2 Samuel 22:1-23:23, Acts 2:1-47, Psalms 122:1-9, Proverbs 16:19-20
Today is the 12th day of June welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is wonderful to be here around the Global Campfire with you today as we gather from all the farthest points of the earth, gather together in this place, this little place that we have each and every day to allow God’s word to speak into our lives, it is a joy and an honor to be around the Global Campfire with you and do what we do, which is to take the next step forward. We were at the inauguration or the dedication of the temple of the most-high God in Jerusalem yesterday as we read in first kings. We were with Solomon dedicating the temple with all of the people of Israel and we’re continuing forward on that journey today. And, so, let’s dive in. First kings, chapters 9 and 10 and we are reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week.
Commentary:
Okay. So, as we are reading through first kings today, we were enjoying the glory of the moments that we have been working toward it seems since we began the journey at the first of the year. And you may be going like what, really, like how? But we have been working through the story since we met Abraham of this family and their destiny. This Hebrew people. This people who are the children of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, his name was changed to Israel and his children became the children of Israel because they’re Israel’s children. And the 12 children became the 12 tribes. We followed them all the way into Egypt with the story of Joseph. We watched them be emancipated from slavery. And we watched them and wandered with them as they navigated their wilderness journey across the Jordan River with them. We endured the times of the judges with them, and we saw them demand a king and we met that king, king Saul. And we learned a lot about him and a lot about ourselves through his reign. And then we were introduced to David who is intertwined with Saul’s story but who eventually became king of Israel, the second king of Israel. And under David’s leadership peace was brought on all sides. And then Solomon ascended the throne of his father and took the reins and brought abundance, peace and prosperity to the land. The temple of the most-high God stands in the capital city, the holy city of Jerusalem, and there is a king’s palace and there’s administrative buildings and Solomon has built up the entire nation. It’s like we’ve been traveling toward this point all along following a promise. Go to a land that you do not know that I will show you. And a promise, I will make your descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore. I will bless all the nations of the earth through you. We’ve been chasing that story until we get here, to this very day. And we read about a land flowing with milk and honey. We read about a land of plenty for all. We read about a most advanced and prosperous civilization. We heard about fortified cities situated all around Israel with vast stores of wealth and prosperity. We read about a fleet of ships that would sail to the farthest reaches of the known world and come back with treasures unknown, gold and animals and all kinds of exotic treasures from Africa. I mean, battle shields hammered out of pure gold, goblets made of pure gold, silverware not made of silver, made of pure gold, because silver was as plentiful as stone and didn’t have that much value because it was so plentiful. Dignitaries from all the far reaches of the world hear of what’s going on in Israel and hear of this king and come to have an audience with the wisdom of Solomon. We should enjoy this moment in the Bible. We’ve reached this point. And from this point forward, we’re gonna watch things get pushed too far. It’s like we’ve been climbing up the mountain of this story and we have reached the summit and now we will begin to move down the other side of this story and the people, beginning with King Solomon will begin to fall away from God. And it will take time, but the disintegration will be predictable and continual, and it will lead to the opposite of the day we are experiencing in the Scriptures today. Today, we are rejoycing that it is fulfilled, that what God said has come true and that there is this nation, the children of Israel, and God is their God and they are blessing the nations and everyone is flocking to them. The opposite of this is that Jerusalem is destroyed and everyone who lives there is carried away to a different land that they do not know. So, we have a moment here as we’re experiencing the joy of the apex of this story to know where the story is going to go and watch how they get there. Because the deterioration that happens in our lives undermines everything that is giving us a foundation to, and it takes time, but we eventually collapse. We know this. We’ve navigated ourselves into these situations before. If we pay attention to the story going forward we’ll understand how it happened in ancient Israel and learn a lot about ourselves along the way.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for this moment. It’s a moment that whether we stated or even understood that we were heading toward this moment we’ve been working toward this moment since we began reading the Scriptures this year. We worked through this story of the children of Israel and here we are under king Solomon’s rule, the wisest man in the world, an anointed one of God, somebody You spoke to bringing them to this moment. They just won’t stay here. And we need to learn from this lesson because we have the back-and-forth, the peaks and the valleys in our lives too. What would it look like to just simply walk with You, stay obedient to You, be loyal to You without turning to the left or the right. Help us observe this. Help us to learn from this we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I am Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Coming soon…