeb, the other name for Sinai, where God had given the Law to Moses centuries before(19:8). His journey represents in reverse the forty year journey of the children of Israel from Sinai to the Promised Land. Elijah is in fact tracing his way back to the very foundations of the covenant in a direct experience with the LORD. At Horeb, he encounters the strong wind, earthquake and fire that surrounded the appearance of God—the theophany described in the Book of Exodus. But we are told God is in none of these phenomena. When all have passed, however, there was "a sound of sheer silence" (19:12), and in this the prophet recognizes the presence of the LORD and covers his head (19:13). His situation has not essentially changed, as he himself points out (19:14). He is still in danger and alone as before. But now he is given a mission and a program (19:15-18)—both personal and political. He is assured of a successor, Elisha, who will continue his work and he is promised that a faithful remnant of Israel—seven thousand--will endure. So strengthened by this assurance he returns to Israel to finding Elisha plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. Elijah casts his mantle over Elisha to symbolize that has been chosen to succeed him (19:19). The younger man begs to go home to say farewell to his parents, but Elijah sees this as a lack of commitment and rebukes him.  (There is a teaching of Jesus regarding absolute obedience to the call of discipleship found in Luke 9:57-62.) The call of God comes before all human loyalties (19:20-21). So to demonstrate his commitment is in fact absolute, Elisha slaughters his oxen, and using his plowing equipment for fuel boils them and gives the meat the people to eat (19:21). Having altogether separated himself from his former life and "burned his bridges" so he cannot go back, he follows Elijah and becomes his disciple. Meanwhile in the political world, King Ahab is besieged in Samaria by King Ben-hadad of Aram, who demands his treasure and the best of his wives and children. Ahab is forced to submit to the humiliating demand, but when Ben-hadad also demands to search the city for everything of value, Ahab refuses. The Aramean king, who has been drinking heavily with his buddies, gives his troops orders to take their positions against the city and the battle is about to be joined (20:12). But "a certain prophet" comes to King Ahab to tell him that if he will take preemptory action, the LORD will give him the victory (20:9). Usually Elijah and the prophets oppose Ahab, but this time the LORD backs him against the haughty Ben-hadad.  The army of Israel triumphs, and there is a great slaughter. But the prophet tells the king to "consider well" and prepare for the next campaigning season when Ben-hadad will surely return (20:22). Meanwhile the servants of the king of Aram tell him the reason they were defeated is that the gods of Israel "are gods of the hills," so they are stronger there (20:23). (In fact, hilly ground probably put the chariots of Aram at a disadvantage.)  The next time they should fight on the plain where their own gods will have the advantage. But this infuriates the LORD, who determines to vindicate his honor by proving once and for all that he is God both of hills and plains (20:28). So for a second time the armies of Ahab and Ben-hadad are joined, and again God gives Israel the advantage. There is another great slaughter. But Ahab spares the life of Ben-hadad in exchange for a generous commercial deal (20:34); they make a treaty and Ahab lets him go. But this act of disobedience stirs the anger of the LORD, who has devoted the proud Ben-hadad for destruction. "One of the company of prophets" delivers God's verdict to Ahab—"Because you have let the man go I had devoted for destruction, therefore your life be for his life, and your people for his people" (20:42). The last image we are given is of Ahab, sulky and despondent, returning to Samaria stung by this latest rebuke.

