A Humanist perspective on what we can learn about what is morality from the Bible.
Showing posts with label 1 Kings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1 Kings. Show all posts
1 Kings 22: Ahab dies in battle
Synopsis:
War continues to rage between Israel, Judah and Syria. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, made a pact with Ahab, king of Israel to fight together to defeat Syria. But Jehoshaphat wouldn’t fight until they knew whether god was on their side or not. The problem is that none of the prophets liked Ahab and were always prophesizing bad things about him. They finally called Micaiah for a formal audience. All the prophets promised that they would prevail. Micaiah told him that they would be slaughtered if they tried. So the king had him taken to prison and fed bread and water of affliction. During the battle, the king was injured by an arrow and killed. King Ahab was buried and his son Ahaziah reigned. Jehoshaphat made peace with Israel. There was no king in Edom. Jehoshaphat tried to send ships of Tharshish to Ophir for gold, but they were sunk at Ezion-geber. Jehoshaphat died and his son Jehoram reigned instead.In other words:
King Ahab wants to go to war, but a prophet tells him he will die, so he puts the prophet in jail, goes to war and is killed.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 21:18 – And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?The bit I want to know more about:
1 Kings 21:46 – And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. (wait – what?)Moral Lesson Learned:
Don’t ignore bad news just because you don’t want to hear it (1 Kings 21)1 Kings 19: Jezebel seeks revenge
Synopsis:
Jezebel finds out that Elijah had all the prophets of Baal killed and says – you are dead! So Elijah goes to hide in the wilderness. An Angel feeds him for 40 days and nights as he makes his way to Mount Horeb. There God says, what are you doing hiding here? Go to Damascus and annoint Hazael king of Syria, Jehu (son of Nimshi) king of Israel, and Elisha (son of Shaphat) to be prophet. Between Hazael and Jehu killing each other, 7,000 people will remain. So Elijah goes and finds Elisha and gives him his mantle. Elisha asks permission to say goodbye to his family, slays a yoke of oxen and boils them and gives them to the people and follows Elijah.In other words:
Jezebel threatens Elijah and Elijah plots her overthrow.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 19:13,14 – Behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain they prophets with the sword; and I , even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.The fairy tale bit:
1 Kings 19:5,6 – And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behod, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a ruse of water at his head.The revenge bit:
1 Kings 19:17 – And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.Moral Lesson Learned:
Do not threaten your rivals (1 Kings 19)1 Kings 20: Syria goes to war with Israel and loses.
Synopsis:
Ben-hadad, king of Syria had sieged Samara. He sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, asking him to surrender. The people of Israel refused. So the king of Syria amassed his army. Israel was able to organize 232 men to fight (there were only 7,000 people in Israel total. Ben Hadad made a tactical error thinking they had come to surrender, but the Israelis fought and slew the Syrians. Ben-hadad escaped on a horse. The Syrians decided that the problem was – they had fought on a hill and clearly the Israeli god was a god of the hills, therefore we should fight them on a plain. So 1 year later, the Syrians in great number when to Aphek. And the Israelis came and pitched their tents and they were like two little flocks of kids compared to the Syrian army. After 7 days, they fought and the Israelis slew 100,000 footmen in 1 day. The rest fled to the city, and a wall fell on them and another 27,000 men died in the rubble. Ben-hadad escaped and asked Ahab for mercy; which was granted. A prophet had a neighbor hit him (it took him 2 tries to get someone to do it) and he went and found king Ahab and told him, God isn’t happy that you let Ben-hadad go free when you should have killed him.In other words:
The kind of Syria wages war against Israel twice, and loses badly, twice, despite vastly outnumbering them.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 20:27 – And the children of Israel were number, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.Adding insult to injury bit:
1 Kings 20:30 – But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left.That’s not really fair bit:
