Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Kings 6:1 (New International Version)

¹ In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD.

Here, Solomon begins building the Temple in Jerusalem. It took a while to build the Temple. Then,

1 Kings 8:3-6 (New International Version)

³ When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, ⁴ and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, ⁵ and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.  ⁶ The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.

the priests bring the ark of the Lord into the Temple.

Pause for a moment. God’s people are 480 years out of the captivity in Egypt. They built the ark soon after leaving Egypt. The ark of the Lord is 480 years old. It is still in good enough shape to be carried about. That was built to last. And, oh by the way, it was built to God’s specifications.

1 Samuel 11:1-2 (New Century Version)

¹ About a month later Nahash the Ammonite and his army surrounded the city of Jabesh in Gilead. All the people of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

² But he answered, “I will make a treaty with you only if I’m allowed to poke out the right eye of each of you. Then all Israel will be ashamed!”

This is a tough treaty. Nahash – an Ammonite – is attacking a city in Gilead. He will make a treaty and spare the city on one little condition:

He gets to poke out the right eye of every person there.

I did a little research on this one. There doesn’t seem to be any great ancient cultural item here. The only affect would be that Nahash would gain the reputation of someone whom you would not want to insult, make angry, or be on his bad list. Plus, the people of the city, with all their right eyes removed, would look awful to anyone they met.

Psalms 51:1-2 (New International Version)

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

² Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

This is a prayer I could say everyday. In particular, the lines:

blot out my transgressions…wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

God does that for me, and that is a great blessing.

2 Samuel 12:29-31 (New International Version)

²⁹ So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. ³⁰ He took the crown from the head of their king —its weight was a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city ³¹ and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. He did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

David conquers a kingdom. He took the crown from the conquered king and put it on his own head. Why did he do that?  Okay, maybe it was a image type of thing – wearing the king’s crown showed that he had won the victory and all that. But still.

God led David to victory. The conquered kingdom was worthless. The conquered king was worthless. The crown, well you know – worthless. Why put a worthless hat on your head after God led you to victory? Doesn’t make much sense, so why do we continue to do this today?

Consider what we do. We conquer our appetite and lose weight; we celebrate with a meal. We raise money to feed the poor; we celebrate by going on a cruise. Why do we do those things? I guess they are part of the human condition. We lust after things. Well, we don’t use the word “lust.” We use other words that don’t sound so bad, but we conquer something and run back to it or something like it. Why do we do these things?

God has a lot of patience with us. He has had a lot of patience with us going back to David and before David. Thanks God.

Acts 3: 1-5 (New International Version)

¹One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. ²Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Peter and John are walking through the temple. Beggars are sitting in the area as usual. The scene reminds me of the homeless sitting on the sidewalks of a city today.

Peter and John do something different; they looked straight at the crippled beggar. They acknowledged the crippled beggar. They proclaimed,

We see you. We know you are created by God. We acknowledge you as one of us.

The two apostles commence to heal the crippled beggar so that he stands and walks – a miracle through the power of God. First, however, they looked at the man.

We are busy today in the 21st century. There is not enough time to stop and chat with strangers, and many of the people we glance at are pretty strange. Most of the people are not crippled beggars. They are not looking for a miracle of “stand up and walk.” They are, however, longing for someone to look at them and say, “I see you. You are just like me – a creation of God.” And we could throw in, “Have you  been restored to a right relationship with God through His son Jesus?”

1 Kings 19:3-9 (New International Version)

³ Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴ while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

⁷ The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” ⁸ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. ⁹ There he went into a cave and spent the night.

God uses Elijah to provide an example to us for the ages.

Elijah is beat – literally dead tired. He sat under a tree, prayed for relief through death, and fell asleep. Notice the train of events:

• an angel wakes Elijah
• Elijah eats
• Elijah sleeps a second time
• an angel wakes Elijah a second time
• Elijah eats a second time
• Elijah goes to work

This is pretty simple: rest, eat, work. Do these things in this order.

There are times when we forget one or more of these elements or do them out of order.

God, thank you for the timeless example of Elijah. Help me to follow it.

