Digital Worship March 26, 2023

Both the contemporary online service and the sermon from this service are embedded at the bottom of the post.

Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 26, 2023

Welcome

We are gathered in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God, your Son came into the world to free us all from sin and death. Breathe upon us the power of your Spirit, that we may be raised to new life in Christ and serve you in righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

First Reading: Ezekiel 37: 1-14

¹The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ²He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. ³He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” ⁴Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. ⁵Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.”
⁷So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
¹¹Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ ¹²Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act, says the LORD.”

Psalm: Psalm 130

¹Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
²LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
³If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
LORD, who could stand?
⁴But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
⁵I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
⁶my soul waits for the LORD
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
⁷O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
⁸It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.

Second Reading: Romans 8: 6-11

⁶To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law — indeed it cannot, ⁸and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
⁹But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Gospel: John 11:1-45

¹Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ⁵Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” ¹¹After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” ¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” ¹³Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” ¹⁷When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” ²⁸When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵Jesus began to weep. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” ³⁸Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” ⁴⁵Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Sermon: Pastor Neil White

Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Assisting Minister

Let us pray:

Creating God, source of all life, we rejoice in the incredible creation that you have given us to watch over. As you continue to renew your creation day by day we ask that you grant both your people and leaders, global and local, a heart to care for the earth. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord God, ruler of all the earth, where nations and communities yearn for peace and justice we ask for your steadfast love and righteousness to guide those working for peace. Watch over those who dedicate their lives to the protection and service of others including: Ben, Brycen, Christian, Clayton, Daniel, Dillan, Ethan, Evan, Luke, Michael, Spencer, Sydney, Tyler B. and Tyler G. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Healing God look on your children with compassion and ease the suffering of those dealing with emotional or physical pain. Have your healing hand upon: Addison, Andrew, Aubrey, Betsy, Billie, Bob, Brenda, Campbell, Carol, Christa, Cohen, Denver, Eliza, Emily, Jamie, Jan, Judy, Karen, Laurie, Linda, Maureen, Marcia, Melissa, Mike, Patrick, Phil, Roger, Sandy, Steve, Tom P., Tom W, Wayne and Zak and the friends and family of Myke Daniels

Lord, we pray for the ministries of the ELCA and the Northern Texas – Northern Louisiana Synod, we also lift up in prayer today: Christ’s Lutheran Church, Odessa, Finnish Chapel, Coppel and Paul Quinn College, Dallas

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Leader: In trust and hope, we commend to you, O Lord, all for whom we pray. Amen.

Sharing of the Peace

Highlights

Offering Offering may be given in the offering plate or electronically through the Tithe.ly app. If you want to honor your electronic gift during the offering there are cards on the usher’s table for that purpose.

Words of Institution

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Post Communion Prayer

A: Let us pray. Lord Jesus, in this sacrament you strengthen us with the saving power of your death and resurrection. May these gifts of your body and blood create in us the fruits of your redemption and grace in our lives, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Blessing

DiscipleLife

L: As God has claimed us as his own in Christ,

we seek to follow Christ with these marks of DiscipleLife:

§Praying Daily

§Worshiping Weekly

§Studying the Bible

§Serving Others

§Building Spiritual Friendships

§Giving to God and our Neighbors in Need

§Engaging God’s Mission

Dismissal: “Go in peace, serve the Lord. Thanks be to God” Alleluia

Digital Worship March 19, 2023

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Both the contemporary online service and the sermon from this service are embedded at the bottom of the post.

Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 19, 2023

We are gathered in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Most merciful God, we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Greeting:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Prayer of the Day

Let us pray. Bend your ear to our prayers, Lord Christ, and come among us. By your gracious life and death for us, bring light into the darkness of our hearts, and anoint us with your Spirit, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

First Reading: 1 Samuel 16: 1-13

¹The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” ²Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” ⁴Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” ⁵He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
⁶When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” ⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” ⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” ¹¹Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” ¹²He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Psalm: Psalm 23

¹The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
³he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
⁴Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff —
they comfort me.
⁵You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
my whole life long.

Second Reading: Ephesians 5: 8-14

⁸Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—⁹for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. ¹⁰Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; ¹³but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

Gospel: John 9:1-41

¹As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. ⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, ⁷saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. ⁸The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹²They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. ¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
¹⁸The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” ²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
²⁴So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” ²⁸Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. ³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
³⁵Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. ³⁹Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”

Sermon: Pastor Neil White

Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Assisting Minister

Let us pray:

Healing God look on your children with compassion and ease the suffering of those dealing with emotional or physical pain. Have your healing hand upon: Addison, Aubrey, Betsy, Billie, Bob, Brenda, Campbell, Cohen, Denver, Donna, Eliza, Jamie, Jan, Judy, Karen, Laurie, Linda, Maureen, Melissa, Mike, Patrick, Phil, Roger, Sandy, Steve, Tom P., Tom W., Wayne, and Zak

Lord, we pray for the ministries of the ELCA and the Northern Texas – Northern Louisiana Synod, we also lift up in prayer today: Four Mile Lutheran Church, Mabank, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Marshall and ELCA Seminaries.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Leader: In trust and hope, we commend to you, O Lord, all for whom we pray. Amen.

Sharing of the Peace

Highlights

Words of Institution

Lord’s Prayer

Post Communion Prayer

Blessing

DiscipleLife

L: As God has claimed us as his own in Christ,

we seek to follow Christ with these marks of DiscipleLife:

§Praying Daily

§Worshiping Weekly

§Studying the Bible

§Serving Others

§Building Spiritual Friendships

§Giving to God and our Neighbors in Need

§Engaging God’s Mission

Dismissal: “Go in peace, serve the Lord. Thanks be to God” Alleluia

Review of The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood

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Time Magazine Top 100 Novels

Book 12: The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood

This is a series of reflections reading through Time Magazine’s top 100 novels as selected by Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo published since 1923 (when Time magazine was founded). For me this is an attempt to broaden my exposure to authors I may not encounter otherwise, especially as a person who was not a liberal arts major in college. Time’s list is alphabetical, so I decided to read through in a random order, and I plan to write a short reflection on each novel.

The Berlin Stories is actually two books written based on the author’s time in Berlin from 1929-1933. The Last of Mr. Norris narrates Christopher Isherwood’s relationship with Arthur Norris and several other figures from his circle of acquaintances. Arthur Norris as a character is both charming and paranoid and is a complex collection of contradictory eccentricities and collaborations. Arthur can rally a communist rally or manipulate Arthur into entrapping a fellow friend Kuno (Baron von Pregnitz) in a trip to Switzerland. The character of Arthur with his unappealing assistant Schmidt is always one step away from disaster and early 1930s Berlin is a dangerous place for a trickster like Arthur. The Berlin Diaries is a collection of shorter encounters with characters set in the same time period. The character of Sally Bowles, who would later be adopted to the stage in “I Am Camera” and the movies in “Cabaret” is the shining star among this collection as this young woman navigates the nightlife of Berlin as an aspiring actor and dancer in a cabaret. Peter and Otto, an older man and a younger man in an arranged relationship, form the second group of characters with Peter jealous of Otto’s other attractions. In a time when his finances are challenging Christopher Isherwood moves into the slums with Otto’s family in Berlin, the Nowaks with their sick mother, alcoholic father, two sons and one daughter. Moving in opposite directions Christopher also shows us into his connections with the wealthy Jewish family, the Landauers, where he has an initially friendly if formal relationship with the Natalia Landauer and is taken into the confidence of Bernard who runs the family business. Connecting the two stories is the landlady Fraulein Schroeder in whose house Christopher lives through much of this time.

