Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 173 & 174

Jun23

Sundays and Mondays studies are posted together on Mondays

Day 173. Reading Proverbs 30 – 31

Day 174.  Reading 1 Kings 12

Read Today’s Scriptures.
What challenge, insight, or comfort do you find?

Day 173 – Proverbs 30.

“Words of Agur, son of Jakeh.”

Who in the world is Agur?

He is an unknown sage or oracle, possibly a student of wisdom at the time of Solomon.  1 Kings 4:30-31 mentions other “wise men” of the time from the East (Mesopotamia) and from Egypt, like Ethan, Heman, Calcol, And Darda.  (Who knew?)

Agur seems more humble than Solomon, with a heart towards God.  He confesses to “stupidity” and no “learned wisdom.” He confesses no knowledge of “the Holy one,” and yet he describes God well.

  • “Who has ascended to heaven and come down?  Who has gathered the wind in His fists?  Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth?  What is His Name, and what is His Son’s name?  Surely you know!”
  • And, “Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuged in Him. Do not add to His Words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar.”

Agur writes an interesting series of “four things” that he’s grouped together in wonder.  1) Things never satisfied,  2) amazing things to ponder, 3) things the earth trembles at, and 4) things that are stately in their stride.

And he includes this prayer, “Two things I ask of You; deny them not to me before I die. Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches.  Feed me the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny You, and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the Name of my God.”

I would pray such a prayer as well.

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Proverbs 31.

The Words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him.  Who in the world is King Lemuel? And who is his mother?

Jewish tradition identifies King Lemuel as King Solomon himself.  And his “godly mother” must be none other than Bathsheba.  She taught him about being a wise king (verses 2-9) and what an “excellent wife” looks like (verses 10-31).  (Too bad he didn’t stick with one such wife.)

Wow, does she ever scold the king!  I can almost see her grabbing his ear and pulling him away.

  • “What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows? DO NOT GIVE YOUR STRENGTH TO WOMEN, YOUR WAYS TO THOSE WHO DESTROY KINGS!”
  • And “It is NOT FOR KINGS, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all.
  • “Give strong drink to the perishing, wine to those in distress. 
  • But “Open YOUR mouth for the mute…  Open YOUR mouth to judge righteously and defend the rights of the poor and needy.

And then the grown-wise mother tells her son the RIGHT kind of woman to marry.  Did she come to him too late?  Was he already involved in politics and power-machinations when he took Pharaoh’s daughter as his first wife?  Did her words fall on deaf ears?

“An excellent wife who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels……”

Read these verses slowly.

Some aspects are rooted in the agrarian culture of that day (perhaps you can transfer them to duties of a present-day wife/woman), but consider the ATTITUDES this woman displays. Surely her heart is full of the LORD.

  • She does her husband good all the days of her life.
  • She opens her hand to the poor; she reaches out her hands to the needy.
  • She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
  • A woman who fears the LORD….

Truly, her children and husband should rise up and praise her, calling her blessed.

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Day 174 – 1 Kings 12.

And so the Kingdom of David’s Israel rips apart, from pride and arrogance, and the decree of God.

North and South; “Israel” and “Judah.” King Jeroboam (the “Jerk”), son of a servant, friend of Pharaoh, and King Rehoboam (the “Royal”), son of Solomon, grandson of King David.  Both kingdoms start down a slippery slope of sin and idolatry.  It takes Judah longer (God is faithful to David), but both will end up in captivity; one will remain permanently there.

Oh, Solomon!  Why did you let your heart become divided with the glory, gold, and girls of the world, and forsake the Living God who gave you everything???

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After his father died, Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned king of all Israel.  Jeroboam rushed from Egypt to Shechem as well (on standby).  The people stood between the two kingly candidates and presented an ultimatum to Solomon’s son.

  • “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.”

And what did Rehoboam say?  “Um, I’ll get back to you in three days.”  WHAT???  Grab the kingdom, you worthless fool!

But Crown Prince Rehoboam wanted to “take an opinion poll.”

