Author: Al
Posted: 2006-11-27 12:21:14
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Day 1
1 Kings 16:29 – 19:18
Elijah and Ahab. There is a lot of good stuff in this section. Consider Elijah as a whole. He witnessed many miracles, most of them done through his own hands, yet he still wanted to give up. He still fled from Jezebel. To me, this goes along with what MacDonald said about miracles proving nothing to us. Miracles are done out of God's love for us, not out of his need to be loved.
Still, this section has one of my favorite miracles. It's small, and can be easily explained away by a skeptic, and indeed might not even be a miracle in the sense that something supernatural happened. This is the story of Elijah and the widow. Typically it is the Israelites who are being told to be kind to widows. Now we have on being kind to Elijah, kinder than could be reasonably expected. Out of her kindness, her boy is saved from death. In some ways, this is what I call a very “primitive” story. If you want to be simple, you can take the lesson that God rewards the good. But when you look deeper, it's just about life, its hardships, and the simple grace that God gives to us all.
Then, of course, we have the grandiose account of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. It's a miracle on a grand scale, but I like it too. Many people point to the massacre of the prophets as an example of biblical injustice. The thing is, they were trying to lead the Israelites down a road that would have annihilated the entire nation. Once you understand the why and how of that, the fact that they could not have been allowed to live follows simply from the logic.
Day 2
1 Kings 19:19 – 22:40
Naboth's vineyard. Ah, the pouting king. The cynic in me says that this depiction of Ahab has to be propaganda. Even the worst of kings would not go sulk in their rooms right? Is this an attempt to lay more blame upon Jezebel than was deserved? The protagonist of the story certainly blames Ahab for his wife's treachery. I am inclined that one would not have to be particularly weak to succumb to the idol worshiping will of your wife. Still, that does not mean that Ahab might not have been spectacularly weak.
2 Kings 2:1 – 18
Elisha. What to make of the whole Chariot of fire? Clarke and Wesley didn't have much to say that I thought relevant, but I did like Henry's commentary on 2:11:
Elijah is carried up to heaven in a fiery chariot, v. 11. Like Enoch, he was translated, that he should not see death; and was (as Mr. Cowley expresses it) the second man that leaped the ditch where all the rest of mankind fell, and went not downward to the sky. Many curious questions might be asked about this matter, which could not be answered. Let it suffice that we are here told,
1. What his Lord, when he came, found him doing. He was talking with Elisha, instructing and encouraging him, directing him in his work, and quickening him to it, for the good of those whom he left behind. He was not meditating nor praying, as one wholly taken up with the world he was going to, but engaged in edifying discourse, as one concerned about the kingdom of God among men. We mistake if we think our preparation for heaven is carried on only by contemplation and the acts of devotion. Usefulness to others will pass as well in our account as any thing. Thinking of divine things is good, but talking of them (if it come from the heart) is better, because for edification, 1 Cor. xiv. 4. Christ ascended as he was blessing his disciples.
2. What convoy his Lord sent for him--a chariot of fire and horses of fire, which appeared either descending upon them from the clouds or (as bishop Patrick thinks) running towards them upon the ground: in this form the angels appeared. The souls of all the faithful are carried by an invisible guard of angels into the bosom of Abraham; but, Elijah being to carry his body with him, this heavenly guard was visible, not in a human shape, as usual, though they might so have borne him up in their arms, or carried him as on eagles' wings, but that would have been to carry him like a child, like a lamp (Isa. xl. 11, 31); they appear in the form of a chariot and horses, that he may ride in state, may ride in triumph, like a prince, like a conqueror, yea, more than a conqueror. The angels are called in scripture cherubim and seraphim, and their appearance here, though it may seem below their dignity, answers to both those names; for (1.) Seraphim signifies fiery, and God is said to make them a flame of fire, Ps. civ. 4. (2.) Cherubim (as many think) signifies chariots, and they are called the chariots of God (Ps. lxviii. 17), and he is said to ride upon a cherub (Ps. xviii. 10), to which perhaps there is an allusion in Ezekiel's vision of four living creatures, and wheels, like horses and chariots; in Zechariah's vision, they are so represented, Zech. i. 8; vi. 1. Compare Rev. vi. 2, &c. See the readiness of the angels to do the will go God, even in the meanest services, for the good of those that shall be heirs of salvation. Elijah must remove to the world of angels, and therefore, to show how desirous they were of his company, some of them would come to fetch him. The chariot and horses appeared like fire, not for burning, but brightness, not to torture or consume him, but to render his ascension conspicuous and illustrious in the eyes of those that stood afar off to view it. Elijah had burned with holy zeal for God and his honour, and now with a heavenly fire he was refined and translated.
3. How he was separated from Elisha. This chariot parted them both asunder. Note, The dearest friends must part. Elisha had protested he would not leave him, yet now is left behind by him.
4. Whither he was carried. He went up by a whirlwind into heaven. The fire tends upward; the whirlwind helped to carry him through the atmosphere, out of the reach of the magnetic virtue of this earth, and then how swiftly he ascended through the pure ether to the world of holy and blessed spirits we cannot conceive.
"But where he stopped will ne'er be known,
'Till Phenix-nature, aged grown,
To a better being shall aspire,
Mounting herself, like him, to eternity in fire."
COWLEY.
