1Kings introduction and chapter 1, brief comments; Solomon's reign begins

 

1Kings

The historical books of the Old Testament are divided and named differently by different authorities as in some call this 3^rd Kings as a continuation of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel with others having different opinions. Also, some Jewish authorities have Jeremiah writing 1Kings while others have Ezra. We will examine internal evidence to see if we can find out who wrote this or even if we are told that information.

Introduction

The book beings as David’s reign ends, with the infirmities of old age, which even the greatest men and women of God are not immune from along with a rather awkward way, for us in our modern times, of the king staying warm. Buckle up.

1Kings 1:1 ¶  Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. 2  Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. 3  So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4  And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

Now here is a problem for the #metoo crowd. This young woman, and we don’t know how old she was but she could have been just a teenager, is objectified here as something desirable to keep an old man warm. This is something that you can imagine in a monarchy. The people’s lives are in control of the king and the monarchy’s presumed needs triumph over any people’s rights. So, although the king was not able to have sex with her she would lie next to him to comfort him. This makes here somewhat of a link to the right to the throne as a person who shares the king’s bed. We’ll see what happens as this sets the stage for the upcoming succession crisis. According to ancient texts and medical accounts this situation was not uncommon. The ancient Greek physician, Galen, and the Jewish turncoat historian, Josephus, relate this as a common practice and established and accepted medical advice. It is best not to dwell on such a practice.

John Gill figured David to be about 70, roughly my own age.

1Kings 1:5 ¶  Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6  And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom. 7  And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. 8  But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. 9  And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants: 10  But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.

Adonijah is a son of David by Haggith. Here is the reference to his important offspring.

2Samuel 3:1 ¶  Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. 2  And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; 3  And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; 4  And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5  And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David’s wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

He wanted to be king and put on the airs of being king and David didn’t try to prevent or say anything about it. Remember Absalom’s revolt?

2Samuel 15:1  And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

 He got Joab and Abiathar into his camp but significant, important loyalists of David were against him. Adonijah knew who was for him and against him and made a point of not inviting them to his feast as they could challenge his pretensions to the throne. He knew not to call Solomon, who apparently was obviously favored.

1Kings 1:11 ¶  Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? 12  Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. 13  Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign? 14  Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words. 15  And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king. 16  And Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou? 17  And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. 18  And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not: 19  And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. 20  And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21  Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders. 22  And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. 23  And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 24  And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? 25  For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah. 26  But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called. 27  Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him? 28  Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king. 29  And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, 30  Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day. 31  Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.

Here in this scene created by the prophet Nathan, David’s rejection of Adonijah as his heir and successor and the confirmation of Solomon as the king of Israel is played out. Adonijah’s presumption and attempt to usurp power doesn’t end there, however, as we will see. This is not so much trickery as bringing to David’s attention the succession crisis that his indifference has created by not announcing publicly what he had promised Bathsheba and sworn by God.

1Kings 1:32 ¶  And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. 33  The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: 34  And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. 35  Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. 36  And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too. 37  As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David. 38  So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. 39  And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. 40  And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

It is now announced that Solomon is king, to reign after David. Anglican Archbishop James Ussher, writing about the same time of this Bible gave us his Annals of the World, a remarkable comparison of events in the world of that time with the events of the Bible that would typically be done by computer today. In it he stated that Solomon’s reign began in 1015BC.

Here’s an interesting thought. Only a modernist, a hyperliteralist like a Fundamentalist would say that so that the earth rent with the sound of them meant that the sound of rejoicing caused an earthquake. This is symbolic, metaphorical imagery. The Bible is filled with such hyperbole and people talk this way. Be careful and discerning about how literal you are in your interpretation.

1Kings 1:41 ¶  And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? 42  And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings. 43  And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king. 44  And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king’s mule: 45  And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. 46  And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. 47  And moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. 48  And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. 49  And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. 50  And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 51  And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword. 52  And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. 53  So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.

Adonijah and his party get the scare of their life and the passage speaks for itself. But Solomon shows his brother mercy. All’s well that ends well, forgive and forget, or so it seems.

Mark 8, verses 10 to 21, part 6, how can you not understand?