1 Kings 20:35, 36 – And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behod, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.Moral Lesson Learned:
Never underestimate your enemy (1 Kings 20)1 Kings 17: Elijah saves a child
Synopsis:
Elijah is a Tishbit in Gilead. He predicts there will be no dew or rain these years. The Lord tells Elijah to go east and hide by the brook Cherith near Jordan. Drink from the brook for I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. Once the brook dries up for lack of rain the Lord tells him to go to Zarepahath. He asks a woman there for food and she says, I have only enough for me and my son. He tells her bring it anyway and he was able to feed the woman, and her son and Elijah for many days. At some point the son falls ill and stops breathing. Elijah stretches himself on top of the child three times and prays to God to revive the child. The child is revived. The woman says, now I know you are a man of God.In other words:
Elijah saves a child and becomes a prophet.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 17:4, 6 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.Weirdest bit:
1 Kings 17:21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. (Not sure why he had to lie on top of the unbreathing child 3 times, but it seems to have worked. Maybe it was like CPR).Moral Lesson Learned:
Be nice to ravens (1 Kings 17)1 Kings 18: Elijah slaughters the prophets of Baal (metaphorically and literally)
Synopsis:
After 3 years of drought, Elijah comes back to Israel to speak to King Ahab and bring back the rain. Ahab asks Elijah why he has troubled the land with drought. Elijah says, I didn’t, you did by forsaking God and following Baalim. Elijah then proposes a contest of gods. Let’s go to mount Carmel. Bring 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the groves which eat at Jezebel’s table. Slaughter 2 bulls. They choose the bulls. We will put it on wood but light no fire. They called on Baal from morning until noon to light the fire. The fire remained unlit. Elijah mocked them. At evening, Elijah built an altar using 12 stones for the 12 tribes of Israel. He poured water over the wood and bully 3 times. Then he prayed and the fire of the Lord consumed the sacrifice and evaporated all the water. The prophets of Baal, upon Elijah’s orders were all killed. A big storm came and Ahab took his chariot to Jezreel, but Elijah beat him there.In other words:
God beats Baal in a BBQ contest.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 18:27-29 – And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and sai, Cry aloud: for he is a god,; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, still the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, and there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regards. (Sure, it’s all good for Elijah to say this, but when atheists say these same exact things we are blaspheming. From now on I think anybody trying to make a point to Christians about the inefficacy of prayer – only needs to cite 1 Kings 18:27 –if your god doesn’t answer – you don’t speak for him.)Side note:
1 Kings 18:4 – When Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah (house manager for Ahab), took 100 prophets and hid them in a cave and fed them with bread and water.Coolest bit:
This is a REALLY cool test of god strength. And how could you doubt a god who create a fire that consumed a water soaked altar?
Moral Lesson Learned:
Don’t promise things you can’t deliver. (1 Kings 18)1 Kings 15: They keep fighting
Synopsis:
(Note – this story is not told sequentially – but I have arranged it sequentially here).18 years into the reign of King Jeroboam over Israel, Abijam takes over Judah from Rehoboam. Abijam rules for 3 years before dying. He was sinful just like his father. But after Abijam came King Asa of Judah (20th year of the reign of Jeroboam). Asa was godly like David. He removed the sodomites and the idols and even removed his mother as queen because she had built an idol. He, however, allowed the high places to remain. He also purchased gold and silver and started to restore the treasure of Judah. In Asa’s second year, Nadab, son of Jeroboam becomes king of Israel. But by the next year Baasha son of Ahijah, house of Issachar, conspired against Nadab and took over as king of Israel. King Baasha killed all members of the house off Jeroboam. He was sinful, just like Jeroboam. He then made war against Asa and built Ramah. Asa appealed to the king of Syria, Ben-hadad, for help. Asa gave Ben-hadad a lot of gold and silver and jewels and so Syria waged war against Israel. Asa and Baasha warred for their entire reigns. Asa died after 41 years and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his stead.