Elijah had once, in a passion, wished he might die; yet God was so gracious to him as not only not to take him at his word then, but to honour him with this singular privilege, that he should never see death; and by this instance, and that of Enoch, (1.) God showed how men should have left the world if they had not sinned, not by death, but by a translation. (2.) He gave a glimpse of that life and immortality which are brought to light by the gospel, of the glory reserved for the bodies of the saints, and the opening of the kingdom of heaven to all believers, as then to Elijah. It was also a figure of Christ's ascension.
Honestly, I lean towards metaphor here. If Elijah was taken to heaven like this then I hope I am not faulted for believing it to just be a pretty story with many lessons to take from it.
2 Kings 9
Elisha and Jehu. 9:11 struck me funny. Clarke:
Verse 11. Wherefore came this mad fellow to thee?] Was it because he was a holy man of God that he was reputed by a club of irreligious officers to be a madman? In vain do such pretend that they fight for religion, and are the guardians of the public welfare and morals, if they persecute religion and scoff at holy men. But this has been an old custom with all the seed-the sons, of the serpent. As to religious soldiers, they are far to seek, and ill to find, according to the old proverb.
Ye know the man, and his communication.] Ye know that he is a madman, and that his message must be a message of folly. Jehu did not appear willing to tell them what had been done, lest it should promote jealousy and envy.
Though, the Apostle's Bible may have the last part of the verse in a more common vernacular And he said to them, You know the man, and his babble.
Moffatt is perhaps the funniest: Oh, you know how a man like that talks.
Day 3
Amos 1 – 4
Lots of warnings. Moffatt really shines in verses like these. Even though they are about doom and destruction, they are just pleasant to read.
Day 4
Amos 5 – 9
Visions of Amos. 5:14 spoke to me. From Moffatt:
[[Seek to be honest, not evil, and so live;
that the Eternal may be with you,
as you think he is.
That bit about “as you think he is” gives me the jibblies. How many people today are completely and utterly wrong, and yet think that God is on their side? We have the stern new testament reminder of those at the last judgment who will say “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out daemons in your name? Did we not perform many miracles in your name?” only to get the answer “I never knew you; depart from my presence, you workers of iniquity.”
You can really convince yourself that you are doing God's work. It seems to me that you have to be ever vigilant if you think that you are. We should all be doing God's work, and thus should all be ever mindful of our thoughts and actions in light of self-righteousness. No one principle or ideal will guide you to God. Anything and everything that man does can be corrupted. Your own thoughtful devotion and the mercy of God are all that will keep you from straying and becoming like these spoken of in Amos 5:14.
Day 5
Isiah 1 – 7
Isaiah's call. 3:4 perked my interest I will make mere lads their leaders, and leave them to be swayed by whims; In our Western history, we have a similar time to think of. The melodrama of the middle ages was produced mostly by the very low average age of rulers and citizenry alike. When I was a child I thought that the voting age restriction of 18 was ludicrous. Now, as a quasi-adult, I am astonished that it is not 36. Which, coincidentally, is the minimum age for being a president in our country. We should be thankful that we had founders with the foresight to put such limitations on us.
In 5:7 Clarke reminds us of what we lose when we are not able to read the original texts:
And he looked for judgment] The paronomasia, or play on the words, in this place, is very remarkable; mishpat, mishpach, tsedakah, tseakah. There are many examples of it in the other prophets, but Isaiah seems peculiarly fond of it. See Isa 13:6; 24:17; 32:7; 28:1; 57:6; 61:3; 65:11, 12. Rabbi David Kimchi has noticed the paronomasia here: he expected mishpat, judgment, but behold mishpach, oppression; he expected tsedakah, righteousness, but behold tseakah, a cry. The rabbins esteem it a great beauty; their term for it is tsachoth haltashon, elegance of language.
Oppression-"tyranny."] mishpach, from shaphach, servum fecit, Arab. Houbigant: shiphchah is serva, a handmaid or female slave. mispach, eighteen MSS.
In a natural extension of what I wrote about in Amos 5:14, we have Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto those that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! This is just rampant in our world today. We are all guilty of it too in one way or another. There are the big things like the destruction of the family, and the killing of the unborn. There are also the small things which damn us all like indulgence in various immoralities. Consider that it is perfectly acceptable in most circles for men to behave like animals in the presence of an attractive girl. It is socially acceptable to gossip. To put your children in day care. To do a myriad of things that if we stopped and thought about them, we would know that acceptable or not, they are wrong in the eyes of God.
Jeremiah 2
Israel's apostasy. Wow, what a filthy description.
Clarke on 2:24
A wild ass used to the wilderness] Another comparison to express the same thing.
Snuffeth up the wind] In a high fever from the inward heat felt at such times, these animals open their mouths and nostrils as wide as possible, to take in large draughts of fresh air, in order to cool them.
In her mouth they shall find her.] The meaning is, that although such animals are exceedingly fierce and dangerous when they are in this state; yet, as soon as they have found the male, the desire is satisfied, and they become quiet and governable as before. But it was not so with this idolatrous people: their desires were ever fierce and furious; they were never satiated, one indulgence always leading to an other. The brute beasts had only a short season in which this appetite prevailed; but they acted without restraint or limit.
Day 6
Is someone right now saying something prophetic in the biblical sense for you, for your community, for your nation, of for your world? How are you listening to the warning?
Define “biblical sense.” I agree that there are many practical prophets such as doctors and the others mentioned in the reading, but biblical as in Amos and Elisha? Those do not exist anymore. That, at least, is what I take from the water-to-wine miracle. God saved the best for last.
Describe a time yo felt God's Spirit placing in your mouth a holy warning that you felt called upon to give t others.
Nope. Hasn't happened. |
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