1 Kings 3:6-14 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on … More A Wise and Discerning Mind
Pastor Ray Stedman writes: First Kings is the gripping story of how to lose a kingdom. As we read these Old Testament books, the key to making them live and be vital in our lives is to see that they are visual aids by which God is showing us what is going on in our … More Stedman: How to Lose a Kingdom
Ron Ritchie, in a series of messages called, “Elijah: God’s Instrument of Grace” 1 Kings 21:27-29 And it came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the … More The AMAZING mercy of God
And a great and strong wind was rending the mountain and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire [or lightning], but the Lord was not … More Get Your Eyes Off Yourself
ELIJAH PART 2, An Advent Poem by John Piper King Ahab called out from the rocks, “Do you think that a fire-tailed fox Can scorch the fields of Jezebel, And starve the stock, and dry the well, And mock the Baals, and scorn Jezreel, And not be crushed beneath the wheel Of Ahab’s chariot? Beware … More Elijah…Poetry by John Piper
Quoting from “For the Love of God, Volume 1, October 13” FIRST AND 2 KINGS narrate the declining fortunes of both the northern and south- ern kingdoms. Occasionally there is a reforming king in one realm or the other. But on the whole the direction is downward. Some orientation (1Kings 16): (1) Although 1 and 2 Kings … More Dr. D.A. Carson on 1 Kings 16
Coty Pinckney, in a sermon, “A Time for Grace, a Time for Judgment” In today’s text, [1 Kings 13-14] we see that God does not zap Jeroboam after he creates the golden calves. Instead, God reaches out to Jeroboam, in a way that has many parallels with His reaching out to David by Nathan the … More Rejecting Grace
In 1 Kings 12, we read that after Jeroboam joins the people, they ask King Rehoboam to “lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” (vs 4) Notice that they don’t ask that he end it altogether, just that he lessen the load. If he does, … More A turn of events from the LORD
1 Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” Solomon makes this amazing statement as he is dedicating a house he built to be a place where God’s presence would dwell in Israel. Even though … More Indescribable!
As we read in 1 Kings about Solomon’s construction of the Temple, we need to be reminded that it was a shadow. John Piper comments on this in an introduction to a message, “Jesus: Mediator of a Better Covenant” The tabernacle and temple were a shadow; the official priesthood was a shadow; the animal sacrifices … More Replacement of Shadows with the Reality
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 