The environment of early 1930s Berlin also plays a crucial role in these two books and it gives a window into this desperate time. Berlin is a place of conflict and danger where communists and fascists are vying for power, where poverty and depression are constantly present, where anything is available for sale and where people will do anything to survive. It does illuminate both the violence of the emerging Nazi movement but also gives a perspective why hopeless people would be drawn to it or its communist alternative. It is a dark environment to write a story within and none of the characters would be considered heroic, but they are survivors. Seeing the environment of pre-Nazi Berlin through the characters eyes helps make the time more vivid, but the understanding of the environment also helps the characters more understandable.

1 Kings 13 A Man of God, the King and a Prophet at Bethel: A Strange Story

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Gustave Dore, Prophet Slain by a Lion (1866)

1 Kings 13

¹ While Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer incense, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel ² and proclaimed against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: ‘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 offer incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'” ³ He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: ‘The altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.'” ⁴ When the king heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But the hand that he stretched out against him withered so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. ⁶ The king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the LORD; and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as it was before. ⁷ Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and dine, and I will give you a gift.” ⁸ But the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your kingdom, I will not go in with you; nor will I eat food or drink water in this place. ⁹ For thus I was commanded by the word of the LORD: You shall not eat food, or drink water, or return by the way that you came.” ¹⁰ So he went another way, and did not return by the way that he had come to Bethel.

¹¹ Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel. One of his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words also that he had spoken to the king, they told to their father. ¹² 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 Then he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey for him, and he mounted it. ¹⁴ He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak tree. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He answered, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.” ¹⁶ But he said, “I cannot return with you, or go in with you; nor will I eat food or drink water with you in this place; ¹⁷ for it was said to me by the word of the LORD: You shall not eat food or drink water there, or return by the way that you came.” ¹⁸ Then the other said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD: Bring him back with you into your house so that he may eat food and drink water.” But he was deceiving him. ¹⁹ Then the man of God went back with him, and ate food and drank water in his house.

²⁰ As they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back; ²¹ and he proclaimed 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 commandment that the LORD your God commanded you, ²² but have come back and have eaten food and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, ‘Eat no food, and drink no water,’ your body shall not come to your ancestral tomb.” ²³ After the man of God had eaten food and had drunk, they saddled for him a donkey belonging to the prophet who had brought him back. ²⁴ Then as he went away, a lion met him on the road and killed him. His body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. ²⁵ People passed by and saw the body thrown in the road, with the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the town where the old prophet lived.

²⁶ 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 Then he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled one, ²⁸ and he went and found the body thrown in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. ²⁹ The prophet took up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to the city, to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ He laid the body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” ³¹ After he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. ³² For the saying that he proclaimed by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.”

³³ Even after this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people; any who wanted to be priests he consecrated for the high places. ³⁴ This matter became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.

To the modern mind this is a strange story. We rebel against the punishment that is given to the man of God from Judah who is tricked by the old prophet from Bethel. We puzzle at the inclusion of a prophecy about a king who will not come for three hundred years being brought into a scene immediately after the separation of Israel from Judah. The strange actions of both the lion and the donkey in the story acting contrary to their natures and the cursing and healing of King Jeroboam seem to come from a different world than our own lives. Even the prohibition preventing the man of God from Judah from eating or drinking until he returns home seems out of step with our way of thinking about food and drink. It is a strange story with strange characters, but it is also the beginning of the prophetic stories told in parallel the stories of the kings throughout the remainder of First and Second Kings.

In ancient storytelling repetition can often help us to understand the story and the world of the story better. The commands and the appeals to the LORD the God of Israel are continual throughout the story indicating a world where God’s power is potent and dangerous. The word of the LORD appears throughout the story along with appeals to the LORD, crying out to the LORD, and prayers to the LORD. The man of God from Judah is given a concrete message and a straightforward command not to eat or drink until he returns home and to return home by a different path.

The indication that, in the context of this festival where the king is acting as a priest, the man of God comes to Bethel with a word of the LORD for the altar starts the story with a distance between the altar at Bethel and God’s presence among the people. The LORD either chooses not to use one of the prophets in Bethel, which we learn exist in this story, or the worship in Bethel has deviated from the worship of the LORD. It is likely that prophets in Bethel would receive support from Jeroboam and would be expected to speak in ways that are favorable to their king. Later prophets like Amos would later be told to return to Jerusalem if their messages were not in alignment with the king and priests. The proclamation against the altar while the king is standing there, especially as a person from the neighboring realm of Judah would be a direct challenge to the policies of Jeroboam. Just as Jeroboam once lifted his hand against Solomon (1 Kings 11: 26-27) now he raises his hand against this man of God from Judah. Previously God had allowed Jeroboam to raise his hand against Solomon, now God protects the man of God by causing the king’s hand to wither and placing him at the mercy of this man of God’s entreaty.

First and Second Kings is a historical narrative that attempts to theologically wrestle with the heartbreaking fall from the hope at the beginning of the reign of Solomon to the destruction of both Israel and Judah from the perspective of those from Judah that are exiled to Babylon. One of the fundamental human questions that is asked in the aftermath of tragedy is why this happened. The narrative of the books of Kings is an attempt to answer this question. In looking at this broader perspective, King Josiah becomes for the writer of First and Second Kings, an important figure. Josiah, whose story is told in 2 Kings 22-23, is the primary example of what a king of Judah (and by extension Israel) should be and his reign delays the judgment of God upon Judah. The reforms of Josiah are a moment where from the perspective of Judah there is a potential for Israel and Judah to be reunited and the places of worship, like Bethel, are eliminated as the worship is centered around the temple in Jerusalem. The man of God introduces the actions of Josiah that will happen centuries later when he defiles the altar at Bethel as a sacrilegious place (2 Kings 23: 15-16). The proclamation of the man of God against the altar may also give temporary pause to the people who are being allowed to act as priests by Jeroboam.

The prohibition against eating and drinking was probably to keep the man of God from Judah from indulging in any type of activity which could be viewed as idolatrous or as an act of favor towards Jeroboam or the shrine at Bethel. Feasting, especially at festival times like this one, is often associated with worship and this concern continues into the New Testament as we see in 1 Corinthians 8. Meat in an era before refrigeration was often consumed at religious festivals and partaking in the food was also considered partaking in the worship of the deity being celebrated. It can also be viewed as an act of reconciliation between the man of God and Jeroboam, but no reconciliation has occurred because the actions of Jeroboam towards the LORD have not fundamentally changed. The man of God from Judah is not to become an authorized participant or supporter of the work at Bethel, and even the participation in a meal could be viewed as tacit support for the king or Bethel.