In other words:
Jeroboams and Rehoboam’s sons continue fighting.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 15:10 – Asa’s mother’s name is Maachah, daughter of Abishalom. A woman is mentioned!!!2nd favorite bit:
1 Kings 15:3-5 – And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heard of David his father. Nevertheless for David’s sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem. Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.Confused commentary about 1: Kings 15:3-5
First: I love the fact that they remember the Uriah incident as a blemish on David. But ... clearly God was not happy with Solomon and set up Jeroboam against Solomon’s son Rehoboam. And then, he’s like – oh – I didn’t realize you were going to sin Jeroboam, so – I guess I’ll go back and favor the David’s sons in Judah. It seems to me that Israel being bigger than Judah should be the favored group. But what do I know.3rd favorite bit:
That Syria was bribed to fight Israel on behalf of Asa in Judah and the bribe worked (1 Kings 15:17-20)Coolest bit:
1 Kings 15:23 – Asa in the time of his old age was diseased in his feet.Least favorite bit:
That this chapter is out of order. We aren’t told who Baasha is until verse 27 and Baasha doesn’t take over until verse 33. Yet his battle with Asa starts on verse 17. King Asa dies and is buried with his fathers in verse 24. It’s all out of sequence. It’s kind of annoying.Moral Lesson Learned:
We all need allies (1 Kings 15)1 Kings 16: The Evil Kings of Israel
Synopsis:
The Lord doesn’t like Baasha because he sins, so he has Jehu, a prophet and son of Hanani curse Baasha. After 23 years, Baasha dies and his son Elah takes over. But Zimri, captain of the chariots, killed Elah when he was drunk. He killed everyone in the house. When the rest of Israel finds out that Zimri has killed their king, they rise up against Zimri and Zimri immolates himself by setting the king’s palace at Tirzah on fire around him. At this point, the people of Israel split. Half side with Omri who led the charge against the traitor Zimri and the other half make Tibni king. Tibni dies and Omri becomes king. He reigns in TIrzah for a while but builds a house in Samaria. Omri was just as bad as Baasha and his son Elah and God is still angry with them. Eventually Omri dies and his son Ahab takes over. Ahab is worse than all the kings of Israel before him. In fact, he’s so bad he and his wife Jezebel start worshipping Baal and build an altar for Baal in Samaria. Ahab did more to to provoke the anger of the God of Israel than all the kings before him. Oh – and Hiel a Beth-elite built Jericho.Timeline of Israeli Kings:
Note – these dates are all based on the reign of king Asa of Judah.Year 2: Ahijab of Israel reigns after Jeroboam
Year 3: Baasha takes over in a bloody coup
Year 26: Elah, son of Baasha takes over Israel
Year 27 – Zimri (traitor) kills Elah and takes over
Year 27 – Omri kills Zimri and Israel is split between Omri and Tibni
Year 31 – Omri prevails and reigns over Israel
Year 38 – Ahab, son of Omri reigns over Israel
Year 41 – Asa of Judah dies.
Favorite bit:
We finally meet Jezebel! (1 Kings 16:31) – She is the wife of Jehu.Funniest part:
The recurrent fact that whatever king just took over “wrought evil in the eyes of the Lod, and did worse than all that were before him.”Most exciting bit:
1 Kings 16:8-20 – The tale of Zimri – captain of the chariots and his act of treason against Elah. His reign only lasted 7 days and he dies in a fire in the palace.Favorite quote:
“And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.” (1 Kings 16:11)The curse of Jehu, the prophet speaking on behalf of God:
1 Kings 16:2-4 - Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people of Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the prosperity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.Moral Lesson Learned:
Make sure you have support before you stage a coup. (1 Kings 16)1 Kings 13: God uses a lion to kill a good man
Synopsis:
Because the altars with the golden calves were sins against God, God sent a prophet (a man of God) from Judah to remind King Jeroboam of this fact. Jeroboam heard the prophet but ignored him and went to touch the altar. His hand dried up. Jeroboam entreated the prophet to pray to God to restore his hand, and it was as before. The king asked this prophet to come home and have food with him, but the prophet said no, God had told him not to eat or drink anything in this place. An old prophet in Beth-el heard of what had happened and had his ass saddled and went to find the young prophet (man of God) and invited him home to eat. The man of God said no, but the old prophet lied and said, I am a prophet too and an angel told me to come get you and offer you food. So the man of God agreed, but after he had eaten bread and had drunk, he left to go home and was killed by a lion. Word got back to the old prophet who realized that God had killed him for not obeying his injunction not to eat while away from Judah. went to collect the carcass and buried it. The old prophet asked his sons to bury him with the man of God when he dies. None of this impacted king Jeroboam who went back to his evil ways right away.In other words:
