When moral compromise is involved, often winning half actually means losing it all. Among the Jews, prostitutes were often foreigners; hence their designation as “strange women.” To accentuate the gravity of their sin, these harlots plied their trade as a part of their devotion to some heathen idol (see Num 25:1-5; Hos 4:14). These demeaning […]
Read More… from February 23, 2024 — The Whole Truth From The Half Story
If the Lord offered you anything, what would you ask? In fact, He’s already given us everything! You would think, with the kingdom established, and Solomon soon to receive a three-fold gift from heaven, that 1 Kings 3 would be full of sunshine. Actually this is where the baleful music begins, ominously warning of trouble […]
Remember that our Lord will also take vengeance on His enemies in establishing His kingdom. The section before us, 1 Kings 2:12-46, will be as summarily dealt with as were the enemies of David. First, Adonijah made another ill-advised move to take the kingdom, not this time by gathering powerful men, but by manipulating women. […]
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