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.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, November 24, 2012 Read – 1 Kings 15 & 16 As I mentioned, the story will now alternate between tales of the Southern Kingdom and of the Northern Kingdom. We begin in the South with the succession of two kings, Abijam, the son of Rehoboam, and then Asa, the son of Abijam. Of note is the orderly succession of kings in the South. For the most part this will continue. Neither Abijam nor Asa leave much of an impression on the story. One is evil (Abijam) following the evil deeds of his father but left by God to continue his reign for the sake of David. The other (Asa) is good, following the ways of David by tearing down some of the idols and banning male prostitutes from the land. Asa eventually ends up involved in a battle with the Northern Kingdom and is rescued by his alliance with the king of Aram. The story now switches to the North and tells of the succession of Jereboam by his son Nadab. The reign of Nadab lasts only two years. A revolution, led by Baasha, overthrows Nadab and puts an end to the dynasty of Jereboam. Baasha manages to reign for 24 years but the attempt to pass on his kingdom to his son, Elah, fails. After two years, Elah, is killed by another revolutionary, Zimri. Zimri has the distinction of lasting only one week as king only to be overthrown by Omri who now becomes kings. If this sounds like a rather chaotic story, it was! Omri is noted for two things. First of all, he moved the capital in the North to Samaria where it would remain for the rest of the story of the Northern Kingdom. Second, Omri was the father of Ahab, known as the most despicable king of all. Chapter 16 ends with the telling of Ahab’s rise to power and of his marriage to Jezebel. The stage is set for the telling of a long and interesting story of the interaction of this king Ahab and God’s prophet, Elijah.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, November 23, 2012 Read – 1 Kings 13 & 14 Chapter 13 relates a rather strange story about a confrontation between a prophet of God and Jereboam. The story takes a long look forward to the coming of one of David’s descendants, Josiah, who will bring the terrible situation that has emerged to an end. Josiah will destroy the altars of Jereboam. Of course, Jereboam is not pleased with the words of this prophet and seeks to kill him. Stretching out his hand in defiance, Jereboam comes to realize that his hand is now permanently outstretched. He has to plead with the very prophet he desires to harm to have his arm restored. The story is laced with irony. Like other stories we have encountered, this story is marked with what we might think of as magic. The prophet is fooled by another prophet to disobey God and pays the price with his life – only to have his grave become a place of great desire. It is difficult to follow this story and to understand its full meaning. Perhaps we can take comfort in the fact that it is really not a very important story amid the stories in the Bible. Chapter 14 tells us the story of God’s judgment of Jereboam and the kingdoms that will follow in his footsteps. We will be hearing the story of the Northern Kingdom interwoven with stories of the Southern Kingdom as we move forward. The story of the Northern Kingdom will not be a good story to hear. Meanwhile the narrator returns to the story of Rehoboam in the south. Stripped of most of his kingdom, Rehoboam appears vulnerable and weak. The king of Egypt comes and takes many of the treasures of his father away. Perhaps “Solomon in all his glory” was not such a good thing after all.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, November 22, 2012 Read – 1 Kings 11 & 12 It does not take long to find out the answers to some of the questions that we were pondering over after yesterday’s reading. Chapter 11 tells the sad story of Solomon’s errors. The wisest man in the world turns out to do some foolish things. We have heard of multiple-wives throughout this story. Solomon takes that to the farthest extreme – 700 wives and 300 concubines! I think we have part of our answer about this business of multiple-wives. I don’t think it was part of God’s plan. Tragically, it is Solomon’s love for all of these wives that gets him into trouble. It is important that we do not somehow blame all the women – Solomon is the culprit. All of these women come with all of their gods and foolishly Solomon begins to worship many of them – Astarte, Milcom, Chemosh, Molech. Tragically these gods demand the very life of their adherents. Molech was a particularly demanding god demanding child sacrifice. There is evidence in the Bible that some of the Israelites actually did participate in this horrendous practice. This is where Solomon’s foolishness led. A second foolish error on Solomon’s part was to conscript labor from his own people. This eventually will lead to rebellion – but not until after Solomon has died. Chapter 11 introduces us to Jereboam, who at one time was in charge of Solomon’s forced labor. Jereboam sees the oppression that Solomon’s actions are causing and leads a rebellion. He will reappear shortly in the story as the north and south divide. How great is the fall of what was once Solomon’s world-class kingdom! The story of Solomon ends much like the story of David did. There is a simple announcement of Solomon’s death. The account is incredibly short. We might have expected to hear of a magnificent state funeral and long mourning. The story tells us of neither. Following the death of Solomon, the narrator goes on to tell of the collapse of Solomon’s kingdom. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, succeeds him in orderly fashion. That will be the story of most of the succession of the kings in the south. This is a marked contrast to the chaos involved in the succession of David. Perhaps the dynasty of David learned something from that. Rehoboam attempts to follow in his father’s footsteps. He does not succeed. Ten of the northern tribes break away and form their own nation. For the sake of David, Rehoboam is left with two tribes. From a political point of view perhaps the breaking apart of the kingdom was inevitable. Those in the north once belonged to the “house of Saul” and perhaps they never forgot that. The seeds of this division have long been laying in the soil waiting to germinate. From now on we will need to speak of a Northern Kingdom, called Israel, and a Southern Kingdom, called Judah. The Northern Kingdom chooses Jereboam to be their first king. Jereboam takes action to insure that his followers will not be lured south and back into the Southern Kingdom. He sets up two golden calves as places of worship in the north – one at Bethel and the other at Dan. Readers of this story cannot help but remember the story of the Golden Calf at Sinai. The stories are meant to relate to one another.