I Kings 20

Meanwhile, back in the northern kingdom, an army from Damascus marches to Samaria probably with the intent to add the northern kingdom to its empire.

God has not given up on Ahab or the northern kingdom. God has recently raised the stakes with higher level miraculous events - a 3 year drought, fire from heaven at Mount Carmel, followed by a torrential rainstorm. The outcome was that the people killed 450 priests of Baal, which was a big step towards God.

Now a massive army comes to them. Will they rely on God? Will they turn to their idols? What will God do?

The Syrian army initially demands money and Ahab agrees. He did not consult God.

However, when they demand to go through his palace and plunder it, this is too much and he tells them off. He probably thought that was a thinly-veiled attempt to just kill Ahab and take the city without fighting.

A prophet steps forward and tells Ahab that God will deliver the city and defeat the army. This happens and then prophet tells Ahab to expect another invasion in a year. A second invasion follows and this time, the Syrian strategy is to fight in the plains because they think that God's power is limited to the mountains. They also replace the field commanders with professional soldiers and not the drunken kings of the first invasion.

Again the prophet tells Ahab that God will deliver the city. The Israelites win a second time. Ahab ends up sparing the Syrian king and calls him "my brother".

Afterwards, there is a strange interaction in which a prophet disguises himself as a wounded warrior and tells Ahab a story about how he lost a prisoner and now must either die or pay a fine. Ahab has no mercy on him. The prophet takes off the disguise and Ahab recognizes him. The prophet tells Ahab that because spared a person who God wanted to die, that Ahab will die in his place. Ahab goes away angry.

So, who is this unnamed prophet? I assume that Elijah and Elisha are walking around anointing people, so probably not them. My guess is that this prophet or prophets were some of the 100 prophets that were hidden by Obadiah. It also sounds like they are walking around freely.

So, who is the person Ahab was supposed to kill? Based on the context, I assume it was the king of Syria who he called "my brother". However, according to the text, God did not tell Ahab to kill the king of Syria. It might have been an implicit instruction given the context. Plus, God wanted Elijah to anoint Hazael as the next king in Damascus which would replace the guy that Ahab calls his brother. So, it is clear that God wants this guy wiped out, but it is not clear if Ahab was explicitly told to kill him.

It also shows Ahab's character as king. He is not a ruthless tyrant, which is good. But he likes to please people and is easily influenced, particularly by his peers. This character trait gets him in trouble in the next chapter.

I Kings 19

Elijah beat Ahab back to Jezreel but does not talk to him. So, maybe the supernatural running speed was to avoid the torrential rainstorms.

Ahab tells Jezebel what happens and Jezebel sends word to Elijah that he will die if she catches him. This has the desired effect and he flees, this time to Judah. After all that happened, Elijah is afraid of Jezebel. Fire fell from the sky when he prayed, he stopped rain for 3 years, he had supernatural running speed - and he is afraid of Jezebel. Let that sink in....Elijah, one of the most powerful prophets in all in the Bible, is afraid of Jezebel finding and killing him.

His fear of Jezebel gets a really strong hold of him and it turns to depression. He thinks his life is worthless and even prays for God to kill him.

He falls asleep in the wilderness when an angel wakes him and gives him bread and water. He eats, lays down, and the angel again wakes him up and tells him to eat. The angelic food and water powers him for a 40 day walk to Mount Sinai.

There on Mount Sinai, Elijah is hiding in a cave when the Lord passed by and a mighty windstorm occurred, but God was not in it. This was followed by a mighty earthquake and then a great fire, but God was not in either. Finally, God spoke with a gentle whisper. We have seen God speak before in a mighty wind (Job) and in fire (burning bush before Moses). I don't remember God speaking in an earthquake thus far.

So, why a gentle whisper now? I'm not entirely sure. But I think it was unexpected for Elijah. Elijah had seen God doing these massive miracles involving nature (drought, fire from sky, followed by a torrential rainstorm). He probably wished for a massive miracle to strike down Jezebel. But here, God was speaking with a gentle whisper.

Elijah wraps his head with his cloak (probably to prevent seeing God's face) and goes outside. God twice asks him what he is doing there to which Elijah complains about his situation - Jezebel wants to kill.

God's response is to give Elijah a new mission. Elijah is very obedient to God. He just needs an order and he will carry it out. He might even lose his fear when he has marching orders from God. He is to anoint the next king of Aram in Damascus, the next king of Israel, and his successor as prophet (Elisha).

Elisha is working the fields with his oxen when Elijah comes and puts his cloak over him. This signals to Elisha to come and follow, which Elisha does after giving his oxen as food to the local community. I suspect that Elisha may have been one of 100 prophets that Obadiah had protected from Jezebel.

I Kings 18

The famine ravages the land for three years. King Ahab has searched frantically to find Elijah. Now, Ahab is concerned that his own herds of horses and mules will die of starvation and begins a search for grass to feed them. He goes in one direction and sends Obadiah in another. Obadiah is In charge of Ahab's palace and is loyal to God. He even saved 100 prophets from Jezebel by hiding them in caves.

Elijah emerges from hiding and does not immediately pray for rain. Rather, he has other ideas. He tells Ahab to assemble the people of Israel and prophets of Baal and Ashereth on Mount Carmel along with two altars. A slaughtered bull is placed on each altar. He challenges the 450 prophets of Baal that if Baal is god, let Baal light an altar. If the God of Israel is God, let Him light an altar.

All the people of Israel are watching, presumably on the slopes of the mountain or nearby.

The prophets of Baal shout and dance for several hours. Elijah makes fun of them with mocking sarcasm. Afterwards, the prophets of Baal begin cutting themselves, which was their usual custom. This seems to indicate that this method worked in the past.

Elijah directs that water be poured on his altar and a trench be dug around it to hold more water in. Considering that a famine was happening, water was a precious commodity so this alone is very significant. It also shows Elijah's confidence in the upcoming fire and rain. That said, the water could have been seawater.

Elijah makes a single simple prayer and a fire ball comes from the sky and incinerates the altar, the bull, and all the water. The people of Israel are amazed and he uses the moment to have the prophets of Baal arrested and killed.

God brought fire, now time for rain.

Elijah goes back up the mountain and prays 7 times before a little cloud emerges from the ocean. Soon, this little cloud becomes torrential rainstorm.

Ahab is heading back to Jezreel via chariot and Elijah needs to beat him. In a very understated miracle, Elijah outruns Ahab's chariot and is waiting at Jezreel before Ahab arrives.

A new prophet emerges in the North (I Kings 17)

King Ahab is the worst of the northern kings thus far. We find out more of personality later, he is a bit weak-willed and his wife Jezebel is an evil, vindictive queen. God does not want the northern kingdom to slip away any further. So, God sends an emissary with as much spiritual power and authority that rivals Moses, perhaps even more so. He will reappear along with Moses before Christ to the bewilderment of Peter and John.