Day 102. 1 Kings 16-18

While the southern kingdom of Judah remains relatively stable through this tumultuous period, one ruler of the House of David succeeding the last, the northern kingdom of Israel endures a series of bloody coups and palace revolts. Each king is worse than the last, according to the compiler of 1 Kings; his history of the period is a rising crescendo of wickedness. The house of Jeroboam—the first dynasty of the northern kingdom--is slaughtered by Baasha, who founds a second dynasty. Nothing changes materially. Baasha also does what is evil in the sight of the Lord (15:34), and a prophet called Jehu predicts the violence with which his house will end—"Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat" (16:4).  This grim conclusion follows quickly. Baasha's son Elah has reigned only two years when Zimri, the founder of the third dynasty, assassinates the king while he is in a drunken stupor and succeeds to the throne (16:9-10 But Zimri has reigned a scant seven days (16:15) when, surrounded by hostile forces led by one Omri, he burns his house down upon himself (16:18). Omri founds a dynasty, the fourth. He builds the city of Samaria, which remains the capital of the northern kingdom until it is destroyed by the Assyrians (16:24), and rules from there.  Omri is portrayed in our text as an evil king who provokes the Lord by leading his people into the worship of idols (16:26). We know from other sources, however, that long reign of Omri—22 years—is a period of considerable prestige and prosperity for the northern kingdom of Israel. When he eventually dies, he turns the kingdom over to his son Ahab who does "evil in the sight of the LORD more than all who were before him" (16:30). Ahab contracts a marriage with Jezebel, a princess of the Sidonians, who brings with her devotion to her pagan cults of her homeland. Jezebel will figure largely in our narrative and will do more than her part to create the atmosphere of decadence and evil that surrounds the court at Samaria during this period (16:31). (Remember that in Joshua 6:26 a curse is laid upon anyone who rebuilds the Canaanite city of Jericho.  In our reading for today we are told that under the reign of Ahab someone by the name of Hiel of Bethel ventures to rebuild the city and gates, and loses his oldest and youngest sons by defying the curse—16:34.) The LORD, however, is not silent.  To counteract the corruption of the court of Ahab and Jezebel, God raises upon one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, Elijah. Elijah will give to prophecy its classic form. When he first appears it is to warn Ahab of a terrible drought his evil ways have caused (17:1). Elijah then escapes into the wilderness where, we are told, he is miraculously fed by ravens (17:4-6). A remarkable cycle of stories about Elijah follows. When the water in the wilderness fails, Elijah is sent to a certain widow in Zarephah (17:8). Though destitute and at the edge of starvation herself, the widow shares her food with the prophet, and the LORD rewards her faith by providing for her until the drought ends. By God's grace the prophet and the widow's household eat for many days, and "the jar of meal [is] not emptied, neither [does] the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah" (17:15-16). Elijah is real hero of the Book of 1 Kings; and when the widow's only son dies, Elijah pleads with the LORD on behalf of the child's widowed mother, whose generosity has saved his life.  Then, taking the child, he stretched himself upon the child three times, he prays and "the life of the child came into him again, and he revived" (17:21-22). All this goes to certify, as the widow says, that Elijah is indeed "a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in [his] mouth is truth" (17:24). It is more than miracles; it is the boldness in the face of power that establishes Elijah's credentials as a man of God. The dialogue Obadiah, who is the steward of Ahab's palace, demonstrates the courage that marks the Man of God. Obadiah is a good man and fears the LORD; we are told the he has hidden one hundred of the prophets of the LORD from the wrath of Queen Jezebel (18:3). But he fears for his life if he tells Ahab that Elijah is coming to him. As Obadiah says, "As soon as I have gone from you, the spirit of the LORD will carry you I know not where; so, I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the LORD from my youth" (18:12). So Elijah confronts Ahab alone, and when the king sees him he asks, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" (18:17). But Elijah fearlessly replies that it is not he but Ahab who has troubled Israel, because he has forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals (18:18). The prophet then delivers a challenge to the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal; he proposes a contest to see once and for all which god is stronger, the LORD or Baal. Two altars are to be prepared and two bulls for sacrifice prepared. Elijah and the priests of Baal will both cry out to their respective gods, "and the god who answers with fire is indeed God" (18:24).  So the prophets of Baal call out to their god all day, "but there [is] no voice, and no answer." Exhausted, "they [limp] around the altar that they had made" (18:26).  As the day goes on, Elijah taunts then—perhaps their god is daydreaming, or on a journey, or asleep and must be wakened. They cut themselves "until blood gushed out over them" (18:28), all to no avail. At last at evening it is Elijah's turn. He orders that his sacrifice to the LORD be doused three times with water. Then he calls out to the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel" (18:36), whereupon fire falls from heaven and consumes not only the sacrifice, but the wood, the stones, the dust, "and even [licks] up the water that is in the trench" (18:38) around the altar. The conclusion is clear. Elijah orders the prophets of Baal seized, and he kills them (18:40). The shed blood breaks the curse that has been placed upon the land. The prophet prays and sends his servant and again and again to look toward the sea. The seventh time the servant reports seeing "a little cloud no bigger than a person's hand . . . rising out of the sea" (18:44). Then Elijah says to Ahab, "Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you" (18:44). So they both run before the storm, but filled with the spirit of the LORD, the prophet outruns the king's chariot. Elijah wins the round, but the struggle between the prophet and wicked king has only just begun.