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, November 21, 2012 Read – 1Kings 9 & 10 Chapter 9 tells the story of a second meeting of God with Solomon at Gibeon – likely in a dream as the first encounter though the story leaves that up in the air. This meeting is marked by the clear warning that God gives to Solomon and those who will come after him. If Solomon and his descendants turn aside from following God, God will bring judgment upon them and cast them out of the Land. Not only is this a grave warning, it is also a foreshadowing of what is to come. Exactly what God warns may happen does happen. A dark shadow is cast over the whole narrative. In the rest of chapter 9 and in chapter 10 Solomon is pictured as a major player on the world’s stage. Israel has risen to prominence among the nations. Chapter 10 tells the story of the “state welcome” of the Queen of Sheba, another of the dignitaries of that era. She has come to see for herself the splendor of Solomon’s kingdom and the power of Solomon’s wisdom. She does not leave disappointed. The narrator makes it clear that Solomon has excelled in all things. One might ask the question whether or not it is a good thing that Israel has now become a major player on the world stage. Are there dangers involved in this reality? Can Solomon handle it all? Can the people exist as a major power? Will Israel do good or not? What will all of this mean? Is the splendor of Solomon a good thing or not? Time will tell.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, November 20, 2012 Read – 1 Kings 7 & 8 Chapters 7 & 8 tell the story of the furnishing of the Temple and its dedication. One thing of special note here is that the furnishings of the Temple follow very closely with the furnishings of the Tabernacle as revealed to Moses in the book of Exodus. The two are closely related. An interesting side comment in chapter 7 is the story of Solomon’s other building projects. It took Solomon seven years to build the Temple. It took him thirteen years to build and furnish his own house. Several other buildings are described as well. Solomon was quite a builder. He became the model for Herod the Great, the king of the Jews when Jesus was born. Chapter 8 tells the story of the dedication of the Temple. This is a very positive chapter and places the Temple and its use in a very good light. This is the Temple at its best and probably Solomon at his best too. One of the things we need to notice is that this Temple, from its very beginning, was meant to be a Temple for all nations and all peoples. In his prayer Solomon invites everyone to look to the God for whom this Temple is built as their source of life. This is a very inclusive understanding of God, Israel, and the nations. It is also important that Solomon realizes that the Temple cannot “house” God. God may fill it and God is to be found there in the Temple, but God is bigger than the Temple. This is a very positive way of understanding things. God people will not always remember either the inclusive function of the Temple or the fact that God cannot be contained there. But for now the Temple become the dwelling place of God amid his people and in fact the whole world. This is the Temple at its best.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, November 19, 2012 Read – 1 Kings 5 & 6 The next several chapters center on the building of the Temple by Solomon. We can pass through them quite quickly with only a few comments. It is important for us to remember that God did not seem so keen on David’s idea to build God a “house”. Yet, God does endorse David’s idea and the Temple is embraced by God as a good thing. We have already talked about the problems inherent in the Temple. The Temple will get in the way and the Temple will be destroyed. But, for the time being, it is good for us to see the Temple in its more positive light. These chapters view the Temple as a good thing – and it was. Two small issues of note in these two chapters are these. The close relationship with Hiram, the king of Tyre, stands out as an important feature in the story. The interrelationship between Israel and her gentile neighbors may be more complex than we sometimes are led to believe. Alliances are not out of the question. In fact, we skipped over the notice in chapter 3 that Solomon had made an alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, marrying his daughter to seal the deal. Are these alliances good or bad? Maybe the answer is that their outcome is mixed. It is not good that Solomon made the marriage alliance with Egypt – that will come back to haunt him. But the alliance with Tyre has mostly good results. Maybe the point in all of this is that there is a “religious” story in the Bible that is wrapped up in what is essentially a “secular” story. The second thing of note in this story is the small comment that Solomon “conscripted forced labor out of all Israel.” Had God not warned that kings would do this? As the story moves forward a case will be attempted to say that these conscripted ones were not really Israelites in the pure sense of the word but were really Canaanites who had been absorbed into Israel. But at this point the story seems to indicate that some forced labor on the part of the king was made.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, November 18, 2012 Read – 1 Kings 2 & 3 Chapter 2 of 1 Kings is a very troubling chapter for us to read. The last actions of David before he died sound like something right out of “The Godfather” movies. Like a mob boss, David instructs Solomon to take revenge on his enemies, some of who he had graciously spared when he rose to power. Others are to be rewarded for their loyalty to David. We might have expected to hear a better story than this. Having instructed Solomon to carry out his last wishes, the narrator can now tell the story of David’s death. We might have expected to hear a story about a long period of mourning for Israel’s greatest king. By contrast, the story is surprisingly brief. In the rest of chapter 2 we hear the story of Solomon carrying out David’s wishes. Adonijah is killed. Abiathar, the priest, is exiled back to Anathoth. Joab is killed while clinging to the horns of the altar. Shimei is put to death after failing to live up to his agreement. The narrator’s summary puts it well, “So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.” In stark contrast to chapter 2, chapter 3 tells two stories about Solomon that put Solomon in a much more favorable light. First, God encounter