He is Elijah.

Elijah emerges from the northern city of Tishbe in Gilead. The text is silent as to anything else about his origin. He goes to Ahab and tells him that it will not rain until Elijah says so. At this point, we have not seen any miracles by Elijah. We don't know if God has actually delegated the power of rain or drought to him. I wonder if Elijah thought, "yeah, this is not going to work. No one has ever shut off rain like this."

Elijah immediately goes into hiding to a brook where he survives by drinking the water from the brook and eating bread and meat brought by ravens. The brook eventually dries because there is no rain. These events are actually confirming the credibility of Elijah as prophet, both to himself and to others.

It is time for him to move on. God sends him to a city where he will be fed by a widow who has a child. He arrives and meets her, but she is preparing her last meal as she has only a little flour and olive oil left. Afterwards, she expects that she and her son will starve to death.

Elijah proclaims to her that she will always have flour and olive oil left during the drought. The text says that she had food for her "family". We already know she has a child, but it is impossible that she used the never-ending flour and oil to feed others in her family. I would.

Eventually the child dies from an illness. The woman blames Elijah for coming to punish her sins. Elijah takes the boy's body to the room he was staying in, stretched himself over it 3 times, then prayed for the life of the child to return. The child wakes up.

Elijah takes the living boy to the woman who now proclaims that Elijah is a prophet from God.

Most of Elijah's power miracles thus far have been private. He did proclaim that there would be no rain, but the drought could just be a natural coincidence. We have not seen any public recognition of Elijah's power yet. He is still in hiding, which implies that king Ahab wants to find him. So, Ahab could believe the drought was caused by Elijah or just simply that Ahab (or Jezebel) wants to kill anyone who denounces him regardless of actual spiritual authority.

Kings of North and South (2 Chronicles 16; 1 Kings 16)

Asa, king of the South (2 Chronicles 16)

Asa slips a bit.

Asa is not directly punished for bribing the king of Aram to attack Baasha's army. However, God sends a messenger to say that Asa missed an opportunity to destroy an enemy like the way the Ethiopian army was by God.

He dies of a foot disease and never seeks healing from God.

Kings of the North (1 Kings 16)

Baasha, Elah

Zimri (new dynasty)

Omri (new dynasty), Ahab

The kings of the north undergo a quick succession of bad rulers. Most of these get only quick mention in the text. It begins with Baasha, who actually gets a visit from the prophet Jehu. jeru says that God is mad at Baasha because God lifted him up, but hd was a sinful ruler and he killed all of Jeroboam's family. This is interesting because it was a prediction by God, but yet God is angry at Baasha for fulfilling the prediction. As a result, Baasha's family will be wiped out.

Baasha dies and is succeeded by Elah. Elah is drunk one day and killed by an officer in his army, Zimri. Zimri takes control of the capital (now Tirzah) kills the rest of Baasha and Elah'sa family.

This prompts a civil war led by a general, Omri, who lays siege to Tirzah. It sounds like maybe Zimri was junior to Omri in the army so Omri felt if anyone in the army became king, it should be him. Zimri sets the city on fire rather than surrender to Omri.

Omri dies and is succeeded by his son Ahab. Ahab gets the description that he did worse than all the other kings before. Uh oh.

Meanwhile, someone tries to rebuild Jericho and loses his oldest and youngest son. This fulfills Joshua's curse on the city when he attacked it.

1 Kings 14-15; 2 Chronicles 11-14

A pattern is emerging. The kings of the north are almost always bad (corrupt in God's eyes). God replaces them with bloody internal revolts. The kings of the south are sometimes good, sometimes bad, even within the same reign. Their biggest threats do not come from internal revolts because of God's protection of the Davidic Dynasty, but rather external armies.

Kings of the North - Jeroboam, Nadab;

Baasha (new dynasty)

Jeroboam's child became sick. Jeroboam sent his wife to Shiloh to visit with the prophet, Ahijah, who told Jeroboam would be king. Jeroboam's wife is in disguise and the old prophet is blind, but God tells the prophet who it is.

Jeroboam's wife does not say a word in the text, but Ahijah gives her the worst news. Not only is the child going to die, but God is going to wipe out all of Jeroboam's family because of his sins.

She goes back to Jeroboam and the child dies.

Jeroboam is succeeded by Nadab. Nadab does evil and has a short reign. He dies in a violent coup d'etat led by Baasha. Baasha then kills the rest of the family of Jeroboam.

Baasha does evil in God's eyes but has a fairly long reign despite it (24 years). He has lots of wars with the southern kingdom.

King of the South - Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa

Rehoboam had a good reign for a while and fortified many cities. Eventually he abandoned God and allowed the people to have their pagan shrines which angered God. This includes allowing male and female shrine prostitutes. Uh oh.

The king of Egypt invaded the land, sacked the temple, and stole the gold from its treasury. The invasion prompts some repentance on the part of Rehoboam so God prevents his total destruction but still allows the city to be sacked.

During Solomon's reign, word had spread of his wealth and the gold in the temple. I imagine it was an inviting target for any regional army. It is also a sad corollary to the Queen of Sheba paying respect to Solomon while the King of Egypt plunders the riches that Solomon had for the temple during the reign of Solomon's son.

Anyway, Rehoboam replaced the gold shields of Solomon with bronze ones.

Rehoboam dies and is succeeded by Abijam. Abijam follows in his father's footsteps and does not please God. He had wars with Jeroboam had a short reign.

Still though, 2 Chronicles 13 describes a war between Jeroboam and Abijam in which one of men of the south makes an impassioned speech to the northern army about the futility of attacking the Davidic Dynasty and how that the southern people had not rejected God, whereas the northern had. The speech falls on deaf ears and the northern army loses in a big ugly battle.

Abijam is succeeded by Asa.

Asa was a good king and cleaned up the religious practices of the land. He still fought a lot of wars with Baasha of the north.

The Ethiopians invade the land with a huge army during Asa's reign. Asa calls on God to help and God defeats the Ethiopians.

Asa does something peculiar which shows a lack of confidence of God to fight his battles. During an invasion by Baasha, Asa used the gold from the temple and palace treasuries to bribe the king of Aram (Damascus is the capital) to break off his treaty with Baasha and invade the north. This works and Baasha withdraws his army.

Asa dies and is succeeded by Jehosophat.

A prophet goes north (1 Kings 13)

A prophet comes from Judah to Israel to denounce Jeroboam. Interestingly, we do not get this prophet's name. The prophet finds Jeroboam at the altar of Bethel. (Jacob dreamt of the stairway to heaven outside Bethel).

The prophet tells Jeroboam that a future king of the Davidic dynasty, Josiah, will sacrifice pagan priests on the bones of Jeroboam and that a sign that this will happen is the altar will leave in two. Jeroboam orders his arrest, but his hand became paralyzed. The altar also cracks in half.

