Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, December 31, 2012 Read - Luke 2:39-52 Before he picks up Mark’s story Luke has one more story about the birth of Jesus to tell us. This story echoes the story of Hannah bringing her son, Samuel to the temple and belongs with Luke’s creative beginning of his gospel. So far we have been dealing with material which is only found in Luke’s gospel. Matthew will tell a story about the birth of Jesus too, but his story is quite different. It would be interesting to compare their stories but we won’t take time for that now. Mark did not think it was either necessary or useful to tell the birth story of Jesus. These first two chapters are the creative work of Luke. It is likely that he had some stories in hand about the birth of Jesus and the birth of John, but he has modified and shaped those stories to fit his template from the story of the birth of Samuel. The last story is about the visit of Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old. That he was twelve is significant since that was the age at which a Jewish boy was thought to become a man – the present Jewish practice of bar-mitzvah echoes this story. In his own creative way Luke foreshadows much of the rest of the story in this episode. Jesus is lost for three days. Jesus will be in the tomb for three days. Mary and Joseph seem to come to the temple as a last resort in their search for Jesus – perhaps they came there to pray – and then they find him. In his response Jesus reminds them that he must be in his father’s house. How might that have sounded to anxious parent? Who is his father? Oh, yes there is that business about his birth isn’t there? And Mary pondered all these things in her heart. The phrase echoes the birth story. Having set the story in the framework of the Old Testament story of Samuel Luke is now ready to move forward. And he is ready to pick up his chief source, Mark. His beginning is important. He has told us that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah and that there have been people who have been waiting for his appearance and welcomed him when he came. Luke has placed Judaism in a positive light through the characters he has introduced us to – Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon, and Anna. And his parents are faithful Jews. Luke has also placed Jesus on the side of the poor and outcast – the lowly ones. And he has served notice to the high and mighty. We are ready now to pick up the rest of the story.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, December 30, 2012 Read - Luke 2:21-38 The story about Jesus being brought to the temple for his naming and in order for Mary and Joseph to make the proper offerings really belongs with the template we have noticed with regard to the story of the birth of Samuel. We noted before that both Samuel’s and John’s fathers were priests who were attending to the temple when their sons were born. Here Luke is careful to tell us that Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple for the proper Jewish rituals. The temple and its proper use seem to be important to Luke. At the temple Jesus is met by two faithful Israelites – Simeon and Anna. Both are spoken of by Luke as Israelites who have been waiting and longing for the fulfillment of God’s kingdom. They are faithful Israel longing for the Messiah! As we were reading the Old Testament, especially as we were nearing the ending of that story, we noted how the longing for a Messiah was growing among the people of God. In the telling of these stories Luke is answering that longing. And Luke’s point is to drive home to his readers that there were some among Israel who did welcome the Messiah when he came! We have a tendency to think that Israel rejected the Messiah – but Luke wants us to know that was not true. So there are Elizabeth and Zechariah, Simeon and Anna, even Mary and Joseph to bear witness that there were those who were looking for the Messiah and welcomed him when he came! The words of Simeon are important to hear. He has been waiting for the promise of the Messiah and now his eyes have seen the salvation God promised – not only to the Jewish people but as a light to the gentiles! Simeon can depart in peace. God has kept his word.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, December 29, 2012 Read - Luke 1:67-80 As we have noted all three songs sung at the births of the three children in the telling of Luke’s gospel and in 1 Samuel have a common theme. God is blessing his people – but that blessing is not pleasant for the strong and self-sufficient. God is bringing down the mighty and raising up the lowly. and faithful stewardship of what is really not our own. We may have to work a little to really appreciate these songs for ourselves but they do point us to the grace of God. There may be another reason why Luke has chosen to begin his gospel with these songs about the lowly and the poor. More than any other gospel Luke has concern for the poor and the outcast. Luke How do we see ourselves? To be honest I think that sometimes I am the strong. Perhaps you see yourself in that light too – at least some of the time. Is there a word of hope and grace for us in these songs? I think there certainly is. While it is possible for the prosperity that we enjoy to become a burden for us, especially when we deny our real blessed position in this world, it is also possible to know the humility of having received everything as a gift for which we can be truly grateful. It is a matter of good stewardship that comes into play for us. When we realize that all we are and have is a gift of God to us then we are able to release it all into God’s hands and become good will talk about money and property more than any other gospel writer and Luke will call us into account. We will need to watch for that. It is a theme that begins here and flows throughout his gospel – one of the touches Luke makes in his creative venture.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, December 28, 2012 Read - Luke 1:57-66 The announcement of the birth of John the Baptist to his father, Zechariah, sounded a lot like the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary. The stories are parallel to one another. The one great difference is in the response of the hearer. Mary’s response was one of pure faith – she trusts God and is willing to do whatever God is asking of her. Zechariah doubts God and the result of his doubt is that he is made mute until the birth of the child he does not think will come. Is this punishment for Zechariah? Maybe, but it also could simply be the giving of a sign to him that the birth of this child is really special. He needed a sign and God gave him one. Without the sign Zechariah’s doubt may have persisted. With the sign he knows that God keeps his word. Perhaps it is better to think of his being mute as something of a gift rather than a punishment. Maybe God treats us that way at times too. We need wisdom to receive the gifts God gives.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, December 27, 2012 Read - Luke 1:5-25 Beginnings and endings are important! All of the gospel writers made a choice about how they would begin their stories. Mark chose to begin with a very dramatic and powerful story of the baptism of Jesus when the heavens were ripped open, the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus, and God was “on the loose” in the world. Matthew chose to begin with the genealogy of Jesus to anchor Jesus into the Old Testament story. As I mention earlier, Luke decided to begin by telling the story of the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus following the template he found in the Old Testament in the story of the birth of Samuel. Luke places two pictures, one on either side of the picture of the birth of Samuel he found in the Old Testament. He did that so that we would compare and contrast these birth stories with one another. There is much they share in common. First of all there is something unusual about the mothers – Hannah and Elizabeth are barren, in contrast Mary has no husband – yet each will give birth to a special child. Hannah and Elizabeth share the fate of other important mothers in the story – Sarah, Rachel, the mother of Samson, all of whom were barren. God needs to overcome this barrenness and does! The men in the story are not viewed in the most positive light – at least not Elkanah and Zechariah (Joseph really has no role other than to be the one to whom Mary is engaged). The fathers of Samuel and John are priests who go to serve at the temple. In contrast Joseph is a carpenter, yet he will be diligent to bring the baby Jesus to the temple following his birth. All of the births are miraculous – Jesus’ birth is the most dramatic since Mary conceives without a man. Songs are sung to announce the births and the songs all sound the same – God is bringing down the mighty and lifting up the lowly! We have gotten ahead of ourselves by looking at the whole story but the point is that Luke chose to begin his gospel in this particular way to place the birth of Jesus in the midst these other two birth stories. He wants us to see them all together.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, December 26, 2012 Read - Luke 1:1-4 We are going to take a step backward now and think a bit about how we might approach our study of the Gospel of Luke. It is important that I share with you some of my own convictions about this gospel and how I intend to approach this study. The first four verses of Luke’s gospel may not seem to be very important. We are tempted to just skip over them and get to the real story. But these four verses are some of the most important verses ever written for those of us who seek to understand all of the gospel – and maybe the whole Bible. What do they tell us? First of all Luke tells us that he is not the first person to attempt to write a gospel. Luke is aware of others who have come before him in this endeavor. Why is that important? It is important because Luke tells us that he has other sources that he is using in the writing of his gospel. By telling us this Luke is confessing that his is not an original story – he is dependent upon others – but he is also telling us that he thinks some things need to be changed, added to, or subtracted from his sources – why else would Luke write his own gospel if he was satisfied with what he received? Luke also tells us that there were eye witnesses who stand behind the story. Luke is not one of them – and it is likely that all of his sources do not represent eye witness accounts either – more about that later. Finally, Luke tells us that his attempt is to tell the truth. So from this picture we can imagine Luke sitting down with the writings of others and attempting to construct an orderly account for his readers that proclaims the gospel to them. What might those sources have been? Anyone who has read the gospels for any length of time cannot help but notice that Matthew, Mark, and Luke sound a lot alike. In a previous congregation I had encouraged families to read through the New Testament during Lent. One mother told me that her little son protested one day as they were listening to Luke, “Mommy, can’t we just fast forward through this part, we’ve already heard it twice before.” He had been paying attention – listening to Matthew and then to Mark and by the time he got to Luke he thought he didn’t need to hear it again. What we discover is that both Luke and Matthew use almost all of Mark – in fact at least 95% of Mark is in one or the other of these two gospels and most often in both! So it is very likely that Mark was one of the sources for Luke – as he was for Matthew. What we also discover is that there are passages in both Luke and Matthew that are not in Mark. How might we explain that? It is likely that a second source for Luke as a document he shared with Matthew. That document no longer exists on its own – and we should rightfully say that while we can be quite sure that Mark is a source this second document is a matter of speculation and cannot be demonstrated as conclusively. I think this second source did exist and will proceed from that conviction – it’s the best explanation I know for why Luke and Matthew share some passage not found in Mark. There were likely some other sources, probably only short stories that Luke had gathered. And finally Luke is a creative writer on his own and likely constructed at least part of the story with the purpose of proclaiming his gospel. We need to back up one more step and talk about Mark as one of Luke’s sources. It is most likely that Mark was the first person to attempt to write a gospel. He had no models to go by. Mark only had a whole bunch of stories about Jesus and it was up to Mark to give them the order that he did. It is my conviction that the “storyline” of Mark’s gospel is Mark’s creation and does not necessarily represent the order in which things “really happened” except in a very general sense – the call of disciples logically comes early and the crucifixion and resurrection logically come at the end. In between Mark is responsible for the ordering of things. And Mark ordered them with a very distinct purpose. I have written a great deal about Mark previously and if you haven’t read it and are interested I can provide it to you. What becomes apparent once we understand Mark in this way is that Luke chose, for the most part to simply follow Mark’s ordering of things – we will notice that he does make some changes and the making