Most modern readers of scripture assume far greater uniformity of belief than the text bears witness to. Even if the law as we encounter it in Deuteronomy exists[1] in the form we now have it, it would not be readily available to the people and its observance disappears for long periods of time. The practices at Bethel and the practices in Jerusalem were probably not identical, and the presence of a prophet at Bethel does not indicate complete Torah observance. It is likely that this prophet, like many people who hold the title of prophet, are authorized by the king or by the temple. Although the text does not give the motive of the old prophet in Bethel for seeking out the man of God from Judah those motives may not be collegial. The prophet in Bethel may feel that the man of God from Judah is interfering in his territory and undermining what he views as the acceptable practices of his fellow worshippers in Bethel. He seeks him out on his return home, and perhaps in light of the action against the altar, wants to attempt to bring this man of God in to bless, and reauthorize, the worship at Bethel and the dedication of a new altar.

The interaction of the man of God and the old prophet from Bethel under the oak tree reminds me of the interaction between the serpent and Eve in Genesis 3: 1-6. In contrast to this narrative where the serpent’s questions cause Eve to question, the old prophet tells a lie about an angelic invitation. The man of God from Judah apparently had a clear set of instructions about delivering this message in Bethel, but now the reported words of God by another prophet causes him to question these previous words. Morally we may find the trickster behavior of this prophet of Bethel unsavory and many readers of this text want this prophet to be punished rather than the man of God who is tricked. But the bible is full of strange stories of tricksters and seemingly righteous people led astray. But rather than return to Judah, the man of God returns to Bethel with this prophet.

We may question the morality of the prophet from Bethel, but while he feasts with this man of God he does receive a prophetic message. The man of God hears the declaration that he will not be buried in the tomb of his family. We may rebel at the punishment of this man of God for this simple trespass, but his return to Bethel may be viewed from the perspective of the temple and the king as the man of God sharing the feast with them and granting them favor.

The man of God departs on a donkey provided by the old prophet and is soon killed by a lion. Yet, neither the lion nor the donkey act like these animals normally act. The lion does not maul the man of God, nor does the donkey flee the lion as both stand a sentinels over this dead messenger of God. This strange story is remembered by the people and reported to the prophet of Bethel. In another strange turn of the story the prophet journeys to the fallen man of God, brings him once again to Bethel, mourns over his dead body and buries him in his tomb. The prophet and the man of God are linked together link Judah and Israel are supposed to be. (Israel, 2013, p. 176)

This is a strange story to modern ears, but it is a story that will echo across centuries and will be remembered by people when Josiah is king and decides not to use the bones from the tomb where the man of God and the prophet’s bones are laid (2 Kings 23:17). The words of the man of God, and the mourning of the prophet of Bethel do not lead King Jeroboam to repent and in the view of First Kings this leads to Jeroboam’s dynasty ending. Although First and Second Kings will follow both the northern and southern kingdoms the bulk of the text through the remainder of First Kings and the first ten chapters of Second Kings will focus on northern Israel. It is in the aftermath of the reign of Jeroboam that prophets like Elijah and Elisha will emerge and these wonder working prophets will exercise a powerful place in the memory of the people of both kingdoms.

[1] Many scholars assume the final form of many of the books that make up the Hebrew Scriptures reach their final canonical form during the Babylonian exile as a part of the collection and preservation of the traditions and stories to hand on to future generations. It is impossible to go back and historically document what textual resources were available three thousand years ago, but the historical recollection in Judges, 1&2 Samuel and 1&2 Kings points to numerous points where the law is either unknown or forgotten.

1 Kings 12: A Divided Kingdom

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By Hans Holbein the Younger – Christian Müller; Stephan Kemperdick; Maryan Ainsworth; et al, Hans Holbein the Younger: The Basel Years, 1515–1532, Munich: Prestel, 2006, ISBN 9783791335803., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5977456

1 Kings 12: 1-24 A Divided Kingdom

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam 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 that he placed 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 older men who had attended his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ They answered him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he disregarded the advice that the older men gave him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and now attended him. ⁹ He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus you should say to this people who spoke to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must lighten it for us’; thus you should say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹ Now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.'”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had said, “Come to me again the third day.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. He disregarded the advice that the older men had given him ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, because it was a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that he might fulfill his word, which the LORD had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king,

“What share 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, O David.”

So Israel went away to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah. ¹⁸ When King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam then hurriedly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ 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 no one who followed the house of David, except the tribe of Judah alone.

²¹ When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen troops to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: ²³ Say to King Rehoboam of Judah, son of Solomon, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ²⁴ “Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your kindred the people of Israel. Let everyone go home, for this thing is from me.” So they heeded the word of the LORD and went home again, according to the word of the LORD.

At the end of Solomon’s reign, Israel is only three generations removed from a United Israelite kingdom being a collection of loosely affiliated tribal groups and territories. Solomon’s forty year reign put the kingdom on a fast track to becoming a powerful monarchy involved in global trade and with an aggressive set of building projects. Although Solomon attempted to replace the tribal power structures with a regional set of administrators to deliver the taxes and to conscript labor for the state projects there is a growing tension between Solomon’s Jerusalem based monarchy and the population which has borne the burden of these projects through both taxation of their (primarily) agricultural production and the physical labor of construction. The prosperity of Solomon’s reign may have given the illusion of Israel being a modern unified kingdom, but as Alex Israel states, “the seam between Judah and the other tribes is prone to unravelling.” (Israel, 2013, p. 154)

Rehoboam the son of Solomon comes to Shechem, one of the most important cities of the northern tribes of Israel, to be anointed as king. We do not know whether this is, at the behest of his advisors, a strategic political and symbolic move to honor the northern tribes and attempt to provide unity or a move to assert control over these tribes but it leads to the people giving voice to their dissatisfaction with the administration of Rehoboam’s father and their desire for change. There still seems to be a chance for the kingdom to remain united if Rehoboam will make some concessions to the people who have borne the taxation and labor of Solomon’s kingdom building. Additionally, the northern tribes may be concerned about the security situation on their borders with the rise of Rezon in Damascus and the selling off of Cabul to finance Solomon’s construction and acquisition of gold and other precious resources. It is likely that the northern tribes felt that they were being asked to carry a heavy yoke on behalf of the Solomon’s monarchy without sharing in the benefits of their burden. (Cogan, 2001, pp. 351-352) Jerusalem and Judah have grown wealthy and prosperous while northern Israel has lost territory, security, and the fruit of their labor. With their taxation they ask not for representation, but for their monarch to hear their plight and to be a king for all Israel, not merely the king of Judah and Jerusalem.

During the three days intermission in the story, Rehoboam consults two distinct groups of counselors for advice. One group of counselors are his father’s men who may remember a time before Solomon’s forty-year reign or who may have seen the cost the people of the land bore. Their advice of serving the people and giving kind words to them has the potential to ease the tensions which threaten to pull the seam between Judah and the other tribes apart. But the advice of the group derogatorily in Hebrew called ‘boys’ (hayla-dim) (NIB III: 102) only inflames the tensions. Rehoboam identifies with this group saying, “What do you advise that we answer this people.” It is likely that these comrades of Rehoboam have grown up knowing the affluence of Solomon’s court and have been insulated from the burden of the people. They probably have grown up in an environment where they never knew, in Brueggemann’s words,

anything but extravagant privilege and a heavy sense of their own entitlement. They likely take their affluence as normal and have never known anything other than a standard of living supported by heavy taxation. (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 156)

These ‘boys’ counsel their king and companion to display strength in defending their way of life. Solomon may have been a strong king who demanded much of the people, but Rehoboam will be build a stronger kingdom by being more demanding. The childish advice includes a graphic illustration of the potency of the new king by saying that his member[1] is larger than his father’s thigh. Rehoboam does not reiterate this part of the advice at the gathering of the people but he accepts the counsel of those who, like him, have benefited from the policies of his father and attempts to bluster the people into submission.