God sends a prophet to warn Jeroboam that he is committing sins and then has a lion kill his prophet because the dude ate some bread.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 13: 33,34 – After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places. If having your hand shriveled and restored doesn’t convince you, nothing will.Least favorite bit:
That God doesn’t kill Jeroboam for disobeying him, but kills his prophet for eating bread when he wasn’t supposed to! (1 Kings 13:23,24)Most annoying bit:
1 Kings 13:18 – The old prophet tells the man of God an angel told him to bring you back and the man of God believes him. Certainly God could have spoke up and said – hey – don’t do that! But no – I’m going to let you disobey me and not tell you this guy is lying and then kill you for disobeying me over some bread. This is one of those – God is being a real petty jerk moments.Most amusing bit:
1 Kings 13:13 – “And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass.” Funny how priests never write sermons about this little gem of scripture.Moral Lesson Learned:
Be careful around lions (1 Kings 13)1 Kings 14: Egypt invades
Synopsis:
Jeroboam’s son falls sick so he sends his wife to see the prophet Ahijah, who tells her – the boy is going to die because of the sins of the father making molten images. And Jeroboam is cursed. Sure enough, the kid dies and Jeroboam’s reign is filled with war. He reigns 22 years and then his son Nadab takes over. Meanwhile in Judah, reigns for 17 years and in that time, they also provoked the Lord to jealous with other gods and sodomites. In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, King Shishak of Egypt invades and takes all the treasures of the house of the Lord away, including the shields of god which Solomon had made. So Rehobaum replaced them with brass shields and put guards over the temple. Throughout their reigns, Rehoboam and Jeroboam warred with each other. Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijam.In other words:
While the kings of Judah and Israel are fighting, king of Egypt comes and steals all their stuff.Favorite bit:
The curse of Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:10,11) Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the Lord hath spoken it.2nd favorite bit:
1 Kings 14:17-19 – God is really upset that he exalted Jeroboam and made him king and how does Jeroboam repay him? By making golden images. You are nothing like David!3rd favorite bit:
1 Kings 14: 22-24 – And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy. (The other king isn’t any better – God sure is a bad judge of character).Funniest bit:
1 Kings 14:25,26 – While Rehoboam and Jeroboam are fighting the king of Egypt comes and steals all their stuffMost annoying bit:
1 Kings 14:19 and 1 Kings 14:29 – the rest of the acts of these kings were written in the chronicles. So – you are already supposed to know what all happened, it’s not going to be repeated here. I realize this is a transcription if a verbal story, but still – I kind of want to know what all they did.Moral Lesson Learned:
- Find out what people are really like before you hire them (1 Kings 14)
- Never forget who your real enemy is (1 Kings 14)
1 Kings 11: King Solomon goes a whoring
Synopsis:
Solomon loved many “strange” women. In fact He had 700 wives, and 300 concubines from all over the place. When he got old, he started worshipping other gods, like Ashtoreth (a god of the Zidonians) and Milcom (a god of the Ammonites). He even built in Jerusalem a ‘high place’ for Chemosh ( a god of the Moabites) and Molech (a god of the children of Ammon). God was obviously pretty angry with Solomon, but, out of respect for David, decides not to harm Solomon or his kingdom, but he will only give 1 tribe to Solomon’s son and the rest will go to someone else. God stirred up several people against Solomon including Hadad the Edomite, Rezon who ended up ruling over Syria, and Jeroboam who was the son of one of Solomon’s servants. A prophet found Jeroboam and tore his clothese into 12 pieces and gave Jeroboam 10 pieces, to show that he would get 10 of the tribes of Israel per God’s will. Solomon wanted to kill Jeroboam but Jeroboam fled to Egypt and stayed there with the king Shishak of Egypt until Solomon died. Solomon reigned 40 years and was buried in the city of David, and Rehoboam, his sun reigned in his stead.In other words:
Solomon has a huge appetite for women AND other gods, which makes God unhappy.Favorite bit:
Even though Solomon had met God in person twice, he STILL went whoring after other gods. And not just a few gods, A LOT of them. (1 Kings 11:5-10)Least favorite bit:
1 Kings 11:1-4 A list of all the “strange” women that Solomon web in addition to Pharoah’s daughter. From this we are supposed to learn that – unless you marry within your faith – you are going to be led astray – because it’s always the women.It’s almost like god doesn’t exist bit:
1 Kings 11:11-13 Go tells Solomon because you’ve not kept my covenant, I’m going to rend your kingdom from you – but not until you die. Funny how people who do bad things never seem to get punished, but their kids do.What I think the main moral lesson is:
1 Kings 11:40 – Jeroboam flees to Egypt and Solomon dies, so – he wins by not fighting?Moral Lesson Learned:
Sometimes you win by not fighting. (1 Kings 11)There is no real punishment for not obeying God’s covenants. (1 Kings 11)
1 Kings 12: Rehoboam loses his kingdom to Jeroboam
Synopsis:
After Solomon’s death all the congregation of Israel goes to Rehoboam and tells him – your father taxed us too heavily, please make our burden lighter. So Rehoboam asks the elders that counselled Solomon, his father. They tell him, agree to lighten their yoke and they will be your servants forever. He then asks his childhood buddies what to do and they said, tax them even more for complaining. So Rehoboam tells everyone he is going to be even worse and tax them even more. When Rehoboam sends out his tax collector Adoram to collect tribute, he is stoned. Rehoboam flees to Jerusalem. When the rest of Israel hears Jeroboam is back from Egypt, they made him King. Rehoboam was king only over Judah. So Rehoboam assembles an army of 180,000 men, but one of Rehoboam’s priests speaks for God and tells everyone not to take up arms against their brothers. So Rehoboam’s army departs and goes home. Jeroboam builds Shechem in mount Ephraim. But he is worried that if people go to Jeruselum to make sacrifices, they will eventually turn against him, so he has two calves of gold made and he puts one up in Beth-el and the other in Dan. He also made priests of the lowest of people and did not use the sons of Levi. All of this was a sin against God.In other words:
The son of Solomon gets greedy and loses the kingdom.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 12:18 – where they stone the tax collector. Clearly Rehoboam made a tactical error thinking he could be a greedy jerk and rule over the people.Craziest bit:
1 Kings 12:28-31 Jeroboam, because he doesn’t want people to worship in Jeruselum, because that’s where Rehoboam is, he sets up, literally, golden calves for the people to worship, even though a golden calf was the reason why Moses and the Levites went on a murderous rampage back in Exodus.Moral Lesson Learned:
Without the consent of the governed, you cannot govern (1 Kings 12)1 Kings 9: God makes a deal with Solomon
Synopsis:
God comes and speaks to Solomon and says, as long as you do good by me, I will do good by you and your kingdom will be established forever. Hiram, the king of Tyre, who Solomon had bought the trees from, was not happy with the cities Solomon gave him. But he did send the king six score talents of gold which was the tax levied by Solomon to build the temple, his own house, Millo, the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo, and Gezer. (Gezer being the city Pharaoh had destroyed and given to Solomon for a present to his daughter, Solomon’s wife). Solomon also bought cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen. Anyone not from Israel was allowed to live if they paid tribute as a bondservant. The children of Israel were not bonded, they were men of war and servants of Solomon. Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings at the altar at the house of the Lord and burnt incense upon the altar. He made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber on the shore of the Red sea and he sent his navy to Ophir to fetch 420 talents of gold for King Solomon.In other words:
Solomon creates a rich empire complete with navy.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 9: 26 – And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. He wasn’t just a land power, he had a navy!Least favorite bit:
1 Kings 9:11-13 – King Hiram of Tyre wasn’t happy with the cities he was given from Solomon, but nothing appears to have come of it.Coolest bit:
1 Kings 9:15 – All the stuff and cities that were built by Solomon. Makes me want to go and take a look at them, as some are still standing.Most important bit:
1 Kings 9:22,23 – The children of Israel were not made bondsmen. They were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon’s work. You cannot rule such a big kingdom without help.Moral Lesson Learned:
You cannot lead well if you don’t delegate well (1 Kings 9)1 Kings 10: How rich is King Solomon? Really rich.