Day 101. 1 Kings 13-15

In our reading for today we see repeated the pattern that was established with the division of the kingdom at the death of Solomon. The prophets of God--for some we are given names, for others not--arise and denounce the idolatry of the kings of Judah and Israel. They speak the word of God boldly and do miracles, like the nameless prophet in 13:1-10, who causes the hand of King Jeroboam to wither and then restores it again to demonstrate that the power of God is active in his messengers. But absolute fidelity to instructions of the LORD is required of his messengers—that is the point of the curious story of the two unnamed prophets recounted in 13:11-32. Even the slightest disobedience will prove fatal to one who is called to deliver the word of the LORD. In this story, the old prophet "deceives" the younger one (13:18), telling him that he has a message from God permitting him to eat, when God has in fact commanded him not to eat or drink until he has returned from delivering his message to king.  As punishment for his momentary lapse, the erring prophet is killed by a lion, which miraculously does not devour his body or kill his mule.  Instead the lion sits beside the dead prophet, guarding his body until it is recovered for burial (13:27). To us it is a strange, barbaric story, but to its first hearers it demonstrated that absolute faithfulness is required of those who carry the word of LORD, whose commands not even another prophet can contradict. But in spite of the words of the prophets, King Jeroboam of Israel does not repent. Instead he patronizes the "high places," and nominates priests to serve in them who are not part of the tribe of Levi, again in an effort to undermine the authority of temple establishment in Jerusalem (13:33).  And because of his apostasy, Jeroboam's son Abijah falls ill (14:1). So the king sends the child's mother in disguise consult to the prophet Ahijah in disguise. The blind prophet is not deceived, however; he immediately recognizes the queen and sends her back to her husband with a chilling prophesy. On her return home her child will die (14:12). Furthermore, her husband's family is marked for exterminating —his house will be burned up like "dung until it is gone" (14:10). Most terrible of all, because of the sins of Jeroboam and the sins he caused Israel to commit--"because they have made their sacred poles, provoking the LORD to anger"--the northern kingdom of Israel will be carried off into exile and oblivion "beyond Euphrates" and never heard from again (14:15-16). The prophecy takes several generations to ripen, but it will come to pass, as we shall see. Things are little better in Judah, the southern kingdom. They are also worshiping in the "high places" and under "every green tree" (14:23).  Therefore, the LORD allows the holy city of Jerusalem and the temple to be sacked by the Pharaoh Shishak, "who [takes] away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house" (14:26). He takes away everything, we are told including the golden shields that Solomon had made (14:26); these Rehoboam replaced with bronze. The Golden Age is over. A melancholy pattern we have seen in the northern kingdom is established in Judah as well. At the death of Rehoboam, his son Abijam succeeds him. Abijam commits all the sins his father had and more, and "his heart was not true to the LORD his God" (15:3). But Abijam's reign is mercifully short, three years, and he is succeeded with a good king, Asa. Good king Asa suppresses the male temple prostitutes and smashes the idols (15:12). He even removes the queen mother because of her devotion to the fertility goddess Asherah. The reform he begins is not complete. Asa allows the "high places" to remain—as serious fault in the eyes of the compiler of 1 Kings. Nevertheless, he grants that all and all Asa is a good king whose heart is true "to the LORD all his days" (15:14). All during this period there is continuous war going on between Israel and Judah. Neither kingdom, however, can get the upper hand. In the north Jeroboam of Israel dies and is succeeded by his son Nabab, another evil king. Someone named Baasha conspires against Nabab, kills him, and in good oriental fashion slaughters the whole house of Jeroboam, so that there is "left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed" (15:29). So the prophecy of Ahijah the prophet was confirmed. A new dynasty is established in Israel, but Baasha proves no better those he overthrows. "He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD," we are told, "walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that he caused Israel to commit" (15:34). So again we see the soul of the ruler reflected in the character of his people.