of those changes is important but in general Luke was satisfied with Mark’s order. As far as the second source shared with Matthew is concerned it is harder to get a handle on what that source may have been like. A quick observation is that this second source appears to have been mostly the sayings of Jesus and was less about telling the events in the life of Jesus. Since we do not have this second source it is impossible to determine the original order but it is also less important since it is not events that make up this source but sayings. Luke an Matthew treat Mark a lot alike –not changing Mark’s order a great deal but they do use their second source in much more diverse ways – Matthew tends to gather things together in blocks and Luke tends to disperse things throughout the rest of the story. One last thing is important to be said about Luke and all the other gospel writers as well as the writers of the whole Bible. All of the writers were more concerned about evangelism and theology than they were about history. That is not to say that these writings do not tell history accurately – but it does mean that at times theology or evangelism trumps history. And it does mean that the writers were likely far less interested in historical accuracy that we are – that is a characteristic of our age where we have come to understand truth mostly in terms of facts. I am very thankful that Luke chose to write the first four verses of his gospel! Those verses help us to approach the Bible with both a better understanding of how the writers may have proceeded and to be struck by the genius of their enterprise. Mark, Luke, and all the other writers were simply brilliant! We need to give them credit for their effort and we do that best by letting them be responsible for what they have written. If we think of them simply as vessels through which the Holy Spirit did all the creating we steal from them their importance and their creative genius. If we understand that they, as human beings, stand behind what they have written, shaping it for their purposes, then we can appreciate their message. God worked through them – that’s what the inspiration of scripture means. God speaks today through their creations – that too is the inspiration of scripture. But, unless we are willing to allow the reality of human hands in the work we are likely to be led off course. So, we are going to listen to Luke’s gospel in light of what Luke has done with Mark and in light of his connections to what he shares with Matthew and finally in light of what he contributes on his own. We are in for a fascinating journey with Luke, this author God used to proclaim the gospel of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, December 25, 2012 Read – Luke 2:8-20 The story we know so well continues. Who will announce the birth of the Son of God? One might expect the announcement to come from a more substantial representative than the shepherds. But they are the ones that God chooses. Shepherds were not held in high regard by anyone in Israel at that time. Shepherds were outcasts. And the announcement to them fits well with the Song of Mary sung earlier and with the song Hannah in 1Samuel. The announcement is made by an angel who is joined by a multitude of angels who announce God’s good news. Angels were really only messengers from God. We need not think of them as being clothed in white or even as flying in the heavens. Most angels in the Bible apparently looked like ordinary human beings. Sometimes they are mistaken at least for a time as being ordinary human beings. Such may well have been the case here too. The shepherds are given a sign – they will find a baby wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. The wonder of the story is that the shepherds heed the directions of the angels. And their journey is rewarded – the find Mary and Joseph and Jesus, just as the angel had told them. They leave praising God and as far as the story goes they tell no one. Luke ends the story by telling us that Mary pondered everything in her heart. The announcement has been made to us too. And like the shepherds we come to see and we leave rejoicing. It will take other writers to fill in the whole picture for us. Luke has done his part. John will give us the theological explanation for it all – “the Word became flesh and lived among us” – God has entered into God’s creation in Jesus. Christmas is a time for us to simply marvel in the wonder of God – the amazement of God’s grace. There will be time tomorrow and the next day to contemplate the meaning of it all.

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, December 24, 2012 Read – Luke 2:1-7 The Christmas story is probably the best known story in the Bible for Christians. And what a great story it is. We’re going to hear half of it today and half tomorrow. The setting of the story is marvelous. Mention is made of Caesar Augustus – the most powerful man in the whole world! He has the power to order people around and they obey. Little did Caesar Augustus know that one far more powerful than he was coming into the world! As far as anyone else could see Mary and Joseph are simply caught up in the workings of this world. But something far grander is unfolding. It was important that Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the city of David his ancestor, so that is where God brings these two travelers. Did Mary and Joseph hope to make this journey and return home before their baby was delivered? Who knows, but that is not what happened. There in Bethlehem the time came for her to give birth. In Luke’s mind he sees the coming of the Son of God into the most humble of circumstances. Mary and Joseph find refuge in a cave where sheep are kept. Was it because the people of Bethlehem were so unfriendly? Not necessarily. It is the great contrast between people like Caesar Augustus and Jesus that Luke wants to stress. That’s because this one who is born in Bethlehem is far more important than any Caesar.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, December 23, 2012 Read – Luke 1:26-56 Our Bible readings move now to the Gospel of Luke. I’ll say more by way of introduction to Luke in a few days but it is important in our Advent preparation that we jump ahead just a bit in Luke’s story to hear the announcement to Mary of the coming birth of Jesus. The first thing we need to notice is that in his telling of the story, Luke reaches back to a story that should be at least a bit familiar to us – the story of the birth of Samuel. That story, in the first chapters of the book of 1 Samuel, form a template upon which Luke tells his story of the birth of both John the Baptist and of Jesus. Luke wants us to be thinking about that Old Testament story. In today’s reading we hear of the coming of the angel Gabriel to Mary. Mary is a young woman who is engaged to Joseph. We need to remember that in those days marriages were arranged by a woman’s father. That arrangement usually took place when a woman was quite young so Mary was likely a teenager. Can you imagine such a woman being encountered by an angel? As we have listened to the Old Testament story and as we contemplate the story of the birth of Samuel we remember that several Old Testament women were barren. That is not Mary’s problem – but the pattern is worth thinking about. God’s word to Mary is that she has been chosen to be the mother of one who will be called the Son of God. This child will not be the product of the union of a man and a woman but will the result of the Holy Spirit’s action. The child within her will bear her humanity and yet will bear the very reality of God. It is no wonder that Mary asks how this can be. Her question is really an understatement! The wonder is in Mary’s response – “Let it be as you have said!” Mary is a model of faith for us to follow. Mary’s song matches the song of Hannah in the book of 1 Samuel. God is up to something in the birth of this child. And for those who are powerful and well off the message is as least somewhat threatening. The coming of this child will mean the coming of God’s reign – not the reign of the high and mighty of this world. Isn’t it somewhat strange that our world entices us to seek for power and wealth? We are now two days from celebrating Christmas. We can hardly wait. In fact, many of us will experience tomorrow as Christmas even though it remains technically a day in advance. That’s okay – celebrating this grand day needs more than one day to experience. So, may Christmas Eve be both a day of anticipation and a day of celebration for you.

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, December 22, 2012 Read – Malachi 3 & 4 As we have been listening to the Old Testament story of God and God’s people, we have noted the appearance of the prophets within the context of that history. The prophet Malachi is a difficult prophet to place historically. In fact, Malachi might not even be the name of this prophet since Malachi means “messenger”. I guess it really doesn’t matter when this “messenger” spoke. Clearly, Malachi was longing for the coming of God’s Messiah! We begin with chapter 3 where Malachi envisions the coming of God to his people. It is a somewhat frightful message that Malachi brings. The one who comes will cause people to wonder who can stand at his appearing. And the one who comes will bring cleansing to those who receive him. We are waiting for Christmas to come – it is just a few days away now – but are we waiting with the right attitude? Is there at least the hint of awe in our waiting? I hope so. We should note that when he began his gospel Mark began by quoting these words of Malachi and adding to them the words of Isaiah 40. As Mark contemplated just how he might begin his story of Jesus he thought of this one who long before had longed with some degree of fear the coming of God’s Messiah. It was an appropriate beginning for Mark. But Mark may well have had the words at the end of Malachi in mind as well. There we hear Malachi proclaim that before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, God will sent Elijah to prepare the way. Mark saw that coming of Elijah in the work of John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Jesus. It was John the Baptist who would baptize Jesus. It was John the Baptist who would be the forerunner of Jesus. The longing of Malachi came to pass in the birth of Jesus. As we get ready for the celebration of Christmas we reflect on Malachi’s longing – and on all of the Old Testament people of God.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, December 21, 2012 Read – Jeremiah 30 & 31 The book of Jeremiah is mostly a book about judgment. What a difficult task Jeremiah was given by God! What a difficult time to be alive! Spending some time listening to the sorrowful compassion of Jeremiah would be well worth our time. Not often does Jeremiah break forth into words of hope. The two chapters we are reading today are one of those places. Out of the pain and sorrow of judgment comes the promise of a new beginning. Out of the brokenness of an old covenant comes the promise of a new covenant. As you spend the next few days preparing for the celebration of Christmas, take time to contemplate the new possibility that God promises for you and for others in the gift of Jesus.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, December 20, 2012 Read – Isaiah 9:1-7 & Isaiah 11:1-9 We have now moved fully into the season of Advent. We have also come to the end of the Old Testament story we have been following over the past months. Of course the story didn’t end with Ezra and Nehemiah, some 400 years or so before the birth of Jesus. It would be important for us to hear that story at some time, perhaps at a later date, but we would have to move outside of the Bible to hear that story. In the last few days before the celebration of Christmas we are going to listen to three Old Testament prophets who longed for the coming of the Messiah. As we listen to their words, may our hearts be filled with longing for the coming of Jesus anew in our hearts this Christmas! Today we listen to the prophet Isaiah. The whole book of Isaiah is a powerful view forward to the coming day when God’s reign will come to full expression. To be sure there are words of judgment in the book of Isaiah, but there are also powerful words of hope. In our two reading for today we hear Isaiah at his best. First is the hope of light coming to the darkness of this world. Isaiah knew that darkness – so do we even though we live after the coming of the light of Jesus. The birth of any child brings hope – and so that is the image that Isaiah uses to long for the birth of one who would bring God’s rule into reality. As we hear his words we hear the story of the birth of Jesus – the child given to us – the Son of God. In an even bolder way, Isaiah envisions the coming of one who will undo all of the harm and chaos caused by the fall of humanity in the story of Adam and Eve. Can you imagine a day when the lion and the lamb will lie down together, when a child can play with a poisonous serpent and not be harmed? What Isaiah longs for is nothing short of a new creation! Isaiah knows that the author of that new creation will be a shoot from the stump of Jesse – a descendant of David. This vision of Isaiah is a clear expression of the longing for the Messiah. We believe that the Messiah Isaiah longed for came in Jesus – yet the longing for the full restoration of God’s creation awaits us still. And so we share Isaiah’s hope and Isaiah’s longing.

