June 26th One Year Bible Readings

2 Kings 9:14-10:31 ~ Acts 17:1-34 ~ Psalm 144:1-15 ~ Proverbs 17:27-28
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Old Testament - Well... Jehu kills a lot of people in today's readings.  I realize that the violence in the Old Testament can often bring up a lot of questions.  Rather than me diving into why there is violence in the Bible - I'll defer to a couple of theologians at this link and at this link - and I'll give you 3 images below from a very young theologian.  :)  Unfortunately, our human history is full of violence - from Cain and Abel until this very day.  The Bible does record human history.  There will come a day where there is a new heaven and a new earth, free from violence.  That day has not come yet - but will with Jesus' Second Coming.

Most Biblical commentaries agree that Jehu was carrying out justice for the sins of the Kings of Israel and the worship of Baal.  Jezebel's death was predicted by the prophet Elijah because of her sins.  A brutal death that it was.  I think one thing for us to keep in mind is that sin does bring death.   As Paul teaches in Romans 6:23 - "The wages of sin is death."  Jesus saves us from this deserved death when we come to him in faith and surrender our lives to him.  But, let us not forget the severity and risk of sin and the risk of not being in relationship with Jesus.  Without Jesus saving us, the wages of sin truly is eternal death.

2 Kings 10 verses 25-27 seem to demonstrate Jehu's initial apparent zeal for God - "Then Jehu's men went into the fortress of the temple of Baal. They dragged out the sacred pillar used in the worship of Baal and destroyed it. They broke down the sacred pillar of Baal and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public toilet. That is what it is used for to this day."  But we soon learn in verse 31 - "But Jehu did not obey the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit."  It is thus thought that Jehu's action of destroying the idols of Baal was more political than spiritual - as Baal worship was associated with the dynasty of Ahab, whereas the golden calves had a longer history in the northern kingdom of Israel and were valued by most people.  And keeping the golden calves would keep people from Israel traveling to the southern kingdom of Judah to worship God in Jerusalem.  Below is an image of a series of images from the life of Jehu:

Bible.org's commentary on today's Second Kings readings titled "Jehu Cleans House (Ahab's House)" is at this link and "Three 'Birds' With One Stone" is at this link.

New Testament - Great reading about Paul's travels and preaching in Acts 17 today!

I absolutely love the quote in verse 6 where the Jewish leaders of Thessalonica say: ""Paul and Silas have turned the rest of the world upside down, and now they are here disturbing our city," they shouted."  Have you ever heard that the Kingdom of God is an "upside down" kingdom?  That the values of the Kingdom of God are upside down compared to worldly values?  Paul and Silas turned the world upside down.  How are you turning the world upside down in your life today?

Today in Acts 17 verses 22 & 23 we read - “Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.” Paul then went on to introduce to the Greeks our personal Creator, in contrast with their views of pantheistic Stoicism. Are there people in your life today that are perhaps like the Greeks Paul was speaking to? People who are religious but do not yet know our personal Creator? Are there people in your life who are seeking the Unknown God? Will you begin conversations with these people that God has placed in your life and let them know about the living God that you know and love? Will you let them know, as Paul let the Greeks know in verse 28 – “For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'”? The altar in the image below is located on Palatine Hill, Rome, where once stood the palaces of the Caesars. It dates from about 100 B.C. and has the inscription, ´To the unknown God.'  This could have been a similar altar to the one that Paul was referring to in today's readings in Athens:

Bible.org's commentary on today's Acts readings titled "The Evangelization of Thessalonica and Berea" is at this link and "The Apostle in Athens, Preaching to Philosophers" is at this link.  Below is a painting from the year 1515 by the Italian artist Raphael titled "St. Paul preaching in Athens":

Psalms - Psalm 144 verses 3 & 4 are well known!  "O LORD, what are mortals that you should notice us, mere humans that you should care for us? For we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow."  If our days are like a passing shadow, how then should we be spending our days?  What types of things should we be investing our time & money into?  What should we be investing our very hearts and minds into?  Are you wisely spending your passing days in godly ways?

Proverbs - Proverbs 17:27 is so true - "A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered."  And with this I will quietly close out today's posting with few words.  :)

YouTube: Today's readings in Acts about Paul's preaching in Athens reminded me of the Switchfoot song "Meant to Live:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmmW6HSlhMA

Are you meant to live for so much more?  Click here to truly live! 

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" Acts 17:28 NIV

Prayer Point: Pray that in Jesus you live and move and have your being. Pray that you are a child of God, through your saving faith in Jesus.

Comments from You & Questions of the Day:  What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

Comments

[Ramona]

II Kings 9:14-10:31

All this killing in the Old Testament is no different then what went on in the New and what goes on today. God plays out the Old Testament over a longer period then the New so we have a greater overview of history and can see how history, which is confined by boundaries placed on events and times and seasons put in place by God, plays out. In fact in our New Testament reading today Paul as much says that.

What Jehu did had already been ordained by God in I Kings the nineteenth chapter. When the prophet Elijah was having his “Pity Party” and was told to go to the mountain and after he experienced the wind, earthquake and the fire the Word of the Lord came to him and said,

15 … "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him." (I Kings 19)

If we can get past the destruction and believe, by faith, that God has the big picture and knows what He is doing, there is a warning that can be seen in all of this. It is about having a right attitude when we have been given directions by God. When we hear the voice of God and are given directions, we cannot become arrogant thinking that God gave us an assignment because we are, “All that and a bag of chips!” Our job is to follow God’s directions and His only. It is very easy to fall into the trap of assuming that God gives us an assignment because we were all that. That is the trap. Israel fell into thinking that God chose her to be His because she was special. No, she was special only because God chose her.

After Jehu finished his assignment he though he was “the king.” In fact Jehu’s name means, "Jehovah is He” (Strong’s Number 03058) Jehu believed his own press. He thought the “He” in his name referred to himself.

Acts 17:1-34
Paul speaking to the inhabitants of Athens gives me understanding that God is in control, even when we don’t think he is, even when the world asks us, “Where was God?” (That was asked a lot on 9/11/01 especially in NYC. I’m a citizen of the city). Paul’s argument tells me He is where He has always been, “The same place He was when Jesus was being crucified, the same place when you were committing adultery and cheating on your taxes, on the Throne, and not the one in the bathroom.”

24"He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples, 25and human hands can't serve his needs--for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need there is. 26From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

Psalm 144:1-15

Everything that I have, God Is. Everything that I need, God is. Everything that I can every hope to be, God is. Glory to God.

2 He is my loving ally and my fortress,
my tower of safety, my deliverer. He stands before me as a shield, and I take refuge in him.
He subdues the nations under me.

Proverbs 17:27-28

28 Even fools are thought to be wise when they keep silent; when they keep their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.

Today’s Proverb according to Ramona:

Keep your mouth shut!

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Raeann]

8The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

[Lori McLaughlin]

What stood out to me is the part about Paul and Silas turning the world upside down. It made me stop and think, "Am I doing that? What am I doing to make a radical impact on this world?"

Then, the verse from Psalms that says that our days are a "passing shadow" was hard-hitting for me. I want all of my days to have eternal impact for the kingdom of God, and realize that I could be doing so much more. It is a timely insight today.

I loved the children's drawings today. It is wonderful to know that one day, everything will be made right!

[bajo]

"All this killing in the Old Testament is no different then what went on in the New and what goes on today." I'm not sure I agree. In the NT, the only people that I think God intended to kill outright for judgment were Herod, Ananias, and Sapphira, and none of them were slain by human hands