He asked his father’s advisors, old men, what he should do.

  • “Speak good words to them when you answer them, and they will be your servants forever.”

Then he asked counsel of the young men who had grown up with him (and probably hoped to be appointed to good positions).

  • “Tell them you will ADD to the heavy yoke of your father, and discipline them not with whips, but with ‘scorpions!’  (He liked their advice best.)

He returned and told the people all this. They rebelled and deserted Rehoboam. “We have no part in David, no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel!”  

  • “This was a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that He might fulfill His Word, which He spoke by the prophet to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.”

Rehoboam sent his chief tax collector and head of forced labor to the north, but all Israel stoned him to death.  And Rehoboam got into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.

So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.  When they heard that Jeroboam had returned from Egypt, they called him and made him KING over all Israel.

Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. (And Benjamin, next to them.)

So, Rehoboam rallied 180K chosen warriors to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to the son of Solomon.

  • BUT God sent his prophet Shemaiah to say, “Thus says the LORD. You shall NOT go up or fight against your relatives, the people of Israel. Every man, return to his home, for this thing is from ME.”

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And so, the end begins for the Northern Kingdom.  Jeroboam (the Jerk) built up Shechem and lived there. Then, fearful that the people would go back to the king of Judah when they went to Jerusalem to worship, he decided to build worship centers in Bethel and Dan.

And… having just come from Egypt… he built two GOLDEN CALVES and put one each in Bethel and Dan. He made temples for them and appointed priests to serve them.

“Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

And the people of Israel went up to the altars to make offerings.  And sealed their fate.

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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 172

Jun21

Day 172.  Reading 1 Kings 10 – 11 and 2 Chronicles 9

 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
What can we apply to our lives from reading about King Solomon?
 

1 Kings 10-11.

The queen of Sheba.

She heard about Solomon’s wisdom from far off Sheba (modern Ethiopia or Yemen), and came to “TEST him with hard questions. 

Solomon ANSWERED all her questions. There was nothing he could not explain to her. Wow.

“And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her.”

She said, “I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report.”  “BLESSED be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel.”

“And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba ALL that she desired, whatever she asked beside what was give her by the bounty of King Solomon.”  And she went back home.

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***** Before reading the rest of 10 and 11, Let’s read something that God said about any king that would reign over Israel, from Deuteronomy 17:14-20, and Deuteronomy 7:1-5

“You may indeed set a king over you, whom the LORD your God will choose.

  1. “He must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt to buy horses.
  2. “He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away.
  3. “He shall not acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 
  4. (Foreign nations) “You shall not intermarry with them… for they would turn you away from following God to serve other Gods.

Sadly, we will see that Solomon disobeyed God in all four points (unlike King David, his father).

  1. 1 Kings 10:14-15, 21.  “The weight of GOLD that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold (25 tons). Beside that which came from the explorers and from the business of merchants.  And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone.
  2. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots, 4,000 horses, and 12,000 horsemen.  And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt….”
  3. 1 Kings 11:1-8.  “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women from the nations the LORD had said you should not marry. Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. 
  4.  And his wives turned away his heart after other gods.  His heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.  And Solomon went after Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh, and Molech.  He did what was EVIL in the sight of the LORD. He made offerings and sacrificed to these gods.

And (suitably!) the LORD was angry with Solomon.

He said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, I will surely TEAR THE KINGDOM FROM YOU AND GIVE IT TO YOUR SERVANT.

Wow!

A servant, Jeroboam, was very industrious in Solomon’s building projects, and Solomon gave him charge over all the forced labor in the house of Joseph (Ephraim)  One day, a prophet stopped Jeroboam in the open country, and prophesied that the LORD God of Israel was about to “tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and give ten tribes to Jeroboam.”   (God would leave two tribes and Jerusalem in the line of David.)  Jeroboam would be king over the Ten northern tribes of Israel.

Solomon got wind of this and sought to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to … yep, you got it… he fled to Egypt and was there until Solomon died.  (Oh, what pagan worship he learned there!)