There is a common misperception among leaders, particularly leaders who are trying to portray themselves in a masculine manner, that misunderstands strength as toughness or cruelty. This occurs even in modern societies like the United States where a political leaders try to show how tough they are on crime or immigration by incredibly cruel policies or who try to assert dominance over their opponents. Often these leaders are not people of distinguished careers in the military or arenas of physical competition, but they create this persona of strength which may attempt to cover their own insecurities. This scene with the attempt by Rehoboam and his counterparts to bluster and dominate the nation with a heavier yoke and scorpions seems to be an attempt to show toughness through cruelty. The ‘scorpions’ mentioned may be a lash with metal edges, but whatever the meaning of this term it is designed to invoke pain greater than a whip.

The response of the people, “What share 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, O David.” echoes an earlier incident in the reign of King David. In the aftermath of the rebellion of David’s son Absalom as weakened David is reconsolidating power in Israel when Sheba son of Bichri utters identical words (2 Samuel 19:1). David rallies his forces and his general Joab pursues Sheba and besieges the town of Abel of Beth-maacah until the residents throw the head of Sheba to the general.[2] David, through Joab, decisively deals with this fraying of the seams between the Judah and the other tribes. Yet, here the seam will not hold as the ten pieces of the new robe of the prophet Ahijah[3] separate from the two remaining pieces. We will see that Rehoboam is no David.

Rehoboam’s inability to accurately perceive the situation and his own weakness continues to make itself clear in response to the declaration of the people. Jeroboam may have been at work sowing dissent among the people, or the disillusionment of the people may be so great that it would lead to the rupture without any encouragement by Jeroboam. Rehoboam’s decision to send Adoram who was in charge of forced labor probably intended to continue to show this strength through toughness and cruelty, but it is an inflammatory and politically insensitive response to the people which result in the outbreak of violence and causes the king to flee in his chariot to Jerusalem. The strength and toughness he desired to demonstrate only highlighted his own impotence in the face of the rising rebellion.

In a final attempt to demonstrate strength Rehoboam rallies the forces of Judah and Benjamin. Apparently the Benjaminites remained while the other tribes departed, but the stated 180,000 men rallied to hold the kingdom together by force may be able to strike before the northern tribes and Jeroboam can organize. Yet, Shemaiah the man of God is able to communicate to the king where the other older voices have not been able. In contrast to King David his grandson Rehoboam will not reunite the nation through military action and he has no Joab to demonstrate his strength. But like his grandfather, Rehoboam will be sensitive to hearing the word of God and in this case acts accordingly.[4] The seam that brought the tribes of Israel together has unraveled and throughout the remaining history of the kings we will follow a progression of kings of Israel (the northern tribes) and the kings of Judah. There kingdom is rent asunder and there is no king or prophet who will be able to reunite the tribes.

1 Kings 12: 25-33 The Worship Places at Bethel and Dan

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and resided there; he went out from there and built Penuel. ²⁶ Then Jeroboam said to himself, “Now the kingdom may well revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If this people continues to go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. He said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰ And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one at Bethel and before the other as far as Dan. ³¹ He also made houses on high places, and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not Levites. ³² Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the festival that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. ³³ He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he alone had devised; he appointed a festival for the people of Israel, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.

Much of Solomon’s reign concentrated the worship of the LORD and the political power, military might, and the wealth of Israel in Jerusalem. Now as Jeroboam and the new kingdom of Israel finds itself adrift from this center of worship, power and wealth he begins to reestablish the nation around new centers and a new identity. Jeroboam’s position is tenuous as long as the central symbols of the people remain outside of the borders of this new territory. His reorganization of political life, religious life, and even the calendar will be judged harshly by the writer of 1 Kings who views these reforms through the perspective of Jerusalem and the temple. In the perspective of 1 Kings these are the ‘sins of Jeroboam’ that will become the reference for the negative evaluation of future kings of Israel.[5]

Jeroboam establishes two places of political and military power: Shechem and Peneul. Shechem is the site where the people rebelled against Rehoboam but it is also the site where Abimelech is the first in Israel to claim the title of king (Judges 9).[6] Yet, Shechem is probably chosen as a site due to its role in the stories of Abram and Jacob. Shechem is where God promises Abraham that his offspring will inherit the land (Genesis 12: 6-7), it is the unfortunate location of the rape of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and her brothers’ revenge and where the family of Jacob leaves their foreign gods behind (Genesis 34) and where Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37: 12-36). Penuel also has a connection with the story of Abimelech’s father Gibeon (Judges 8)[7] but it is probably rebuilt for its connection to the story of Jacob. Penuel (or Peniel)[8] is the site where Jacob wrestles with the mysterious stranger and is renamed Israel (Genesis 32: 22-32). Establishing Israel’s new centers of political life around these two cities with associations with Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph gives a new geological and narrative root for this new nation of Israel to orient itself around.

Solomon’s centralization of the worship of the LORD around the temple in Jerusalem also presents a challenge for Jeroboam. He responds to this challenge by centering worship around two existing worship sites with new images. The narrator of 1 Kings wants us to hear in this story an echo of the story of the golden calf in Exodus 32 and places in Jeroboam’s mouth the same words that Aaron utters in that story, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:4) The two shrines at Bethel and in Dan become the locations of these new golden calves and for Israel replace the temple in Jerusalem. It is possible that the calves are not to be a replacement for the LORD, just a physical representation of the LORD (or like the bulls under the bronze sea in the temple designs ornamentation of the worship space). Yet, the author of 1 Kings views this innovation through the lens of the Exodus account of the golden calf and view Jeroboam’s reforms as evidence of his unfaithfulness to the LORD the God of Israel.

Additionally, the priests that Jeroboam appoints are not exclusively Levites. The text does not specifically state that no Levites were priests, but there were those from among the general public who became priests. In Exodus 32 the Levites were those who were most resistant to Aaron’s introduction of the golden calf and it is possible that there were Levites who resisted this, but there were Levites in the book of Judges who gladly used ephods and other icons as a part of the worship at shrines like the one in Dan.[9] Even the king functions as a priest, although Solomon also acted in this way in the dedication of the temple, but there is a complete reorganization of the religious life of the people around new shrines with new images and new priests. Finally there is a new calendar to orient the life of the people completely breaking with the ways of Judah.

In Canaan the bull is often associated with the deities of Baal and El[10] (Cogan, 2001, p. 358). 1 Kings tells us the narrative of Jeroboam from the perspective of Torah observance as shaped by the theology of Deuteronomy and Exodus. In light of that theological perspective the innovations of Jeroboam (like the innovations of Aaron) are judged negatively and harshly. The practices that Jeroboam adopts may have deeper roots in the worship history of the northern Israelite tribes that we will never know because their records have been lost to time. What we do have is the evaluation of those practices in the light of the perspective of 1 Kings which view this action as the ‘sin of Jeroboam’ that leads Israel astray.

[1] Can be translated finger but probably refers to his penis.

[2] This story in 2 Samuel 20 is a fascinating but twisted story of the power of David as exercised by Joab which is too complex to do more than point to as a parallel here.