Synopsis:
The Queen of Sheba hears about King Solomon and goes to see him and test out his wisdom. She was duly impressed and she gave the king 120 talents of gold and a lot of spices and precious stones. Solomon gave Sheba anything she wanted and she went back home with her servants. In one year Solomon was given 603 score and six talents of gold. Plus, he had merchants and spice merchants and all the kings of Arabia under his rule. He made himself a throne of ivory overlaid with the best gold. It was unlike any throne in any kingdom. All his drinking vessels were of gold. None were of silver. He also had a navy that would sail to Tharshish (a return trip taking 3 years), and they would bring gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom.In other words:
King Solomon was rich. Very very rich.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 10:18-20 – The ivory throne covered in gold. It has 6 steps to the top. It was round behind. There were stays on either side of the seat and two lions stood beside the stays. 12 lions stood on one side and on the other of the 6 steps. This was big – ostentatious and would have been beautiful!Most interesting bit:
1 Kings 10:22 – the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years cam the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. Why would Tharshish give Solomon so much gold and goods? What were they getting in return? Or was this a mining colony of Solomon’s?Most confusing bit:
Sheba. She comes, wants to see if Solomon really is as wise and as rich as she has heard he is. He is. She gives him a bunch of gold and spices. He gives her anything she wants and – then she just leaves. Why? (1 Kings 10:1-13)Moral Lesson Learned:
Money can’t buy you love (1 Kings 10)1 Kings 7: Solomon builds a house
Synopsis:
It takes Solomon 13 years to build his house. It is 10 cubits by 50 cubits and 30 cubits high. The floor is made out of Lebanon cedar with four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams upon the pillars. He include a porch for his thrown - the porch of judgement – this was also made of cedar. The foundation of this house was made of big costly stones. Stones of 10 cubits! He had solid brass pillars cast for the porch of judgement along with a lot of other solid brass decorations. In fact, there were so many pieces of brass – they never bothered to weigh them so no one knows how much brass was used.In other words:
Solomon’s house took 13 years to build. It was very nice.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 7:7 That the porch for his throne is known as The Porch of Judgement. Sounds so Indiana Jones.2nd favorite bit:
1 Kings 7:21 – that the brass pillars for The Porch of Judgement had names. One was called Jachin and the other was Boaz.Most amusing bit:
1 Kings 7:10 – that the stones were 10 cubits. Big I tell you!Most confusing bit:
1 Kings 7:23 – “And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a lite of thirty cubits did compass it round about.” I’m having trouble imagining this. It apparently was a handbreadth thick and stood upon 12 oxen – 3 pointing in each of the cardinal directions and that was put upon bases that had wheels. What the heck was this and what was it used for? According to Wikipedia – it was apparently some sort of ritual bath – the water in the huge central basin poured out into the baths in the base. (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten_Sea) |
| from the wikipedia article |
Least favorite bit:
1 Kings 7:23-39 – the description of this massive ceremonial bath thing. It’s so confusing – I literally could not imagine it.Not sure how I feel about it;
1 Kings 7:47 – “And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceedingly many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.” On the one hand – wow – that’s a huge beautiful brass bath thing – 40 people can bathe at the same time. On the other hand – government excess at its worst on behalf of religion.Moral Lesson Learned:
If you are building your dream palace, make sure it has a nice bath. (1 Kings 7)1 Kings 8: The Temple of Solomon is dedicated
Synopsis:
The temple is now ready so they prepare to bring the ark. They sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not count them. The priests brought the ark and put it in it’s place and drew out the staves and put them to the side. The ark only holds the 2 tables of stone from Moses. As soon as the priests left, a cloud filled the house of the Lord. Solomon then spoke and told people – if you sin and god harms you – come here and ask for forgiveness. Solomon entreats God to listen to the prayers of the supplicants at this temple. He then offers a peace sacrifice of 2 and 20,000 oxen, 120,000 sheep. In the middle court he offered burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat of peace offerings. They then held a great feast that lasted 14 days. Then everyone was sent home to their tents.In other words:
The temple of Solomon is completed and dedicated with a 14 day feast and a massive slaughter.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 8:6-8 – the description of the ark and where is was put inside the temple.Least favorite bit:
The sheer number of animals sacrificed to dedicate this temple. (1 Kings 8:5 & 1 Kings 8:63) No wonder the feast lasted 14 days – that is a LOT of slaughtered animals. How many people can 120,000 sheep and 20,000 oxen feed?Most ironic bit:
1 Kings 8:66 – after the feast at this amazing new temple – shining in gold with a crap load and then some of freshly cooked food – they send the people home to their tents, joyful. These are still people living in tents.How did they do it?