The prophet does not say that Jeroboam will be cut off or that the dynastic offer is gone. This happens later. Here, Jeroboam still can repent.

Jeroboam asks the prophet to pray for his hand to be healed, which happens. Jeroboam invites the prophet to come eat. It is not stated whether this shows repentance on the part of Jeroboam.

The prophet declines because God had told him not to eat or drink anything while on the trip to the north. Why did God do this? It is not stated, but it could have been that God wanted to limit the interaction between the prophet and the northern people. This is totally my speculation and it is based on what happens next.

The prophet heads back to Judah, but another much older prophet finds him along the way and offers him to come and eat. The southern prophet declines because God told him not to eat. The older prophet then told him that an angel had told the older prophet to tell him that God said it was OK to eat with him. This was a lie. The younger prophet eats with the older one and is killed by a lion immediately afterwards. The lion does not attack the man's donkey, just him. Later, the lion stands guard over the body, never harming the donkey. Eventually, local people put the body on the donkey and take it away for burial.

I always found this one of the strangest stories in the old testament. What was the younger prophet thinking? It sort of reminds of me of Moses striking the rock when God told him to speak to it. God prevented him from entering the promised land on account of that disobedience. Both show that prophets did disobey God from time to time and there were consequences to them.

So, why did the older prophet insist on eating with the younger one? My guess is that he was a washed up old prophet who had rejected God. By this time, all the Levites in the north and anyone who still followed God had left to go south. So, who is this guy and why does the Bible refer to him as an old prophet? I guess, but don't know, that he was a former prophet who is now following Jeroboam's pagan religion and he wanted more supernatural or to reclaim his former lost supernatural power.

It would also explain why he had to lie about the angel, although we don't know which part of that was the precise lie. Ambiguity in the text leaves open the possibility that the old prophet may have had a supernatural encounter and thought he was dealing with God's angel, but instead received a lie. The alternative is that the old prophet made up the whole thing.

God's reaction to kill him with the lion seems harsh, but I think it is in line with the precedent of Moses not entering the promised land or when God tried to kill Moses because his sons were not circumcised. God expects a higher level of obedience with His representatives and messengers on earth.

It would have also had religious and political implications as it confirmed the message of the prophet.

The story also represents an attempt by God to use the south to reclaim the north for God. God does not send the army, but rather a solo man. God does not seek to conquer the north and force it back to submission, but rather they get a verbal warning and powerful confirmation. In some ways, the messenger was martyred to bring the message to the north.

The northern people, including Jeroboam, can choose what to do next.

The final verses of the chapter show that Jeroboam did not turn away. Jeroboam maintained the pagan shrines and interestingly, God is angry that non-Levites are chosen to be priests for the pagan religions. All this was a great sin to God and reason to wipe off Jeroboam's dynasty.

The northern tribes revolt (1 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 10-11)

[Back to the story...Solomon is dead and his son Rehoboam has succeeded him. Meanwhile, God has offered a dynastic covenant of the northern tribes to another man, Jeroboam. Jeroboam was living in Egypt because Solomon had hunted him.]

The people of Israel come to Rehoboam and ask that he treat them more gently than Solomon did. Rehoboam says he will give an answer in 3 days. Meanwhile, he consults his advisers. The older advisors tell him to lighten their load to gain the loyalty of the people while his friends advise him to make things worse. He chooses the latter option. Now, before we jump on Rehoboam, the text says that this was all God's doing. The only other time I remember where God interfered like this was when God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

The people get angry and openly talk of rebellion. Rehoboam sends Adoniram to restore some order, but he is stoned to death. The people hear that Jeroboam is back from Egypt so they choose him as king. His capital is Shechem in the land of Ephraim.

So, now we have two nations, a southern kingdom with Rehoboam and Jerusalem as capital and a northern kingdom with Jeroboam as king and Shechem as capital.

A civil almost immediately erupts between the two, but God intervenes. Rehoboam is mobilizing the army when God tells a prophetic man to advise Rehoboam and is soldiers not to go to war and this is all God's doing. It does not say what was Rehoboam's reaction was, but I imagine he was probably mad at God.

Meanwhile, Jeroboam wants to consolidate power. He is afraid that the people will return their allegiance to the southern kingdom because that is where the temple is and the people will have go make pilgrimages there. So, instead of relying on God, he an starts alternative religion that competes against the Feast of Tabernacles. He has golden calfs made and directs the people to worship them in the northern kingdom at the same time that they would otherwise be going to Jerusalem.

To make it worse, he tells the people that these golden calfs were the gods that brought them out of Egypt. Jeroboam knows what he's doing. It is a calculated political move that has major religious implications. The people are already have strong proclivity towards idolatry and this would have the intended effect - they would stop going to Jerusalem at Feast time to honor God but rather stay in the northern lands to worship these calfs.

Jeroboam goes as far to prevent the Levites from worshiping God. So, All the Levites in the north move south to Jerusalem even abandoning their lands. Others loyal to God follow as well and leave the northern lands. This makes Jerusalem stronger.

We can guess God's response to Jeroboam's calfs. These things never end well. Jeroboam is not doing his part to establish a covenant with God and to have a dynasty.

Final thought on Job

I find it very interesting that chapter 4 contained the demonic encounter which influenced the perspective of his 3 friends. Their argument was essentially a karma theory - bad things happen to bad people. The friends took the karma theory one step further to say that God does bad things to bad people and only bad things to bad people. If bad things happen to someone, then that person is bad. This would put the entire blame for everything that happened to Job (or anyone else) on God. It would also skew righteousness as one would look to the presence of bad things happening for validity of one's way of life.

Rather, in Job 1-2, we find that it was Satan that did those awful things to Job, not God. Yet, if we accept the Job 4 encounter as coming from Satan, then he convinced Job's 3 friends that God (or karma) was to blame, rather than Satan. The rest of Job stands as a refutation of this belief.

Job 42, Epilogue

Job makes a final statement. He takes back what he said about God and repents. He does not repent about things he did before the calamities, but rather statements he made in the dialogues. This is in line with Elihu's reasoning and arguments and in full rejection of the ideas from his 3 friends.

God then directs Eliphaz and the two other to repent for not speaking accurately about God. They must do some sacrifices.

God says nothing to Elihu, which implicitly validates Elihu's perspective.

Job prays for forgiveness for his 3 friends and God gives him twice what he had before. The number of animals is precisely doubled the number find in Job 1. He also has 7 sons and 3 daughters, the number of children he had before.

He lived 140 years after that and saw 4 generations of children and grandchildren. This is in line with what his expectations about God's blessing on the righteous from the dialogues.

