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I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. (I Kings 3:13) |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Today's Passage : Today's Passage: The Story of Solomon (6) Bible Verse:1 Kings 2:26-35 "King Solomon said to Abiathar the priest, “I should kill you too, but I will allow you to go back to your fields. I will not kill you at this time, because you helped carry the Ark of the Lord God while marching with my father David. And I know you shared in all the hard times with him.” Then Solomon removed Abiathar from being the Lord’s priest. This happened as the Lord had said it would, when he was speaking in Shiloh about the priest Eli and his descendants. When Joab heard about what had happened, he was afraid. He had supported Adonijah but not Absalom. So Joab ran to the Tent of the Lord and took hold of the corners of the altar. Solomon ordered Benaiah to go and kill him, [saying], “Then my family and I will be free of the guilt of Joab, who has killed innocent people. Without my father knowing it, he killed two men who were much better than he was — Abner, the commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa, the commander of Judah’s army. So the Lord will pay him back for those deaths.” So Benaiah killed Joab, and he was buried near his home in the desert. The king then made Benaiah commander of the army in Joab’s place. He also made Zadok the new high priest in Abiathar’s place. " Message:
Solomon continues to take care of his first order of business, which is the first business of any clever king: insuring that his enemies are neutralized. In Solomon’s case, however, we must see that his actions were righteous and according to the will of God. A cynic might see typically ruthless political motivation, but Solomon is acting well within God's law. One could make a case that his actions were compelled by God.
Hittie chariot
Even in the political arena, he would be justified in killing those who conspired to deprive him of his crown. The Jewish king was truly anointed by God himself, for the Hebrews were his holy people. Scores of kings all over the world would later claim divine right to a throne, without any actual merit, but the King of Israel had the unique status of actually serving at God's will. This becomes important to Christ's acceptance by the Jews a thousand years later; Matthew’s Gospel, remember, begins with a genealogy proving Jesus’ lineage back to David.
Aside from their plotting against Solomon, though, both Abiathar and Joab must be punished for other, earlier offences. Joab is the easier to see; on his death bed, David commanded Solomon to “arrange a bloody death for him.” (1 Kings 2:9) Joab's dealings with Abner and David were complex, and it is not totally clear that he was wrong to kill Abner. But David, acting as king, had found Joab guilty of murder and Solomon was bound by David’s verdict.
If it would take a page to fully explore Joab’s guilt, it would take two to flesh out Abiathar's odd position. In a nutshell: He was the last in the line of Eli, a great high priest whose two sons were corrupt. Because of the sons, God himself had ordained that Eli's line would lose the right to become high priests; and thus, Solomon is correct to remove him. Sparing Abiathar's life is an act of righteous mercy.
Note that Joab grabs the horns of the altar, and most likely died while holding onto them.
How this reminds us of Christ's rampage against hypocrisy and the necessity of reforming one's heart to righteousness, rather than relying upon laws and rituals. Just as Joab cannot save himself by the outward act of grabbing a holy object, we cannot be saved from sin by taking a sacrament, or by regular attendance at Sunday school, or by baptism or any other outward act, unless our faith is sincere and we are truly reborn in the Spirit. In the words of Christ, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 7:21-23)
Meditation : Prayer : As I travel through the rest of my day, may the God of hope fill me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit I may abound in hope. Amen. |
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