1 Kings 8:10-12 – “And it came to pass, when the priests we come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the gory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. Then spake Solomon, the Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.” Smoke and mirrors. Well, maybe not the mirrors, but definitely the smoke.Most interesting bit:
The entire chapter – but mostly 1 Kings 8:13-53. Basically – they expect to piss god off and for god to punish them. The purpose of this temple is to give them a place to meet with god in person so that they can ask him for forgiveness. It takes 40 verses to say that. It takes up most of this chapter and it’s highly repetitive.Moral Lesson Learned:
- Always ask for forgiveness (1 Kings 8)
- Give forgiveness when asked (1 Kings 8)
1 King 5: Solomon places an order for cedar wood and stones
Synopsis:
King Solomon contracts with the king Hiram of Tyre Lebanon for cedar trees so that he can build a temple for God. Tyre agrees. Apparently only the Sidonians are good at cutting timber. God pays Hiram 20,000 measures of what and 20 measure of oil every year. He also levies 30,000 men to go and be servants to Hiram. These servants are rotated 10,000 a month over 3 months. Each man is in Lebanon for 1 month and 2 months at home. Solomon’s men had 70,000 burden bearers and 80,000 hewers in the mountains. He had 3,300 overseers to oversee the work.In other words:
Solomon makes peace with Tyre/Lebanon by purchasing a lot of cedar from King Hiram.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 5:12 there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.2nd favorite bit:
1 Kings 5:6 – “my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.” Flattery apparently works – as does not just stealing what you want – but paying for it – civilly.Moral lessons learned:
• Sincere flattery improves relations (1 Kings 5)• Want peace? Don’t steal things. Pay for them like a civilized person. (1 Kings 5)
1 Kings 6: The House for the Lord is Finally Built
Synopsis:
480 years after the children of Israel leave Egypt (the 4th year of the reign of Solomon), in the month of Zif, which is the 2nd month, work begins on the house of the LORD. The house is 60 cubits by 20 cubits, with a height of 30 cubits. It had a porch of 20 by 10 cubits. The house has narrow windows. Against the walls were built round chambers for both the temple and the oracle. The nethermost chamber was 5 cubits broad, the middle was 6 cubits and the 3rd was 7 cubits. Each of these chambers was 5 cubits high. The house was made of stone that was cut before it was brought there so that no cutting or hammering sounds were made on the building site. When complete, the house was covered in beams and boards of cedar. The walls were covered in cedar, the floor was made in fir. Everything was covered in wood carved with knops and open flowers The temple portion of the house was 40 cubits long. The oracle was 20 x 20 cubits overlaid in pure gold. In fact, everything was covered in gold and there were god covered cherubim 10 cubits high. Even the floor was covered in gold. The temple door posts were made of olive tree. The doors were of fir, and they folded. Work started in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign in the 2nd month and it was finished in the 11th year in the 8th month. So, it took a little over 7 years to build.
In other words:
It takes 7 years to build a massive temple, cover it in expensive carved wood and overlay the entire thing, including the floor, in gold.What it looked like:
Because this book is so specific about the plans for this temple, you can pretty much envision what it looked like. It was a long narrow building and a bit taller than it was wide. Outside was stone. Inside – gold everywhere over ornately carved wood. The oracle, where the ark was stored, was basically a massive 20 x 20 cubit room that had 2 cherubim with wings outstretched touching each other wall to wall, covered in gold. The doorway to get in there was ornately carve with cherubim and palm tees and covered in gold. The doors folded open.
Favorite bit:
That this is so precise, you can really imagine what it looked like.Least favorite bit:
While this was clearly a public works program it is also a stupendous waste of money and resources. On the other hand, it would have been amazing to see!
