Month: June 2018

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Day 171 — Ecclesiastes 11-12 & II Chronicles 9

Were you impressed with much of what you heard in Ecclesiastes? “Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.” If you take that statement at face value, it’s ridiculous. (Pa Grape says in an observation more profound than “The Preacher’s”, “Why even bring it up?!”) If there is a deeper meaning to it, he could at least have given us a clue to what it is. That he didn’t, leaves us with nothing more than the face-value option. Even though he repeatedly mentioned how wise he was and called himself the Preacher, I’m not fooled into thinking that his meaning is so profound that I have failed to fathom it.

I believe that one of the reasons this book has been preserved as part of God’s word to us is that its conclusion refers to the best truth man can apprehend: revere God. Man can speak or write many words of his wisdom, even impressive words, but there is no wisdom that matters more than the wisdom that directs us to God. That may be ridiculously simple wisdom, so simple that it is rejected as wisdom, but wisdom doesn’t need to be more profound than that.

How do we reconcile the impressive credentials of Solomon with the mostly rather lame observations of Ecclesiastes? Until Solomon became corrupted by sin, his wisdom was impressive and established his reputation. Some of his insights likely continued to teach and impress others even as he grew more foolish. Likely also, seekers were so impressed with his reputation that they assumed his babblings had some deeper meaning that they couldn’t comprehend. The god of this age blinded the minds of unbelievers even then, and some probably were deceived into thinking that his wisdom was profound because he spoke it with such authority. He spoke truly that there is nothing new under the sun. People get deceived in the same way even today. Let this book be our lesson and reminder to seek God’s wisdom so that we are not foolish.

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Day 170 — Ecclesiastes 7 – 10

The pointless meanderings and parallel structures that connect totally unrelated ideas show the damage that sin does to wisdom, even God-given wisdom. The wisdom of “the Preacher” is foolish! I have asked the Holy Spirit to remind each of us of that truth when the world ridicules God’s wisdom and dismisses us as idiots for choosing to believe it. Why should we be deceived or bullied into choosing to believe man’s wisdom, knowing that it is corrupted by sin?

Recall that this book is about man’s foolishness, and don’t be fooled into accepting some of its conclusions as truth. For example, his allusion in verse 7:28 to “one in a thousand men” implies a reference to one who is worthy, virtuous; such a man is rare, but there is no such woman. That is not consistent with Scripture and should be seen for the bitter foolishness of a man who had such a huge harem as Solomon and suffered some unpleasant consequences for it. Another example would be his lack of understanding about what happens to men after death. Although these are stated in Scripture as truth, recall their context and don’t be stumped when someone who wants to discredit God’s word presents them in support of their viewpoint.

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Day 169 — Ecclesiastes 3 – 6

 

Do you hear regret in Solomon’s words? Wise as he was, he made poor choices and paid the price for it. Some people think Ecclesiastes is a book of wisdom so profound that we people of average intelligence can’t fathom its depths, when it is mostly a windbag spouting man’s foolishness-posing-as-wisdom. Again, the key to understanding the book is to see most of it for the foolishness it is. The wisest man in the world could not make man’s wisdom truly wise, and is exposed as a fool to exercise man’s wisdom instead of the wisdom of God. Just because the author hits the nail on the head with a few obvious observations doesn’t make his ideas wise. So why is this book part of God’s word? One reason is that it does remind us of man’s need for Messiah’s transforming power. We’ll cover more possible reasons in the next two days.

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Day 168 — Proverbs 31 & Ecclesiastes 1 – 2

Who is King Lemuel? We don’t know, but scholars generally agree that the writer is most likely Solomon, and he is referring to himself by another name as he did in his introduction to Ecclesiastes.

Proverbs 31 is generally remembered for its description of the characteristics of a desirable wife, but there are other profound ideas in this chapter. For example, when he advises the reader to speak up for the mute, we don’t have to take that as someone who is literally mute, but can include anyone who is unheard because they are devalued as so insignificant as to have no voice. Do you know of someone like that on whose behalf you should speak?

A lot of what made the wife of Solomon’s day an asset to her husband is not valued by husbands today. But think about what each statement said about the woman of that day, and how that could meaningfully translate into the activities of modern women. For example, the image of merchant ships conveys that she is enterprising in finding sources for what she needs. Her household doesn’t go without because something it needs isn’t readily available; rather, she finds a way to provide and perhaps add value to the family finances in doing so. The image of a lamp that doesn’t go out at night doesn’t mean that she works all night. Rather, in a day when lights weren’t turned on with a switch, they needed a source of ignition for the oil they burned in their lamps if the lamp went out. The most efficient and effective way to take care of that need was to keep a small lamp burning as an ignition source. So the image conveys one who takes care of the needs of her areas of responsibility and isn’t negligent.