Solomon in a dream at Gibeon, a place of worship on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It is as if the clock has been turned back. Solomon speaks of himself as only a child. In his dream, God invites Solomon to ask for what he most desires. Solomon’s answer is that what he most desires is the wisdom to lead God’s people in the way God wants. What a great answer! This is the Solomon we like to hear about. God grants his request. Solomon is given the gift of being the wisest man ever to live. Solomon’s wisdom is tested in the very next story the narrator tells us – the story of the two women who fight over the living child. Solomon’s wisdom in deciding the case is remarkable. We have heard both stories of the goodness of David and stories of David’s dark side. The same is true now with Solomon. The telling of the complete story of Biblical characters is a wonderful thing about the Bible. Sometimes we are troubled by what we hear. At other times we are assured that those whom God has chosen do function well. The point in all of this is twofold. First of all, the Bible makes clear that there are no perfect people. Secondly, the Bible makes clear that we can identify with the characters we meet in the Bible. They are like us. We are like them. We are skipping chapter 4 which simply describes Solomon’s administration.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, November 17, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 24 & 1 Kings 1 We have skipped a few chapters to get to the end of David’s reign and usher in the beginning of the reign of Solomon. It is not because these chapters are not important and have nothing to offer. In fact, chapter 22 becomes Psalm 18 and summarizes the life of David. We have met these poetic renditions before. If one reads only chapter 22 or hears the story only as told in Psalm 18, a remarkably cleaned up story of David emerges. Gone are all the detestable parts of the story. Perhaps it is valuable to remember David with fondness. That is what these stories do. But even though it is not a pleasant story, I’m happy we have all the rest as well – all the “bad stuff” that David may well have wished we did not know. Chapter 24 tells of David’s last sinful act – the act of taking a census. One might wonder what makes that so bad. The point is that David is counting his forces as if their number is responsible for his triumphs. But the “victories” in this story are the result of God’s actions, not human actions. So, taking a census is really a sign of not trusting God. When we think we need to know how much we’ve got to see if we can succeed, we are in trouble. Regardless of what we have, if it is God desire to accomplish something, God will. The Story of David ends on a rather sour note. David falls under the punishment of God for his sin. At least David is wise enough to know that God is merciful, so he chooses to fall into the hands of God. The first chapter of 1 Kings tells the story of the rise of Solomon to power. Like much of what has come before it, this is not a “nice” story to hear. David lies on his deathbed and his sons squabble over who will succeed him. What a sad tale! The son to make the first move is Adonijah, the next in line – the oldest of the remaining sons. It would make logical sense that he would emerge as David’s successor. And, as the story is told, he likely would have succeeded had not Bathsheba intervened on behalf of her son Solomon. Once again palace intrigue is afoot. Bathsheba plots with Nathan and Zadok. The elderly David, so feeble that he needs a young woman’s warmth just to keep from freezing to death, appears in this story to be manipulated by the trio. If David ever did promise his kingdom to Solomon that is a story will have not read in the Bible. Bathsheba and her cohort succeed and Solomon becomes king – and more of the dysfunction of this family is revealed. Adonijah is left to rush to the altar for sanctuary pleading for his very life. He is spared for the time being. Again, we cannot help but wonder what God thinks of all of this. Can this possibly be the way God wanted things to unfold?

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, November 16, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 19 & 20 Chapter 19 wraps up the fateful story of Absalom and relates how David is able once again to return to Jerusalem and reestablish his kingdom. David is pictured as one who bestows mercy and kindness even on some of those who had opposed him. Unfortunately, we will learn that David remembers, and some of those who are treated kindly will meet there demise when Solomon rises to power – and it will be David who tells Solomon to avenge these very detractors who David appears to pardon. This is not a very pleasant story! Chapter 20 reveals that even in David’s time there were cracks in the alliance between the North and the South. The rebellion of Sheba is quickly put down, but the seeds of division are still germinating and growing. Solomon will manage to keep the kingdom together, but his son Rehoboam will prove unable to sustain the united kingdom. As we step back and think about this whole story we can’t help but wonder what might have been if God had not relented and given the people the king they wanted. We need to remember that having a king was not God’s idea. The story we are reading bears out God’s wisdom. But God works with God has to work with. That is the amazing thing about this whole story. God finds a way!

Weekly Announcements Nov 18 2012

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, November 15, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 17 & 18 The story continues with more intrigue and conniving. David spies on Absalom, planting his own advisers within the conspiracy to lead Absalom astray. The plan works, and eventually Absalom is killed. This is not what David desired – after all he is still Absalom’s father. What a sad and devastating story! David’s sorrow upon hearing the news of Absalom’s death is almost as devastating as the rebellion itself, and it only when Joab makes it clear to David that his very kingdom is at stake, that David is shaken out of his stupor. On the other hand, perhaps the best part of David’s response is his mourning for his lost son. Throughout this whole story one can’t help but wonder what is going on for God. God is really not an active player in any of this. I can only imagine the heartbreak going on for God as the events unfold. The whole episode demonstrates how very difficult it is for God to accomplish what God wants, when all God has to work with is human beings like this. Is it any wonder that it takes God a long time to get the world where God wants it to be?