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, December 19, 2012 Read – Daniel 5 & 6 Two more stories make up today’s reading. The first story is set at the time of the end of the exile – 539 BC. A new king is reigning in Babylon named Belshazzar. The scene is a banquet and this king is pictured as using the sacred vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem as drinking goblets. Suddenly a hand begins to write on the wall. The interpretation of the writing evades all who are present but it does cause the king to be reduced to terror – he is as white as a sheet with fear. Daniel comes to interpret the writing. The message on the wall is that the king has been found wanting and that his kingdom will be taken away from him and given to the Medes and the Persians. The king attempts to avert the disaster by making a proclamation about Daniel and Daniel’s God as his predecessors had done but to no avail. That very night Belshazzar is killed. The Babylonian empire, so feared and mighty comes to an end. The writer of the book of Daniel tells us that it was Darius, the Mede who now took over the kingdom. That is a troubling report. Isaiah clearly tells us that it was Cyrus, the Persian, who would be God’s anointed (messiah) and would destroy the Babylonian empire. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah concur. Historically, it really was Cyrus, the Persian, who rose to power and did destroy the Babylonian empire. There was a king named Darius who ruled the Persians at a later date but not at the time of the end of the Babylonian empire. How are we to deal with this discrepancy? Does it really matter very much? The point of the story is abundantly clear – evil tyrants who make fun of God and God’s people by misusing sacred vessels will meet their end. That point is true even if this is just a story that is not really very concerned with historical facts. The final story in Daniel is probably the most familiar of all of the stories. The story picks up with Darius, the Mede, as the king. The story unfolds much like the story of Daniel’s friends who wound up in the fiery furnace unfolded. This time king Darius is pictured as a friend of Daniel and is duped by his own satraps who are out to get Daniel because they are jealous of him. The issue is once again about worship. The satraps know that Daniel worships only God. They trick the king into signing an edict that anyone who is caught worshiping anyone other than king Darius himself for a thirty day period must be thrown into a den of lions – what king wouldn’t sign such an edict! Daniel will not comply – in fact he deliberately worships God in full view of everyone. The king is left no choice – in the lion’s den Daniel must go! King Darius is pictured as tossing and turning all night long worried about Daniel’s fate – and to his joy, in the morning he finds that the lions have not harmed Daniel. God has shut up their mouths. Overjoyed by what has happened, the king has Daniel’s enemies thrown into the lion’s den and they are immediately devoured. Darius issues a decree praising the God of Daniel. Of course, once again, this story could have unfolded exactly as it is told. Or, it just might be a really good story that makes its point abundantly clear to Daniel’s hearers. It is the same message as was proclaimed in the story of Daniel’s friends and the fiery furnace. When you are commanded to worship anyone or anything other than God, or in this case when you are forbidden to worship God, you must resist – even if it means you may suffer. All of the stories in the book of Daniel have great meaning to people who are living in threatening times when their faith is being challenged. They call for resistance. They proclaim that the powerful forces that are against God’s people will eventually perish. They poke fun at the high and mighty who rule over God’s people. And they are really good stories. Whether or not they reflect historical facts is immaterial to their meaning. The only reason we might consider them as stories and not historical accounts is that they do not fit with anything else we know about the history of their time – in fact they sometimes contradict that history. They sound like stories. They sound like the parables that Jesus told and used to proclaim his truth. It is not only facts that tell the truth – so do stories – and sometimes stories can do it better. There was a time when it seemed important to me that all these stories in Daniel be historically true. If they weren’t historically true then how could I believe anything else in the Bible? I no longer think in this way. It really doesn’t matter much to me whether or not these stories reflect historical fact. I have come to learn that stories have power to proclaim the truth too. I do believe that God can save people from fiery furnaces and from the teeth of lion – it is not the miraculous in these stories that leads me to think of them as something other than historical accounts. It is simply because these stories do not fit with everything else we know about that history that leads me to think of them as powerful stories that proclaim God’s truth and not an historical account of events that happened.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, December 18, 2012 Read – Daniel 3 & 4 Two stories make up today’s reading. The first is the more familiar story. The gist of the story has to do with how God’s people are to act when they are demanded to worship someone or something else besides God. In this story the king is out to get Daniel’s three friends – Daniel is not present in this story. The king makes a statue to which all must bow when the music plays – (is that where we get that expression?) Of course Daniel’s friends cannot comply – neither can any of God’s faithful people! So they refuse. When questioned they stand firm. Their words are powerful – “If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” The king is enraged by their disobedience and orders them to be thrown into a fiery furnace – made seven times hotter than normal. The furnace was so hot that the men who lifted Daniel’s friends into the furnace perish in the flames. The king and his advisors expect instant death to come to Daniel’s friends. To their surprise they see the friends along with a fourth person walking in the flames unhurt by the fire. The story ends with the king making a decree that anyone who does not worship the God of Daniel’s friends be torn limb from limb. The point of the story to those who hear it is abundantly clear. Sometimes the experience of life may throw us into a fiery furnace when we stand up for our faith – but stand up we must. Of course it is very possible that every detail of this story could have happened. It is not because of the miraculous part of the story that the historicity of the story might be questioned but rather whether or not such an event involving this king is likely to have taken place. As far as other sources of history are concerned no decree like the one at the end of the story was ever made. But even if this is just a story – its point it made. The second story we read today is less familiar and involves another dream of the king. Once again Daniel, who is named Belteshazzar after the name of the king’s god in this story, interprets the dream. The king’s dream is of a majestic tree that is suddenly cut down to its roots. Without explanation the dream suddenly becomes the story of the fate of person who is reduced to a mere animal. Daniel is afraid to tell the king the interpretation of this dream because he knows that the meaning of the dream is really about the king himself. The king, so high and mighty as a majestic tree, will be reduced to an animal existence – he will be driven away from human existence and eat grass like an oxen, be bathed with dew, grow hair as long as an eagle’s feathers, and fingernails as long as bird’s claws. And that is exactly what happens to king Nebuchadnezzar! The story is somewhat reminiscent of the story we know as “The Beauty and the Beast.” The story continues. After his demise the king comes to his senses and worships the God of Israel. Of course all of this could have happened. But, there is no evidence anywhere else of such a thing happening to this king. The point of the story is abundantly clear. Mighty kings are not to be feared and will be brought to their end – only God is worthy of worship. That message comes through loud and clear even if this is only a story.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, December 17, 2012 Read – Daniel 1 & 2 As I mentioned earlier, the book of Daniel is a challenge for readers and interpreters of the Bible. We are going to focus on the first six chapters. The setting of these stories is the exile in Babylon. One of the questions we need to ask ourselves is whether or not these are meant to be understood as actual stories of real things that happened to a person called Daniel or if they are simply stories that have been embellished out of the folklore of that time. We may be troubled to think about these stories as not necessarily historical fact. Of course they could be historical fact – however they do not need to be in order to carry the message they intend to convey. Why would we question their historical nature? Several factors come into play. Mostly at question is whether or not actual kings in Babylon would have had the kind of relationship with people like Daniel and his friends that are described in these stories. Do they sound credible as actual events? Is there any other evidence that these things really did happen? Or are these good stories that convey a message worth hearing? Does it matter? The two stories we hear today really don’t give us much trouble. The first is a story of Daniel and his three friends being tempted to leave behind their Jewish food laws and purity in obedience to the Babylonian’s way of life. Daniel and his friends resist. God honors their resistance. And the message to anyone else who is put in a position of compromising their relationship with God in order to comply with the world around them is to be like Daniel and his friends – stand firm and God will honor your commitment. Whether this is the telling of an actual event or just a story to carry the point is immaterial to the message of the story. The second story is a bit more complicated. This time the story has to do with a dream that the king of Babylon is bother by. The king makes an unrealistic demand that the interpreters of the dream do their interpreting without actually hearing the dream. Who can possibly do that? At the very time when all of the wise men of Babylon are in danger – this would have included Daniel and his friends – Daniel comes to the rescue. Daniel is careful – just as Joseph before him in Egypt – to give God the credit for interpreting the dream. It is not because Daniel is so great but that God is great. The actual dream is about the coming empires that would unfold. The present king of Babylon is the head of gold. The Babylonian empire will be followed by one inferior to it symbolized by the body of silver. This kingdom is the Persians. A third kingdom made of bronze will follow. This kingdom is the Medes. Finally a fourth kingdom made of iron and clay will emerge. This kingdom is that of Greece. And then a large stone will come and destroy all these kingdoms. That stone will grow to encompass all of the world. The king is impressed – so impressed that he worships Daniel. Without realizing it the king of Babylon has endorsed his own demise. And Daniel and his friends and all readers following him can enjoy that fate. The point of the story is that the kingdoms of this world will not last. Only God’s kingdom, symbolized by the great stone will endure. Again, it really doesn’t much matter if this is a story about a real encounter between Daniel and the king or just a great story told to make a point.