 

19 When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. 20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. 21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

As Jesus continues with this response to the cluelessness of His disciples he brings up some important considerations for us. Twelve is associated with the twelve tribes of Israel and seven is associated with God’s number of completion and perfection as in the seven days of creation.

Jesus is upbraiding them for their forgetfulness and their inability to understand. This is the root of all unbelief, not remembering what God had done previously, and a mind closed to the truths that God wants to reveal. It is much the same way with modern men. Scientists insist on denying God’s part in creation and prefer to explain away the existence of life itself by fantastic, mechanical means without any part played by the God of the Bible.

The fact is, though, that if they weren’t so hard hearted, they would understand. For one instance, geneticists who deal with mutations will write papers filled with astonishment at how quickly we, as a species or as an individual, deteriorate over a relatively short time such as Cornell University’s Alexey Kondrashov’s 1995 paper published in the Journal of Theoretical Biology entitled, “Contamination of the Genome by Very Slightly Deleterious Mutations:Why Have We Not Died 100 Times Over?” or James Crow of the University of Wisconsin’s Genetics Laboratory who wrote an article in 1997 published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences entitled, “The high spontaneous mutation rate: Is it a health risk?” These scientists appear to be amazed at the rapid rate at which mankind is falling apart, the rate of devolution, not evolution.

Harmful mutations over the past few centuries have been accumulating. The scientist, like the disciple hard of heart and hard of hearing doesn’t hear a distant voice in his head reminding him that the Bible implies only a 6,000 year old existence for mankind. At the rate we are going, as these scientists point out without meaning to, we couldn’t have been around much longer than that. People find out such interesting facts and forget in their dull minds what God has said and done. No, rather, they would prefer to pretend He doesn’t exist.

God will say to them, perhaps, “When I made the heaven and the earth in six days, when I destroyed life on earth with a Flood, when I scattered the families from Babel all over the earth, when I led the Hebrews through the Red Sea, when I rose from the dead and offered all men salvation how is it ye do not understand?”

What about the Christian who has been delivered time and time again by God’s hand of protection and mercy but forgets each time just how much he or she is totally dependent on God’s mercy and grace? Think about the last time you were certain that you would not have made it without God’s help and then ask yourself how is it you do not understand?

Proverbs 22:3 comments; the prudent and the naive

 

Proverbs 22:3 ¶ A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Two types of people are referenced here; the prudent and the simple. We’ve already seen that a prudent person is wise by the Bible’s own way of defining words in 16:21 and 18:15 by parallel phrasing. The simple are inexperienced, young, and naïve as in 1:4; 7:7 and don’t know anything in 9:13.

This very verse is repeated word for word in 27:12, too. Now, evil has several different meanings in the Bible. It is the opposite of good in the very second chapter of Genesis. It carries with it the thought of intended malice and violence in Genesis 37:20, Amos 6:3, and Jonah 3:8, again shown by contrast and parallel phrasing. It is trouble, calamity, and disaster in Isaiah 45:7; Matthew 6:34; and I Timothy 6:10. So, it is a general term that doesn’t always mean simply sinful iniquity. To render it to mean only that would blaspheme God in Isaiah 45:7 and make Matthew 6:34 a joke. However, here it can obviously be trouble and sinful iniquity, which go hand in hand.

In this verse, a prudent or wise man looks ahead and sees trouble or sin and avoids it but the naïve and inexperienced walk right into it and suffer the consequences. Christians are warned first;

1Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

And comforted with;

1Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

For these reasons prudent Pastors do not counsel women alone. For these reasons there is no such thing as Christian dating, where a couple is getting to know each other alone, without the company of other Christians. For these reasons, a Christian isn’t going to be passing out tracts at the local public swimming pool or in the bar on the corner.

For these reasons a Christian isn’t going to have movies in his or her home with sexual or gratuitously, as in having no point but to excite, violent content, remembering;

Psalm 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

(Admit it, guys. You love violence. You love feminine beauty. There is about a millimeter distance between gratuitous violence and sex, and violent pornography which is what most horror and action/adventure movies are, anyway. I heard a British movie reviewer even say that the Passion of the Christ was a sadomasochistic thriller for gay men. Keep this in mind the next time you watch a movie not based on an actual historical event. All leading women in thrillers and romances are a type of the church: the bride of Christ, all heroes are a type of Christ, and all villains or “the other guy” are a type of Satan, the flesh, or the world. Now, tell yourself if the movie you’re watching presents it correctly or perverts it for your flesh.)