Behemoth and Leviathan (Job 40-41)

God then asks Job about two creatures that God made, the behemoth and the leviathan. What are these creatures? Are they real? Natural, spiritual? Extinct or extant? Are the descriptions metaphorical? My personal bias is that they are spiritual creatures because. I'll explain why. I'll admit this whole area is pretty cloudy.

Job 40-41 Behemoth and Leviathan

Let's start with the descriptions:

Behemoth (40:15-24)

Attributes of an extant natural creature: eats grass, powerful muscles, tail as strong as cedar, stands in water, lives in the Jordan river

Based on this, one might conclude it is a hippo or elephant. One might say that it is a dinosaur but it seems to be an extant creature as the language is in the present tense.

Metaphorical description/ attributes of a super-creature: these if taken literally, are not any creature in the natural world:

Bones of bronze, limbs of iron (not "as iron") - this creature is made of metal

Only God can threaten it - every animal on earth can be hunted by humans, even in Job's day

Cannot be caught or harnessed (ring through the nose)

The behemoth is nebulous and if one allows for some metaphorical license, it could reasonably be an elephant. However, the Leviathan is much harder to identify in the natural world. Both of these creatures are explained together, so I think they should be grouped together.

Leviathan (41:1-34)

Physical attributes:

Enormous strength, limbs, graceful form

Powerful jaws

Terrible teeth

Scales arranged in rows of a shield

Based on this, it would seem like a crocodile.

However, the metaphorical attributes seem to undercut the crocodile theory. I think the metaphorical attributes should not be dismissed too easily as they are central to the dialogue. It is these that actually make the creature impressive.

1. God asks Job if he or others can do these things. If it were a physical creatures, then the answer would be "yes, God. I can."

Catch it with a hook

Put a spike through its jaw

Make it a pet like a bird (probably not a crocodile, but at least can be captured alive)

Sell or buy it in shops

Hurt or hunt it with spears

2. Other super-creature attributes

Cannot be caught

Lightning, fire, and smoke come from mouth and nostrils

Flesh cannot be penetrated

Cannot be stopped by clubs, a sword, arrow, javelin, or any weapon made of iron or bronze

Also, the book of Psalms (74:14) says this creature has multiple heads.

Finally, I think these creatures must be considered in the overall point of Job. Yes, chapters 38-39 contain a litany of the natural world to showcase the power and majesty of God. But what began Job? What was the rest of the book about? Job 1-2 were dialogues in the spiritual world and Job 3-37 were back and forth arguments about why bad things happen and God's majesty.

Here, I think these chapters return to the questions posed in the rest of the book. God's demonstrating that there are spiritual forces, good and evil, that are far more complicated than Job can understand, nor hope to control on his own. However, God can subdue them. Just as God can limit Satan, God can harness and control these other spiritual creatures as well.

So, why do bad things happen? Because these things are running amuck, which ties us back to the very beginning of Job.

Job 38-40:5

Job 38-39

God finally speaks. God speaks from a whirlwind this time, but we have already seen God speak from a burning bush (Moses) and the tabernacle (on several occasions). Another famous example is when God spoke in a gentle whisper to Elijah.

Why a whirlwind this time? I think because of the subject matter of what says. After calling Job ignorant, God questions Job about the creation of the natural world. Where you there when I laid the foundations of the earth? God explains who was there - angels and morning stars sang for joy. Afterwards, God asks Job a litany of questions about the world spanning geological and meteorological phenomenon (hail, clouds, lightning) and biological life (God feeds the ravens and young lions alike).

The whirlwind voice would also allow the other characters to hear it. We have been told that Job's wife, Elihu, and the 3 others left, so I find it plausible that they heard it too.

It also stands in sharp contrast to the demonic revelation presented in chapter 4. Here God speaks with awe-inspiring power and authority. The demonic one was creepy, involved some shadowy apparition, and gave Eliphaz chills at the time.

I think God's description of the earth spans both spiritual and physical dimensions, so I wouldn't read it too literally as descriptions of the natural world. For instance, I don't think there is an actual hail storage facility on a mountain somewhere. Focusing on this would lose sight of the overall point - God created a universe, the world, and underlying principles that allow life on earth. The litany of examples underscores the vastness of scope of creation. Job did nothing and in fact was a mere part of the same creation and his own existence depends from it.

Job 40:1-5

God ends the speech by asking Job if he has any answers to these. Job answers with the proper humility - I am nothing. I have nothing more to say and have already said too much.

Looking back at this dialogue, God is actually much gentler, nicer, and far more convincing than Job's friends were. Between Job, the first 3 friends, and Elihu, there were a lot of accusations between each other. You lack wisdom, no you, no you, no all of are blasphemers. Round and round they went.

Although God called Job ignorant at first, God is more polite, albeit satirical. God's speech spanning two chapters felt like God putting on a nature documentary. You're all arguing about me. This is what I created. It stands as a testament to who I am. Do you have any other questions?

Job 33-37

Job 33

Elihu makes his opening statement against Job. He expresses an optimism about God, that if people go to God, they will be rescued. God will do it personally or send an angel to the person. He also expresses skepticism to Job's point of view, in that God did not pick a quarrel with Job. He also believes that he will give wisdom to Job.

Job 34

Elihu continues and focuses on Job's mistaken idea about God. He argues that Job should not blame his problems on God. If God as Creator his breath, then life would cease. Therefore, it could not happened to Job. He calls Job to repentance but does not identify things Job did before the calamities, but for the way Job spoke about God.

Job 35

Elihu continues and focuses on justice from the perspective of God. He argues that God does listen to cries for help, but people do not (always?) get answers because of their own pride. He advises Job to wait for God to provide justice.

The implicit logic seems sensible - when pride gets in the way of God's justice because people do not wait for it. Perhaps because their own pride makes them expect something from God that God does not want to do, so when it does not happen, they lose patience.

Job 36

Elihu continues with God's justice. He talks of how the wicked will be judged. He argues that the godless will be judged whether or not Job obsesses about it. This is a little unfair since his friends brought it up.

Elihu believes that Job's suffering was God's way to get his attention and to lead him from sin. He does not specifically say that Job was sinful (unlike the other friends), but rather he may have been led astray. In essence, the suffering was a preventive action to prevent a life of sin. He does say that God "sent" the suffering. (v. 21).

36/37

He then goes on to argue that God is beyond the comprehension of human understanding and imagination. God as Creator did things that people cannot emulate, but rather just wonder in awe. The examples that Elihu uses focus on the power of the natural world - God's breath in thunder and snowstorms and rainstorms make people stop working.

In all this, Elihu makes the curious statement that God sends thunder, rain, and snow to punish people or out of unfailing love. A clear dichotomy, but it exposes the contradiction of associating natural events with God's punishment as another person could see the same event as a demonstration of God's love.

The final word of Elihu - it is wiser to give God reverence.

God speaks next. Elihu told Job to put his pride aside and wait for God's justice. God's speech appears at the end of the book after all the human voices have been heard.