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, November 14, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 15 & 16 The next five chapters unfold the story of Absalom’s rebellion against David and his attempt to take the kingdom away from him and become king in his stead. We begin the story today with an account of Absalom’s conspiracy against his own father in hopes of luring the people away from him. Again, David seems paralyzed and unable to act. All he can do is flee and we begin to wonder if Absalom will be successful. The story is one of intrigue – a real soap opera!

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, November 13, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 13 & 14 Can the story get any worse? Yes, it gets a lot worse! The next several chapters tell a story of the corruption within David’s family and kingdom. It is not a pleasant story to read – and probably is surprising to hear. Who would have thought that the great David would be head over such a messy family! But we ought not to be that surprised. After all, we have met dysfunction with the family of God’s people many times before. In fact, we may wonder if any of these families functioned well: Abraham and Sarah – Abraham and Hagar; Isaac and Esau – Rebekah and Jacob; Jacob and all his children; Joseph and his brothers – are there any good examples to latch on to? The story begins on a dreadful note – Ammon, David’s oldest son, is obsessed with his half-sister Tamar and ends up raping her. The story of how supposed love when it is little more than sexual lust is a good example of the fallacy of human beings and is often repeated in the heat of passion even in our own time. The story gets worse. Absalom, Tamar’s full-brother, avenges her rape by killing his half-brother, Ammon, only to need to flee from home. And all the while David seems totally out of control with regard to his family. He cannot put an end to all of this chaos and evil. Maybe David is still paying the price for his own adultery. Eventually Absalom is brought home, but the homecoming is not a happy one. And, believe it or not, the story will get worse.

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Sorry. This was for yesterday and I did not get it posted. Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, November 11, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 9 & 10 We were introduced to Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, earlier when the story of the assassination of Ishbaal was narrated. Mephibosheth was only a child at the time and injured in the chaos that erupted. Now we are told that David is seeking someone from the house of Saul to show kindness to. Mephibosheth is leery of what might be in store – who could blame him. If the previous story depicts David at his worst, this story tells of a much more favorable action on David’s part. However, the very next story finds David back in the midst of war – this time against the Ammonites. Apparently the Ammonites and the Israelites had been living on favorable terms until the king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by Hanun, his son. David sends his condolences and the messengers are treated badly by Hanun. David seeks revenge. In one way this story sets the stage for the next important story in David’s life – his affair with Bathsheba. It is the battle against the Ammonites that sends Uriah off to war leavening Bathsheba behind. The back and forth flow of the story – depicting David in a negative light and then in a favorable light – likely reveals the true nature of what was going on in David’s reign. Like all of the other characters in the Bible, David is not a perfect person. And the marvel of the story is that it tells all. While there is much to admire in David, there is also a tale of a not so admirable person. Whenever we make perfect “heroes” out of Biblical characters we distort the story, and in the process we likely lose our ability to identify with these characters.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, November 12, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 11 & 12 The two chapters assigned for our reading today are about some of the darker moments in David’s life. David was and is known as the very best king of Israel. Perhaps we are surprised to hear such a story as the story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba. – yet, the story is well-known enough that we have all most likely heard it before. The story is a demonstration of how one sin often grows into more and greater sins. David is simply pulled into a horrible mess because of his actions. The story starts with voyeurism, which soon leads to adultery, which will soon lead to murder. And David is guilty of all of it. Because he is king, one can assume that David thought he would get by with it all – and if humans were the only players in the story, he likely would have. The powerful do get by in the world. We have not heard much from God in the story for awhile. Now God speaks and the one through whom God speaks in Nathan, David’s trusted advisor. The skill of telling the story of the lamb taken by the rich man from the poor family is remarkable. Had Nathan confronted David directly, one wonders if the same impact would have been made. Perhaps, but the skill involved in the storytelling drives the point home. David convicts himself. And the marvel is that David repents. Once again the better side of David is on display. While the story of David’s adultery and murder is unpleasant, the story of the fate of the child is dreadful and frightening. Few interpreters claim to fully comprehend this story. I know that I do not. In fact the story really bothers me. Does God really strike children, causing them to die because of the sinful actions of their parents? That’s what the story clearly says, and I am frankly not sure what to do with that. This does not seem to be much like the God we meet in Jesus. Few stories are more challenging in the Bible than this one. David’s praying and his accepting of the outcome is an illustration of faithful prayer. That is perhaps one redeeming part of this story. As long as the child lives, David prays in earnest; but once the child has died, David accepts God’s answer to his prayers. The chapter ends with two brief notes – the birth of Solomon, son of David and Bathsheba, and the final destruction of the Ammonites.