For these reasons, Christians should be careful and cautious about acquiring credit cards and unnecessary debt.

Romans 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

If you are wise and not simple, you’ll see trouble ahead and avoid it like the plague; you know, like you do the boss at work.

Go into everything with your eyes open. Never expect anything for nothing and don’t think that you are so spiritual that you’re going to be the one to defy the odds and walk right into a trap of Satan or your flesh and walk right back out unscathed.

It’s the simple and unwise who get ambushed, not the wise.

Mark, chapter 8, verses 10 to 21, part 5, beware of the leaven of the religious elite

 

13 And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. 15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. 17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? 18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

It’s important to understand that leaven in the Bible is not likened to a good thing. There is the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Exodus 12.

Exodus 12:19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off* from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. 20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.

*To be cut off means to perish or die – examples below

Amos 1:8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.

Zechariah 13:8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Leaven is a type of corruption.

Leviticus 10:12 ¶ And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy:

So, unlike what some religious traditions proclaim this woman in the following verse, who may be the false goddess Ishtar, Asthoreth, Diana, Isis, or any number of feminine manifestations of Satan, is not enriching or making perfect what may very well be Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism but is responsible for polluting all three.

Matthew 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

The doctrine or leaven of these Christian churches is no better than the leaven of the Pharisees.

Matthew 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

This is the natural outcome of following the heresy of the three main branches of Christianity is apparent;

Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The Scriptures tell us of a great “falling away” at the end of history.

2Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

To fall away is to betray Christ, to join the enemy.

Jeremiah 37:13 And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.

The lukewarm church of the end times, the Laodicean church, from Lao-the people, dike-judge or the people’s rights, the human rights church, not God’s rights, is rejected by God;

Revelation 3:14 ¶ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

The many “progressive” movements in the United States in the 18th century were essentially Christian based, founded by diehard, postmillennial, and evangelical Christians. By placing government in the place of God and civil law in the place of moral courage these pious Christians who meant well eventually consigned their spiritual offspring to unbelief and faithlessness. Government, whom they could see, became the God whom they could not see previously. The destruction of the Biblical view of Christians in America and the authority of the Scriptures was abandoned. Neo-orthodoxy and eventually Neo-evangelicalism reduced the Bible to a quaint mythology whose authority was based on original manuscripts that no one on earth has seen for thousands of years, the doctrine of the Scriptures “given by inspiration” as the Bible states was reduced to the original manuscripts only being inspired, and finally the error of calling them even “God-breathed” in defiance of Jeremiah, chapter 36, Job 32:8; and 2 Peter 3:15. As pre-President Obama lamented in his 2006 Call for Renewal speech the abandonment of the liberal of his or her religious faith is ironic considering that liberal political ideas were rooted originally in Christian beliefs and voiced by evangelical Christians in the 1800’s. To the American Christian, government became God’s agent on earth, and eventually took God’s place.

Postmillennial belief, that mankind would create God’s perfect kingdom on earth by legislating it into existence led to disbelief and apostasy and the eventual disappointment of World War One led to a new kind of Christianity, not moored to the Bible at all, but geared to a rewriting of it, without God’s hand in it.

As one example, a mentor of President Woodrow Wilson, Richard Ely of Johns-Hopkins University said it most clearly.

“An obstacle [to the expansion of the State’s role] in economic activity has been found in the low view that men have too frequently taken of its [the State’s] nature. Calling it [the State] an atomistic collection of units, some have gone so far as to speak of the support for public schools as robbery of the propertied class. Now, it may rationally be maintained that, if there is anything divine on earth, it is the State, the product of the same God-given instincts which led to the establishment of the Church and of the Family. It was once held that kings ruled by right divine, and in any widely accepted belief, though it be afterwards discredited, there is generally found a kernel of truth. In this case it was the divine right of the state.”