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, December 16, 2012 Read – Nehemiah 8 & 9 Once again Ezra shows up in the story. He is the same scribe talked about earlier. He comes with a book to teach the Law (Torah) to the people. As mentioned earlier many Biblical scholars have wondered if this book of the law was the compilation of materials that were developed in the exile into what we have come to know as the Old Testament, especially the books of the Torah – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. One of the things that leads to this consideration is chapter 9 of Nehemiah which is really a recitation of the major parts of the Old Testament story. This chapter is a summary of the story we find in the first five books of the Bible. We’re going to leave the rest of the book of Nehemiah at this time and move on to the book of Daniel.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, December 15, 2012 Read – Nehemiah 6 & 7:1-4 The story about the struggle to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem comes to a conclusion in these chapters. The wall is completed. Perhaps now life will be better. But that is not to be. The resistance of others continues. The struggle goes on. Nehemiah now goes on in the same way that the book of Ezra did to list the returned exiles. This listing is used to give legitimacy to the people. If your name is not on the list you don’t belong. The problem of discerning the balance between inclusion and exclusion is not an easy problem to solve. We might learn something, both in a positive and in a negative way from the book of Nehemiah.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, December 14, 2012 Read – Nehemiah 4 & 5 Today’s chapters deal with the continued struggle that returning exile had with rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Another problem Nehemiah faced was the oppression of the ordinary people by their nobles and official. What these stories point to was the growing disappointment that must have been emerging among the returned exiles and their descendants. This story was not turning out like they had hoped and thought it would. It was a struggle. This sense of disappointment and even failure is one of the defining marks of the experience of the people of God at this time. How they must have longed for the “good old days” – of course we already know that they were often not so good.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, December 13, 2012 Read – Nehemiah 1 & 2 The book of Nehemiah reflects a somewhat later time than the book of Ezra. The issue in the book of Nehemiah is the rebuilding of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. Nehemiah is pictured as the cup bearer of the Persian king Artaxerxes – a prominent position. Nehemiah hears of the demise that the people of God are now experiencing back in the land. Things are not going well. Nehemiah takes the risk of asking that he be excused from his duties to the king so that he can go and check things out. He is granted his request and at least as far as the book of Nehemiah is concerned he never returns to his work as cup bearer for the king. What may appear as a rather insignificant statement that lends much to the understanding of this time period are the words “The Province Beyond the River.” That is what the land is called at this time and its point of reference is that of Persia. The province is to the west of the Euphrates River from the view of the Persians. What this reference teaches us is that the condition of the people at this time was not one of independence. They were ruled by the Persians. While that rule may have been beneficial for the most part it was none the less a fact of life. Gone were the days of David and all the other kings. Gone was the nation. This reality is one of the factors that grew into the longing of God’s people for the Messiah. They would have to wait a long time and that length of time made the longing even more prominent. The concept of the Messiah as simply the anointing of the king with oil grew into a vision of a deliverer who would bring freedom. But what kind of Messiah would he be? The problem that Nehemiah discovers is once again resistance to the building of the wall. This time the resistance is clearly from non-Israelites – Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, December 12, 2012 Read – Ezra 6 & 7 Chapter 6 tells the story of the completion of the Temple and it dedication. The story is not as grand as the story of Solomon’s dedication of the first Temple. It is likely that this rebuilt Temple was not nearly as grand as Solomon’s Temple, however, the important point is that the Temple was rebuilt. The rebuilding of the Temple is the main point of the whole book to this point. It was this Temple that Herod the Great completely restored at the time of Jesus – making it one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And it was Herod’s Temple that was finally destroyed once and for all by the Romans in the Jewish War that ended in 70 AD. Chapter 6 also tells of the resumption of the celebration of Passover by the returning exiles. It is likely that ritual became far more important at this time as a way of connecting with the past during a stressful and less that satisfying time. While it is true that the exiles were allowed to return home we should not mistake that return with true freedom. They were under the rule of the Persians. Both the books of Ezra and Nehemiah make that clear. The book bears the name of Ezra, but Ezra does not make an appearance until chapter 7 where he described as a “scribe skilled in the law of Moses”. We will hear more of Ezra in the book of Nehemiah. But, what are we to make of this description of Ezra? It is speculative to be sure but many Biblical scholars have come to understand the time of the exile to have been a crucial time of reflection when the people of God made an attempt to “put it all together” and define their faith. It is very likely that there were many writings that went back to earlier times as well as many oral stories of the past. It is possible that these writing and oral stories were consolidated by scribes like Ezra during the time of the exile. Much of the Old Testament story as we know it today may likely have taken its final form during this time. We have noticed how at times the story is a bit ragged and that different uses of the name for God are found in various strands of material. It is likely that all of those strands were woven together during the time of the exile and the people of God became the “people of the book” as they were called at that time. Again, we can only speculate about all of that but there is something that makes a great deal of sense in this way of thinking. So, the exile became a very important time in the life of God’s people. The exile left its mark on the people and on the faith of Israel. The remainder of the book of Ezra focuses on more lists of people and a detailing of some religious practices that have little impact upon us. We are going to move on to the book of Nehemiah.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, December 11, 2012 Read – Ezra 4 & 5 Chapters 4 & 5 continue to story of the rebuilding of the Temple and reflect just how difficult an undertaking that was. Resistance came from those who already were living in the land. Just who were these people? Likely some of them were the descendants of the “poor” people who had not been deported to Babylon in the exile. We don’t know much about what happened to them after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Now seventy years have passed since the Babylonians had begun the deportation. We simply don’t know their story. Had they attempted to remain faithful to the LORD? Had they taken on some of the characteristics and beliefs of others around them? At the beginning these people who had not experienced the exile ask to join with those who had returned in the rebuilding of the Temple. They base their request on the claim that they worship the same God. Those who had experienced the exile refuse their offer and refuse to let them help. A major question for us as readers is to contemplate whether or not the response of the returning exiles to exclude those who had never experienced exile from the community was right or not. What might have happened if they had welcomed those who had remained in the land into their fellowship? Was there something special about have been an exile? What was God’s desire? It is clear from reading the books of Ezra and Nehemiah that the people who had been in exile thought that exclusion was the right answer and that God was “on their side” about that. But what if that really wasn’t true? There are other voices in the Old Testament that dare to proclaim another point of view. While the book of Ruth is important because it tells the story of David’s grandmother, the book is also important because it goes against the grain and welcomes a Moabite woman into the people of God. It may well be that the story of Ruth gains its prominence at this very time. And the book of Jonah, which we have also talked about earlier, is a clear statement against exclusion – exclusion even of a hated enemy like the Assyrians. On an even grander level the prophet Isaiah clearly envisions the inclusion of gentiles within the people of God. We may remember that at his very best moment, when the first Temple was dedicated, Solomon envisioned people of all nations finding a place within this house. The challenge of exclusivity was and continues to be a difficult issue for God’s people. It was the problem of exclusivity that separated the Pharisees from Jesus at many points in the story. Our reading of Ezra and Nehemiah invites us to contemplate that challenge.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, December 10, 2012 Read – Ezra 1 & 3 Before we pick up the story in the book of Ezra it is important to make a few observations. First of all we have not read the books of 1st and 2nd Chronicles. Those books tell essentially the same story that the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings tell. One feature of the story in the books of Chronicles, however, is that that story is considerably “cleaned up.” For example we will not read about David and Bathsheba. Nor will we hear about David’s calling for a census manifesting his lack of faith – in Chronicles it is Satan who incites the census. The books of Chronicles also focus almost exclusively on the kingdom of Judah. The reason for mentioning the books of Chronicles at this time is because the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are connected to that story. The books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah form a unit much like the books of Samuel and Kings formed another unit. So while the books of Ezra and Nehemiah carry the story we have been following forward we need to notice a change in tone. For whatever reason, those who produced the books of Samuel and Kings did not write about the aftermath of that debacle. Maybe they wanted to leave their readers with the dreadful story that concludes in 2 Kings. At any rate we are listening to a different narrator with a slightly different point of view. Another thing for us to consider is the second half of the book of Isaiah. It is very likely that this part of the book of Isaiah – chapters 40-66 – was written by an anonymous prophet connected to the “school of Isaiah” who wrote sometime just ahead of 539 BC when the Babylonian empire was conquered by the Persians. Of course an argument could be made that Isaiah, living hundreds of years earlier, simply was given a vision of all of this. That is not impossible, but it is unlikely. God works in all times. And every other prophet of God spoke God’s word into the immediate life situation in which they lived. It is more likely that God was speaking through this Isaiah at the very time when a word from God was needed. The argument for the “earlier Isaiah” as the writer is driven more by a desire to make the Bible more dramatic than it is from really listening to the Bible itself. Anyway, I am of the opinion that an anonymous prophet, whose writing are attached to the book of Isaiah because this prophet shared much of Isaiah’s theology, was called by God to proclaim God’s powerful message of freedom from bondage in exile in Babylon. That message comes prior to the story we pick up in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. One final consideration is the book of Daniel. The setting of the book of Daniel is certainly the exile in Babylon. Daniel is one of the people taken hostage during the reign of Jehoiakim. The first six chapters of the book of Daniel are a collection of stories about how to survive