Solomon reigned over Israel forty years and died. He was buried in the city of David.  Rehoboam, his son reigned in his place.

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2 Chronicles 9.

This chapter basically covers what is in 1 Kings 10-11.  It does mention another building wonder, that glorified Solomon, of course.

“The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of the step on the six steps. NOTHING like it was ever made for any kingdom.  Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

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And he died, just like he said everybody would, in his words of Ecclesiastes.

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( O, LORD, we are all sinners. Solomon sinned in disobedience, and so do we. He did not wholly follow and love You, and often we do not also.  Please take my heart and make it totally yours. Man I seek Your glory only and not my own.  And I may I use the gifts you give me for your glory alone. You are worthy!)

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 171

Jun21

Day 171  Reading Ecclesiastes 7 – 12

Read Today’s Scriptures.
What truth about God stays in your mind?

Ecclesiastes 7.

Solomon reverts back to the style of his Proverbs in this chapter.

It’s interesting in verse 20 that he states a truth that Paul repeats in Romans 3:10-23.  Solomon says, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” 

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Ecclesiastes 8.

Verse 15. “I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.”

This makes me think of Nehemiah 8:10, “And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

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Ecclesiastes 9. 

Solomon here comes to the conclusion that we all do at some point. “This is an evil in all that is done under the son, that the same even happens to all …” death. Verse 3.

And so, he decides, “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.”  “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life … .”   “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…. for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in the grave to which you are going.”  Verses 7-10

He continues with his sad refrain … “Again I saw under the sun that the race is NOT to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.”  Verse 11.

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Ecclesiastes 10.

Again with more Proverbs, with a rye, humorous twist.

“A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.”

“Bread is for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything.”

“Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.”

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Ecclesiastes 11.

Verse 5. “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the woman with child, so you do not know the word of God who makes everything.” 

(Yes, the formation of a child, out of cells from a man and a woman, with bones, organs, skin, and a mind … and a living soul … is indeed unfathomable.  Only God can create such.)

11:9 “REJOICE, O YOUNG MAN, IN YOUR YOUTH, AND LET YOUR HEART CHEER YOU IN THE DAYS OF YOUR YOUTH.”

Ecclesiastes 12.

12:1 “REMEMBER ALSO YOUR CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF YOUR YOUTH…”

And then Solomon writes a section of humorous but sad allegory, a vivid picture of the aging process, if you will take the time to read carefully and consider. (verses 12:1b -7

If you are still young, perhaps these word pictures won’t have much meaning, but for those in their 80’s and 90’s, they will ring very true.

Verse 7 – pictures final death. “and dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”

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And so what does Solomon get from all his testing and trying everything under the sun and have considered everything via his great wisdom?  He sums it all up in verses 12-14 – pointing back to God.

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

And there you have it.  What have you gained from reading Solomon’s proverbs and speeches as the Preacher?  Me?  He has too much time and money and “stuff.”  A warning about accumulating things.  But he does point to God as creator and controller (sovereign) of all things.  Thank You, God, for you ultimate perfect wisdom!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 170

Jun19

Day 170.  Reading Ecclesiastes 1 – 6

 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
What truth about God stays in your mind?
 

Ecclesiastes 1.

Written by wise King Solomon in his latter years, perhaps after trying everything to find peace and happiness.  He had enough wealth to buy anything, but did it satisfy? And it seems his wisdom failed him, too, because he strayed from the Law of God. 

“Ecclesiastes” means the “Preacher,” or one who gathers a group or congregation of people together to hear a message. Older Solomon here is passing down what he’d learned about “life” to the younger generation.  And what has he discovered? Everything in human life is “vanity,” “vapor & smoke.”  It is all “meaningless.” 

A downer, right?

  • Verse 2. “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” 

He says, “I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem, and I applied my heart to seek and search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.  It is an unhappy business.”

He continues, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. And I applied my heart to know wisdom … and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is a “striving after the wind.”  In much wisdom is much vexation…”

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Ecclesiastes 2.

