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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
1 Kings 9
I just had another “aha” moment. As I was reading through this chapter, a thought flashed through my mind that had never occurred to me, but makes perfect sense. I had the thought when I read, “As for all the peoples who remained of the Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites…those whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely” (from 1 Kings 9:20-21). I know that these are the cursed descendants of Noah’s son, Ham, that God commanded His people to destroy them completely because of their detestable practices, and that the Israelites never completely fulfilled that mission. What I had never considered before is that those people represent our human nature.
As humans, we oppose God by nature. When left to our own devices, we do things that are detestable to God. In order to come to God and dwell peacefully with Him, we need to completely destroy every last bit of that human nature. Only then will we be pure and righteous. But, just like the Israelites, we can’t do it. When they tried to enter the Promised Land on their own power, their enemies overpowered them. We can’t come to God through our own efforts. Our nature stands in the way. But when we come to Him through Christ, He fights our battles for us, as He did for Israel. Even then, though, we struggle with what remains of our human nature; the part we never mange to drive out.
Here, the Israelites show us that when we honor God and keep Him first, He subdues our nature under us. When we turn away from Him, however, we become slaves to our detestable ways once again. Even though God has given us a new nature and the power to let the old one go, this struggle remains until God’s promised work is complete. So we need to be aware. Our enemies, in the form of the lusts of our flesh, remain with us. If we mingle with them, they will draw us away from God.
2 Chron. 8
Once again the Chronicler adds details regarding the temple and its service. In this case, he mentions the specific festivals as well as the divisions of the priests and Levites. In respect to their duties, the Chronicler mentioned temple service, praise and ministry before the priests, and the gatekeepers. I find his inclusion of all those details interesting because of their relevance to the overall story of God’s plan for our redemption. The author couldn’t possibly have known the full relevance of those things. Still, he seemed to recognize their importance to God’s promise, so he made a point to mention them. Divinely inspired, no doubt.