Day 100. 1 Kings 10-12

At the end of yesterday's reading we are told of a spectacularly successful trading expedition that Solomon sends to the land of Ophir (9:28), a place located, according to our best guess, somewhere on the horn of Africa. These commercial ventures undergird the growing international prestige of the Israelite monarchy. In our reading for today we are told of another successful enterprise, this one to Tarshish, the ancient name for Spain (10:22), conducted by Solomon in co-operation the famous king Hiram of Tyre. Using the wealth amassed through trading and caravan tolls, Solomon introduces horse-drawn chariots, which were then state-of- the-art military technology, to Israel (10:26). These chariots and horses he brings from Egypt, which is still at this period the leading military power in the Near East, and sells them again to other neighboring kingdoms, becoming in effect an arms dealer in the region (10:29). The summit of Solomon's commercial and political career, however, is marked by  a visit of the Queen of Sheba, the ruler of a rich region in south Arabia. Their encounter demonstrates the importance that "wisdom," advice about how to live a successful and satisfying life, had in the ancient world.  We are told that Solomon "answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her" (10:3). And we are told that she was so dazzled by Solomon's wisdom and the splendor of his court that she was left breathless; as our text says, "there was no more spirit in her" (10:5).  But the glittering wealth and sophistication of the court in Jerusalem hides another, more sober reality. Solomon marries many—our text numbers them at a thousand--foreign women in order to cement alliances with neighboring kings. These women whom the king "loved" bring with them their pagan gods and cult practices, so that as Solomon grew older his wives turned his heart after other gods, so that he does "not completely follow the LORD, as his father David had done" (11:6).  The public worship of the LORD continues with customary magnificence, but privately the king is "not true." Therefore because the king has broken his covenant, God is angry.  And although for the sake of David, the LORD promises that it will not happen during Solomon's own lifetime (11:12), he is determined to tear the northern tribes from Solomon's son and give them to another (11:13).  So the final division of the kingdom waits for the reign of Rehoboam. But even during Solomon's lifetime, the LORD raises up enemies abroad to harass and trouble him (11:14-25).  But these marauding bands of foreigners ( 11:24) do constitute the real threat; it is an ambitious and gifted administrator of the king's building projects named Jeroboam who sets the rebellion in motion. The prophet Ahijah sends Jeroboam a message from the LORD offering him the ten tribes of the north and promising that God will build him "an enduring house" like David's  if he will listen to what the LORD commands him and keep his statutes and his commandments (11:38). Realizing the danger he represents, Solomon seeks to have Jeroboam killed, but flees into exile in Egypt and bides his time. He does not have long to wait. The king dies. (We are referred to something called "the Book of the Acts of Solomon" in 11:41, for more information about his long reign, but that book has not survived.) Solomon's son Rehoboam, the child of one of his foreign wives, succeeds him as king. But upon his accession, representatives of the people come to Rehoboam pleading for relief from the burden of forced labor they have borne under his father. The young king, however, ignores the advice of his older counselors to be "a servant to this people today, and serve them, and speak good words to them (12:7), and instead does as his young friends tell him. He "talks tough," promising that whereas his father had disciplined them with whips, he will discipline them with scorpions (12:8). The ten northern tribes,  from what now on we will call Israel, immediately secede and make Jeroboam king (12:20). And none are left to follow the house of David except Judah alone (12:21). When Rehoboam launches a punitive war against the north, he is warned by a prophet named Shemaiah to desist, because this thing is from the LORD (12:24), and he obeys. So the kingdom remains divided from then on. Jeroboam immediately begins to go his own way, solidifying his power. He builds his capital at Shechem, and in order to prevent the people from going back to the temple in Jerusalem to worship, he sets of two golden calves—Baals—and tells them "here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt" (12:28). As we said earlier, the golden bull was the visual representation of the LORD, the God of Israel, but the LORD had explicitly forbidden any "graven image" of any god, including himself in the First Commandment. So this thing the Jeroboam does "became a sin," as our text tells us, "for the people went to worship [the golden calves], before the one at Bethel and before the other as far as Dan" (12:30). So Jeroboam rejects the covenant God tries to make with him, and establishes the pattern of the Israelite monarchy—one evil king after another being denounced by one prophet after another, sent by God to condemn idol worship and call the people back to the covenant.