in a desperate time. The last six chapters are a series of visions about the various kingdoms of the world that unfolded after the return from exile. The book of Daniel is a difficult book to understand. My view is that it reflects the stories of a real person, Daniel, who experienced the exile, but that those stories have been embellished over time to speak to more situations of desperation. The last six chapters, the visions of Daniel, reflect a much later date when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem around 165 BC. The Jewish writer Josephus understands them in the same way, viewing them as prophecy on the part of Daniel about what occurred under Antiochus. Of course, it could be possible that the whole book of Daniel comes from during the time of the exile, but, again, that is unlike any other way in which God has been working. We will read the first six chapters of the book of Daniel after we have completed the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and more will be said at that time. Having taken care of some of these preliminary considerations it is time to look at Ezra. The book of Ezra begins with a decree of Cyrus, the king of Persia, that the exiles of Judah be allowed to return home. This agrees with the proclamation of Isaiah 45 where Cyrus is named by Isaiah as the LORD’s “anointed one – messiah”. That is quite a statement on the part of Isaiah! Ezra is a priest, thus he is concerned to talk about the return of the Temple vessels and to create lists of those who returned. Ezra 2 is one of those lists we need not plow through. Soon after the people return home, Ezra gives and account of the rebuilding of the Temple which had been destroyed by the Babylonians and burned to the ground. In the third chapter Ezra names two people who are very important to the story – Jeshua, who was the high priest at the time, and Zerubbabel who was the political leader. Zerubbabel is especially important because he was the grandson of Jehoiachin, the king who had been taken into exile and wound up sitting at the Babylonian kings table when the book of 2 Kings ended. Perhaps we have something of an answer to one of our questions about whether or not God keeps his promise to David. Zerubbabel was of the line of David – and eventually his descendant will be Jesus. Two more prophets come on the scene at this point – Haggai and Zechariah. Haggai reflects that fact that it was difficult to get the people to be involved in the rebuilding of the Temple. Perhaps they were just beat down and tired from the exile – or maybe they were just worried about themselves and their own needs and God could wait. At any rate Haggai chastises the people for their slowness in rebuilding the Temple. Zechariah shares much of the same sentiment, however, the main point of his rather long and sometimes confusing book is that Zerubbabel and Jeshua are signs of a new beginning. In fact Zechariah implies that Zerubbabel is the long-awaited Messiah. He thinks that the “golden age” is about to unfold. While his timing appears to be off his book is part of the longing for the Messiah that was growing within the people of God – he was waiting for the Messiah who actually came about 500 years later in Jesus. The book of Zechariah is a series of visions much like the second half of Daniel and it is no wonder that both of these books are drawn into the book of Revelation in the New Testament which is also a book of visions. Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation have much in common. Both Haggai and Zechariah are mentioned in the book of Ezra at the time of the dedication of the rebuilt Temple.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, December 9, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 23, 24 & 25 One of Josiah’s reforms was to do away with all the places of worship of foreign gods and to centralize worship in Jerusalem. Other kings had attempted this unsuccessfully. Josiah was more successful than his predecessors. Another of Josiah’s reforms was to reinstitute the Passover – which the narrator tells us had not been observed since the time of the judges! Can you imagine that? For hundreds of year the Passover had not been properly observed. We have been reading a story of people far away from God’s intentions. It has not been an easy or pleasant story to read. What a challenge it must have been for God to work through all of this mess! It’s a wonder that the nation survived. It is at this time that two more prophets begin to speak – Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Both speak ominous words of judgment. Josiah may have heard their warnings and responded positively. It appears that a new start is about to happen and the doom of Jerusalem may yet be averted. But that is not the case. Unfortunately, Josiah puts himself in the wrong place by attacking Pharaoh Neco of Egypt who is really on a mission against Assyria. Josiah is tragically killed – and the hope of Judah is dashed. Josiah’s sons, grandson, and brother will not prove able leaders. The first of Josiah’s sons, Jehoahaz lasts only three months before he is deposed by Pharaoh Neco and replaced by his brother, Eliakim, whose name is changed to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim reigned for eleven fitful years under the thumb of Egypt. The last two chapters of 2 Kings document the final demise of the Southern Kingdom. The emergence of Babylon brought a new player on the scene. The prophets saw this nation as the hand of God used by God to punish and discipline his people. As a passing note, it was at this time that the prophet Nahum, mentioned earlier did his work. Nahum’s prophecy is a blistering condemnation of Nineveh and Assyria – even a rejoicing over the destruction of Assyria. Nineveh was captured by the Babylonians in 612 BC and the Assyrian empire came to an end. The book of Nahum is a troubling book for some. Are God’s people really called to rejoice over the destruction of enemies? What are we to make of Jesus’ command that we are to love our enemies? One can understand the bitter hatred of Nahum – but that hatred hardly seems to fit with the compassion and love of Jesus. Much like one can understand the bitter hatred expressed in Psalm 137 where the psalmist longs for the destruction of Babylon and the “dashing of babies against the stones” it is difficult to think of that response as God intention for his people. At about this time one more prophet began to speak. His name is Habakkuk. We don’t know exactly when he did his work but it is likely in this time of confusion after the death of Josiah and hope is dashed. Habakkuk views the situation and longs for the day of God’s deliverance. He sees the devastation beginning to unfold and asks, “How long?” How long until God brings about something good. Habakkuk answers his own question with the powerful words that “one lives by faith.” The Apostle Paul and Luther following him will see in these words the foundation of Christian faith – “The righteous will live by faith.” By 605 BC Babylon was firmly in control and Jehoaikim found himself now under the thumb of Babylon. Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin who reigned for only three months before he was deposed by the king of Babylon and deported to Babylon – the first of three deportations through which the people of Judah found themselves in exile. It was during this first deportation that Ezekiel was taken to Babylon where he was called by God as a prophet. Ezekiel’s prophecy begins with words of doom and judgment but eventually Ezekiel will be the first prophet to proclaim the eventual return from Babylonian exile. Jehoiachin was replaced by his uncle Mattaniah, Josiah’s brother, whose name was changed to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was the last of the kings of Judah. So long as he obeyed Babylon Zedekiah was able to reign as king. Eventually he attempted to free the people of Judah from Babylonian rule which brought about the end of the kingdom. Much of the book of Jeremiah is addressed to the reign of Zedekiah. Jeremiah’s counsel to Zedekiah was to surrender to Babylon. Zedekiah refused to listen to Jeremiah and eventually the end came. Like the siege of Samaria, the siege of Jerusalem lasted over two years. These were two desperate years of suffering. The end finally came and as Zedekiah attempted to flee he was capture. One of the most horrible stories in the Bible centers on Zedekiah’s capture. Zedekiah is brought before Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The last thing he sees with his eyes is the slaying of all of his sons. Then his eyes are removed so he will see no more. What pain! The awful story of God’s people living in a kingdom with a king, like the other nations, comes to an end. As readers we can reflect back on the story. We remember that the whole idea of a king was not God’s choice. But, the people got what they desired. And the story is a sad one. It is story that God endured. And, maybe as readers, we have endured it too. But it is not the end of the story! In fact, the marvelous thing about the story is that God does not give up – even when God’s people behave in horrible ways. God is working! God is going somewhere with this story. We will need to wait now to see where God will move. What will become of God’s people? We can also remember God’s promise made to David. God’s people certainly did. Psalm 89 is a painful reflection on that promise and the apparent reality that God has not kept his word. So are Psalms 74, 79, and 137 that lament the Babylonian captivity. Psalm 77 cries out in wonder that perhaps God has changed. The book of Lamentations cries out regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the ending of the nation. All of these reflections prepare us for the next part of the story. All of them finally point us to Jesus and to his crucifixion. There on the cross all of the dashed hopes and expectations will find their answer in the mystery of the Son of God, the crucified Messiah. God will pay a great price for his people! But for now we need to pause and ponder what we have read and heard. The last verses of 2 Kings tell of Babylon’s arrangement for the rule of Israel. A governor is put in charge who is soon killed. The twists and turns of the story continue. And in the final event of the book of Kings we are told that Jehioachin is released from prison and takes his place as a favored guest at the table of the Babylonian king. What are we to make of that? Has he become a traitor? Perhaps. But it will be the descendants of Jehoiachin who will return to the land. The line of David will continue and eventually the Messiah, Jesus will be born.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, December 8, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 21 & 22 How strange and tragic it is that one of the very best kings of Judah was followed by the king who was undoubtedly the worst and most evil of Judah’s kings. Manasseh was the polar opposite of his father and he quickly undid all of the good things that Hezekiah had accomplished. In fact, it was the actions of Manasseh that sealed the fate of the Southern Kingdom. Unfortunately, Manasseh’s reign was very long – 55 years – the longest reign of any king. One can do a lot of damage in 55 years and Manasseh apparently did. The narrator’s evaluation of Manasseh is that he “misled them to do more evil than the nations had done that the LORD had destroyed before the people of Israel.” God’s prophets, here unnamed, brought the verdict of God. Because of what Manasseh had done, God will bring “upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. [God] will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line for Samaria, and the plummet for the house of Ahab; [God] will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.” To be listed with Ahab is quite an insult. With the reign of Manasseh the die is cast and the fate of Judah is sealed. The end will not come for a number of years, but the end is certain. Manasseh was succeeded by his son Amon who reigned for only two years. He was evil like his father – so evil that the people rose up and put him to death. With the death of Amon the story will take another turn as another boy is destined to become king. Amon’s son, Josiah, was only eight years old when he became king. His story comes as a reprieve in what is otherwise a downward spiral of destruction. As mentioned above, Josiah was one of the three best kings of Judah. One can only imagine how neglected the Temple must have been during Manasseh’s and Amon’s reigns. Josiah’s kingship sounds a little like that of Joash who was spared as an infant from the massacre of Athaliah. Like Joash, Josiah was only a boy when he became king and thus under the tutelage of others. At the age of twenty-six, Josiah set about to reconstruct the Temple in Jerusalem. During this reconstruction a book is found. Just what this book was is unknown, but it is likely is was a book of the covenant God made with his people and likely contained the covenant God had made with David. Many scholars today think that this book might have been the book of Deuteronomy. That is speculative but may be correct. At any rate upon reading the book Josiah is filled with repentance and sets about restoring the kingdom of Judah.