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, November 10, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 7 & 8 The seventh chapter of 2 Samuel is the most important chapter in the long history of God’s people told in the books of Samuel and Kings. It is also one of the most important chapters in the whole Old Testament. In this chapter God makes a great promise to David and his descendants that will lead forward to the time of Jesus as the Messiah. The story begins with David, now secure in this kingship, proposing the idea that a “house” be built for God – a place for the Ark of the Covenant to dwell and for people to come and worship God. David knows that he has been blessed by God and seeks to do something great for God in return. One of the interesting things about this story is that at first God rejects the idea of anyone building a “house” for God. This story is a lot like the earlier story when God rejects the request of the people that God give them a king. David wants to build a “house” for God. God has other ideas. And God’s plan of action is huge and powerful for the whole story of the relationship between God and the people of God. The story makes use of a play on the word “house.” God’s plan is to build a “house” out of David that will last forever and through which God will reign among his people. We have heard the idea before of the “anointed one” with regard both to Saul and to David. In one way this is a simple and ordinary event. Samuel anoints Saul with oil to identify that he is the one chosen to be king – even though God does not really want to do this. And Samuel anoints David to become the new king after Saul is rejected by God. This anointing is simply the ordinary process of pouring oil on the head of the designated king. What is really important for us to think about now is how that whole idea that had ordinary beginnings takes on a whole new meaning as time goes by. The Hebrew word that we translate as “anointed” is “messiah” – its Greek equivalent is “christ”. The two words had an ordinary meaning and were used in common settings for a long time. Eventually the words “anointed, messiah, christ” will take on a powerful new meaning for God’s people. The root of that change in meaning happens here where God declares that he will make a “house” out of David. David the “anointed one” is the root of the concept of “messiah” which will eventually be applied to Jesus, the “Son of David” in the New Testament. God’s promise is bold and powerful. David and his descendants will reign forever as God’s “Messiah.” As we consider the story we have been reading, this is the place where God embraces the concept of the “messiah/king” – a human request God had first rejected. God does not embrace this idea in quite the way human beings had envisioned. God’s Messiah will not conquer every human enemy by force. In fact, God’s Messiah will suffer and be crucified and raised from death. In fact, God will take on human flesh and blood in Jesus and become the Messiah for his people – but that is way into the future. The concept of the Messiah is important here because of the bold promise God makes to David – David’s kingdom will last forever! And in this story David accepts God’s promise and so do the people of God. God’s people will hold God to this promise as years go by. And sometimes it will be hard for them to do that. One of the most challenging chapters in the Bible is Psalm 89. In the end of that Psalm, the psalmist will accuse God of going back on this very promise God made to David. The kingdom of David was destroyed by the Babylonians, and it appeared that God had not kept his promise. Yet, the promise continues and grows into the longing of God’s people for the coming of “The Messiah!” And God does keep his promise. As Christians, our confession is that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah. One more thing about the “house” David desires to build for God. Eventually God will accept this human idea too and Solomon will build the Temple David envisioned. But that “house” will not be without its problems. By the time of Jeremiah, that very “house” had become the thing that prevented the people of Jeremiah’s day to hear the Word of God and repent. They had begun to think that because they “had God securely in God’s house” they would never be destroyed no matter what they did. They put God in a box. And that’s probably why God was not so keen on David’s idea. But God lets human beings have their way – even using their ideas to further God’s own plans. Certainly God used the Temple over the course of time – but the Temple was not without its dangers. At the time of Jesus, the Temple had once again become a great obstacle to God’s work and needed to be destroyed. Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple and prediction that the day would come when not one stone would rest upon another in the Temple, bring the Temple finally to an end. The Jewish War of 66-70 AD brought Jesus’ words to fulfillment, and the Temple was finally destroyed once and for all in 70 AD. If chapter 7 is a great and powerful chapter in the story of Samuel and Kings, chapter 8 is a great disappointment. One can only wonder what to think of David making Moabites lie down on the ground and measuring them off with a cord with two executed for each one spared. This sounds like something out of the Holocaust – lining up prisoners at open ditches and mowing them down with machine guns. The chapter does not get much better. David is pictured as a brutal warrior. It is chapters like this one that gives the Old Testament such a bad name and puts a bad taste in the mouth of readers. The chapter does claim that it is God who is giving David the victories; but, in light of Jesus who we meet later in the Sermon on the Mount and other places, one can’t help but wonder what God is really thinking of all of this. History has been marked with many who have committed atrocities in the name of God – all of them very sure that this is God’s doing. I’m not so sure that we shouldn’t hear all of this in that light. Of course we can’t know for sure what God was thinking about all of this. But we should not step back from wondering – again in light of Jesus who was bold to say, “You have heard it said by those of old, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It is hard to imagine Jesus endorsing all these action of David. Again asking these questions and thinking in this way makes reading the Bible more complex and ambiguous. The writers most likely describe what really happened, but that does not mean that everything unfolds like God would want it too.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, November 9, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 5 & 6 Chapters 5 and 6 contain two very important pieces of information regarding the story of David. First is the story of David making Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom. David had reigned seven years as king at Hebron. With the inclusion of the northern kingdom, a new start was needed. David skillfully conquers Jerusalem, a hold-out of the Canaanite Jebusites. Since neither the north or the south had controlled Jerusalem and because Jerusalem was strategically located between the two halves of the kingdom, Jerusalem made a perfect place for David to make his capital. A similar event happened in the history of our country when Washington, DC was made our nation’s capital. Washington, DC lies between the north where slavery was forbidden and the south where slavery was embraced. Part of the glue that brought these divergent states together was this “neutral” territory. Of course in the case of our own country that glue was not able finally to prevent the civil war from erupting. David’s choice of Jerusalem will also fail in the long run – but it was a wise strategic move on David’s part to bring the north and south together. The other event of significance in these chapters is David’s move to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. We have not heard much about the Ark for a long time. That should be both surprising and troubling to us. If the Ark was such an important item in the lives of God’s people, why has it simply passed into nonuse? Why was it forgotten? And what led David to remember and restore it to prominence? The last