Day 99. 1 Kings 8-9

Most of our reading for today is concerned with the celebration surrounding the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. It takes place at the time of the harvest festival, in the month of Ethanim, which is September-October (8:2) by our calendar. The Ark of the Covenant, the golden box containing the two tablets of stone which represent the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai (8:9), is carried in procession from the tabernacle, the old Tent of Meeting, to the new temple and installed there in the Holy of Holies. At its installation we are told that a cloud—the glory which both hides and reveals the presence of God--"filled the house of the LORD" (8:11). To mark the great occasion Solomon himself gives a speech and offers a prayer of dedication, which is the fullest expression of we might call the "Theology of the City and the Temple." He recalls for the people the faithfulness of God who promised David that his son should "build a house for [his] name" (8:20), and now has fulfilled that promise. Notice that God himself is not said to dwell in the temple. As Solomon later exclaims, "Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built" (8:27).  It is not God himself, but the holy "name of God" that dwells in Jerusalem, the city of David, and in the temple. Jerusalem is the City of God on earth. Then in his great dedication prayer Solomon expands upon the role of the city and the temple for Israel. The LORD is the one who makes and keeps covenants with his people, promising David that "there shall never fail' to be "a successor before [him] to sit on the throne of David" (8:25). And he asks the LORD to extend his covenant further, promising to "heed and forgive" (8:30) anyone who prays toward the Temple in Jerusalem. The very direction of Jerusalem becomes the direction in which oaths are to be sworn (8:31). From now on prayers oriented toward Jerusalem and the temple in times of military defeat (8:33), drought (8:35), famine and plague (8:37) will always have the ear of God. Even foreigners, when they pray toward the city and the temple, will be heard. Their prayers will be granted by the LORD, for his name's sake, so that they may know that it is the name of the living God that is invoked in the house that Solomon  has built" (8:41-43). Here we can see the beginnings of a theology of the LORD as a universal God, embracing in his concern not only Israel, his chosen family, but all people who call upon his name. Prophetically, Solomon looks forward to a time when Israel will be taken captive and led off into exile (8:46). Even then prayers of repentance oriented toward Jerusalem will win forgiveness and salvation from the God who chose Israel "from among all the peoples of the earth" to be his own heritage. He will not forsake his people, as he demonstrated when he brought Israel out of the land of Egypt (8:53), snatching them as "from the midst of the iron smelter" (8:51).  Finally Solomon asks for assurance that the LORD has indeed heard his plea (8:59). And calls upon the people to join him in devoting themselves "completely to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day" (8:61). And following the temple dedication, the LORD again appears to Solomon to assure him that his dedication prayer has been heard. God has "indeed consecrated" the house that he has built and has put his "name there forever," together with his eyes and his heart (9:3). But the promise made to David that his throne will be established forever is conditioned upon the integrity of his descendants (9:4-5).  If they break the covenant and worship other gods, the glorious temple will be reduced to a "heap of ruins" (9:8) and Israel will become an example to others of what happens to those who are unfaithful. Relationship to God always calls us to live in discipline and responsibility—it can never be taken for granted.