First, Solomon, the Preacher, decides to test “pleasure and enjoyment.”  (And he had the wealth to buy anything he desired.)

  • First, he searched for ways to cheer his body with wine.
  • Then, he made great works, built houses, planted vineyards for himself, made gardens, and parks, and orchards.
  • He made pools of water for himself.
  • He acquired a multitude of slaves to serve him.
  • He gathered for himself silver and gold, the treasure of kings and provinces.
  • He got male and female singers to entertain him.
  • He acquired many concubines (women) to “serve” him.
  • He became great and surpassed all who were before him.
  • Whatever his eyes desired, he did not keep from them.  He held back no pleasure from his heart.

And what did all this get him?  “Behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”

Next, Solomon tested wisdom, and… MADNESS AND FOLLY. What??  He discovered being wise is better, but in the end … both the fool and the wise man experience tragedy.  And both are eventually forgotten.

He thought about all the works he had done … and hated them.  Why?  Because another would enjoy them after he was gone.  Whether a wise man or fool, HE would enjoy the things Solomon left behind, not having worked a minute for it!!  “Vanity and a great evil!“

And so  what did Solomon decide?  “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.”  (This is a simple, family man with a job…better off that a wealthy, wise king.)

BUT … he DOES ACKNOWLEDG GOD.  “But this is also from God. Apart from Him, who can eat or have enjoyment?  For the one who pleases Him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy….”

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Ecclesiastes 3.

This chapter gives a familiar list of opposite things for which there is a “season” or time. 

  • birth, death
  • planting, harvesting 
  • killing, healing
  • breaking down, building up
  • weeping, laughing
  • mourning, dancing
  • cast away stones, gathering stones
  • embracing, not embracing
  • seeking, losing
  • keeping, throwing away
  • tearing, sewing
  • silence, speaking
  • love, hate
  • war, peace.

“God has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart….”

And, “All (man and beasts) are from the dust, and to dust all return.”

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Ecclesiastes 4.

Solomon also writes of the evil and oppression that he has seen “under the sun.”

The lonely, vulnerable person who has no one, no family or friend, is worse off.  For TWO can help each other if one falls, TWO can keep warm together, and TWO can stand against an attacker.

Better to be a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.

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Ecclesiastes 5.

And then a caution:  “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.”  “Be not rash with your mouth, no let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. Let your words be few.  God is the One you must fear.”

Next, Solomon (the wealthiest man alive then) talks about MONEY.  “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income.”

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Ecclesiastes 6.

This statement is truly sad, for it shows Solomon’s dissatisfied heart.  “If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things …I say that a stillborn child is better off than he!”  EVEN IF THIS MAN LIVES 2,000 YEARS, he still has to die and go to the grave like everyone else. (Oh, boo-hoo, Solomon!)

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(I think, like sometimes Solomon does, that uber wisdom and wealth are NOT a blessing. The person who lives a simple life with a job and a family is WAY better off. 

THANK YOU, LORD, for the simple life you have given me. YOU are wise, and good.)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 169

Jun18

Day 169.  Reading Proverbs 27 – 29

 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
What truth about God in the Proverbs stays in your mind?
 

Proverb 27.

Friends 

  • Verse 6 – “Faithful are the wounds of a friend…
  • Verse 9 – “Oil and perfume make the heart gland, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
  • Verse 10. “Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend…
  • Verse  17 – “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

A quarrelsome wife

  • Verses 15-16 – “A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one’s right hand.

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Proverb 28.

Various kinds of people

  • Verse 3 – “A poor man who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food.
  • Verse 5 – “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.
  • Verse 6 – “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.
  • Verse 11 – “A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out.
  • Verse 20 – “A faithful man will about with blessings, but whosoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
  • Verse 22 – “A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him.
  • Verse 25 – “A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the LORD will be enriched.

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Proverb 29.

Warnings…

  • Verse 1 – “He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
  • Verse 9 – “If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.
  • Verse 12 – “If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.
  • Verse 16 – “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
  • Verse 20 – “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more home for a fool than for him.
  • Verse 21 – “Whoever pampers his servant from childhood will in the end find him his HEIR (and not a faithful servant). 