time we heard about the Ark was when it had been captured by the Philistines only to bring them much trouble and cause them finally to send it back home to Israel. But when it came back home, the Ark apparently was simply put into storage. Now David seeks to revive this great religious symbol. The story is not without its challenges for us. There is a terrifying account of the first attempt to move the Ark to Jerusalem. A cart is sent to bring it. But in the process of the bumpy ride on the cart, the Ark is nearly dropped to the ground. Poor Uzzah does what anyone might do – he reaches out to steady the Ark. The narrator tells us the God burst forth and killed him for doing so. The Ark is promptly set aside again for a time. This is not an easy story for us to make sense of. What kind of God is it who would kill someone for steadying the Ark? Is the Ark that filled with “magic”? Some have argued that the problem was that God had specified that the Ark was to be carried by poles – which David is careful to do in the second and successful attempt to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. But is God that touchy? This is no easy story to hear and perhaps most of us will simply have to leave it as one of the things in the Bible we just don’t understand.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, November 8, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 3 & 4 Chapter 3 relates a long battle between the forces of David and what is left of the “house of Saul.” David grows stronger as the war continues. Eventually Abner, the leader of the northern army defects coming to David intent on delivering the whole country to him. Peace appears to be finally about to happen. Out of jealousy and revenge Joab kills Abner, an event that has the potential of causing the war to erupt once again. Though it is Joab who has killed Abner, his death gives the appearance of betrayal by David. David’s great mourning for Abner – a mourning he demands Joab and the rest of the army to participate in – saves the day. Soon the northern kingdom is ready to join David. Ishbaal stands in the way, but he is soon assassinated by his own people and David emerges as king of the whole country. At the conclusion of the battle we are introduced to Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, who was only a child at the time and injured in the chaos surrounding the fall of Ishbaal. He will play a role in David’s story as time passes.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, November 7, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 1 & 2 Perhaps you may have wondered why we have books in the Bible called 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. Why not just one Samuel? Actually the reason is a practical one. The scrolls on which the Bible was first written would get too large. In reality, the books 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 2 Kings are all one long book and should be read as one. The reason there are four is simply that the one book has been divided into four scrolls to make reading and handling it easier. As one long scroll, these four books would have been impossible to handle – the scroll would have become too large. That’s just a piece of trivial information that really does not matter – except that we understand these four books to be of one piece. Returning to the story, we are now told of David’s reaction to what happened in the demise of Saul and his sons. Saul had sought to kill David. We might expect his reaction to be one of joy or at least relief. Apparently that is what the messenger thought too. Again the messenger is an Amalekite – they seem to pop up in this story as reminders of what happens when you don’t do what God wants. David’s reaction is one of grief and violence. First of all he is deeply grieved over the death of Saul and Jonathan. More troubling, he orders the killing of the Amalekite messenger who brought what the Amalekite thought was “good news.” We are not troubled with David’s reaction of deep grief. I don’t know about you, but David’s second reaction of killing the messenger is troubling to me. There are two things that make this story challenging. First of all it must be noted that there are two versions of the death of Saul. In the version at the end of 1 Samuel we are told that Saul falls on his own sword thus killing himself because his body guard, who he begs to kill him, is afraid to do so. In that version, Saul dies at his own hand. But in the telling of the story in the beginning of 2 Samuel, the Amalekite messenger says that he killed Saul when he found him desperately wounded, because he perceived that Saul was not able to live. Which story is telling the truth? Of course we don’t know and can’t know. Both stories are left standing together. The Biblical writers were not nearly as worried about conflicting accounts as we are. So that’s the first challenge – dealing with differing stories in the Bible. Actually I don’t think this challenge is very difficult – especially if we are able to come to the Bible with a far more complex understanding of the “inspiration of scripture”. Unless we hold to the idea that God is the only one responsible for the words in the Bible we need not be troubled by the human nature of the story. I don’t think the first writers were much troubled, nor is God. But the second challenge is far more difficult. David’s reaction is to order the killing of the Amalekite messenger. His reasoning is that since Saul was God’s anointed one, killing that anointed one should end in death. That was David’s stand all along in the story, and telling the story in this way certainly does highlight David’s loyalty. But is killing the messenger justified? What might God have been thinking? Or course we can’t know God’s thoughts but I think we ought to be troubled by the story none the less. Typical of other turning points in the story – David turns to poetry to tell the story of his grief upon the death of Saul and Jonathan. As we have noted before, these poetic tellings of the story may be very old – some of the first telling. As we listen to David’s song, we are struck by the fact that in the song alone we would have no idea whatsoever of the conflict between David and Saul. David sings Saul’s and Jonathan’s praises. Perhaps there is more to the story than meets the eye. With Saul’s death David emerges as the king among the southern tribes. He moves his stronghold to Hebron and begins to reign from there. But David is not the only one to emerge as king. Not all of Saul’s sons were killed in the battle at Gilboa. A son named Ishbaal, whom we haven’t heard of before, is crowned king over the northern tribes. The seeds of a struggle that will unfold in the books of kings are sown. A rather unusual story is told of the followers of David and the followers of Ishbaal fighting to essentially a draw. But the battle lines are set. We are left wondering how this story is going to turn out. That story is followed by another unusual story which focuses on the men who are the respective leaders of each of the armies – Joab representing David’s army and Abner, Ishbaal’s. An attempt at Abner’s life is averted but in the process, Asahel, Joab’s brother is killed by Abner who will soon meet his death at the hands of Joab. The intrigue and violence continues making this an unpleasant story to read.