Job 29-32

Job 29

Job speaks of his former blessings and we get details about him that we did not know before. He took care of the poor and blind. The community respected him. God's friendship was in his home.

Job 30

Job describes his current state. Even the outcasts of the same community now mock him. He also still seems to believe God that God rejected him and cause all his calamities.

Job 31

Job proclaims his innocence yet again. He talks about how he made a covenant with himself not to look with lust at women (that's interesting as there was nothing about that in the Mosiac code) and how he took care of the poor and his own servants.

Job 32

A new character speaks - Elihu. Elihu is younger than the others so he has patiently waited. But he is angry because Job refuses go admit that he sinned against God. He is also angry at Job's 3 friends because they make God look bad. Elihu has a lot to say and it spans the next couple of chapters.

Job 25-28

Job 25

Bildad again reiterates that men cannot be pure before God. He focuses on the pure and majesty of God in the heavens. For instance, he asks a question which implies that humans cannot count God's heavenly army.

This chapter is really short and it appears he is losing steam with coming up with something new to say.

Job 26

In response, Job rhetorically ask how the wisdom of his friends have helped the powerless, presumably Job. Job even questions the source of Bildad's wisdom and asks "whose spirit speaks through you?". (v. 4). Although it had been Eliphaz who had gotten his ideas from a demonic encounter (4:12-19), Bildad seems to have adopted those ideas about people being unable to be pure before God.

Job then goes on to speak about the power and majesty of God, perhaps to say to Bildad, "yes, I know this." Job adds more about the power of God in different realms, not just the heavens that Bildad pointed out. Job speaks of the underworld where the dead tremble (huh?), the moon, the foundation of the earth, and God's victory over the sea god Rahab, meaning chaos. This seems to be an allusion to Genesis 1 in contrast with the Enuma Elish creation story.

Job 27

Job maintains his faith in God and his innocence. He will not tell lies. He is not swayed by the speeches by his friends. He reiterates their position, that the wicked rich will will be cut off from God and lose all their wealth and children.

Job 28

Job makes a long comparison of wisdom to precious metals. People know where to mine and how to smelt metals. Wisdom is not found in this way, but it is more valuable. Wisdom is found from the fear of God. This is very similar to the opening chapters of Proverbs, both in the conclusion as well as the comparison to money. For Job to state this now, he implies to his friends that he is wise because he fears God. Again, he is maintaining his innocence.

Thus far, I wonder if Job is recovering. He seems to have directed his anger from God and towards his friends. He even waxed optimistic about God a few times.

Job 20-24

Job 20

Zophar feels insulted by Job and responds with the most bluntness so far. He talks of God's anger to wicked. He singles out those who got their wealth from greed and taking advantage of the poor. He does explicitly state "Job, you are one of those", but it is strongly implied when he describes various calamities that happen to rich greedy people which sound eerily similar to what happened to Job. Zophar himself actually curses them by saying "may God rain his anger upon them". (v. 23)

Job 21

Job explains that even the wicked prosper. They see their children and grandchildren grow up. Job maintains his position that the explanations of friends are lies and they mock him.

Job 22

Eliphaz is not convinced. Rather, he gets even more direct. He points out a number of bad things that Job "must have" done to deserve God's punishment. According to Eliphaz, Job must have taken advantage of people in need. He claims that Job is full of sin. He tells him he must return to God in order to be rescued.

Job 23

Job maintains his faith in God and optimism. He actually sort of implies that he this was all a test from God. Optimistically, he thinks he will come out refined like pure gold.

Job 24

Job then reiterates that the wicked are not always punished. He points out many things the wicked. The list includes things similar to those that his friends have accused Job of doing. But yet, they are not all punished by God, at least in the way that Job was "punished". The wicked will at least be forgotten.

Job 15-19

Job 15

Eliphaz responds to Job. He maintains his point of view for after all are three of them with similar perspectives. He actually lays insults into Job, calling him a windbag and that Job's speeches are nonsense. He also repeats the argument that since God does not trust angels, God would trust humans even less. That may or may not be true but given the source of the idea from the previous chapter, it should be discarded and not thrown in Job's face.

Eliphaz describes what happens to rich men who received their wealth from bribery. They get struck down by God. He does not specifically call Job a thief, but I think the implication is clear.

What great friends he has. They are presumptuous and self-righteous and laying it all into him when he's down on his luck. That said, in their minds, they are probably just trying to help as best they can.

Job 16-17

Job points this out. He calls them miserable comforters and that they should be trying to take away his grief. He then restates that he thinks that God hates him. He also pleads to God to defend his innocence against his mockers.

Job 18

Bildad speaks his reply. Similarly to Elpihaz, he describes how the lives of the wicked are destroyed. They will not have children or grandchildren. (v. 19) Fire comes from the sky and burns their homes. (v. 15). Again, he does not specifically call Job wicked but the implication is clear.

Job 19

Job repeats his defenses. He calls this interrogation "torture" (v. 2) and that his friends have abandoned him (v. 19) along with his family and servants (v. 13-18). He has an interesting perspective towards God. He unequivocally believes that God did this to him. Yet, he refers to God as his "Redeemer". (v. 25). So, he believes he will be redeemed in some future way.

He also indicates that he will actually see God after his body has decayed. (v. 26-27). So, it seems like he may have answered his own question that he posed several chapters before - he does believe in the afterlife. He also states that God will come and physically stand on the earth. (v. 25). From the Christian perspective, it is easy to see what that could be.

An alternative interpretation could be metaophorical and waxing poetic (which happens a lot in this book). He could also believe that he will be "redeemed" in this lifetime and that would be like seeing God. For me, given the context of statement, it seems to fit more into the New Testament prophecies about the second coming of Christ. A decayed body, God standing on the earth, and meeting God face to face all seem to indicate that.

So, does Job believe in an afterlife? At this point, I would say yes.

Job 10-14

Job 10

Job thinks his death is imminent. He questions why God brought him into the world at all if only to suffer. Job wishes he had died as an infant.

Job 11

Job's friend Zophar speaks. Zophar has a similar perspective to Job's other friends. Zophar urges Job to repent of his sins before God because God is obviously punishing Job. Zophar believes that Job will receive protection and freedom from fear and misery if only Job repents.

Job 12-14

Job again asserts his innocence before God and his three friends. He is frustrated with having to justify himself to his friends when he is already in this state of weakness and misery. He calls his friends liars and says it would be better if they did not say anything at all.

Job talks about the power of God, that God is far more powerful than humans. Job's logic and examples of God's power seem to suggest that he believes that God is the one that struck him down.

In chapters 13-14, Job pleads with God to show him how he sinned and what he did wrong. This perspective actually incorporates the logic of his three friends, that somehow Job did something to deserve. Alternatively, Job is asking for proof from God that Job is innocent.