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Solomon still ponders the good, the bad, the ugly, the humorous, and the serious in his proverbs. He’s learned a lot in his dealings with the people of his kingdom. How much will he apply to his own life?  Will he die a wise man?

(LORD, help me to learn from Your Word about wisdom, righteousness, humility, and kindness to others, and how to apply these to my life.)

  • Psalm 90:12 – “Teach me to number my days that I may get a heart of wisdom.
  • James 1:5 – “If any lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all with out reproach.
  • James 3:17 – “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 168

Jun17

Day 168.  Reading Proverbs 25-26

 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
What truth about God stays in your mind?
 

Proverbs 25.

The following four chapters of Proverbs (137 in all) are by Solomon, but the caption says that they were copied into the book by “the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah.  This would be 200 years later!  It was during a time of revival in Judah.

Solomon’s wise advice in verses 6-7 about not putting yourself forward in the king’s presence reminds me of Jesus’ words in Luke 14:8-10 and James’s words in James 4:6b and 10.

  • Solomon: “Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.”
  • Jesus: “Do not sit down in a place of honor, let someone more distinguished than you be invited, and he who invited you both will say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and you will begin with shame to take the lower place.  Instead, go and sit in the lowest place. so when your host comes, he may say, ‘Friend, move up higher.’  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
  • James: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

Solomon’s admonition to “Argue your case with your neighbor himself,” is expanded by Jesus in Matthew 18:15. “If your brother has anything against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him.”

Solomon’s words about being kind to your enemies, feeding them, and giving them water are “seconded” by Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48.  And, the king’s words about the kindness of feeding and giving drink to enemies as “heaping coals on your enemies head, and the Lord rewarding you,” are picked up by Paul in Romans 12:20.

It looks like Jesus, James, and Paul did some reading in the Proverbs now and then.  We should, too!

Don’t you love good news from people you haven’t heard from in a while? 

  • “Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.”
  • “Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.”

What was the last good news you got from a distant relative or friend?

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Proverbs 26,

Verses 4 and 5 are a conundrum!  Think about Solomon’s words.  What do YOU think he’s trying to say?

  • “ANSWER NOT A FOOL ACCORDING TO HIS FOLLY, lest you be like him yourself.”
  • “ANSWER A FOOL ACCORDING TO HIS FOLLY, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”

Then, in verses 6-12, Solomon continues on and on comparing what awful things are like the mouth, or words, of a fool!  (actually, some of them are funny)

After fools, he rants on sluggards, or the lazy. (Verses 13-16)

Then, busy-bodies, jokesters, gossipers, and liars.  Whew!  Get it all out, Solomon!!

And he’s fair:

  • “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.”
  • “As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.”

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(From the example of Jesus and the writers of the NT letters, I find I need to take some of the wisdom from Proverbs for myself – think on them, and ask the Holy Spirit to apply them to my life and my heart.)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 166 & 167

Jun16

Sundays and Mondays studies are posted together on Mondays

Day 166. Reading Psalm 134, 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150.

Day 167.  Reading 1 Kings 9,  2 Chronicles 8

Read Today’s Scriptures.
What insight or comfort do you receive?
 

Day 166 – Psalm 134 – 150.

What a wonderful psalm to remind us of Solomon’s dedication of the Temple.

  • Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
  • Life up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD!
  • May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!

Oh, DO READ the rest of these Psalms to 150.  These are the songs the people sang as they “sent up to Jerusalem” for the feasts of the Lord. They are psalms of praise!

Here’s just a verse or two from each.

  • Psalm 146.  “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have being.”
  • Psalm 147. “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”  “Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving, made melody to our God on the lyre.”
  • Psalm 148. “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise Him in the heights! Praise Him all his angels, praise Him, all His hosts!  Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars! Praise Him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens.”
  • Psalm 149. “Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly!”
  • Psalm 150. “Praise the LORD!”   “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! PRAISE THE LORD!”