[3] See previous chapter.

[4] In 2 Chronicles 12 Shemiah also confronts Rehoboam when King Shishak of Egypt attacks causing the king and his officers to humble themselves causing God to grant them deliverance. 1 Kings 14: 25-28 will mention the invasion of King Shishak but does not contain Shemiah’s role.

[5] Going forward I will follow 1 Kings’ practice of referring to the northern kingdom as Israel and the southern kingdom as Judah. The spilt is unfamiliar for many readers of scripture and the referral to the united monarchy as Israel along with the northern kingdom post Solomon can cause confusion, but no more than using other common references like Ephraim or even the northern kingdom.

[6] Abimelech never reigned over all Israel, he was a regional strongman whose short, violent domination of the area is the opposite of what judges were supposed to be.

[7] Gideon appeals to Penuel for food to support his pursuit of the kings of Midian but is rebuffed and later tears down their tower.

[8] Genesis uses both spellings in the story of Jacob.

[9] Judges 17-18

[10] El is a general term for god which is often a part of the names used to talk about the LORD the God of Israel, but may also refer to gods of other nations.

1 Kings 11 The Foolish End of Solomon

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Willem de Poorter, ‘De afgoderij van konig Solomo’-Solomon’s decent into idolatry (between 1630 and 1648)

1 Kings 11: 1-13 The Foolishness of Solomon

¹ 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 Israelites, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods”; Solomon clung to these in love. ³ Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred 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 true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not completely follow the LORD, as his father David had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who offered incense and sacrificed to their gods. ⁹ Then 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 matter, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD commanded.

¹¹ Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. ¹² Yet for the sake of your father David I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ I will not, however, tear away the entire kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

In many divorces there may be a critical crisis where rupture in the relationship becomes readily apparent to both partners, but normally there has been a slow degradation of the relationship before this critical crisis. Many casual readers of First Kings’ report of Solomon’s reign will realize the critical crisis in the relationship between Solomon and God here as Solomon begins to turn away from the ways of his father and follow other gods. Yet, as I’ve tried to illustrate, Solomon’s focus on gold, military might, political alliances, and luxury items have already shown a drift away from the covenantal ways of the law towards the practices of King Hiram of Tyre, Pharaoh of Egypt, and the other kings of the surrounding region. Solomon has become a king deeply enmeshed in trade, building a capital city like that of Egypt, and he is the opposite of the model king lifted up in Deuteronomy 17: 14-20. At the ending of the previous chapter he had acquired large numbers of horses and chariots from Egypt and massive quantities of gold and silver (to the point silver was no longer valued) and now he also has a thousand wives and concubines.

First Kings is considered by our Jewish ancestors as a prophetic book and it shares with Joshua, Judges, First and Second Samuel, and Second Kings a theological perspective which resonates strongly with the book of Deuteronomy. This covenantal understanding of the relationship between Israel’s king, Israel’s temple, the people of Israel, and the God of Israel is a central theme of the Hebrew Scriptures, yet it also is neglected by the leaders of the people of Israel. As Walter Brueggemann can insightfully state:

The editorial practice of the book of Kings is to provide a theological assessment of each king by the criterion of Torah-obedience, a criterion in which kings characteristically are not at all interested. The kings are evaluated by norms that they themselves would consider irrelevant. (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 141)

Solomon’s self-evaluation would probably be oriented around his piety in constructing the temple, his success in international trading relations, his acquisition of wealth, his construction of Jerusalem and other walled cities, and his transition of the people from a disunified tribal society to a unified monarchy which for a brief moment occupies a place on the world stage. Solomon’s evaluation by other leaders like King Hiram of Tyre, the Queen of Sheba, and Pharoah of Egypt is that he is a wise son of David who administers his kingdom in a way they find praiseworthy. Yet, the LORD’s power has been notably absent from the narrative of Solomon. God has granted wisdom, wealth, and freedom from enemies but then the narrative shifts to Solomon’s achievements occasionally interrupted by divine warnings. Solomon’s story up to this point has been one of self-reliance and achievement but the connection to the commands, statutes, and ordinances of God has been lost. Solomon has exchanged God’s wisdom for the wisdom of the other nations. Solomon’s values had already shifted by this point in the narrative, his allowance or adoption of the worship of the gods of his wives is merely the critical crisis.

Solomon’s wives are almost certainly an extension of his vast network of diplomatic and trading networks he embarks upon. Marriages in the ancient world were primarily economic relationships rather than relationships of love or lust. This does not mean that Solomon is not emotionally attached to some or all of his wives and concubines, but they were brought into his household as a way of strengthening relationships between neighboring kingdoms in addition to regional leaders in Israel. Even if the foreign women among his wives and concubines formally accepted the worship of the LORD, the God of Israel, they never adopted a Torah based value system. (Israel, 2013, p. 127) and they may have encouraged Solomon’s own drift from that value system. Early in First Kings we heard that “Solomon loved the LORD” (3:3) but now that love is in tension with Solomon’s love of many foreign women.

The law as stated in Deuteronomy is highly aware of the competing value systems that it will encounter among the surrounding people in the promised land. The people were not to make covenants with them, to intermarry with them,[1]and they were to be excluded from the assembly of the faithful. (Deuteronomy 7: 2-4, 23: 2-7) Not only were they not to worship these other deities, they were also not to blend the practices of gods like Astarte, Chemosh, and Molech with the practices of the LORD. For example there are instances where the worship of the LORD in the book of Judges is indistinguishable from the worship of the Canaanite gods. Now Solomon allows the establishment of places of worship in close proximity to the temple itself, including on the Mount of Olives[2] directly opposite the temple mount.

Solomon’s heart has turned away from the LORD. The NRSV indicates that Solomon’s mind has moved but the Hebrew indicates that this is Solomon’s will.[3] Solomon who was granted wisdom has now directed his will and heart towards things that the LORD views as foolish. It may be wise in the view of the world, but in God’s eyes and in light of the covenant it is foolishness that breaks the relationship between God and Solomon and leads to a rupture in the kingdom. Yet the LORD does not act immediately. God has repeatedly warned Solomon and I believe still desires Solomon’s return and grants time and space for repentance. There is also a promise that God made to David in 2 Samuel 7:15 where the LORD promises not to take his love away like he did with Saul. Even at this critical crisis which brings a rupture to the relationship between God and the king, the LORD continues to extend grace in the midst of judgment for the sake of David and Jerusalem. God continues to honor the temple, the hope of what a Davidic king could be and to leave open a future where return to God’s ways could bring a reunited relationship. The LORD continues to seek the misplaced love of Solomon.

1 Kings 11: 14-40 Conflict in the Peaceful Reign

¹⁴ Then 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 dead, he killed every male in Edom ¹⁶ (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom); ¹⁷ but Hadad fled to Egypt with some Edomites who were servants of his father. He was a young boy at that time. ¹⁸ They set out from Midian and came to Paran; they took people with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, assigned him an allowance of food, and gave him land. ¹⁹ Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him his sister-in-law for a wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes gave birth by him to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the children of Pharaoh. ²¹ When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.” ²² But Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack with me that you now seek to go to your own country?” And he said, “No, do let me go.”

²³ God raised up another adversary against Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. ²⁴ He gathered followers around him and became leader of a marauding band, after the slaughter by David; they went to Damascus, settled there, and made him king in Damascus. ²⁵ He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, making trouble as Hadad did; he despised Israel and reigned over Aram.