In 14:14, Job asks if the dead can live again. If they do, this would give Job hope and he would eagerly await death. This is interesting on several levels. First, he has already stated that he wanted to die and did not qualify it with a discussion about a potential afterlife. So, he might be flip-flopping. Second, what exactly is Job's belief of the afterlife? At this point, it is unclear. I would say something similar about Solomon's ideas from Ecclesiastes. Neither Job nor Solomon seem to assume their is an afterlife.

Job 8-9

His friend Bildad speaks. One of the first things he says is that he says is that Job is blustering like a wind. If I were Job, I would get different friends.

Bildad makes the point that God will restore him if Job has integrity. He also says that people wither and die if they are cut off from God. Is Bildad implying that Job is cut off from God and that is why this happened? I think so.

Job responds in chapter 9. He outlines the impossibility of trying to prove oneself innocent before God. So, again, the discussion between Job and his friends is about whether or not Job is innocent.

Job 6-7

Job takes Eliphaz to task for his presumptuous. He says that he (actually, they) is unhelpful to a friend in need. Job also denies he did anything wrong and desires that God would just kill him.

During his rant, Job makes a curious statement about egg whites. He calls it tasteless and he gags at the thought of it. (6:6-7).

In chapter 7, Job pleads directly to God. He asks God what sin he did. He also seems to believe that it was God who did this to him. We as the audience know that it was Satan, albeit with God's permission.

It is interesting to read Job's speeches right after Ecclesiastes. Both showcase once-powerful men who feel down-trodden and humiliated by God. Job is in misery and agony while Solomon was depressed and jaded. Job desired death while Solomon desired the pleasures of the flesh. But yet I find myself respecting Job a lot more than Solomon because Job really had it rough with the physical pain and losing his children. Solomon's main complaint seemed to have been a greater awareness of how bad life can be since he was blessed/cursed with wisdom. Both Job and Solomon do make note that God takes things away just as fast as God gives.

Job 4-5

Job's friend Eliphaz speaks. At first, his words are good. He reminds Job that he helped encourage the downtrodden in the past. Then, Eliphaz seems to suggest that Job is at fault. Eliphaz describes an encounter with a spirit who talked to him. The message and context indicate it was a demon, but Eliphaz trusts its message.

Before the spirit spoke, Eliphaz had chills up his spine and his hair stood on end. The spirit asked questions that suggested that mortals cannot be clean before God. Well, the dialogue in the heavenly assembly in Job 1-2 stated that Job was clean before God. The spirit also said that God does fully trust his angels and God will trust humans even less as we are made of clay.

Coming from this standpoint, the rest of Eliphaz's ideas are polluted. He does mention that God can rescue Job (a truth) but puts the blame on Job and calls him to repent his sins (inappropriate advice, but the fruit of Eliphaz's encounter with the spirit).

Job 3

Job finally speaks. He curses the day he was born and wishes he had never been born at all. His perspective on death is that it would be peaceful rest, something far different than the sorrow his life has become.

He mentions Leviathan in v. 8. He wishes those who could awaken Leviathan curse the day he was born.

Job 2

The heavenly court reconvenes. Satan is among them. God brags about Job in that Job has not cursed God. This time, Satan argues that Job would curse God if he is physically harmed. God agrees and Job is struck with boils. Here, disease and pain are attributed to Satan, although God allows it.

Job maintains his position and won't curse God. He wife suggests that he curse God and die. Job refuses to do so. (v. 10)

His three friends are more supportive. They come to him, tear their clothes, and sit with him in silence for 7 days because his suffering was too great.

Job 1

Why do bad things happen to good people?

I saved the book of Job to read it among the philosophical writings, even though it breaks up the chronological reading. It is commonly accepted as being one of the oldest books of the Bible, perhaps even written before Genesis was written.

Who was Job? A incredibly wealthy man. He had thousands of animals - camels, sheep, and donkeys. I think this would make him wealthy by even our modern standards. That said, the wealth Is not diversified or insured. Rather, his wealth is focused in animals which can die.

Job is undoubtedly righteous, even God says he is blameless. He has 10 children, 7 sons and 3 daughters. By contemporary and modern standards, I think he has a life that many would envy.

Job 1 describes something very unusual and I think don't see again until Revelations - a heavenly court. God is surrounded by heavenly beings. We can probably assume Christ is there, although it is not specified. It also mentions Satan, who is not specified by name again until the New Testament.

Satan comes before God in the heavenly court. God brags to Satan about Job's righteousness. Here again, this is something we should want - how great it is for Job that God does this.

Satan uses the occasion to accuse God (it is your protection that made him rich) and to accuse Job (if he lost his wealth, he would curse you). God knows what Satan has in mind and then agrees that Satan can test Job, but he cannot hurt him physically.

Back on earth, 4 separate disasters come and destroy Job's life as he knows it. Raiders come and take away his animals, fire falls from the sky and kills more animals, and a tornado kills his children. Two disasters are human driven and two disasters are natural evil.

Job is a good person. So, why did bad things happen to him? The answer - God allowed Satan to do four different bad things which employed both human and natural instruments of destruction. But God set limits which Satan had go follow as Job himself was not physically hurt.

Job laments his life, but does not blame God.

Ecclesiastes

Chapter 1 - Solomon is a bitter, sorrowful old man. He ponders creation, but not in awe, but in how futile existence is. He claims that the wiser he was, the more sorrowful he became.

Chapter 2 - Solomon tried to find meaning for his life in his wealth, power, palaces women, and alcohol. He became depressed and claims that everything he turned to were meaningless.

Chapter 3 - this has the famous list of "seasons". A time to live, a time to die, etc...Solomon still respects God, but seems to have a more complicated, nuanced, and even saddened view of God. It is hard to summarize how Solomon views God other than to say he definitely does not seem to get joy and peace from God. Perhaps he blames God for turning his wisdom from a source of joy to a source of pain because he is aware of the magnitude of suffering.

v. 22 - he seems to lack a belief in any afterlife at all. This seems to make him think of the meaningless of it all. He even concluded the dead are better than the living. (4:2)

Chapter 4 - this contains more examples of the meaningless - friends and political power. Friends do have the advantage of supporting you, but he still thinks they are meaningless. Political power is meaningless because the people will revolt in time. Solomon had several revolts, but only after he turned away from God. Maybe that's why the author of Kings specifically emphasized that.

Chapter 5 - He respects God and cautions people not to make promises with God. Otherwise, God might take everything you own away. It seems that Solomon feels like he could not keep his end of the bargain with God and in turn, God punished him.

Chapter 6

Since he has identified pleasure as the only meaning of life, he finds despair because not everyone can enjoy their own lives. His example is the wealthy people who cannot enjoy their own wealth.

He also states that God has already decided everything far in advance of events occurring. It smells of some of the more extreme views of Calvinism, which I'm not comfortable with. But considering the rest of Ecclesiastes (everything is meaningless) I wouldn't rest much theology on Solomon's complaints about the futility of life.