Moral lesson learned:
• If you are going to build a building, make it look good (1 Kings 6)• Precise plans help everyone get the job done (1 Kings 6)
• Details matter (1 Kings 6)
1 Kings 3: Solomon is granted the gift of wisdom
Synopsis:
Solomon further consolidates his power by making a pact with Egypt and marries the Pharoah’s daughter. They live in the city of David until Solomon’s house is built in Jeruselum. Sacrifices are still being made in high places because there is no house for God. One day Solomon is in Gibeon to sacrifice there and God comes to him in a dream and asks Solomon what he wants. Solomon says, well, I’m a newbie at this whole being king thing, therefore grant me an understanding heart to judge they people that I may discern between good and bad. The Lord really liked this and gave Solomon a wise and understanding heart AND riches and honour, even though Solomon didn’t ask for that. 2 harlots who lived together came before him. Both had had babies, but one of them had died. So the woman whose baby died, switched babies with the one who was living. The woman who now had the dead baby recognized, it was not hers. King Solomon asks for a sword to divide the living child in two. The woman whose child it was became hysterical. The woman whose child it was not – didn’t care either way. All Israel heard of the judgement and feared king Solomon because the wisdom of God was in him.In other words:
Solomon asks God for wisdom and threatens to split a child in two to figure out who the real mother is. This makes the people rather afraid of him. Brilliant but scary.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 3:28 – “And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.” Obviously – King Solomon and the splitting of the baby is a really famous story – but upon reading it – I realize how terrifying word of this would have been. Don’t come to this guy with nonsense. He is willing to kill a child to call you out as a liar. There is a reason why they feared him.2nd favorite bit:
1 Kings 3: 9 – Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” What a wise thing to ask for!Most interesting bit:
God doesn’t yet have a house for sacrifice – so sacrifices are being done in high places. (1 Kings 2) I suppose the height and being on a mountain makes them closer to God.Moral Lesson Learned:
Do not lie to a judge (1 Kings 3)1 Kings 4: How awesome is Solomon?
Synopsis:
King Solomon names his princes and appoints 12 officers over Israel. Their job is to provide victuals for the king and his household. Solomon reign over all the kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. He had peace on all sides of him. His provisions for a single day was 30 measures of flour, 3 score measure of meal. 10 fat oxen, 20 oxent in pasture, a hundred sheep and heart, roebucks, fallowdeer and fatted foul. He had 40,000 stalls of horses for chariots and 12,000 horsemen. People who came to his table were lacking nothing. Solomon was so wise he was more famous than all men, even more famous than Ethan the Eszahite, Herman, Chalcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He spoke 3,000 proverbs and he wrote 5,005 songs. People came from all over to hear the wisdom of Solomon, including all the kings of the earth.Favorite bit:
1 Kings 4:32 – He spake 3,000 proverbs and his songs were 5,005. I like the idea of him being a poet and a sage. He was the Ben Franklin of his time.2nd favorite bit:
1 Kings 4:33 – He was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round about. No clue who these folks are. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia though - http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4899-darda - apparently Ethan is Abraham, Heman is Moses and Chalcol is Joseph, which means – Solomon was wiser than the founders of Israel, which isn't hard to believe because Abraham was a schizophrenic, Moses was a coward who didn't speak well. On the other hand, Ethan the Ezrahite is probably a reference to a follower of Ezra who will come later. Which means that this is a retelling of the story from a later time which references other people who come after this story – not before. Regardless of how you look at this – Solomon was apparently the wisest of the wise.What’s nice:
1 Kings 4:24, 25 – “He had peace on all sides round about it. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba all the days of Solomon.” And apparently he made this peace through peace treaties and without having to fight for domination.Best part:
1 Kings 4:33 “And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl and of creeping things, and of fishes.” This is a bit odd and out of place. However, it almost sounds like he was a scholar/scientist which is why - he could talk and discuss trees, animals, etc in great detail. I guess making smart people rulers pays off a nice peace dividend.Moral Lesson Learned:
Scientists make good and smart rulers (1 Kings 4)
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