Dates to try out for Spring 2013 OSL Musical Coming Soon!

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, November 6, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 29, 30 & 31 The last three chapters of 1 Samuel bring three issues that have been lingering within this story to a conclusion. We may have been wondering about how the relationship between David and the Philistines will work out – is David really united with the Philistines or not? The story makes it clear that David is not united with the Philistines. Actually the Philistines themselves resolve the issue. They do not allow David to join them in the battle against Saul. They do not trust David and in the process David is freed from what might have become a tough decision. While this resolves the story on one level, we are still left wondering what David would have done had the Philistines welcomed him to join in the battle – was it all a ruse? The story certainly implies that David would have turned on the Philistines. The second issue that is resolved has to do with David and the city of Ziglag. While David is pretending to be faithful to Achish, Ziglag is attacked and all of David’s wives and the wives of the rest of his men are taken captive by the dreaded Amalekites – the very people Saul was supposed to destroy. Once again human choices seem to have made God’s actions more complicated. Then again, we are challenged with the idea of wiping out whole groups of people in God’s name. One way or the other this story is a challenging one. David defeats the Amalekites and restores the city of Ziglag and his stronghold from which he will emerge as the leader of the southern tribes following the death of Saul. The final issue to be resolved is the death of Saul – and tragically his son Jonathan. We might have hoped that Jonathan would somehow have survived, but that does not happen. The death of Saul brings to a conclusion another phase in the story of God’s people. It is a story that does not end well. We are ready to move on to the story of David as king. While that story will have a more pleasant ending in one way – it is not a story without its challenges for us readers.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, November 5, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 27 & 28 The story is moving toward the climax of Saul’s story with speed and determination. In yesterday’s reading we heard another story of David sparing Saul from certain death – David will not destroy “God’s anointed”. But we can tell from the story that Saul’s demise is approaching. As previously noted David has taken refuge among the enemy – the Philistines. Is David a traitor? What will happen when push comes to shove in the battle with Saul? The story does let the reader in on the fact that David is not as loyal to his protector, Achish the Philistine, as might be thought. David raids against the non-Israelites who surround the city of Ziglag which Achish has given to David as stronghold. Likely some of those “neighbors” may have been Philistines but others were not. David hides this from Achish and lies when asked where he has been raiding, telling Achish that he has been attacking the Israelites. We might wonder what God thinks about these lies, not the first lies we have heard about. Abraham lies about Sarah, calling her his sister; Isaac lies about Rebekah, also calling her his sister. Both did it thinking that if they told the truth they would be killed. One can’t help but wonder what God is thinking amid all this deception. We are never told what God thinks. Chapter 28 brings the conclusion to the story of Samuel that seemed to end so abruptly a few chapters earlier. In his desperation Saul seeks the advice of Samuel one more time. Saul had been seeking God’s advice through the regular channels – “dreams, Urim, and prophets” – but God was not speaking through any of them. By the way, we don’t know much about “Urim and Thurim” which we hear about occasionally in the OT, but they most likely were a form of dice that were used to cast lots. That may not sound very much like something God would use, but there it is in the Bible. The point is that the regular channels aren’t working, so Saul resorts to a practice that has been strictly forbidden – the use of a medium. Mediums were fortunetellers, connected with the use of magic. The point of the whole story is to highlight the desperation of Saul. The surprise might be that the medium works. God speaks through the medium – Samuel’s spirit is brought forth and the word for Saul is not good – in fact Saul is reminded of the words of Samuel from earlier that Saul’s fate is sealed. He and his sons will die. Incidentally we should not think of this as a resurrection of Samuel from the dead. The story is far too mysterious for that. Like me, you probably have a difficult time identifying with it. This kind of thing is just not part of our experience. Whatever happened, the point is that Saul’s story is coming to a dreadful end and Samuel can rest in peace.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, November 4, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 25 & 26 In a very short and terse way the narrator tells us of the death of Samuel. We might have expected much more. After all Samuel has been one of the main characters in the story for some time. We are left wondering if that is all there is to say. Samuel will play one more role in the story. But even then we are left wanting for more. The narrator now tells us a rather strange story about David, Nabal, and Abigail. The purpose of the story is to tell us how David got a second wife. There is not much else of value or importance in the story. As the story ends we are told that David also marries another woman, Ahimoam of Jezreel. That makes three wives, although Michal, Saul’s daughter, has not been with David after the time he fled from Saul. Saul has given her to another man. That part of the story will be resolved later. In our time we can’t help but wonder about all these wives. Is this what God wanted? Of course David is not the only one who has multiple wives. Abraham did. Jacob did. The Bible does not seem to be one bit concerned about it. Yet, the Bible story does tell us that God made Adam and Eve for a special relationship of “one flesh”, and when Jesus is pressed about divorce he returns to this early story to lift up the value of marriage in God’s eyes. What does God now think of all this – multiple wives? The story does not tell us. And because the story is written in such a way that David’s actions are left unchallenged, our reading of the Bible is made more complicated. One could make a good argument that having multiple