Ecclesiastes is a book that requires much care in understanding. These ideas are the musings of the best wisdom man has to offer – but it is still man’s wisdom. What does the best of man’s wisdom offer? Meaninglessness. If you isolate the ideas in this book from their context, you will likely misunderstand them. People who want to discredit Scripture often quote passages from Ecclesiastes out of context.

Solomon had the resources to live at the peak of human experience in virtually every pleasure in which man can indulge. He indulged himself to the extreme and yet found nothing in his indulgences to satisfy. If any man could possibly find meaning and true satisfaction in anything this world has to offer, it would be Solomon with his endless resources. Yet he found no meaning, for sin and its effects have robbed human experience of satisfaction. Messiah is all over this book by His very absence. Without His redeeming work, nothing in this life has meaning or lasting satisfaction because the ultimate effect of sin has robbed our every effort of lasting value. How desperate our need for a rescuer from death is demonstrated in the writings of this man who was in a position to know.

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Day 167– I Kings 9 & II Chronicles 8

These other accomplishments of Solomon may be impressive in the eyes of man: the expansion, the wisdom and learning, the cultural advancements, the capable administration all would qualify Solomon to be labeled a “Great” of history. Yet he isn’t known to history as Solomon the Great. Compare him to his father David, who is seen as a “Great” in history. He didn’t seek to make his name great, but to do all God commanded and observe His decrees and laws, according to God in II Chronicles 7:17.

Solomon’s accomplishments didn’t mask the fact that he turned away and forsook the decrees and commands that God had given him (verse 7:19). God had promised to give Him the wisdom he asked for and other desirable things he didn’t ask for that were dear to the heart of man and would make him great in the eyes of man. Why did God do that? He seemed delighted in Solomon and wanted to delight him in return. God knows how to delight the human heart. Doesn’t that warn us of the danger of seeking after our own human desires instead of the higher ways of God?

Note that Solomon’s alliances made the building, the gold stockpiles, and the security possible. Yet he wasn’t able to oust the remaining former inhabitants of the land with those alliances. Further, he had a wife for whom he had to build a separate palace because the land on which his palace sat was too holy for her presence. What kind of a marital relationship did that promote, do you suppose? We’re going to see that despite that harem and having such a prestigious woman for a wife, Solomon didn’t have a high opinion of women.

We’re also going to see that Solomon’s choices had a huge impact on the nation, leading to division, institutionalization of his sinful practices, and ultimately its destruction. That is not an impressive accomplishment.

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Day 166 — Psalms 134, 146 – 150

Verse 146:5 says “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” That’s the kind of relationship He wants to have with us, the kind of relationship with Him that He wants us to enjoy. He wants us to rely on Him for all the help we need. That implies that we need help, and need to recognize our need and go to Him for the help we need. Is it possible that the One who created everything by just His commands, who sustains everything, who owns all, and is sovereign over all, is unable to help me? He wants to help me. He can be trusted to give me good help because He is good, and to know what good help I need because He is all-knowing. Oh, He can definitely be a help to me.

He also wants us to hope in Him. Do we appreciate what a relief that is, to hope in Him and not in anyone or anything else that is fleeting? Romans 5:5 says, “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” The more we place our hope in God, the more we find ways to delight in Him.

These psalms praise God for who He is and what He has done, reminding us of all the reasons why we can rely on Him for help and place our hope in Him. What is needed in your life today? His help? Hope? Why not choose to make that more real today by seeking Him for what you need? These psalms offer a good place to start our assessments.

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Day 165 — II Chronicles 6 – 7 & Psalm 136

On this second run through Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the Temple, make note of two things as you read:

  • The conditions upon which God’s response to His people’s prayers would be based. How can you apply these to your own life?
  • What Solomon asked God to do. What verbs did he use to describe the actions he wanted God to take on behalf of His people? How does this inform the way you pray for what you want God to do in your own life? How does it reveal how you can pray for others?

I hope you didn’t fail to notice that God held up David as a standard for future kings’ faithfulness to God, and an example of one who walked before God, did all that He commanded and observed His decrees and laws. We never fail to remember David as much for his sin with Bathsheba as for courageously killing Goliath, but his sin wasn’t fatal because he did the very thing God presented as a condition upon which He would “hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal….” He humbled himself, prayed, sought God’s face and turned from his wicked ways. God doesn’t count us total losses if we sin, either, as long as we respond to it by humbling ourselves, praying, seeking His face and turning from our wicked ways.

God’s promise to Solomon on the occasion of the dedication of the Temple reminds us of His faithfulness to His promises. It also reminds us of man’s unfaithfulness. David’s descendants weren’t faithful, and the people of Israel weren’t faithful. The nation was cast from their land in 70 A.D. when the Temple was flattened, never to be rebuilt. Israel ceased to be a nation from that time until it formed again in 1948. That is a lot of years for Israel to suffer the judgment for their sin – and they surely suffered in those years.  If God said that His eyes and His heart will always be in Jerusalem, His eyes and His heart are still there.

