Saul, rejecting God’s headship, ended a decapitated corpse; David used his last days to set things right. In a typical Hebraism, we read, “So David rested with his fathers” (1 Ki 2:10). Many years ago, some Jewish high school students asked me, “Do you have to be religious Jews to go to heaven?” “Heaven?” I […]
Life’s equation is simple: All we need to do is love what God loves and hate what He hates. In 1 Kings 2:5-9, David stressed the importance of Solomon being aware of both friends and enemies around him. In spite of the thwarting of Adonijah’s attempt to snatch the throne, the kingdom’s security was still […]
Even if we’ve made mistakes, by this point we should have figured out what’s important in life. The “last words of David” are recorded for us in 2 Samuel 23. They are a composition of lofty Hebrew poetry. But in 1 Kings 2:1-9 we have his final charge to Solomon, written in uncompromising prose. Verses […]
Read More… from February 16, 2024 – Preparing The Next Generation
“Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility” (Prov 18:12). Although “old, advanced in years” (1 Ki 1:1), David quickly responded to the two-pronged appeal by Bathsheba and Nathan to publicly place his seal of approval on Solomon (vv 15-27), thereby denouncing Adonijah’s spurious claim to the throne. He […]
Bathsheba means “daughter of the oath.” Her first recorded words? “My lord, you swore by the Lord…” Adonijah, the fourth son of King David, was given a magnificent name. It linked together two of the chief names of God—Adonai, the sovereign Master, and Jah, or Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God. He was the “very good-looking” brother […]
Read More… from February 14, 2024 — The Hand That Rocked The Cradle
David’s old body-temple was being taken down, but another temple was to be raised up in the Holy City. We see that 1 Kings opens with a rather embarrassing story. “Now King David was old, advanced in years; and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm” (1 Ki 1:1). All the […]
Thankfully, there weren’t only kings and priests, but prophets, too, who kept on speaking for God. The volumes we call 1 and 2 Kings are the third and fourth parts of a narrative beginning in 1 and 2 Samuel. They continue the saga of the kings who ruled over Israel from the dying days of […]
Read More… from February 12, 2024 — Introduction To The Books Of Kings
“Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,…and…you were bought at a price” (1 Cor 6:19-20). As we come to the end of 2 Samuel, it’s time to connect some dots. When David looked out his palace window to the north and saw the destroying angel, where was he standing? […]
We’re usually very poor at counting what really matters. Wise people let God keep the score. Thank the Lord for the Chronicles! How they can clarify things! Here’s an example. “The anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah’” (2 Sam 24:1). […]