Month: October 2023

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Nameless Prophets

Scripture Focus: 1 Kings 13.29-33
29 So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”

31 After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”

33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways… 

2 Kings 23.4-24
15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

17 The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

18 “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

Reflection: Nameless Prophets
By John Tillman

It is one of the strangest stories in the Bible. 

Three powerful and frightening signs.
Jeroboam was offering a sacrifice on the altar of Bethel when the Judean man of God prophesied to the altar. At the prophecy, two signs occurred. The altar split and the ashes spilled. The third sign came when Jeroboam threatened the man of God and his hand instantly shriveled. Jeroboam repented of his threat and at the prophet’s prayer, the hand was restored.

Two nameless prophets.
The mysterious “man of God from Judah” is identified only by gender and geography. He confronted a powerful king with powerful signs. Yet, he became so hungry he made a serious error in judgment.

The “old prophet” from Samaria was unscrupulous and ambiguous. Did he attempt to save a fellow prophet from starving on the side of the road? Did he sabotage a rival prophet who destroyed an altar his family served? Where did his loyalty lie? He lies to the man of God, then lies with the man of God, side-by-side in the same tomb. His dying wish implies he meant no harm, but we can’t be sure.

One corrupt, wicked king.
God promised Jeroboam a kingdom “as enduring as the one I built for David” if he would walk in obedience. Instead, he became as corrupt as the son of Solomon he rebelled against. (1 Kings 11.34-40)

One reforming, destroying future king.
Josiah is the greatest reformer of any biblical king. (2 Kings 23.25) He is known more by what he tore down than by what he built. David fought for political peace against outer threats, armies entrenched at the borders. Josiah fought for spiritual peace against inner threats, foreign gods entrenched in hearts and culture.

The Bible is not a curriculum. Many tales, like this one, lack obvious takeaways. However, we know that God is on a mission of reformation and restoration. The process will be painful. Errors in one generation harm those following. Future generations must tear down errors before harms can be healed.

Jesus is a greater reformer than Josiah. When Jesus sets things right, they will stay that way. Are we willing to be nameless prophets, announcing the coming king? God seeks the repentant and the faithful for nameless missions whose happy endings may come after our death.

Come soon, King Jesus.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us, saying: “There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.” — Luke 12.32

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
1 Kings 13 (Listen 5:14)
Psalms 33 (Listen 2:08)

Read more about Incomparable King and Kingdom
Scripture’s accounts of kings are focused on the only statistic that matters—righteousness.

Incomparable King and Kingdom

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Gods of Ruin and Ridicule

Scripture Focus: 1 Kings 9.6-7
6 “But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.

Reflection: Gods of Ruin and Ridicule
By Erin Newton

I don’t think humanity was made to live in perpetual uncertainty. The looming threat of another worldwide crisis hinders decision-making. Fearful, we let impulse govern our lives. But these impulses lead us into pain. When threats feel imminent, determining our choices beforehand can save us from unintended disaster.

After Solomon succeeded in building a temple, God encouraged the people to decide ahead of time to stay committed to him. The Temple was now filled with the constant presence of God and he promised to hear their prayers. Peace, prosperity, and joy were all benefits from the covenant relationship. Israel’s future was bright just as long as they continued in obedience and devoted worship to God alone.

I always wondered how the Israelites could abandon God so easily and fall into idolatry. However, it is evident that Israel was not operating in a vacuum. Israel was actively involved with other people: trade, marriage, travel, etc. In the ancient world, proper religious practices were thought to ensure good harvests and fruitful wombs. In the face of adversity, trials, or suffering, seeking the favor of a god was the natural impulse.

Israel’s greatest temptation was deciding to whom they would pray. If the people around them were prospering, would they look to Baal? If their wombs were empty, would they burn incense to the image of Asherah? Foreign religious practices gave people a sense of control over life, a way to manipulate a god into action.

Our greatest temptation today is to worship the false gods of power, wealth, pleasure, and narcissism. If our friends appear happier than ourselves, do we embrace the impulses of instant pleasure? If others act in ways that we dislike, do we trade mercy for power and subdue the world around us? When our impulses take control, we attempt to bend circumstances to our will.

