December 31, 2024 1 Kings 14:21-30 21  Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the  Lord  had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.  22  And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the  Lord , and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done.  23  For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree,  24  and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the  Lord  drove out before the people of Israel. 25  In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.  ...

December 30, 2024 1 Kings 14:1-20 14  At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.  2  And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people.  3  Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.” 4  Jeroboam's wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.  5  And the  Lord  said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” When she came, she pretended to be another woman.  6  But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he...

December 29, 2024 1 Kings 13:26-34 26  And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the  Lord ; therefore the  Lord  has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word that the  Lord  spoke to him.”  27  And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it.  28  And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the donkey.  29  And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the city to mourn and to bury him.  30  And he laid the body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”  31  And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God ...

December 28, 2024 1 Kings 13:20-25 20  And as they sat at the table, the word of the  Lord  came to the prophet who had brought him back.  21  And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the  Lord , ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the  Lord  and have not kept the command that the  Lord  your God commanded you,  22  but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”  23  And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.  24  And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body.  25  And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by ...

December 27, 2024 1 Kings 13:11-19 11  Now an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king.  12  And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone.  13  And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it.  14  And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.”  15  Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”  16  And he said, “I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place,  17  for it was said to me by the word of the  Lord , ‘You shall neither...

December 26, 2024 1 Kings 13:1-10 13  And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the  Lord  to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings.  2  And the man cried against the altar by the word of the  Lord  and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the  Lord : ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’”  3  And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the  Lord  has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’”  4  And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he ...

December 25, 2024 1 Kings 12:25-33 25  Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.  26  And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David.  27  If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the  Lord  at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”  28  So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”  29  And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.  30  Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.  31  He also made temples on high places and...

December 24, 2024 1 Kings 12:16-24 16  And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.  17  But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah.  18  Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.  19  So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.  20  And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only. 21  When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all ...

December 23, 2024 1 Kings 12:1-15 12  Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.  2  And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt.  3  And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam,  4  “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.”  5  He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away. 6  Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”  7  And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when y...

December 22, 2024 1 Kings 11:26-43 26  Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king.  27  And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father.  28  The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.  29  And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country.  30  Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.  31  And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the  Lord ...

December 21, 2024 1 Kings 11:23-25 23  God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah.  24  And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, after the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus.  25  He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria. Yet another man surfaces to do harm to all of Israel. The nation is paying in full for the decisions made by their king. This is not what God had wanted for Solomon. May we always seek God’s will as we live our life. In doing so, we will be drawn closer to God. Debbie Walker

December 20, 2024, 1 Kings 11:14-22 14  And the  Lord  raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom.  15  For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom  16  (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom).  17  But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father's servants, Hadad still being a little child.  18  They set out from Midian and came to Paran and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land.  19  And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.  20  And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, ...

December 19, 2024 1 Kings 11:9-13 9  And the  Lord  was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the  Lord , the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice  10  and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the  Lord  commanded.  11  Therefore the  Lord  said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.  12  Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.  13  However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” So here we see the sins of the father visit...

Technology can be our friend, or it can drive us crazy.  Sorry for the interruption in the information getting to the website the past weeks.   Have a great Christmas!

December 18, 2024, 1 Kings 11:1-8 11  Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,  2  from the nations concerning which the  Lord  had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.  3  He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.  4  For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the  Lord  his God, as was the heart of David his father.  5  For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.  6  So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the  Lord  and did...

December 17, 2024 1 Kings 10:23-29 23  Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.  24  And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.  25  Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. 26  And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.  27  And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah.  28  And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders received them from Kue at a price.  29  A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king's traders the...

December 16, 2024 1 Kings 10:14-22 14  Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,  15  besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.  16  King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of gold went into each shield.  17  And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.  18  The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold.  19  The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests,  20  while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom.  21  All Ki...

December 15, 2024 1 Kings 10:1-13 10  Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the  Lord , she came to test him with hard questions.  2  She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind.  3  And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.  4  And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,  5  the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the  Lord , there was no more breath in her. 6  And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom,...

December 14, 2024 1 Kings 9:25-28 25  Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the  Lord , making offerings with it before the  Lord . So he finished the house. 26  King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.  27  And Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon.  28  And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon. Solomon is still not satisfied. Now he needs a fleet of ships. Solomon is all about the tribute he receives from foreign lands. These political alliances will not serve Solomon well. He simply needs to be obedient to God who will provide everything the Israelites would need. Do you seek out riches, power, and respect? Or, do you seek God’s w...

December 13, 2024 1 Kings 9:15-24 15  And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the  Lord  and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer  16  (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife;  17  so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and Lower Beth-horon  18  and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,  19  and all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.  20  All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were ...

December 12, 2024 1 Kings 9:10-14 10  At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the  Lord  and the king's house,  11  and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.  12  But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him.  13  Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul to this day.  14  Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold. Hiram king of Tyre was very generous to Solomon. Yet, he was also unappreciative of the gift of twenty towns that Solomon gave him in return. Seems kind of odd to me but when I think of all God has given me, good and bad, how often have I appeared unappreciative toward God’s gift? How about yo...

December 11, 2024 1 Kings 9:1-9 9  As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the  Lord  and the king's house and all that Solomon desired to build,  2  the  Lord  appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.  3  And the  Lord  said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.  4  And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules,  5  then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’  6  But if you turn aside from following...

December 10, 2024 1 Kings 8:62-66 62  Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the  Lord .  63  Solomon offered as peace offerings to the  Lord  22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the  Lord .  64  The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the  Lord , for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the  Lord  was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings. 65  So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the  Lord  our God, seven days.  66  On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king...