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, December 7, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 19 & 20 Hezekiah’s response to the impending destruction of Jerusalem and thus the Southern Kingdom is striking. Instead of relying on his own insight and power or reaching out for other allies, Hezekiah turns to God’s prophet, Isaiah. This is the first time in a really long time that a king has relied on God. That is the main point of the story of Hezekiah and it is what sets him apart as one of the best kings of Judah. His story is a story of trust in God – and trust in God’s word delivered by God’s prophet, Isaiah. Isaiah’s word to Hezekiah is to not be afraid. God has heard Hezekiah’s cry and God will answer. And God does. Against all odds the Assyrians are turned away and Jerusalem is spared. God intervened – the narrator tells us an angel of the lord struck down a large part of the Assyrian army and Sennacharib has no choice but to go back home. He is quickly killed by his own sons and the threat to Judah ends. This story is reminiscent of a similar story we heard when the Assyrians were besieging Samaria but are turned away when God causes them to hear the coming of many chariots. As we read the story we often notice these patterns developing. It is worth noting that the Assyrians were known as one of the fiercest enemies of God’s people. They were hated and despised by the people of Israel and Judah because of their brutality. While the book was most likely not written at that time, the book of Jonah is set right in the midst of this brutal animosity. What makes the book of Jonah so striking is that Jonah is called by God to preach repentance to this hated enemy. Jonah does not want to do that and flees. And even when Jonah is successful following God’s second call to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the book of Jonah ends with Jonah pouting about God’s mercy. The point of the book of Jonah is abundantly clear – God is a merciful God! We have now been able to fit five prophets into the unfolding saga of God’s people – Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, and Jonah. While the book of Jonah was likely written considerably later in the time following the return from exile, as noted above, the setting is from the time of the Assyrians. One more prophet connected to Assyria will emerge much later in the story at the time of the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC. His name is Nahum and we will mention him when we get to that part of the story. Hearing these prophets in the context of the broader history is important. Such an interaction is helpful both in understanding the prophets and in understanding the history. Back to the story of Hezekiah. The final stories of Hezekiah unfortunately put a damper on the enthusiasm we might have felt regarding this king. The first story is about Hezekiah’s illness. The time had come for Hezekiah to die – but, like most of us, he wants to live. So Hezekiah pleads with God for more time. He gets what he desired. Is this another of those stories where God grants what human beings want even though God knows it is not the best? Is this another story of God changing his mind? More time does not work in Hezekiah’s favor, or in the favor of Judah. It is during this extended period that Hezekiah welcomes visitors from Babylon and shows them his entire kingdom with all its wealth. In time to come the Babylonians will come and conquer Judah and carry all that wealth off to Babylon. Would all of that have happened if Hezekiah had not lived? Probably, but the story does give us pause to ponder. The final act of Hezekiah is to provide a constant water supply for Jerusalem that will enable Jerusalem to withstand the siege of enemies. That water shaft can still be seen by visitors to Jerusalem today. In the final analysis Hezekiah was a great king! He was a breath of fresh air in what is otherwise a dismal story. Unfortunately Hezekiah was succeeded by his son Manasseh who proved to be one of the very worst kings of Judah.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, December 6, 2012 Read - 2 Kings 17 & 18 The immanent doom of the Northern Kingdom has been known for some time. Chapter 17 tells of the final end. When we left that part of the story in chapter 15, Hoshea had killed Pekah and become king. At first Hoshea tries to maintain his kingdom by becoming a vassal of the king of Assyria, much like Ahaz had done in the South. But eventually Hoshea makes the fatal mistake of reaching out to Egypt in an attempt to free himself of the tyranny of Assyria. This was the final cog in the wheel that led the Assyrians to invade the Northern Kingdom and besiege Samaria. It took three years for Samaria to fall. One can only imagine how awful those years must have been. Eventually people run out of food and water. The weak are literally eaten by the stronger. It is not a pleasant story. The narrator provides his evaluation of why this all happened. Essentially it was because the people and their kings had been disobedient to the LORD. They had worshipped other gods. And in the end their disobedience and idolatry caught up with them. God had warned them but they had not listened. God had sent his prophets but to no avail. With the fall of Samaria, the Assyrians disbursed the people throughout the rest of their empire and replaced them with Assyrian settlers. This story differs from the story we will hear about the fall of the Southern Kingdom where the Babylonians will take many of the people into exile as a group – from which they can and will return. It is likely that some of the people from the Northern Kingdom did reunite with the people of the south over time, but the kingdom itself was destroyed never to rise again. Chapter 17 tells the interesting story of how the Assyrians had to find some former priests from the North to return to the land to teach the Assyrian settlers how to live there. It is out of this mixture of Assyrians and Israelites that the Samaritans we hear about in the New Testament emerge. They were a mixture of Assyrian and Israelite blood. As a consequence they were despised by the people of Judah. The Samaritans, however, were welcomed by Jesus and thus welcomed into the Christian community. God works in strange and wonderful ways! Chapter 18 turns the story back to the Southern Kingdom. Hezekiah has succeeded his father Ahaz. Unlike his father, Hezekiah is a good king – one of the best kings of Judah. If we were to rank the kings from best to worst Hezekiah would rank up there with David and Josiah. He was in the top three. It was during Hezekiah’s reign that Assyria defeated the Northern Kingdom. Having destroyed that kingdom it appeared that the Assyrians would move on south and destroy Judah as well. In fact the story tells of the defeat of several Southern cities and the impending end of Jerusalem.

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, December 5, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 15 & 16 The action switches briefly to the Southern Kingdom where Azariah has succeeded his father as king of Judah. Azariah was also known by the name Uzziah and it was in the year that Azariah/Uzziah died that Isaiah was called by God to prophesy – but that story comes later. Two things worth noticing about Azariah are that his reign was very long – 52 years, one of the longest of any king – and that he suffered from leprosy. Exactly when he was stricken with leprosy is unknown but the story makes clear that even the king was not immune for the restrictions that leprosy brought upon its victim – Azariah was removed from public and reigned through his son Jotham. The action moves quickly back to the North and tells the story of the reign of five kings. The story is a pitiful account of the devastation of the Northern Kingdom. When Jeroboam II dies his son, Zechariah succeeds him but manages to reign for only six months before he is killed. His killer, Shallum, reigns for only one month. Shallum is killed by Menahem who manages to keep his kingdom for ten years. One can only imagine the chaos that must have reigned in the North. Upon Menahem’s death, his son Pekahiah attempts to reign but he is killed by Pekah after reigning two years. Pekah’s reign lasts twenty years but the impending end of the Northern Kingdom becomes more and more evident. The Assyrians are capturing more and more of the territory. Eventually one more usurper will come into power in the North – Hoshea. His story will be told in the next chapters. All five kings described in this chapter shared the same description that all of the kings of the North shared – they were all wicked. There is not one good thing to say about any of them. Having detailed the brutal unfolding of the demise of the Northern Kingdom, the narrator now switches back to talk about what is happening in the Southern Kingdom. Azariah/Uzziah’s son, Jotham, reigns for an additional sixteen years having reigned as co-regent with his leprous father. Jotham’s reign was uneventful except that it is marked by the ominous threat of an alliance between Pekah, the Northern king and Rezin, the king of Aram. If you haven’t figured it out by now – this was one chaotic time for God’s people. And I think we need to think about how God might have been contemplating what to do in this situation. If we think that the story of God’s people was a happy story unfolding just like God would have liked it to unfold, we need to think again. As I mentioned earlier, it was into this situation that God sent at least four prophets. Amos and Hosea first to the Northern Kingdom – they were not successful. Isaiah and Micah to the Southern Kingdom – they were at best marginally successful. The point is that God was working, however, the human factor sometimes makes things work very slowly for God. Isn’t that an amazing idea? God responsive to human action – yet God persistent in bringing his will to bear upon the human situation. Human beings really do matter and do make a difference in how life works out. Of course that means we matter too – our actions are significant both for humanity and for God! Chapter sixteen is dedicated to King Ahaz – the king with whom Isaiah had most to do. Ahaz was not a good king. Threatened as his father was by King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram, Ahaz reaches out for help to the mightier enemy, Assyria. Isaiah warns him against this but Ahaz will not listen. The results are devastating – both for the Northern Kingdom which will be destroyed by Assyria and for Ahaz’s own Southern Kingdom which will be reduced to a vassal kingdom under the thumb of Assyria by the time Ahaz dies.