Like the word given to the Israelites, Jesus said, “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15.6-7) We must decide every day whom we will serve. The gods of this world bring ruin and ridicule. However, if we abide in Christ, we enjoy the benefit of God’s presence. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord; I will sing praises to you among the nation.
For your loving-kindness is greater than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. — Psalm 108.3-4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
1 Kings 9 (Listen 4:16)
Psalms 28-29 (Listen 2:41)

This Weekend’s Readings
1 Kings 10 (Listen 4:27), Psalms 30 (Listen 1:32)
1 Kings 11 (Listen 7:05), Psalms 31 (Listen 3:11)

Monday’s Readings
1 Kings 12 (Listen 5:15), Psalms 32 (Listen 1:34)

Read more about Captivity, Exile, and Exodus
They rejected God and set up their own gods and a government filled with oppression and mistreatment of the poor and outcasts.

Captivity, Exile, and Exodus

Read more about The Sojourn of Sanctification
Those indoctrinated in the false gods of Egypt would teach all nations, showing them what the one, true God is like.

The Sojourn of Sanctification

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Sitting with Sinners

Scripture Focus: Psalm 26.4-5
4 I do not sit with the deceitful,
     nor do I associate with hypocrites.
 5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers
     and refuse to sit with the wicked.

Reflection: Sitting with Sinners
By Erin Newton

When the Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2.16)

The radical action by Jesus was his casual interaction and friendly relationship with those deemed “bad.” He sat among the deceitful and the hypocrites.

Psalm 26 portrays the actions of an innocent person through a series of proclamations:

  I have led a blameless life.
            I have trusted in the Lord.
            I have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.
            I wash my hands in innocence.

The positive, righteous actions are countered by the ways the psalmist did not act. In the context of this psalm, these negative statements support the claim of righteousness. They reflect how the psalmist heeded the warning in Psalm 1—a crescendo against walking with the wicked, standing with sinners, and finally sitting with mockers.

Have you ever been somewhere and thought about how you might make a quick getaway? Someone calls your name in a coffee shop, and you begrudgingly turn to see who it is. Trapped! You remind yourself, “Don’t sit down. Just stand, and it’ll be easier to slip away.” Sitting with someone makes getting away harder.

The idea of sitting with someone in the ancient world was an expression of close association. It describes familiarity, comfortability, and acceptance of one’s company. The psalmist was trying to delineate a difference from those who did not love God. It is a plea against being viewed as “guilty by association.”

Jesus sat and ate with sinners. He touched lepers and bleeding women. He was comfortable associating with hypocrites. He was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard because of his friendship with the tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 11.19). Despite the judgmental attitudes of those who did not approve of his behavior, Jesus knew his presence among them was needed. Jesus was not afraid to be misunderstood by a bystander who spent more time judging him than listening to what he had to say.

With the starkly different approaches—avoidance or association—the psalmist and Jesus share a common trait. Both trust in God, lead blameless lives (one much less perfect than the other), rely on God’s faithfulness, and find joy in the presence of God.

The Christian life means we follow the narrow path of obedience, but we must also follow the way of love. It is possible to do both. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
You are my hiding place…you surround me with shouts of deliverance. — Psalm 32.8

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
1 Kings 8 (Listen 10:23)
Psalms 26-27 (Listen 2:39)

Read more about The Undeserved Banquet of the Gospel
We, the undeserving, motley, scandalous louts that we are, find ourselves with our feet under Christ’s table. Christ invites all to the banquet.

The Undeserved Banquet of the Gospel

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Beside Still Waters

Scripture Focus: 1 Kings 7.25-26
25 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.

Job 7.12
12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
     that you put me under guard?

Matthew 8.27
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Reflection: Beside Still Waters
By Erin Newton

I’m quite terrified of the ocean. Maybe I watch too many documentaries or movies about the dangers of the open waters. Too many threats lurk beneath—rip currents, undertows, great white sharks, killer whales, and dare I say, Leviathan.

The sea plays a role in many stories of the Bible, usually as a formidable foe that threatens God’s people: the Red Sea, the raging sea that sends Jonah overboard, and stormy seas threatening the disciples on more than one occasion.

Solomon’s Temple contained features that reflected nature, perhaps the Garden of Eden where God walked among his creation unrestrained. Among the temple furnishings stood a large bronze basin. The enormous size of the bowl was a feat for the Israelite metallurgist. It stood in a fixed location in the Temple—a heavy bronze basin filled with water used for purification and cleansing—and it was called the “Sea.”