Chapter 7

He tries to makes some "wise" proverbs. There are a few that I think are true (nothing in life is certain, v.14), but the majority sound very jaded and disappointed with life. He seems to have come to expect evil from other people (dont ease drop on them or you might hear your servant curse you, v. 21) and especially women (only one of 1000 men is virtuous but not one woman, v. 28).

Chapters 8-9

He again suggests pleasure is the only meaning in life. He comments on the injustice of the world, how good people are treated as wicked while the wicked go unpunished. Good or bad, we all must answer to death.

Chapter 10-11

He actually makes a few decent proverbs, but they are not structured like the ones before. Rather, they come off as helpful every day advice - use sharp axes or you'll get tired, don't make fun of powerful people even in secret or someone might tell on you, diversify your investments, etc...

Overall thoughts on the book

It has a very heavy and sour tone and you wonder if this is the same person who wrote Proverbs and Song of Solomon. All the joy and passion from Song of Solomon are long gone. Based on that, I would think that the Song of Solomon was written much earlier in his life.

In Ecclesiastes, it seems that Solomon still has a deep respect for God. However, that respect seems to be focused on a capricious, arbitrary God who takes things away. So, this seems to have been the final fruit of his falling away from God. Solomon seems to blame all the women in his life for it all.

I Kings 11

Despite writing a book of wisdom, Solomon has hundreds of wives and concubines. There actually was no proverb on having multiple wives, although there were many on happy marriages and faithful women vis a vis prostitutes. The influence of these women lead Solomon astray and he builds shrines to other local gods. This is in full contradiction to what God said to Solomon when God twice appeared to him.

I wonder how this happened to a man who was full of wisdom. Maybe Solomon's wealth, power, and prestige inflated his ego and he became over confident.

God decides to take away most of the kingdom of Israel, but will leave the Davidic dynasty in control over one tribe. The other 10 tribes will go to Jeroboam, to whom God offers a covenant/dynasty similar to one that God offered David.

Jeroboam was an administrator working under Solomon when God sent Ahijah from Shiloh (that's where the ark was before it was moved to Jerusalem) to tell Jeroboam about this. The text states that Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam so presumably Solomon heard about God's choice. Jeroboam escapes and lives in exile in Egypt until Solomon dies. A lot of this reminds me of David escaping from Saul.

V. 39 states that God will punish the Davidic dynasty on account of Solomon's actions, but it is a temporary punishment. I wonder if God had in mind a reunification of all Israel and a unification of the Davidic-Jeroboam dynasties, perhaps by marriage.

God sent a few other adversaries against Solomon who caused trouble during his reign.

Solomon dies and is succeeded by Rehoboam.

Song of Solomon

The Bible contains a love dialogue between a man and woman. They describe their love and desire for each other with language that is full of lofty metaphors and even sexual imagery. The man's dialogue frequently refers to descriptions of the woman's body, including her breasts.

It is attributed to Solomon but there are lot of interesting questions to ponder. For starters, was this an actual dialogue between Solomon and his first wife Pharaoh's daughter? It refers to the woman being more beautiful than Pharaoh's mares, but then again it also refers to the wife traveling from Lebanon.

Or, was this a compilation of dialogues between Solomon and his many of wives, but was written in it's final form as one wife?

Or, was this stuff that Solomon heard other people say and that he compiled it?

If Solomon was the genius king and author of Proverbs then I think we can safely say that he was quite capable of writing this. But he still could have been inspired from the love poetry of others.

So, why is this even in the Bible? I think it is God's example of marriage. I am actually kind of surprised this book is not read more often in weddings. That would be kind of cool. I think that may have been one of its purposes.

Proverbs 23-24

23:1-3 don't eat too much at a banquet before a ruler and restrain yourself from eating everything. This is interesting. I certainly have restrained myself at job interview lunches ehile in law school, particularly if they offered me wine.

23:14-15 - use physical discipline on your kids. I wonder what Solomon would think of "time out" chairs.

23:29-35 - a lifestyle of long hours at the tavern leads to fighting, anguish, and sorrow. I wonder what taverns looked like in his day.

24 - honesty is an extra focus in this chapter.

24:30-34 - Solomon describes with disapproval a vineyard overgrown with weeds. He chastises the owner for being lazy as it will lead him to poverty. I find it an interesting contrast to the end of chapter 23 which describes the effects of too much wine. Wine comes from productive vineyards. So, Solomon is not chastising wine production (quite the contrary), but excessive consumption thereof.

Proverbs 20-22

20:3 - avoiding a fight is honorable. It reminds me of the first lesson of mature martial artists - avoid the fight! It also reminds me of another axiom, to secure peace, you must prepare for war.

20:10 - false weights ands unequal measures are detestable to God. It reminds me of the importance of honesty in my time clock at work.

20:12 - eyes to see and ears to hear are gifts from God. I see several levels here. First, literal anatomical. I love my sight and hearing and would hate to lose them. Who doesn't. second, more figuratively it sounds like understanding and perception is a gift from God. Let us pray for it. Third, Jesus referred to this phrase in conjunction with his parables, so it has a specific application with that.

20:30 - physical punishment cleanses evil. Ouch! I wonder if Solomon grounded his kids or just spanked them until they were adults. 22:15 associates physical punishment with the youth.

21:2 - people are right in their own eyes, but God examines the heart. Even mafia members believe they are "good people". I guess it's easy to convince yourself you're not doing wrong, when you are.

21:3 - God is more pleased with doing right than with sacrifices. Samuel said this to Saul when he spared the king of the Edomites.

21:9/21:19 - living alone in an uncomfortable place is better than living in luxury with a quarrelsome wife. Oh yeah. I'm glad I didnt marry some of my ex-girl friends.

21:14 - a secret gift calms anger. Good advice if someone is mad at you.

21:28 - a false witness will be cut off, but a credible witness will be allowed to speak. I have seen this in a courtroom, where he judge stops believing someone. He probably will let him continue talking, but just not listen to the bad witness.

22:24 - don't befriend angry people of you will be like them. Your friends can have positive or negative effect on you and Solomon advises us go avoid bad friends.

Proverbs 17-19

17:1 - better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting and conflict. This resonates with me at this point in my life. I feel like my life is like eating drug crust as im recovering from surgery, am literally disabled since I can only use one arm, and am facing addiction to pain killers and months of expensive physical therapy. But yet, I am at peace. I'm not bitter. I'm not discouraged by this. I'm happy for the most part.

17.6 - grandchildren are the glory of the old while parents are the pride of their children. I think this is an interesting look at generational dynamics.

17:22 - cheerful heart is good medicine. That stands out for similar reasons as 17:1.