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, December 4, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 13 & 14 The action switches once again to the Northern Kingdom. When we left the story Jehu had just died and was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz. Jehoahaz, like all the other kings in the North, was an evil king. Hazael, the king of Aram continues to be a threat against the Northern Kingdom. It appears that the end of the Northern Kingdom was immanent, however, God has mercy and spares Israel, though in a very weakened state. Jehoahaz is followed by his son Jehoash who follows in his father’s footsteps as an evil king. It gets really confusing to try to keep all these kings straight, especially since they all seem to have names that begin with “Jeh.” And to make things even more confusing Jehoash’s name was apparently shortened to Joash, the same name as a contemporary king in the South. We need not worry much about keeping it all straight. The main point is that all the kings in the North were evil. It was during Jehoash/Joash’s reign the prophet Elisha died. The story of his death is an interesting story. Jehoash/Joash comes to the prophet Elisha to mourn his illness and impending death. He is told to shoot an arrow out the eastern window and then to strike the ground with the remaining arrows. His choice to strike only three times is not good – there will be only three more victories over Hazael and then the Northern Kingdom will be defeated. This foreboding story announces the coming end of the Northern Kingdom. With chapter 14 the story moves once again to the South where Amaziah has begun to reign following the death of his father, Joash (not the same Joash as in the North). Before we know it the Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom are once again intertwined – only this time it is in battle. How quickly fates can change. This is one mixed up story! How difficult it must be for God to work in the midst of all this chaos and deceit! In the battle, the Northern Kingdom prevails and Amaziah, the southern king, is captured and eventually ransomed with the Northern Kingdom taking much of the treasures housed in the Temple. Eventually the people in the Southern Kingdom rebel against Amaziah and kill him. They choose his son Azariah to be the next king. The action swings once more to the North where Jereboam II becomes king. He shares the name of the first king of the Northern Kingdom – he will be only a few kings from the last of the kings of the Northern Kingdom. It was during the reign of King Jereobom II that the prophets Amos and Hosea did their work. Both of them were sent to proclaim God’s word of judgment to the king and the people in the Northern Kingdom. Both proclaimed the impending doom of Israel. Neither was well received. While the story we are following does not mention either of these two prophets, it is good to make note of them and perhaps, if you have time, to read their messages. It is also good when we are reading the prophets to place them within the history of God’s people. Biblical prophets always address their messages to the particular history in which they are living. Knowing that history is essential to understanding the prophets.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, December 3, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 11 & 12 The action now moves back to the Southern Kingdom. Ahaziah has been killed leaving a vacancy in the kingship. Up until this time the descendants of David had reigned with son following father. The pattern is broken. Certainly these were the darkest days in the history of the Southern Kingdom – at least until the time of the Babylonian captivity. We need to remember that Ahaziah’s mother was Athaliah, the daughter of the wicked Ahab. When her son was killed Athaliah makes her move by taking over control of the Southern Kingdom. She was the Queen mother and now she brutally begins to kill off her own grandchildren. What a bloody story. She almost pulls it off – but one son of Ahaziah is rescued and hidden away by Ahaziah’s sister. This is not the first time that women have played the leading role in preserving the reign of God – and it will not be the last. Perhaps you have noticed that God is hardly mentioned in the story that has been unfolding. As we have said before, one can only wonder what God might have been thinking about the awful things that have been happening. Certainly this is not what God wanted to have happen. In fact, the opposite seems to be the case. No wonder that God did not really want a king to reign over his people in the first place. No wonder God warned the people of what would happen if they got a king. God’s work is certainly made more complicated and difficult by the choices and actions of people. Yet there are hints of God’s activity – in spite of the awful story that has been unfolding. A hint of God’s activity can be found in the hiding of Joash, the little boy who was destined to be king. And a hint of God’s activity can be found in the actions of Jehosheba and the priest Jehoiada. Seven years will pass with Athaliah in control of the Southern Kingdom – time for the infant king to grow into a small boy – and time enough to take back the kingdom. The killing of Athaliah is not a pleasant story either, but the outcome brings promise once again. Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD, the king, and the people that they should be the LORD’s people – the covenant of David is renewed and a new start occurs. Joash was only seven years old when he became king and the record states that he was a good king – not perfect but a king who did what was right in the eyes of the LORD because Jehoiada instructed him. One of the things that Joash did was to restore the Temple. One can only imagine how the Temple must have suffered under Athaliah. Chapter 12 ends on an ominous note. Hazael begins to threaten Jerusalem and is finally bought off. And Joash’s servants conspire against him and kill him. No explanation is given for why this occurred. Joash is succeeded by his son Amaziah.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, December 2, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 9 & 10 The action moves once again to the North. The dynasty of which Ahab had been the most important king was coming to an end. God sends Elisha to anoint Jehu to become the next king. The ending of Joram’s reign is a pitiful scene. Even his own officers turn against him and “fall in behind” Jehu. In a bloody massacre Joram is killed and his bloody body is thrown out on the ground in Naaboth’s vineyard – a fitting ending to the dynasty of Ahab. Ahaziah, who was recently anointed king of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, is caught up in the battle and also killed. The alliance between North and South comes to a crashing end – it was not a noble alliance in the first place. The narrator has been waiting to tell us of the fate of Jezebel for several chapters. Now he tells us that she is cast down from a window – her blood spilling on the street and her body eaten by the dogs – just as had been prophesied about her. What a horrible story! It gets worse if we can believe that. Next, all of Ahab’s descendants are massacred – seventy sons of Ahab. Next, the priests of Baal meet their demise. Jehu is now fully in control and a new dynasty begins in the North. But Jehu’s own rule is not good. He certainly was a brutal character. As if to remind us of what is coming the narrator tells us that “in those days the Lord began to trim off parts of Israel.” Hazael makes his appearance winning battles around the Jordan. The beginning of the end is upon the Northern Kingdom. After a bloody reign of 28 years Jehu dies and his son Jehoahaz succeeds him.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, December 1, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 7 & 8 We have just heard the story of Elisha leading the Arameans into the heart of the city of Samaria where they faced certain death. They were spared, however, and the narrator told us that “the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.” In the concluding story of chapter 6 and on into chapter 7 we hear of the Arameans once again besieging Samaria. Apparently some time has passed and the Arameans have forgotten what happened when Elisha brought them in and then spared them. Perhaps the explanation is that a new king was now in charge as we are introduced to Benhadad. At any rate the struggle between Israel and Aram persists. This time it becomes clear that Samaria will not be able to hold out. The Arameans are just too strong. However, Elisha assures that besieged Israelites that Benhadad will not succeed. The leaders of Israel do not believe the words of Elisha. That is the main point of the story – the lack of faith of the Israelite king and his advisors. God miraculously intervenes by making the Arameans hear the onslaught of chariots and flee for their lives. The story of the lepers outside the city wall adds humor to the story as well as identifying the tragic plight of lepers in Biblical times. The lepers find no help from inside the city of Israel and decide they might as well put themselves at the mercy of the enemy. What they discover is that the enemy has fled. The lepers bring the good news – typical of God’s way of acting. Shepherds will bring good news of the birth of the Messiah. God seems to revel in using the outcasts. The story of the Shunammite woman serves to highlight the fame of Elisha. That story is followed by a rather strange story of Elisha going to Damascus and meeting with Hazael, the son of Benhadad, who has been sent to inquire of Elisha whether or not Benhadad will recover from an illness. We might wonder what business Elisha has in enemy territory. Apparently his fame has spread even there. But, more than the wonder of Elisha’s presence in Damascus, is the point of the story – Elisha weeps upon seeing Hazael because he knows that Hazael will brutally slaughter the people of Israel. Hazael proceeds to murder his father and take charge of Aram. At this point the story moves back to the Southern Kingdom and tells of two kings whose reigns were rather short and mostly uneventful. These two kings, Jehoram and Ahaziah, adopted the policies of the Northern Kingdom and ruled like Ahab. The reason becomes clear in that Jehoram’s wife was Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah, and consequently she was the mother of Ahaziah. The North and the South are now intertwined but the alliance is not for good.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, November 30, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 5 & 6 The miracles of Elisha continue in chapters 5 & 6. First there is the familiar story of the healing of Naaman, the leper. This story finds its echo in Jesus healing lepers as well. Like Elisha, Jesus will instruct a blind man to go and wash and be healed. The connection between Jesus and these Old Testament miracle stories is clear. One note in the Naaman story worth thinking about is the demise of Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. Greed causes him to take from Naaman what Elisha has refused. The price he pays is to suffer the leprosy from which Naaman once suffered. This is a difficult story to understand. In fact much of what we have been reading for awhile does not connect well with our experience. These are interesting stories but what is their final value? As we turn to chapter 6 we hear of another – the finding of the ax head that has fallen in the water. How we wish that we might have such power! Are these stories simply meant to highlight the importance of Elisha? What do they have to do with God? Two more war stories close out chapter 6. We’re going to look at the first one which has to do with the Arameans who have been battling off and on with the people of Israel. This is an interesting story mostly for its outcome. God uses Elisha to enable the Arameans to see the horses and chariots of fire around them and as a consequence they are blinded and led right into the center of Samaria where they might easily have been killed. Once inside the city they are given back their sight. What fear must have overwhelmed them! The king of Israel wants to do what any sensible leader would do if his enemy was delivered into his hands. The king wants to kill them. Elisha does not allow the king to do this and suggests what must have sounded like a strange thing. Elisha says to give them something to eat and send them on their way home. They eat and go home and the story ends with the remarkable statement that “the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.” We might protest that such an outcome is too good to be true. But, we need to be reminded of the words of Jesus – “If you enemy is hungry, give them something to eat…Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus and Elisha are a lot alike.