 

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Day 167 – 1 Kings 9a.

The first part of this chapter repeats God’s “If-Then” blessings and warnings to Solomon and Israel.

IF Solomon will walk in the ways of David with integrity of heart and uprightness, keeping God’s statutes and rules … THEN God will establish his royal throne over Israel forever.

But IF Solomon and Israel do NOT keep God’s commandments and statutes but serve other gods and worship them … THEN God will cut off Israel from the land and make it a byword and a proverb among the peoples. And the “house” (Temple) will become a pile of ruins.

Dire warnings, indeed!

1 Kings 9b and 2 Chronicles 8.

It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple, his own palace, and the palace of his queen. The queen’s “house” was outside Jerusalem, away from the temple, because she was the daughter of Pharaoh, a pagan, and Solomon did not want her living near the Ark of the Covenant.  

(You wonder why Solomon’s first wife (of Song of Solomon?) was a pagan Egyptian, the very people from whom God had rescued Israel. It was breaking God’s specific law about a King’s marrying.  Yes, it was a political deal, and Pharaoh had killed a bunch of Canaanites and given a city to Solomon as part of the dowery for his daughter, but still …  

  • Deuteronomy 7:3-4. “You shall not intermarry with them (pagans) giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods…”
  • 1 Kings 11:1-4. “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh …. “Solomon clung to these in love …. “And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God as was the heart of David, his father.” 

There go God’s promises.

But meanwhile, Solomon got busy building cities.  He gave twenty of them in Galilee to King Hiram in appreciation for all the help and material he had supplied. But Hiram didn’t like them and gave them back. (What??)

Solomon used forced labor (slaves) for all his building projects, much like his father-in-law, the Pharaoh, had done.  But since God’s law forbade any Jewish people from being enslaved, Solomon used the Canaanites, which they had captured, to do the work and oversee the projects.

Solomon filled in the land depression between the city of David and the temple/palace, built the wall of Jerusalem, and the military outposts of Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, and others, as well as grain storage cities (also like Pharaoh), and cities for stabling his horses and chariots.  He also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-Geber on the shore of the Red Sea for international trading. (Gold from Ophir, etc.) (King Hiram sent ship-builders and seamen to teach Solomon’s workers the trade.)

“And whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion, he built.”

It’s interesting that in Ecclesiastes, Solomon bemoans all this grandeur and wealth as “vanity,” worthless to his soul. (We’ll get there soon.)

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  • 1 Timothy 6:6-10.  “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these, we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is the root of all evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith…”

 

  • Hebrews 13:5.  “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Oh, Father, keep me from greed and a desire for riches and the abundance of “things.”  Help me see the so much greater value of knowing YOU. Help me to be content with what I have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 165

Jun14

Day 165.  Reading 2 Chronicles 6-7, Psalm 136

 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
*What truth about God stays in your mind?
 
Today’s reading is similar to yesterday’s verses in 1 Kings, about Solomon’s blessing the people of Israel and his prayer of dedication of the Temple.

2 Chronicles 6 and 2 Chronicles 7a.

Verses of note:

  • “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with His hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David, my father.”
  • “Now the LORD has fulfilled His promise that He made.”

God’s word is ever true, and we can be sure He will “fulfill what he promises.”

  • “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to Your servants who walk before you with all their hearts.”
  • “Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house that I have built.”

Then Solomon prays for all the “if-then” times when Israel will fail and sin, and God will bring disaster on them … that if they turn, repent, and pray, that God will indeed HEAR and FORGIVE.

  • “…then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart You know, according to all his ways, for You, You only, know the hearts of the children of mankind.”

Even when Israel is taken into captivity for their sin, perversion, and wickedness (wow, prophecy for sure!), but they REPENT with all their mind and with all their heart and pray toward their land and this house…. Solomon prays that God would HEAR and FORGIVE.