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Day 164 — I Kings 8 & II Chronicles 5

It seems rather funny to me that Solomon’s blessing on the people basically told of how blessed they were that God had fulfilled His promise to David in establishing Solomon his son as their king. That looks like a blessing for Solomon himself. However, in our land blessed with a stable government and a peaceful means for transferring power from one President to another, we have the luxury of taking firm leadership and a stable government for granted. Israel’s monarchy didn’t get the best start, and David’s dynasty was barely established at that point; they did not enjoy the luxury of taking a stable government for granted. This reminder offers us an opportunity to thank God for the blessings He has given us through our government, and even go a step further to pray for our leaders.

The Temple also felt more stable than the Tabernacle as a dwelling place for God in their midst. The building made of stone, cedar and gold was definitely more permanent than a tent made of animal skins. When God’s glory filled the Temple, He obviously approved of the place as He had the Tabernacle. He was good to give them the visible confirmation of His acceptance of the Temple and Jerusalem as the city where He would place His name, and of His presence in their midst. This would have cemented the relationship with God in the people’s eyes.

Notice that Solomon refers to the covenant between God and His chosen people as a covenant of love. The terms of the covenant are documented in the Law, but those rules are not the covenant. Rather, the covenant is about relationship, specifically a love relationship between God and His chosen people. Is that how you see your relationship with God?

If the relationship is a love relationship, why did Solomon have to pray the prayer he prayed, asking God to remember His people and respond to them in a loving way when they appealed to Him in the future? He didn’t presume upon God’s promises. He knew God was faithful beyond what the Covenant required Him to be, but he didn’t presume upon God’s faithfulness. He knew God loved His people and sought a love relationship with them, but he didn’t presume upon God’s love. He appealed to Him because He is a faithful and loving God. We also cannot presume upon God’s love and faithfulness. Are you presuming upon God because you have entered into relationship with Him by accepting His salvation? This is a great opportunity to speak to Him today about your relationship, and seek His input about it. If anything needs to be made right, now is a great time for confession and commitment. He wants to give each of us all the help we need to enjoy the intimacy with Him that He created us for and redeemed us for. We can always go deeper in our intimacy with Him; why not use this as an opportunity to seek that? If we neglect to do so, we risk stepping back from Him as Solomon did.

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Day 163 — I Kings 7 & II Chronicles 4

Why the detail about the construction of the Temple? These are not details that teach us about worship like the details about the Tabernacle do, so why would they be preserved for us to review not once, but twice? They certainly reveal the splendor of the place. The craftsmanship also reveals that Israel was no longer a nation of squatters living in homes they had taken over from previous inhabitants, but a distinct people who had developed an impressive culture of their own. That actually is an important detail about the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and Jacob, that He would build their descendants into a great nation. Their greatness wasn’t just evidenced in their numbers and victories in battle, but also in the culture they developed. Considering that Israel ceased to be a nation until relatively recently, that realization would have been an important reminder to readers through the centuries of the faithfulness of God to His promises – not only His promises for good, but His promises for bad as well.

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Day 162 — I Kings 5 – 6; II Chronicles 2 -3

The Temple was completed in about 960 B.C., about 450 years after the Israelites entered the Promised Land. II Chronicles tells us that it was built on Mount Moriah, which was the place where Abraham had intended to sacrifice Isaac. It was also the place where David built an altar and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in I Chronicles 21:18-22:1, to appease God when He sent a plague against Israel in punishment for David’s sin in taking a census. Recall that this was to be the place where the people would congregate three times a year for holy days as required in the Law. This made Jerusalem the city in which God would place His name, almost 500 years after first mentioning that that place would be designated by Him. In the meantime, the Tabernacle made by Moses had housed the articles of worship. This would be quite a change to the look and feel of worship. Consider all of these tidbits about the Temple; do they reveal to you anything about the worship that took place in the Temple, and thus, about your own worship?

Do you wonder, as I do, why God preserved the correspondence between Solomon and Hiram – not in one place, but two? Recall that Hiram was king of Tyre and Sidon, which would have made him the ruler of the most powerful kingdom in the known world in his day. It was powerful because it was the only source of those famous, precious cedar trees, and because they shipped goods all over the known world. Thus, Hiram was the wealthiest and most powerful ruler in the world in his day. Association with Hiram such as Solomon had, would have given Solomon and the nation of Israel prestige. The correspondence would have told the original readers of these books that Solomon was impressive and important. Again, isn’t it interesting that Hiram is such an unknown today that I feel the need to explain who he is and why his letter to Solomon was important, while Solomon needs no introduction today? The people of that day would not have believed it. Consider that, and marvel at God’s amazing works.