²⁶ Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, rebelled against the king. ²⁷ The following was the reason he rebelled against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the gap in the wall of the city of his father David. 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 About that time, when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment. The two of them were alone in the open country ³⁰ when Ahijah laid hold of the new garment he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ He then said to Jeroboam: Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes. ³² One tribe will remain his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. ³³ This is because he has forsaken me, worshiped Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, as his father David did. ³⁴ Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom away from him but will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David whom I chose and who did keep my commandments and my statutes; ³⁵ but I will take the kingdom away from his son and give it to you — that is, the ten tribes. ³⁶ Yet to his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. ³⁷ I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires; you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ If you will listen to all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you, and will build you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹ For this reason I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.” ⁴⁰ Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam promptly fled to Egypt, to King Shishak of Egypt, and remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Solomon’s name comes from the Hebrew word shalom which is often translated ‘peace’ and until this point in the narrative his reign has been mainly peaceful. There may have been bloody proceedings at the beginning, but for most of Solomon’s forty year reign the nation has enjoyed peace and prosperity. Now in light of Solomon’s foolishness the LORD begins to act by introducing adversaries which bring conflict to the edges and eventually to the heart of the kingdom of Solomon. The first adversary[4] is Hadad the Edomite. Hadad’s antagonism towards Solomon originates in the actions of his father David’s military commander, Joab. Solomon has Joab killed in the temple at the beginning of his reign but his murderous actions against the Edomites (2 Samuel 8: 13-14) on behalf of David leave an enemy for Solomon. In the narrative of First Kings Hadad typologically becomes like Moses (escapes a purge of a murderous king, raised in Pharoah’s household) and in combination with the previous narrative where we hear of Solomon’s forced labor, building of storage cities and the depiction of his son Rehoboam “whipping” the nation in the next chapter we see Solomon typologically as a Pharaoh like tyrant. (Israel, 2013, pp. 136-137) Hadad’s words to Pharaoh are also similar to Moses’ words to ‘let my people go’ but now it is Hadad asking Pharoah permission to ‘let me go” on behalf of my people. This was may have been awkward for Pharaoh who has allied himself with Solomon now having to restrain an opponent within his own household who wants to oppose Solomon’s reign. The ‘sins’ of his father David and his servants are now falling on Solomon’s head just like his own ‘sins’ will fall on the head of his son.

The second adversary is Rezon whose rise to power as a strongman leading a marauding band is also facilitated by David’s military actions against the Arameans (2 Samuel 8:3-7, 10:1-19). David’s expansion of his territory and defeat of King Hadadezer enabled this former servant to rise up and become the leader of a marauding band much like David had been when Saul still reigned. The emergence of Rezon may illustrate that Solomon is beginning to lose a grip on the territory that his father claimed by conflict. Solomon has already sold a part of his inheritance to Hiram King of Tyre (1 Kings 9: 10-14) and these two external adversaries may be the beginning of troubles on the edge of Solomon’s kingdom.

Yet, the most significant threat is internal and, as indicated in God’s words to Solomon in verse eleven and here, it comes from a servant of Solomon. Just as David was once a servant of Saul and was God’s hand chosen replacement, now Jeroboam the servant of Solomon is God’s chose one to lead Israel. Jeroboam we are told is the son of a widow named Zeruah, which probably indicates an upbringing that was less secure than many of his fellow Israelites. Widows are one of the vulnerable groups, with orphans and resident aliens, that the law lifts up for protection, but the highlighting of these groups probably indicates that they were often taken advantage of. The naming of Jeroboam as a widow’s son may also be a way of discrediting him in the eyes of the Judean line of kings, but he rises to be viewed as a mighty one.[5] He is placed over the forced labor (corvee) of the houses of Joseph (the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh) or the administrative replacement for the tribes that Solomon designated (1 Kings 4: 7-19). This is in contrast to 1 Kings 9:15-22 which attempts to state that the forced labor comes only from captured nations. Jeroboam’s upbringing may make him sensitive to the burdens that Solomon’s reign is placing upon the common people of his region of Israel, something Solomon may have been blinded to by his increasing separation from the people and his acquisition of wealth. The critical moment comes when a word of God comes through the prophetic voice of Ahijah from the northern shrine at Shiloh. It is possible that at this point the priests at Shiloh are more focused on Torah than the priests at the temple in Jerusalem, but the prophet comes from the same holy place that Solomon once received his visitation from God where God granted him wisdom (1 Kings 3). There are similarities between this scene and the scene in 1 Samuel 15: 27-29 where the tearing of Saul’s robe indicates that the kingdom will be torn away from Saul. Two foreigners may have ripped at the edges of the kingdom, but like the newly torn robe of Ahijah, now Jeroboam will be the cause of the internal rupture where ten tribes separate from the line of David and the city of Jerusalem. These three adversaries become the forces that begin to tear at the seams of Solomon’s kingdom which will be ripped apart after his death. Jeroboam, like Hadad, flees to Egypt while Shishak is Pharaoh. The harboring of enemies of Israel by Pharaoh also foreshadows the breakdown of relations between Egypt and Israel that will end in King Shishak of Egypt attacking Jerusalem when Rehoboam is king and taking away many of the golden things that Solomon acquired during his reign.

1 Kings 11: 41-43 The Death of Solomon

⁴¹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did as well as his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴² The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³ Solomon slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.

As mentioned at the beginning of the chapter First Kings is a narration of the story of Solomon and later kings from a perspective they may have considered irrelevant. It is a theological evaluation of each ruler in terms of their fidelity to the LORD the God of Israel and the covenant as outlined in the commandments, statutes and precepts of God. Solomon may have been a success in every measure to the nations around him, but in the view of First Kings he is ultimately a failed king. His divinely granted wisdom slowly turned into foolishness as it adopted the practices of kings like King Hiram of Tyre, the Queen of Sheba, and the Pharaoh of Egypt and in the critical crisis where Solomon’s love for the LORD is challenged by his love for his many foreign wives which leads him to allow idolatry to take hold in Israel. Solomon is warned numerous times in the text and I do believe that God continued to yearn for his repentance and the renewal of his fidelity, but even in the absence of that he continues to provide some grace in the midst of judgment. At his death the eyes of the people and of God shift to his son Rehoboam to see if he will be a worthy leader. There still is a chance for repentance and reconciliation between Rehoboam and God as well as Rehoboam and the people. There will be wise voices calling for Rehoboam to listen, but the ‘sins’ of his father as well as his own adoption of his father’s foolishness will lead to the rupture in the kingdom.

[1] This is not primarily about sexual relations but instead a fear that mixing with the daughters and sons of these nations will lead to the adoption of their practices and idolatry. (Cogan, 2001, p. 326)

[2] This is the mountain referred to when the text mentions the mountain east of Jerusalem.

[3] Hebrew ‘im. The heart is the organ of will in Hebrew thought not the mind. (Cogan, 2001, p. 328) Hence the use of the word heart in verse nine paired with the Hebrew word for will in verse eleven.

[4] The word behind adversary is the Hebrew word satan, where the name Satan comes from. There is no understanding in 1 Kings of Satan being a personified force against the LORD of Israel, instead that is the other gods of the nations. Satan appears as a personified being for the first time in the book of Job.