And when Solomon’s prayer was finished, “fire came down from heaven and consumed the burn offering and the sacrifices ... and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.  And everyone – Solomon, the priests, and the people – bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and WORSHIPPED and GAVE THANKS to the LORD, saying, “for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”

King Solomon offered sacrifice before the LORD = 22K oxen and 120K sheep (wow!).  The Levites stood at their posts with instruments playing music to the LORD that King David had written for giving thanks, “for His steadfast love endures forever.”

Psalm 136.

David wrote: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.”  “Give thanks to the God of gods.”  “Give thanks to the Lord of lords.”  “For His Steadfast Love (mercy) endures forever.”  

In this psalm, David repeats that concluding phrase after every element of praise he states about the awesome God of Israel…. 25 TIMES!   For His Steadfast Love endures forever.  

Read all those praise phrases!  If you ever find your heart stingy and grumpy.  Read all these beginning praise praises. How awesome is our God. He does such wonderous things for His own people. He is strong and mighty.  He is tender and kind. 

SERIOUSLY!! Read them and praise Him.  

WHY is He so good to His own people???  For (because) his everlasting love and mercy towards us …. endures…. forever!  (FOREVER!  THINK ON THAT.)

(And then, after you read those praise phrases in Psalm 136, make a list of your own.  I’ll start…

  • Lord, You searched me out and found me – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You saved me and gave me new life – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You help me walk in righteousness – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You forgive and restore me when I sin and repent – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You supply all I need – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You give me joy in sorrow and suffering – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • Your presence is with me, even in death – Why? Your love endures forever.
  • You have promised me eternal life with YOU – Why? Your love endures forever. 

And on, and on, and on…….

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2 Chronicles 7b.

After all the celebration, glory, and praise, God appeared to Solomon in the cool, dark, silence of the night.

  • “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.”  “My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”

And then that verse we know so well, and often maybe mistakenly pray for our own countries.  God says about Israel, 

  • “If my people who are called by name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
  • “If you (Solomon) will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and rules, then I will establish your throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.”

Such glorious promises!!

But there is a dire warning as well.  Sadly, this one comes to pass…. 

  • “BUT IF…. you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, THEN….I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and THIS HOUSE THAT I HAVE CONSECRATED FOR MY NAME, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
  • “And THIS HOUSE, WHICH WAS EXALTED, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and this house?’
  • “Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on OTHER gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore He has brought all this disaster on them”

Solomon’s dream/vision turned into a nightmare of warning.  Will it keep his heart wholly for the LORD???

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*As for the truth(s) about God that stays in my mind after this reading?  It is His utter, enduring, amazing grace and love that He has for His people …. until they raise a fist in His face, turn their backs on Him, and seek to fulfill their own sinful and prideful cravings away from Him.  EVEN THEN, He is willing to forgive and restore if they repent and return to Him.  SUCH MERCY and STEADFAST LOVE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 164

Jun13

Day 164.  Reading 1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 5

Read Today’s Scriptures.

What truth about God stays in your mind?

1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 5.

The Temple that King David had imagined, planned, and provided for, and that King Solomon had built … was finished.  A fantastic monument for the LORD GOD of Heaven, glorious and magnificent, only awaiting the breath of God Himself!

Solomon gathered all of Israel for the dedication. The priests were consecrated and sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted. Then, they brought up the Ark of the Covenant from Zion, the City of David. They placed it in the Most Holy Place in the Temple, under the wings of the cherubim.

And when they came out … a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not minister, for the GLORY of the LORD filled the house of the LORD!

King Solomon then blesses the LORD God of Heaven.

  • Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with His hand has fulfilled what He promised with His mouth to David, my father, saying… ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that My Name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people, Israel.’  Now it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. (But the LORD said, you shall not build the house, but your son shall build the house for my name.)  NOW, THE LORD HAS FULFILLED HIS PROMISE.”

Then Solomon spread out his hands toward heaven and prayed a lengthy prayer to the LORD, filled with praise, humility, contrition, and confidence in God.

  • “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart.”  “Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David, my father (that he would not lack a man to sit before you on the throne of Israel). 

Solomon pleads that God when He hears prayer offered from that place, would hear it and forgive.