(Gary M. Pequet and Clifford M. Thies, “The Shaping of a Future President’s Economic Thought: Richard T. Ely and Woodrow Wilson at “The Hopkins,” The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy 15, no. 2 (Fall 2010): 262. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed August 2, 2011).)

A hardened heart has to do with not understanding or being willing to understand what God is showing you or teaching you. A hardened heart keeps you from hearing what is being said;

Exodus 7:13 And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

In verse 17 it is clear that a hardened heart keeps you from understanding what is obvious. A hardened heart keeps you from doing what you should do;

Exodus 7:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.

The consequences of a hardened heart become worse and worse sin. Read Romans 1:16-32.

Psalm 25:15-22 comments; deliver me, O Lord

 

Psalm 25:15 ¶  Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. 16  Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. 17  The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. 18  Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. 19  Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. 20  O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee. 21  Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee. 22  Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

 

As David speaks of looking to God in times of distress notice these verses;

 

 

Psalm 123:2  Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.

 

Psalm 141:8  But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.

 

Psalm 31:4  Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

 

Psalm 124:7  Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

 

Let us look at Psalm 69 first, which also is a prophecy of Christ.

 

Psalm 69:13 ¶  But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. 14  Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 15  Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 16  Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 17  And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. 18  Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. 19  Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 20  Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 21  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

 

Look also at Psalm 88.

 

Psalm 88:1 ¶  «A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.» O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: 2  Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; 3  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. 4  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5  Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. 6  Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 7  Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. 8  Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. 9  Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

 

    10 ¶  Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah. 11  Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? 12  Shall

thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 13  But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. 14  LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? 15  I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. 16  Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off. 17  They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together. 18  Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

 

In verse 18 look at the contrast between the afflictions David is suffering and his sins. Remember in verse 7 he was concerned about the sins of his youth, as they are often great for all of us.

 

7  Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.

 

Compare with these other verses;

 

Psalm 119:132 ¶  Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name…153 ¶  RESH. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.

 

See how Hannah made her request regarding her affliction of being childless;

 

1Samuel 1:11  And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

 

There is an expectation of deliverance when the request is made, a faith that God will not abandon them.

 

See verses 19-22. This is a common theme of Psalms for protection against enemies.

 

Psalm 3:1 ¶  «A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.» LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. 2  Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

 

Psalm 27:2  When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell…12  Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

 

Psalm 38:19  But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

 

Psalm 56:2  Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.

 

Psalm 57:4  My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

 

Psalm 138:7  Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

 

Psalm 143:3  For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

 

In verse 22 David pleads for all Israel.

 

Prophetically speaking for verse 15 think of this statement from Paul in his second letter to Timothy.

 

2Timothy 2:25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

 

Can you see the threat of a snare that those who reject Christ are in danger of?

 

Now come back to the Old Testament as Jeremiah talks of wicked men.

 

Jeremiah 5:25 ¶  Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. 26  For among my people are found wicked men: they lay

wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

 

Prophetically, speaking of what verse 22 reminds us of, Daniel will plead for exiled Israel.

 

Daniel 9:17  Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.

 

We can imagine this passage as a prayer for deliverance during the Great Tribulation to come, the Time of Jacob’s trouble and it is a great prayer for ourselves in times of great distress. We may not have physical enemies that hate us but we most certainly have spiritual forces around us that want to see us destroyed.

Mark, chapter 8, verses 10 to 21, part 4, musings on Cain

 

Remember, the sons of God who came to live in the flesh bore children through the daughters of men which offspring were giants; violent and powerful.

Genesis 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose…..4 ¶ There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually….

Their appearance, their representatives or angels (Isaiah 63:9) as angels are not a separate created thing but appearances of God (Judges 2:1), men (Daniel 9:21 with Luke 1:26 and Revelation 21:17), churches (Revelation 2:1), children (Matthew 18:10), suffer for their leaving their original position;

Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Remember what Jesus called the religious elite of His day;

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

If this is so, then Cain’s blood ran through our veins, and by extension, Satan’s blood, through Noah’s sons. Some traditions say that Noah’s wife, the mother of the three men who overspread the entire earth; Shem, Ham, and Japheth, was Naamah, Tubalcain’s sister, a descendant of Cain.