17:28 - fools are considered wise if they remain silent. Hey, if in doubt, keep your mouth shut. I think this is good advice generally. There are times when silence is the absolute wrong thing to do.

18:5 - it is wrong to acquit the guilty. Well, that does assume that the justice system is functioning properly. If not, then there will be abuse either way, which is what this proverb seems to be addressing. I can remember a number of times where there is a huge public outcry where juries acquit who the public believes to be guilty (OJ Simpson, the police that beat Rodney King, Casey Anthony).

18:15 - intelligent people are ready to learn; their ears are open to knowledge. I have come to respect George W Bush more so now that he's been out of office for a few years. But I do believe that the book of Proverbs would indite him as a terrible leader and poor example of a Christian leader because of his anti-intellectualism attitude. Same with Sarah Palin.

19:3 - people ruin their own lives by their foolishness and then are angry at the Lord. I've been guilty of this.

Proverbs 14-16

These are also dense. Here are those that stand out to me:

14:4 - without oxen, the stable stays clean, but the ox is needed for a large harvest. The unstated thing is then that the large harvest will necessitate an unclean stable. This stands out to me because I am little "messy".

14:24 - wealth is the crown of the wise. Solomon is not anti-wealth. Rather, it is a sign of wisdom.

14:28 - a growing population is the king's glory; a prince without subjects has nothing. Here Solomon is giving some political advice and he encourages population growth. Granted, he had the resources to feed them.

15:1 - a gentle answer defects anger. This is something I have remembered and used in my own life a lot actually. I think it is one of the most important proverbs and can save anyone from a lot of trouble.

15:22 - plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers brings success. Whats unstated is that the advisers must feel comfortable giving their advice. That would be the leader's responsibility for setting the culture. Having "yes-men" would not be the same as having advisers.

16:7 - when people's lives please the Lord, even their enemies are at peace with them. For starters, you're not going around spreading lies or sleeping with someone's spouse, but I think this proverb goes deeper than that and speaks of a blessing by God.

16:33 - God determines how dice fall. Think about it.

Proverbs 11-13

Proverbs 11-13 are thick and full of pithy little statements. A lot of them seem to be a cause and effect: do something bad and bad things happen; do something good and good things happen. A few stuck out to me -

11:22 - a beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig's snout. Ouch. Personally, I think a nose ring can turn a beautiful woman into a pig.

12:10 - the godly care for their animals while the wicked are cruel. Solomon seems to support the humane society.

Proverbs 8-10

Proverbs 8 - the narrative point of view switches to "wisdom" herself talking. Wisdom says she is more valuable than money and was created by God before God created the natural world. Taken together with the prior verses that God is the source of wisdom, I think this means that wisdom is in essence part of the mental processes of God.

Proverbs 9 - the narrative point of view shifts to the second and third person to lay out a few instructions. The wise are teachable and correctable while the wicked (foolish) scorn it. The narrative shifts again by discussing a character named "Folly". Folly encourages people to steal. This leads to death.

Proverbs 10 - finally, a listing of proverbs begins. This chapter is 32 verses, each of which contains an individual proverb which makes the chapter extremely dense. The common themes are laziness, money, slander, lies, and contrasting wickedness with godliness. The one that made me pause in reflection the most was that wise harvests during the summer and the one who sleeps through the harvest is a disgrace. (v. 5)

It reminded me of the months between December 2011-March 2012 where my work hours were crazy and that had to be a priority. Those few months were my own "harvest" season with lots to do, but also came with it lots of opportunities to gain experience and demonstrate my capabilities to my coworkers. So, I worked that period of harvest. But I think the principal applies to all jobs - there are seasons of harvest and if you harvest during those seasons, it pays off. If you don't work during harvest season, the opportunity and reward will pass by.

Proverbs 5-7

Proverbs 5 - basically, avoid prostitutes and go back to your wife. Let her breasts satisfy you. (5:19).

Proverbs 6 - don't guarantee a friend's loan (and they had the jubilee debt forgiveness going on too), don't be lazy, no sex with another man's wife, and 6, no 7 things God hates.

Proverbs 7 - Solomon watches a young man meet a married woman in the streets and gors home with her.

Proverbs, generally

Proverbs is interesting because it seems to be the only book (to my knowledge) that is written as a conversation with the reader. Solomon employs the first and second person to speak intimately and personally with the reader.

Proverbs is famous for its proverbs, i.e., words of wisdom. It has pithy pearls of wisdom, but it also contains Solomon's distinct personality in a way that Psalms reveals David as an individual.

So, what can we say about Solomon as the author of Proverbs? He recognizes his wealth, power, and success comes from God. I also think that the conversational tone of the book reflects an awareness of him that he is renowned for wisdom. He has a special gift and he knows it. He knows he has a lot to say, more than anyone else. So, he takes on the persona of father (a wisdom father) to speak to his children (his wisdom children/students).

Proverbs 1-4

There are a lot of nuggets in them. What stands out to me:

1. fear of the Lord is the foundation of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline (1:7). Relatedly, God is the source of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. (2:6).

2. Part of wisdom is seeking wisdom.

3. The first listed advice after listening to God/your parents is to not commit murder

4. A lot of the opening chapters of proverbs focus on listening to your parents and humility to God,

5. If we honor God with the best of our material possessions, God will bless us with material possessions. (3:9-10).

1 Kings 4; Psalms 72 and 127

1 Kings 4

Solomon has a massive empire and peaceful borders. Word of his wisdom and knowledge spread. Countries from abroad send him ambassadors to meet with him. He also spends his time writing proverbs and studying he natural world.

This is the Golden Age of ancient Israel.

He even wrote a few psalms:

Psalm 72 - Solomon prays for blessings on the king. The psalm asks for many of the blessings that Solomon had, so I wonder if this was intended to be a prayer/blessing for his heirs.

Psalm 127 - Solomon analogizes about construction and guarding cities to psalm reflects a trust in God as well as the futility in not trusting in God. He also discusses the importance of having children.

1 kings 10; 2 chronicles 8-9

These cover Solomon's immense wealth and the visit by the Queen of Sheba.

1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 5-6

These cover corresponding (somewhat duplicative) accounts of the dedication of Solomon's temple.

It is the Festival of Shelters. All Israel comes to Jerusalem and begins sacrificing countless animals. Solomon has the ark brought into the temple. Levites place the ark in between the two cherubim of the inner sanctum.

Joyous music, worship, and prayer breaks out. Then, a thick cloud fills the temple, which is reminiscent of the events of Sinai. Actually, I don't think we have seen God take cloud form since the 40 years of wilderness. The cloud is so thick that the priests cannot continue their duties.

This prompts Solomon to do a long prayer of dedication of the temple. What stands out to me in it is that he anticipates foreigners coming to see the temple of God and praying.

Solomon then offers up 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. This is their first Festival of Shelters with the temple. So, I wonder if the temple becomes the permanent location for it.