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, November 29, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 3 & 4 In chapter 3 the story returns to pick up the adventures of the kings. We are told again the story of Jehoram, brother of Ahaziah and son of Ahab, succeeding his father as king in the Northern Kingdom. Almost immediately he goes to war – this time against the Moabites who lived in the desert kingdom to the east of Israel. Jehoram gains the assistance of Jehoshaphat who is still king of the Southern Kingdom and the king of Edom. The counsel of Elisha is sought and because of the good will he has toward Jehoshaphat a good report is given. The three kings, who seem at first to be destined to defeat, will be victorious. For the next several chapters the story revolves around the miracles of Elisha. Like the Elijah miracles, these stories are important to the New Testament story of Jesus because they are echoed there. In a story similar to Elijah’s providing the widow of Zarephath with a food supply, Elisha provides oil for a widow and her family enabling them to survive. Like Elijah who raised the widow of Zarephath’s son back to life, Elisha raises the Shunammite woman’s son. Jesus will do similar miracles. Another of Elisha’s miracles has no referent with respect to either Elijah or Jesus – the purifying of the stew. But the feeding of the one hundred men with twenty loaves of barley bread and fresh ears of grain is reminiscent of Jesus feeding the 5000 and the 4000. The link between Elijah, Elisha, and Jesus is an important one for Christians.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, November 28, 2012 Read – 2 Kings 1 & 2 The conflict between Elijah and the kings of the North continues in chapter 1 of 2 Kings. This time the dispute is with Ahaziah. Ahaziah has fallen through the lattice of his upper chamber and lays mortally wounded. He sends a messenger to enquire of Baalzebub, from which the New Testament Beelzebul may likely derive, to see if he will recover. God sends Elijah to bring a message to Ahaziah – he will not recover. The language used in the first eight verses of 2 Kings is picked up by Mark in the beginning of his gospel as he describes John, the Baptist. Here in 2 Kings Elijah is said to be “a hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist.” In his description of John, Mark wants us to be thinking of Elijah because John is Elijah, coming before the Messiah to prepare his way. Ahaziah attempts to capture Elijah by sending a cohort of fifty men. Each time Elijah averts the capture by calling down fire from heaven to burn up the soldiers. Finally a soldier who fears God appears on the scene and Elijah goes with him to pronounce God’s judgment upon Ahaziah. At this point the story can become a little confusing. Ahaziah is succeeded by his brother Jehoram who shares the same name with the king of the Southern Kingdom who followed Jehoshphat. More about that later. Chapter 2 intervenes in the middle of the story of the kings of Israel and Judah to tell the story of the succession of Elisha as the prophet who takes Elijah’s place. The story is an important one for both the Old Testament in the New Testament. It appears that Elijah is trying to avoid passing the torch on to Elisha. Perhaps he was only testing him. Elijah tells Elisha to wait behind on several occasions, but Elisha will not do so. He clings to Elijah all the way. The story is filled with the miraculous. Just as Moses had parted the Red Sea and Joshua had parted the Jordan River, Elijah parts the Jordan River and the two walk across on dry ground. And when it finally comes to Elijah’s departure he is taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. This is important since Elijah is now available to return at the appointed time. Elijah, like Enoch before him, does not die. Elijah becomes for the Old Testament people of God the messenger who will one day come to herald the coming of the Messiah. At the time of Jesus, Christians believe that Elijah is the one who came in the person of John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus. Now that the mantle of prophecy has been passed on from Elijah to Elisha we are told that upon his return Elisha is able to part the Jordan River as his predecessor had done.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, November 27, 2012 Read – 1 Kings 21 & 22 In chapter 21 the encounter between Ahab and Elijah resumes. The battle is over Ahab’s sin of murder. Naboth is a poor man who unfortunately has a vineyard next to Ahab’s palace. Ahab wants Naboth’s vineyard and begins by attempting to obtain it legally. He offers Naboth a good price. Naboth does not want to sell the vineyard because it was given to his ancestors by God. That fact might slip by us unless we remember something very important about how Israel thought of the Land – at least in the beginning. The understanding was that the Land belonged to God. God gave the Land to his people, dividing it up among the tribes. The Land was meant to belong to those to whom it was given forever. If you lost the Land temporarily you would get it back at the year of Jubilee – every 50 years things were to revert to their beginning point. For Naboth to sell his vineyard would have been to sell what really belonged to God. It was not his to sell. Ahab appears to be stymied by Naboth. Enter Jezebel. This is no problem for her. She simply arranges for Naboth to be slandered and killed. The vineyard is taken away. The powerful get what they want. But that is not the end of the story. God steps forward in the voice of his prophet, Elijah, and judgment is pronounced. “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, they will lick up Ahab’s blood… The dogs will eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel.” Both of these predictions come to pass. The last chapter of 1 Kings brings a surprise to the story. Ahab has made an alliance with the Southern Kingdom! We have not heard about the story of the Southern Kingdom for awhile. What we discover here is that Asa has been succeeded by his son, Jehoshaphat. That story will actually be told a little later at the ending of chapter 22. What is surprising is that the two kingdoms who were separated and appeared to be at odds the last time we heard about the Southern Kingdom are now working together again. Strange things happen. The battle is against the Arameans. And the battle will mean the death of Ahab just as Elijah had predicted. Just as Elijah predicted the chariot, into which Ahab had bled his life blood and died, is washed at the pool of Samaria and the dogs come and lick up the blood. We have already met Jehoshaphat. Now we hear the story of his succession of his father, Asa. Like his father Asa, Jehoshaphat followed the ways of their ancestor David. Jehoshaphat is remembered as a good king. He is succeeded by his son, Jehoram. Once again the orderly succession of kings in the South is to be noted. Ahab is also succeeded by his son, Ahaziah. The situation in the Northern Kingdom does not change. Ahaziah is as wicked and his father and all the previous kings in the North. He is a worshiper of Baal as his mother and father had been.

Weekly Announcements Nov 25 2012

PLEASE NOTE: BECAUSE I WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS TO MY COMPUTER FOR A FEW DAYS, I HAVE POSTED THE READER'S GUIDE FOR THROUGH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH. SIMPLY SCOLL DOWN AND FIND THE CORRECT DATE TO GET THE READING FOR EACH DAY. THANKS! HAVE A BAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, November 26, 2012 Read –1 Kings 19 & 20 The story we read in chapter 19 is connected with the story of the contest with Baal in chapter 18. The two chapters need to be read together. God is the clear winner in the contest on Mount Carmel, yet Elijah’s life is quickly in danger. Jezebel is not pleased! And, Jezebel is intent on killing Elijah on that very day. Elijah flees into the wilderness. The flight of Elijah into the wilderness is a very important story. First of all his destination is crucial. Elijah flees back to Horeb which is the same mountain we have known as Sinai. This is the place where Moses is called and where God gives the Ten Commandments to Israel. On the one hand the story tells us that Elijah is fleeing into the wilderness for safety from Jezebel. But underlying that reason is another. Elijah is fleeing back to the source of the nation of Israel. Any wilderness would have done for getting away from Jezebel, but his is a particular wilderness – the place where God called his people and made a great covenant with them. The story of Elijah’s journey is one of receiving provision from God’s hand – bread in the wilderness much like the people receiving Manna. The wilderness journey of God’s people is remembered in this story. And so is the temptation of Jesus for Christians. While on the mountain Elijah re-encounters God. The vehicle for God’s presence is significant. How does God appear? In a wind so strong that it breaks rocks in pieces? In an earthquake that shakes the ground? In a mighty fire that devours everything in its path? God is not in any of these things. God appears in sheer silence. God asks Elijah what he is doing there. Elijah appears to feel sorry for himself claiming that he is the only faithful one left. He is not. And God re-commissions Elijah for his work as a prophet. He is to return to the danger of Ahab and Jezebel and do God’s work. He is also to anoint his successor, Elisha, who will carry on God’s work. Elijah is obedient. Chapter 20 returns the reader to the story of Ahab and his wars with the Arameans.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, November 25, 2012 Read – 1 Kings 17 & 18 The stories of Elijah and his successor, Elisha, are some of the most important stories in the Old Testament as they relate to the story of Jesus in the New Testament. Many of these Elijah/Elisha stories are echoed in the New Testament story of Jesus. Chapter 17 introduces us to Elijah. God is working through Elijah and the first story is one of a great drought that lasted for over three years. We should note that God has mostly been absent again from the story we have been reading. Now God appears in a powerful way through his prophet, Elijah. God is behind the drought. And Elijah is the messenger of God’s actions. Two stories about Elijah’s encounter with a gentile woman are important, not only for their part in the Old Testament story, but for their inclusion in the New Testament. Jesus will refer to this gentile widow of Zarephath as Jesus begins his ministry according to Luke’s gospel. The story of Elijah is filled with miraculous events. The widow’s food source does not give out because of Elijah’s prayers. And, when her son dies, Elijah raises him back to life. Both of these stories are echoed in the actions of Jesus – providing food for the many who are hungry and raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Eventually, the story moves to the encounter between Elijah and Ahab. They have been on a collision course. God has been the source of the drought that has been troubling Ahab and his kingdom and now through Elijah’s word the drought is ended. This is meant as a sign to Ahab. Ahab does not respond properly. Eventually Elijah’s words will mean the end for Ahab. The next story is a well known one – the contest on Mount Carmel between Elijah and the priest of Baal. Ahab, because of his wife Jezebel, has become a worshiper of Baal. In fact the whole Northern Kingdom is now depicted as being influenced by Baal worship as the “state” religion. To be sure there most likely were many Israelites who did not buy into this Baal worship. The point is that the “state” religion is Baal worship. In the contest, Baal is no match of the God of Elijah. The story pokes fun at false gods like Baal. The story is loaded with humor and we shouldn’t miss that.