If that is so, then the blood of Cain entered our veins through the wife of Noah as he was perfect in his generations. There was something wrong with Shem’s, Ham’s, and Japheth’s blood. There is something wrong with our blood. God did something about that spiritually and physically.

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

1Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

1Peter 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Seems like blood is sort of important, doesn’t it? Christ Himself has generated a people for Himself by His blood. The prophecy in Psalms 22 which Christ pointed to by quoting its first verse from the cross states that clearly;

Psalm 22:30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

Although the Jews had plenty of evidence to look at Christ refused to give them a sign. The Hebrews were born as a people by signs and wonders but Christ refused them. Remember from before, He knew they didn’t believe but were merely seeking a way to accuse Him of something wrong by their standards.

You don’t need a sign. You need the gift of faith to believe. When was the last time you prayed for, not only health, healing, sustenance, success, and lots of stuff? When was the last time you prayed for faith?

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Jesus is going to leave these people and preach an important little sermon about leaven.

Proverbs 22:2 comments; rich and poor

 

Proverbs 22:2 ¶ The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.

Both John Gill and Matthew Henry, writing in the 18th century, make the following point on this verse. Gill was also known for exploring what the older Jewish texts commented on Old Testament verses and was knowledgeable in Arabic and Syriac. Although that knowledge isn’t necessary to understand any verses in the Bible translated into English it is still interesting. Both of them say that the poor and the rich need each other. Gill points out that the rich need the poor to do work and the poor need the rich to create employment. None is independent of the other. Henry goes on to say that the poor man is poor so that he may fully depend on the Lord for his sustenance while the rich man is rich so that he may be thankful to God and give generously to the poor.

In America today we have diverse opinions about both rich and poor, many of which don’t recognize the dependence they have on each other. In our system it is assumed that the poor don’t want to be poor and should not be satisfied with any level of income or status and always want more than what they have in spite of. It is assumed that everyone wants to be rich and that if they aren’t rich or don’t seek to be it is because of a moral deficiency such as laziness and sloth. And yet, even our poor have far more wealth than their ancestors did so rich and poor as meanings are relative terms to each other within the same system.

Regardless of the conflict in the greater society, which society is not Christian although there still may be some Christian principles adhered to, the rich and the poor have obligations to each other and to God, the maker of them both. Contrary to what the Ayn Rand idolaters insist, the rich do have a moral obligation to help the poor. Contrary to what the Karl Marx idolaters insist, the poor do have an obligation to seek employment and if employment is not available, then to create their own work. Government should facilitate both and not stand in the way of either, which, sadly, it often does, with burdening restrictions and taxes on new business starters and regulations that hamper being able to offer employment to others. But those are political issues that must be worked out in the political arena.

I have pointed out verses before where the church is told that those who will not work should not be given help.

 

2Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

And yet, God despises those rich who exploit and manipulate the poor.

James 5:1 ¶ Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

Still, slothful and lazy people who will not do anything for themselves, God also despises.

Proverbs 19:24 A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

And yet, the rich Christian is permitted to have money for a reason; to earn it honestly and to act charitably with it.

Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

But, even so, the rich man’s money, under a just system, is his property and he must do voluntarily with it what God has called him to do, not being forced. Notice here the results of a labor dispute.

Matthew 20:11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

And in spite of that, there were emergency conditions presented in the Bible, where, in order to keep people from starving a government took complete control of the economy of a nation.

Genesis 47:20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof. 22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands. 23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. 24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. 25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants. 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.

The only Biblical response to rich and poor is that for the Christian, God is the owner of everything. Under God’s economic system, if you will, God owns all money and property.

Psalm 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

In our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, it was stated by the committee headed by Thomas Jefferson, that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The last phrase, “pursuit of Happiness”, was not an uncommon thought in that century in earlier European writings. This particular phrase was distilled down from what George Mason had written in the Virginia Declaration of Rights’ draft, that among the rights that men had were “the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”

So, as the Declaration of Independence and even the Constitution of the United States itself have shown themselves to be political statements, they are equally economic statements, as there is no freedom without economic freedom as many industrious but frustrated people in third world countries in South America, Africa, and Asia will tell you. A country with no guarantee of a right to private property will not achieve much of a standard of living for its people.