Day 98. 1 Kings 6-7

At the very beginning of our reading for today (6:1) we are told that Solomon began the building of his temple "in the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites come out of the land of Egypt." In other words, it has been a very long time—half a millennium—since the exodus and the days of Moses the lawgiver. Things have changed a lot for the twelve tribes. For one thing, Israel is now a minor world power with prosperous trading connections all over the ancient world. Wandering nomads have become settled farmers and city dwellers, and the temple of Solomon is a symbol of this new reality. It was a relatively large building by ancient standards—we can figure its size by remembering that one cubit (6:2) equals 1.5 feet. It faced east—toward the rising sun—and had three major rooms; the innermost—the Holy of Holies—was at the western end. It was built of wood—cedar and cypress--and costly stones, which were hewn in the quarry, "so that neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron was heard in the temple while it was being built" (6:7). It was built, we are told, in worshipful silence without the use of iron, which as we have noted before carried the onus of uncleanness. While Temple was under construction, the LORD came to Solomon, again probably in a dream, to renew with the king the royal covenant that he had made with David that established his house forever (6:11). If you keep my commandments, the LORD says, "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and not forsake my people Israel" (6:13). The building of the temple took seven years (6:38), and it was a sanctuary of great magnificence.  But it was not Solomon's only building project.  While it was being constructed, he was also at work constructing splendid palaces for himself and his wives (7:1-12). The daughter of a Pharaoh would not have been accustomed to anything pokey. But Israel was still a rather provincial place, so for the metal work Solomon imports a certain Hiram of Tyre, the son of a Israelite mother, who was "full of skill, intelligence, and knowledge in working bronze' (7:14). Among Hiram's amazing constructions is a "molten sea (7:23)," which was used by the priests in the temple for ritual washing. You can figure its size (7:26) by remembering that one "bath" equals about 5.5 gallons. We are given a great body of description of the decorations of the temple, which need not detain us long. But it might add some clarity to our picture of the furnishings to remember that the "cherubim" so often mentioned are not what we would picture as angels, but rather a winged lions with a human heads, a figure intended to convey power and otherworldly holiness. It would have been a wonderful building to see.

Day 97. 1 Kings 3-5

The account of the glorious reign of Solomon begins with the shadows of the clouds that will overcast the end of his reign. First we are told that he seals an alliance with the Pharaoh of Egypt by marrying one of his daughters (3:1). These foreign wives will bring with them their retinues and their diverse religious practices and become a source of corruption in Israel. We will hear much more about this later. Then we are told that the people are continuing to sacrifice "at the high places" (3:2). Solomon will build a magnificent temple in Jerusalem to centralize worship, but he will not suppress the local cultic centers, and that failure will lead the people back to the worship of the pagan deities native to the country, in addition to the LORD. The word is "syncretism"—a combining of beliefs and practices condemned so roundly in the Book of Deuteronomy. But at the beginning of his reign, Solomon does have his priorities straightened out. When in a dream the LORD says, "Ask what I should give you" (3:5), Solomon requests that which he most needs—a wise and understanding mind to help him rule well (3:9).  The request pleases the Lord, who not only blesses the young king with unparalleled wisdom, but also with riches and honor, so that "no other king shall compare" with him (3:13). But the promise is to some degree conditional-- Solomon is told that if he walks in the LORD's ways, and keeps his statutes and commandments as his father David did, the span of his life will be increased together with his wisdom (3:14). Then in order to prove that God has indeed given Solomon the wisdom he asked for, we are told the famous story of the two prostitutes who come to him, each claiming one baby. The king calls for a sword to divide the child into two. One prostitute says "divide it, (3:26)"; the other offers to give up her claim upon the child to save its life, and proving  herself it's mother by her sacrificial love (3:27). The story is a classic, and it spread far and wide, so that we are told that "all Israel. . .perceived that the wisdom of God was in [Solomon], to execute justice" (3:28). Chapter 4 need not delay us long, except to note that the division of the country into twelve districts (4:1-19) shows Solomon's attempt to organize his administration according to sound business practices and at the same time to break down the old tribal system in favor of centralized government. And his reforms worked. The reign of Solomon was remembered afterwards as time of prosperity and order when Israel and Judah "lived in safety, from Dan to Beer-sheba, all of them under their vines and fig trees" (4:25). It was a period of cultural brilliance and accomplishment, led by Solomon himself, who excelled in everything. Not only was he a prudent administrator, but this  true Renaissance man was, we are told, a composer of wise proverbs and a poet who wrote songs (4:32). He was also a naturalist who knew the names of trees, animals, birds, reptiles and fish (4:33). But beneath the splendor of Solomon's court there was another reality. His magnificent building projects, including the temple in Jerusalem, were constructed largely by conscripted labor. We are told that someone named "Adoniram was in charge of forced labor" (5:14). Forced labor as a form of taxation was practiced in many ancient countries, most notably in Egypt. But in Israel it was an unwelcome novelty. Free citizens were sent to Lebanon to cut timber, where they would stay one month and then return home for two. In other words they became one-third slaves of the state. This arrangement is an increasing burden to ordinary people throughout the reign of Solomon and becomes the major contributing favor in the division of the country into two kingdoms, Judah and Israel, after his death.