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Bible reading for April 7 -- 8 Apr 7 -- Proverbs 25 and 1 Thessalonians 4 Apr 8 -- Proverbs 26 and 1 Thessalonians 5 "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." (Proverbs 25:2)  THE GLORY OF KINGS (ch 25). The chapters that follow make up another collection of Solomon's proverbs, put together during the reign of King Hezekiah (726--697 BC). It begins with a series of sayings about kings and rulers, then moves on to proverbs about inter-personal relationships, such as with neighbors, friends, and spouses. The Bible assumes a worldview where there is authority and hiearchy. In the postmodern world we have not abandoned that view totally, it's just that it has been individualized. Each person is autonomous, a king to himself. "No one ever dispenses with authority -- one only relocates it" (John Warwick Montgomery). Further, fools are described in this chapter as those who seek their own glory, full of empty boas...

Bible reading for April 5 -- 6 Apr 5 -- Proverbs 23 and 1 Thessalonians 2 Apr 6 -- Proverbs 24 and 1 Thessalonians 3 "Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out." (Proverbs 24:19-20)  BE NOT ENVIOUS. There are sections within the book of Proverbs. Those originating with Solomon transition to other sources in chapters 22 through 24. Here there are parallels with Egyptian wisdom teachings of Amenemope (see Derek Kidner, Proverbs, pp 23-24). They are adapted -- either by Solomon or perhaps Hezekiah later -- for use by Israelite believers. In these chapters there is a repeated call by the father to his son to pursue wisdom, to listen, to observe, to control desires, and to make good decisions. Familiar themes are repeated: labor vs. laziness, sobriety vs. drunkenness, justice vs. injustice. One repeated admonition is to avoid envy and the temptation to join with others in a worl...

B ible reading for October 19.  1 Kings 22. "And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, 'There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.' And Jehoshaphat said, 'Let not the king say so.'" (1 Kings 22:8) THE DRAMA. Sometimes life gets complicated. Why is Jehoshaphat so friendly with Ahab? Why does Micaiah at first not tell the truth? Why does God approve of the lying spirits? In trying to explain this passage I decided to put it in the form of a skit that could be used, say, at a youth meeting:   Scene I: Ahab's court . Ahab: "Jehoshaphat, come go to battle with me against Syria." Jehoshaphat: "OK, I got your back, bro."  Ahab: "All the prophets say we've got a green light on this. It's victory all the way!" Jehoshaphat: "Uh, do you have, like, any true prophets of the Lord around here?" Ahab: "Just...

Bible reading for weekend October 17-18.  1 Kings 20-21. "And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, 'Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'" (1 Kings 20:13) TWO VICTORIES (ch 20). On two desperate occasions, with Israel being greatly outnumbered, God gives military victory to Ahab and his troops. "You shall know that I am the Lord" (20:13, 28). In the previous chapter the Lord had shown himself to be the true God, and here twice he shows himself strong on behalf of Israel. Yet Ahab does not really have a heart to obey the Lord. And obedience to the Lord is imperative. Ahab shows mercy where he should bring judgment. It is not that Ahab is compassionate, he is basically a compromiser. There's a lesson here for us in this age of tolerance -- we cannot pronounce judgment when we should be merciful (Matt 7:1-5), but neither sho...

Bible reading for October 15.  1 Kings 18. "And Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.' And the people did not answer him a word." (1 Kings 18:21) EPIC BATTLE. Howard Hendricks called this contest, "The Battle of the Gods," and indeed it was an epic event! Ahab, like so many people today, blamed his problems on others, here Elijah, whom he called the "troubler" (vv 17-18). But the trouble was with Ahab himself, being double-minded about which God (or gods) to follow (v 21). It is a decisive battle on Mount Carmel, culminating with fire from heaven and then Elijah's successful prayer for rain (James 5:17-18). There is only one true and living God who answers prayer. Baal, along with every other false god, cannot bring salvation: "And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation,...