  • If a person sins against his neighbor and comes before the altar…
  • When the people of Israel are defeated because they have sinned…
  • When there is no rain because the people have sinned…
  • If there is a famine, pestilence, blight, mildew, locus, or enemy at the gates because they have sinned and they come before this place with repentance…
  • When a foreigner comes to pray before this place…
  • If your people go to battle and pray for help…
  • If they sin against You, and you send enemies to take them captive, and they turn to you….
  • If your people repent with all their mind and hearts…

“Then, O God, hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their plea and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and for all their transgressions that they have committed against You, grant them compassion.”

Then Solomon got up from his prayer and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice:

  • “The LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers, may He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Him to walk in all his ways and to keep His commandments, statutes, and rules he commanded our fathers.  Let your heart, therefore, be wholly true to the LORD our God.”

After that, there were tons more sacrifices and offerings.  After eight days, the people went home to their houses, joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, his servant, and to Israel, his people.

(More tomorrow on Solomon’s prayer and dedication and God’s well-known promise of forgiveness and healing. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

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(Oh, the mountain-top experiences! How we all wish we could stay there. Filled with the joy of the LORD, praises, goodwill, and full tummies. 

There will be more good things about Solomon, but eventually, as he goes against the laws for a king, we will see him falter. God is faithful, but sin will show its ugly head in his own son’s reign. 

Message to me?  Stay alert, be on guard, for my heart tends to sin, pride, greed, and wishes for glory.)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 163

Jun12

Day 163.  Reading 1 Kings 7, 2 Chronicles 4

Read Today’s Scriptures.
What truth about God stays in your mind?
(We are on a break from Proverbs for a few days to catch up on Solomon and his building and dedication of the Temple of God.)

1 Kings 7 and 2 Chronicles 4.

SOLOMON’S PALACE

In a few verses (7:1-12), the description of Solomon’s own palace is given.  (It was larger than the Temple and stood just south of it.) It took the king thirteen years to build it.

Solomon called his palace “The House of the Forest of Lebanon” for the many cedar pillars, beams, ceilings, floors, and paneling. (Can you imagine the lovely cedar fragrance he breathed in each day?)

Some of the rooms were named “The Hall of Pillars,” “The Hall of the Throne,” and “The Hall of Judgment.” Connected to the palace were several halls for his personal living space and for that of his queen, the daughter of Pharoah. The foundations and walls were made of massive stones, 12-15 feet in length.

TEMPLE FURNISHINGS

Oh my!  Everything Solomon had made to furnish the Temple was larger, grander, and more numerous. The “sea,” which replaced the “basin” that had stood directly in front of the Tabernacle, was now 15 feet across, 7.5 feet high, and held 12,000 gallons of water. Ten movable carts with basins were made to transport water to this mini “swimming pool” used for washing priests and sacrificial animals. To support this massive basin were 12 bronze oxen underneath, three facing in each direction.  WOW!

Inside the Holy Place, instead of one lampstand, there now stood ten, half on either side, plus all that was necessary to keep them burning.  Ten tables for the shewbread were made, equally divided, north and south, but only one golden altar of incense. It stood before the Most Holy Place.

Only the Ark of the Covenant was not remade.

The Holy Place and The Most Holy Place were both lined with pure gold.  In the Most Holy Place stood the two golden cherubim that Solomon made, wings spread out to touch each other and the sides of the room. They both faced the Holy Place, though The Veil separated the rooms.  (The Ark of God would be set between them).

Outside the Temple, holding up the wide porch, were two massive bronze pillars, 27 feet high (plus the capitals, which added another 7.5 feet) and 18 feet in circumference. Solomon named them Jachin and Boaz, which meant, “He shall establish” and “In it is strength.”  They would remind the people and the king of the stability and strength of God’s promises of a “forever” Kingdom of David.

Solomon also had made all the vessels that would be used in the Temple worship. King Hiram’s man, Huram-abi led in the design and construction of them all.

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Tomorrow…. the Ark of God is brought in.