The name of the basin is a figurative term for such a large bowl of water, but it strikes at the fearsome image they knew all too well. This Sea, however, is contained, bound, motionless. There are no thrashing waves.

The water served to cleanse the priests (Lev. 8.6) or wash the organs of sacrificed animals (Lev. 8.21). The Sea was no longer a threat, but placed under the watchful eye of God with a renewed purpose. The basin was crowned with gourds and nestled upon the backs of bulls, symbols of life that flow from the cleansing waters.

In the depths of Job’s grief, he calls out to God, asking if he was also constrained like the sea. He recognized the usual threat of the waters but knew that God spoke to the sea and said, “This far you may come and no farther” (Job 38.11).

When a furious storm rolls upon the lake with waves sweeping over the boat, the sea surrenders to the voice of Jesus. Even the winds and the waves obey him.

So why, again, is the Sea in the Temple? Apart from its practical purpose of serving the priests, I think the Sea sits still within the Temple as a reminder—God has this whole world in his hands.

As you enter his presence through prayer, worship, meditation, or reading, look to your left and behold the still waters. The image heralds the supremacy of our God.

Holy, holy, holy is the God of all creation!

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. — Psalm 31.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
1 Kings 7 (Listen 7:47)
Psalms 25 (Listen 2:18)

Read more about Counting Waves
The disciples urged Jesus to awake, their voices strained with fear. “Teacher, do you not care if we drown?”

Counting Waves

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Who May Ascend?

Scripture Focus: 1 Kings 6.11-13
11 The word of the Lord came to Solomon: 12 “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. 13 And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.” 

Psalm 24.3-7
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? 
Who may stand in his holy place? 
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, 
who does not trust in an idol 
or swear by a false god. 
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord 
and vindication from God their Savior. 
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, 
who seek your face, God of Jacob., 
7 Lift up your heads, you gates; 
be lifted up, you ancient doors, 
that the King of glory may come in. 


Reflection: Who May Ascend?
By John Tillman

It is not the Temple that causes God to live among his people. “Follow my decrees,” God says. “Observe my laws…keep my commands and obey them.” God will live among his people, not because the building is grand but because the people are holy.

God wants us, like Solomon, to build him a temple, a meeting place in our lives. Not a meeting place of gold but one of time. Not situated on top of a mountain but situated in the reading of his word. Not filled with cedar and incense but filled with his Holy Spirit. But how?

“Who can stand in the holy place?” the psalmist asks. Solomon is not holy. Neither was David. Neither are we. How can they or we be holy?

It is not because of our holiness or the holiness of a place that we may ascend the mountain of the Lord. It is because there is a God who makes the humble holy. We receive blessing and vindication from Jesus, the King of Glory. 

He is the one who has clean hands that were pierced in our place.
He is the one who has a pure heart that was pierced in our place.
He is the one who would not trust in the idols offered to him:
He rejected the idol of physical appetites.
He rejected the idol of religious adoration.
He rejected the idol of the power of the nations.

He would not swear by false gods demanding he kneel:
He rejected the false god of making worship a commodity to be sold.
He rejected the false god of Ceasar’s coins and those of the Temple.
He rejected the false god of political machination and the false god of rebellious, retributive violence.

Jesus walked weary and weeping in Gethsemane so we can return, rejoicing and leaping to a new Eden.
Jesus ascended Golgotha, the mountain of death, so we can ascend the mountain of God to life.
Jesus broke open the ancient doors of death and Hell so we can enter freely the Heavenly gates of the Ancient of Days.

The blessings we receive and the vindication we win come through Jesus. Let us lean on the grace of Jesus, follow the example of Jesus, and trust the power of Jesus.
Once Jesus, the King of Glory, enters our gates, he lifts up our heads, and together we ascend.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance, and come to us. — Psalm 67.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
1 Kings 6 (Listen 5:10)
Psalms 23-24 (Listen 2:03)

Read more about Neither Despair Nor Nostalgia
In many ways, Solomon’s era was the golden age of Israel’s covenant with God, but…In golden ages, we often find excesses that will bankrupt the future.

Neither Despair Nor Nostalgia

Read more about Gods of Ruin and Ridicule
The gods of this world bring ruin and ridicule. However, if we abide in Christ, we enjoy the benefit of God’s presence.

Gods of Ruin and Ridicule