1 Kings 17:5-6 (New International Version)

⁵ So he (Elijah) did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

These verses are about Elijah. Now Elijah did some amazing miracles by the power of God. In this and the next few chapters of 1 Kings, Elijah:

• caused the widow’s jar of flour and oil to have an endless supply
• raised the widow’s son from the dead
• did all those things with the 400 prophets of Baal and the altars
• and so on

I had not noticed the miracle of the above verses until recently. All the other things had overshadowed these verses. Let’s consider:

birds brought bread and meat to Elijah twice a day

Now maybe I could understand birds bringing little piece of meat – tiny pieces of meat – to a person as adult birds will do that for their young when the young are in the nest. Large enough pieces of meat to sustain a man? And then their is the bread. Where on earth were the ravens finding the bread?

That is a miracle. God caused birds to bring food to sustain a man.

God, help me to notice the miracles you perform in front of my eyes everyday. Help me to appreciate them.

Ephesians 6:11-18 (New International Version)

¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can fight against the devil’s evil tricks.¹² Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world.¹³ That is why you need to put on God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing.¹⁴ So stand strong, with the belt of truth tied around your waist and the protection of right living on your chest.¹⁵ On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong.¹⁶ And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows of the Evil One.¹⁷ Accept God’s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times with all kinds of prayers, asking for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready and never give up. Always pray for all God’s people.

This is a well known passage about the “armor of God” as verse 11 reads. It describes our fight, the armor, a belt, footwear, shield, helmet, and sword. I’d like to concentrate on the sword for this day.

Just recently, a person stood in front of a congregation, raised his Bible, and asked, “Does everyone have their sword with them?” I have probably heard this a thousand times, but this time something clicked in my head and I had to return to these verses in Ephesians. I had to consult them again s l o w l y. Verse 17 reads in part:

take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Hmmm, this seems to say that the word of God is the “sword of the Spirit.” It doesn’t say the word of God is the “sword of the Christian” or the “sword of mankind” or the “sword of man” or anything that would indicate that the Bible is MY sword.

This passage reads to me that the word of God is the Spirit’s sword. The word of God is not my sword.

Perhaps I am reading too closely into a translation flawed by the human failings of the translators. Perhaps there are other verses which do not come to my mind – also flawed by human failings – at this time. Perhaps time will tell and I will change my mind.

1 Kings 12:10-14 (New International Version)

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him (Rehoboam) replied, “Tell these people who have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’-tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’ ”

¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”

King Solomon has died. The rightful heir to the throne is Rehoboam. A semi-rebel Hebrew named Jeroboam leads a group of people who visit King Rehoboam. They want to know what Rehoboam’s policies will be. The old King Solomon had pretty had taxes for his day and a pretty big appetite for luxury.

Would Rehoboam cut them some slack? Cut taxes and spending a bit?

Rehoboam’s friends come back with a couple of catchy answers:

My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.

and

My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.

The story doesn’t end well. Rehoboam thought he could demand more and more from his people, and they would comply. He was wrong. They seceded from the nation, and Rehoboam didn’t have the military strength to stop them.

Sometimes it is better to ease the pressure on people. Lower taxes can lead to more wealth for all. A lesson in economic policy.

There is also a lesson in humility and compassion. It is best for me to admit that I have enough – more than enough – and don’t need to demand more from others.

1 Samuel 2:12 (New International Version)

Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD.

This is the first line in a (hi)story about the sons of  the priest Eli. The details that follow are not of much importance. Given this first line, one thing is sure – the story can’t end well (and it doesn’t).

Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas were in a place of great trust, a place that required great integrity. They had no integrity; they betrayed the trust given them. Their daily crime was stealing food from the sacrificial offerings brought by the people. They didn’t steal food because they were starving. They stole because they wanted more and better than what they had.

Things did not end well. The Philistines, the enemy of God’s people, stole the  Ark of the Covenant. Eli the priest died as did his wicked sons who had no regard for the Lord.

The story ended well for Samuel. Once again, the details are not that important. The beginning of the story tells all (1  Samuel 3:19):

The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up

This is all pretty simple. If the Lord is with you, the story will end well. This has nothing to do with luck. The Lord just doesn’t happen to be with some people and not with other people. There is no roll of the die in the sky that determines life. Note the words about Eli’s sons: they had no regard for the Lord. They chose to disregard the Lord. Samuel chose to regard the Lord, and the Lord stayed with him. There is no luck here, just a simple choice.