[5] The Hebrew gibbor hayil which occurs frequently in the book of Judges is often translated as a ‘mighty warrior’ but can also indicated a person of means (like Boaz in Ruth). The NRSV’s translation as industrious places a western valuation of work upon the concept of one who has either economic, military or physical strength.

1 Kings 10 The Queen of Sheba and the Golden King

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Edward Poynter, The Visit of the Queen of Shebe to King Solomon (1890)

1 Kings 10: 1-10 The Queen of Sheba and Solomon

¹ When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon (fame due to 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 Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba had observed 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 valets, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her.

⁶ So she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your accomplishments and of your wisdom, ⁷ but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. Not even half had been told me; your wisdom and prosperity far surpass the report that I had heard. ⁸ Happy are your wives! Happy are these your servants, who continually attend you and hear your wisdom!

⁹ Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness.” ¹⁰ Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones; never again did spices come in such quantity as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

There has been a long running dialogue among scholars about the location of Sheba. One common thought was Ethiopia and there is a long existent tradition in the church of Ethiopia which traces their royal line back to a liaison between the queen of Sheba and Solomon. Others looked to the Northern Arabian deserts and others to the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula (modern day Yemen). Late biblical texts regularly associate Sheba with gold, spices, and other luxury trading items.[1] Perhaps Sheba was an ancient and wealthy kingdom, like Tyre, that was based around walled cities and palaces but for the purpose of our narrative it could also be a people who lived off trade. A traveling queen who brings with her numerous camels and a large retinue (typically an armed force)[2] does not indicate the type of medieval kingdoms with palaces and walled cities many often imagine. At this time there are many groups that live a nomadic existence of traveling both for trade and with flocks of animals and if Sheba is in one of the proposed desert locations they would need places to stop, but much of their existence would be in motion.

This worldly traveled queen comes to Solomon and observes this newly constructed capital of Israel and hears the wisdom of Solomon and is left breathless[3]. Solomon has been aggressively engaged in building projects and trading and has acquired significant displays of wealth. He has also welcomed the entourage of Sheba to enjoy his hospitality as he answers the questions of the queen. Perhaps she views Solomon as a worthy and wise partner to trade ideas with, but she certainly views Solomon as a trading partner worthy of cultivation. Yet her vision of Solomon’s reign is probably centered around the palace complex and the city that Solomon has worked to build. Yet, with the prosperity that Solomon has surrounded himself with he seems to this worldly queen to be blessed.[4]

Something has changed in Solomon’s reign. Early in his reign a conflict between two prostitutes was brought before him but now he spends his time with royalty and trading partners. Solomon continues to acquire gold, precious stones and spices but these precious items are likely traded on the agricultural produce of the land. While I am not opposed to luxury nor do I expect kings to live like peasants, the continual focus on gold and precious items in these chapters about Solomon likely indicate a focus on gathering together and displaying the wealth that has been accumulated. Throughout the past seven chapters there has been very little focus on the condition of the people of Israel and whether they are sharing in this prosperity with their golden king.

1 Kings 10: 11-29 The Golden King

¹¹ Moreover, the fleet of Hiram, which carried gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a great quantity of almug wood and precious stones. ¹² From the almug wood the king made supports for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, lyres also and harps for the singers; no such almug wood has come or been seen to this day.

¹³ Meanwhile King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba every desire that she expressed, as well as what he gave her out of Solomon’s royal bounty. Then she returned to her own land, with her servants.

¹⁴ The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁵ besides that which came from the traders and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land. ¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each large shield. ¹⁷ He made three hundred 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. The top of the throne was rounded in the back, and on each side of the seat were arm rests and two lions standing beside the arm rests, ²⁰ while twelve lions were standing, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom. ²¹ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver — it was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. ²² For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

²³ Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²⁴ 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 a present, objects of silver and gold, garments, weaponry, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

²⁶ Solomon gathered together chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as numerous as the sycamores of the Shephelah. ²⁸ 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 six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty; so through the king’s traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Solomon has become a trading partner with Sheba, Tyre, and Egypt. The accumulation of six hundred sixty-six talents (over 25 tons) of gold in a single year is an incredible amount to comprehend. It is possible that the text wants us to understand this as an annual income of gold, but it also may represent one year at the height of the gold trade for Solomon. The number 666 here has no connection with the use of the number in Revelation, but there are many ways where Solomon’s reign begins to look like the portrayal of Babylon in that book from centuries later. As Walter Brueggeman can state, “the impression is given that all roads and all gold leads to Jerusalem.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 134)

Solomon’s wisdom, as represented by 1 Kings, has been primarily applied to trading and construction of luxurious buildings. Solomon’s great ivory throne may be lifted up by the text as unique, but it displays the type of ostentatious use of resources expected by kings of the surrounding kingdoms. Everything is gold, even silver is considered of little value. Golden shields which only serve the purpose of display (both the full-length shields and the bucklers) rather than being practical for defense are much like the apes and peacocks (or baboons)[5] which are brought into the royal menagerie. Everything Solomon touches seems to turn to gold like the legend of King Midas. Yet, the golden king seems to be emulating Pharaoh, Hiram of Tyre, and the Queen of Sheba more than his father King David.

Solomon has also become an arms trader. Solomon’s downfall is narrated in the following chapter and the listing of Solomon’s acquisition and trading of horses and chariots from Egypt and Kue as well as his amassing of vast quantities of gold and other precious resources and the taking of many wives in the following chapter is the opposite of the ideal king imagined in Deuteronomy 17: 16-17. The forty year reign of Solomon is a time where much seems to be gained in Jerusalem, but one also has to wonder if there was also something lost. The wisdom of Solomon seems to have left the law of God behind in pursuit of the wealth of the world. As we prepare to enter the final chapter of 1 Kings which covers King Solomon’s reign we may wonder if this golden king has gained the wealth of the whole world but lost his soul[6] and the soul of the nation he is chosen to reign over.

[1] Isaiah 60: 6, Jeremiah 6:20, Ezekiel 27:22

[2] The Hebrew hayil behind entourage typically refers to a military force. (Cogan, 2001, p. 311)

[3] The Hebrew ruach means both spirit and breath and so having no more spirit can also mean being breathless.

[4] The Hebrew ‘asre can be translated ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’ and is very common in the book of Psalms and throughout wisdom literature.

[5] Translators have struggled with the Hebrew tukki for years. It may be a word from Tamil (tokai) indicating trade with India (hence peacocks) but others have suggested baboons from African trade. Translation of rarely used words is often very challenging.

[6] The idea of soul (nephesh) in Hebrew is not an immortal portion of being separate from the earthly body, it is closer to the essence of life itself. Soul and life are often interchangeable in Hebrew thought.

1 Kings 9 Solomon’s Second Vision and Continued Reign

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Isaak Asknaziy, Vanita vanitatum et omnia vanitas (19th Century)

1 Kings 9: 1-9 Solomon’s Second Vision of the LORD

¹ When 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 The LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you made before me; I have consecrated this house that you have built, and put my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. ⁴ 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 ordinances, ⁵ then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’

⁶ “If you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, ⁷ then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them; and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight; and Israel will become a proverb and a taunt among all peoples. ⁸ This house will become a heap of ruins; everyone passing by it will be astonished, and will hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ Then they will say, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, worshiping them and serving them; therefore the LORD has brought this disaster upon them.'”