wives is God’s will. Most of us do not believe that today, and most of us would argue that the more dominant view in the Bible is that God made one man and one woman for one relationship called marriage. If we are going to read the Bible for what it says, we are going to have to develop a more complex notion about Biblical inspiration than simply viewing the Bible as words spoken from the mouth of God and written by “uninvolved” human beings who did not influence what is written. Rather, we are going to need to struggle with the reality that the Bible is both a divine and human enterprise. It is God’s Word because God speaks through it to create and sustain faith. But it has human fingerprints all over it, and humans have determined at least some of what it says. This need not worry us. God is bigger than the Bible! God is not troubled with working with fallible human beings. In fact, as we read the story we come to the marvelous realization that God has committed himself to working with human beings. That means of course that not everything goes the way God would like. It takes God more time and sometimes God even needs to change directions. I think all this business of multiple wives is part of that messy business of God simply needing to work things out in spite of the humans God has committed to work with. That kind of God who risks making human beings real and significant is a far larger God than a God who controls everything and will not risk vulnerability and even failure. This is the God we meet in Jesus who put it all on the line – even allowing human beings to crucify him – in order to create a genuine relationship of faith and love. What a wonderful God we worship! What a wonderful Bible that does not hedge on anything – revealing everything as it really is.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, November 3, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 23 & 24 These chapters continue the story. The contours of the conflict are now quite clear. Saul is determined to kill David whom he believes is a rival for his kingdom. David flees but will not take action against Saul. The story of Saul entering the cave where David and his men are hiding adds great suspense to the story. Will David kill Saul? Has God delivered Saul into David’s hand as his men believe? David chooses to let Saul live because Saul is “God’s anointed” one – God will determine Saul’s fate. At this point the story holds out the possibility that David and Saul will be reconciled. Saul’s response seems to indicate that the conflict will now be resolved. But it is not. One might wonder if God was also hoping for a better response on Saul’s part. Once again the story leads us to understand that human choices and actions make a difference for humans and for God.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, November 2, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 21 & 22 The story of the deadly conflict between Saul and David is a long and drawn out story. Our chapters today reveal the intensification of that conflict – Saul is out to kill David. David chooses not to face Saul directly but to flee and wait for God to act. One of the surprising things about this story is that David will not personally attack Saul – the “Lord’s anointed”. Perhaps David could have ended the conflict much sooner – but he chooses to let Saul bring about his own demise. Of special interest for Christians is the story of David bringing his men to the priest of Nob, Ahimelech, when they are hungry. Ahimelech has no ordinary bread, only the sacred bread that has been placed before God. This sacred bread is really God’s bread. David takes it anyway since the situation is an emergency. In the gospel story when Jesus’ disciples are accused by the Pharisees of harvesting grain on the Sabbath when they eat the grain as they pass through the grain field, Jesus points back to this story as justification for their action. Like David they eat the grain. Jesus goes on to declare that “the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath”. Jesus reinterprets the purpose of the rules – just as David made a determination that the rules do not apply in his particular case. Of course, when we read the two stories, we may be left wondering how they work together – there are striking differences. But, no matter, the principle is the same. God is not a God who makes laws for laws sake – rather laws are for the sake of human beings. The priests of Nob will pay a huge price for their loyalty to David – Saul comes and slaughters them all. Once again this is not a pleasant story. Another thing to note and wonder about is David fleeing to the Philistines for protection. The Philistines are the enemy. How will David handle this? What does God think about it? The story will tell us how this all works out for David, but we will be left wondering what is going on for God in all of this. I think that God cannot be very pleased with what is happening. God’s way forward is made more difficult by human choices. But God will work it through and find a way.

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, November 1, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 19 & 20 The story of the hostility between David and Saul continues and intensifies in these chapters. Of special interest is the loyalty that Jonathan, Saul’s son and the heir apparent to the kingship, gives to David. That loyalty will cost Jonathan not only the throne of his father but his life. At this point in the story, if there is someone we want to embrace as a hero it is Jonathan – who puts what he perceives to be God’s will above his own well being. One can’t help but think, “if only Saul had been more open to God and to the wisdom of his son, Jonathan.” Saul’s daughter, Michal, who has been given to David as his wife, also takes action against her father by helping David to escape certain death. At this point in the story, she too does a heroic act. Later, she will not come off so well in her encounter with David once he has established the kingship. But for now she joins the intrigue in the story. Saul is now being isolated even from his family. This is not a pleasant story to read, and once again we are left wondering what God thinks of all of this. Certainly God would have hoped for a better outcome – a better response from the human side of the God/human relationship. The story does reinforce the idea that God has chosen to respond to what humans do. God does not control everything. What human beings do makes a difference, not only to human beings, but also to God. The marvel of the story is that God finds a way. We can take comfort from that, too. In our world – God finds a way.