God brings both poor and rich together and each has responsibilities before God to each other. The Lord is the maker of them all. They should not be enemies but work together for the common good. Sadly, our nation has little justification for being called a Christian nation with the class conflicts that go against this Proverb and the government interference, including monopolies permitted, regulations pursued on the behalf of established and powerful corporations to dampen competition, excessive and wastefully spent taxes, and over regulation keeping small businesses from starting. I wonder how many would be entrepreneurs would leap out in a venture if it wasn’t for the fact that our system has tied in getting health insurance at a reasonable cost to being employed by someone else full time or the fact that a small business has to hire several people just to keep ahead of regulations and requirements from government. It has been said that a government strong enough to give you everything you want is also strong enough to take away everything you have.

On top of this you have cold blooded, wealthy corporations and investment bankers seeking political power from the government to plunder the people, stealing from our savings after using successful public relations campaigns to make us think our money is safe in their hands or that they are a benefit to mankind while they pollute and destroy the environment and poison their own workers in poorer lands. Sweetheart deals are made for those who pump dollars into politicians’ coffers creating tariffs, subsidies, and price supports that seem to benefit foreign governments and international corporations more than the people to whom they sell their products and the workers who they cheat. And yet, these same interests have fooled common, ordinary people into speaking out for their right to do this under some twisted notion of liberty and freedom from government control.

But, anyone who reads the Bible knows that a nation can’t be Christian. Only a person can be a Christian, and we, in the body of Christ are called within our church bodies for the rich to take care of the poor, for the poor who are able to be willing to work hard, and for all to work together to glorify God. Each person’s genuine needs that they can’t meet should be met. The early Jewish Christians in Jerusalem even went so far as to hold their possessions in common and although that is not our doctrine for today it does manifest God’s intent for His church with regard to taking care of each other.

Acts 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

In our doctrine for today, the rules that apply to us, we are to meet the needs of those who can’t take care of themselves in our churches and don’t have families to help but those who can work must and those who have believing family should go to them first as explained in 1 Timothy 5 and in verses from Ephesians and 2 Thessalonians above. Finally, let it be said that rich and poor come together at the foot of the Cross, for the Lord is maker and Saviour of them all.

Mark 8: 10-21 comments, part 3; Adam and Eve

 

And remember Manna, that unknown substance that fed the Jews in the wilderness? Well, consider this;

Psalm 74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

There are so many deep things in this Book of God that we can never know the entire story here in this life.

A generation refers to our polluted bloodline. Death came into the world that we know by sin.

Let’s take a look at an unbelieving evolutionary scientist’s scholarly statement;

“Death did not appear simultaneously with life. This is one of the most important and profound statements of all biology. At the very least it deserves repetition: Death is not inextricably intertwined with the definition of life.” William R. Clark, Sex and the Origins of Death (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 54.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

In our natural state our bloodline is polluted. Starting with the proscriptions against eating blood before, during, and after the Law given to Moses;

Genesis 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

Leviticus 17:12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

Acts 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Let’s move on to the fact that Satan used Eve as a sort of shill in his rebellion against God by giving Adam the opportunity to go against the one thing God had forbidden him to do.

He beguiled her through subtlety;

2Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

She added to God’s command which we are forbidden to do repeatedly (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; and Revelation 22:18);

Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

God had said merely not to eat of it;

Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

She became part of Satan’s scam but Adam knew full well what was happening;

1Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

And he was right there with her when this happened, when Eve fell for the three things that God warns about again in 1 John 2:16, and he willingly disobeyed while she was deceived as the previous verse says;

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Eve sexually knew her husband, Adam, after the Fall and declared that her firstborn was from the Lord;

Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

Is it possible that Cain and Abel were twins? There is no mention of a conception between Cain and Abel;

Genesis 4:1 ¶ And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

But was Cain truly from God?

1John 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

There is a condition where fraternal twins can have different fathers called Heteropaternal Superfecundation. I’m not saying I know anything controversial, just throwing this out for thought.