This second appearance of the LORD to Solomon echoes the covenantal themes that have recurred throughout the initial eight chapters of 1 Kings. Although the consequences for turning aside from keeping the commandments and statutes of the LORD is spoken in more ominous tones directly from the mouth of God, we’ve seen the necessity of obedience in David’s words to Solomon (2:2-4), in the LORD’s first appearance to Solomon (3:14), the word of the LORD during the construction of the temple (6: 11-13), and from Solomon’s own mouth in the extended prayer of dedication (8:22-53). The dedication of the temple and the sacrifices offered there are not enough, nor are they primary to the LORD. The timing of this divine visitation and its charge and warnings should alert us to the danger that Solomon faces as his material prosperity continues. Knowing the failures of the end of Solomon’s reign this warning at the apex of his success may help the attentive reader begin to see that Solomon, “did not fail overnight; darker strands and shadows are revealed, indicating the deep flaws that threatened the impressive national enterprise.” (Israel, 2013, p. 113)

The LORD’s response to Solomon indicates that God is listening to the prayers offered at the temple and that God continues to fix God’s vision and God’s will upon this place where the people can come to offer their petitions and their sacrifices. Yet, it is not Solomon who has consecrated the temple but the LORD. The covenant is once again restated and Solomon who earlier asked for wisdom is again offered the path of wisdom. In stark language the cost of disobedience is spelled out and the presence of the temple is not a guarantee of God’s protection if the people and their king do not practice obedience. The city, the temple and the nation of Israel are all contingent on the provision of the LORD and if they turn away they will be an example that others will ‘hiss’ at to avoid sharing their curse as they pass by.[1] Solomon is asked to navigate the uneasy tension between his consolidation of power and wealth in his ‘royal growth economy’ (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 128) and the principles of the Law of God.

1 Kings 9: 10-14 Entanglement with the Ways of Tyre and Egypt

⁰ 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 King Hiram of Tyre having 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 But Hiram had sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold.

¹⁵ This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the LORD and his own house, the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer ¹⁶ (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it down, 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), Lower Beth-horon, ¹⁸ Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness, within the land, ¹⁹ as well as all of Solomon’s storage cities, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his cavalry, 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 not of the people of Israel — ²¹ their descendants who were still left in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely — these Solomon conscripted for slave labor, and so they are to this day. ²² But of the Israelites Solomon made no slaves; they were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, and the commanders of his chariotry and cavalry.

²³ These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: five hundred fifty, who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

²⁴ But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her; then he built the Millo.

²⁵ Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being on the altar that he built for the LORD, offering incense before the LORD. So he completed the house.

²⁶ King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea,¹in the land of Edom. ²⁷ Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ They went to Ophir, and imported from there four hundred twenty talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

Many readers of 1 Kings will see chapters nine and ten as a testament to Solomon’s wise management of the kingdom of Israel, but on closer inspection it is clear that something is amiss in the administration of Solomon. Solomon has become entangled in the ways of King Hiram of Tyre and the Pharaoh of Egypt. In this and the following chapter the word gold is written seventeen times and this gold standard illustrates Solomon’s focus on indulgence and extravagance. (Israel, 2013, p. 116) The arrangement with King Hiram was dependent on the continued agricultural prosperity of the land of Israel, but now Solomon has either fallen in arears in his payments to Hiram or is so desperate for gold that he hands over twelve towns in the northern part of the kingdom. The area which the displeased King of Tyre labels ‘Cabul’ is an agriculturally prosperous region, and we have no indication of why Hiram is unhappy with the transaction. It is possible that Hiram is continuing to attempt to manipulate the deal in his favor or that the recording of this being unpleasing land softens the domestic blow for Solomon. Regardless, the ceding of a portion of the land to another nation in exchange for gold (and perhaps debt relief) indicates that the land and the people are less important to Solomon than gold.

We return to the use of forced labor again, and now (in contrast to 5:27-30) the text indicates that it is only other conquered people who are used in forced labor. Yet, the scale of these projects would probably be impossible without the employment of the people of Israel in all these projects. Even if it is only the Canaanites who are now placed in forced labor, this casts Solomon in a similar light as Pharaoh. In addition to the temple and Solomon’s houses there are several other major projects listed: the Millo (likely a terrace system on the eastern side of Jerusalem), walled cities (the primary defensive structure of the time), cities for storage, and for his military garrisons. The last two again parallel Solomon and Pharaoh. The word for ‘storage cities’ (arei miskenot)[2] recalls Israel’s enslavement in Egypt, but now Solomon is the king. (Israel, 2013, p. 117) Solomon’s adoption of an army built around chariots and cavalry also is adopting the primary weapons utilized by Egypt, and this is the item a king of Israel is not to go to Egypt to acquire (Deuteronomy 17: 16). In addition we are reminded of this connection by the mention of Pharaoh’s daughter who Solomon has already constructed a house for.

Finally Solomon continues his alliance with Tyre and learning the ways of this seafaring and trading nation. It is interesting that Solomon constructs his fleet in Ezion Geber in Edom which gives him access to the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea to the south instead of the Great Sea ‘what we call the Mediterranean) in the west. Solomon may no longer be in control of the Philistine territories that his father David subdued, or it may be in Tyre’s best interest to have access to the southern passage which leads to Ethiopia (Cush) and Eastern Africa. Once again the adoption of the ways of Tyre brings Solomon additional wealth from Ophir, but Solomon’s use of wisdom for the acquisition of larger quantities of gold and other objects of luxury, his emulation of the ways of Pharaoh and King Hiram, and his continual employment of forced labor placed alongside his continued piety at the temple suggest the deep flaws in this national enterprise. Solomon seems to have gained the world but to have sold his soul of the nation for gold.

[1] This is a phrase used in Jeremiah 18:16 and 19:8 as Jeremiah attempts to warn the people of God’s coming judgment. (Cogan, 2001, p. 296)

[2] Only used here and in Exodus 1:11 (Cogan, 2001, p. 303)

1 Kings 8 The Dedication of the Temple

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James Tissot, Solomon Dedicates the Temple (1896-1902)

1 Kings 8: 1-26 The Dedication of the Temple Begins

¹ Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. ² All the people of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the festival in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. ⁴ So they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁶ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. ⁸ The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

¹² Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. ¹³ I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

¹⁴ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵ He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any of the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ ¹⁷ My father David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the LORD said to my father David, ‘You did well to consider building a house for my name; ¹⁹ nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰ Now the LORD has upheld the promise that he made; for I have risen in the place of my father David; I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ²¹ There I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

²² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. ²³ He said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, ²⁴ the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand. ²⁵ Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ ²⁶ Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my father David.

The Construction and dedication of the temple of Solomon covers three long chapters of First Kings and this is the high point of the royal-temple establishment. To mark the beginning of the era of the temple of Solomon we have a complex interweaving of prayer and cultic leadership bringing together multiple theological perspective in this one recorded action. The generation of scholars who looked to discern the source material could easily find distinct theological voices which were brought together in this critical moment in the history of Israel. All wrapped up within this long celebration are things reflective of Israel’s past, the celebration of the completion of this massive project under Solomon, but it also foreshadows the future that Israel will encounter as Israel begins the long decent from this moment of jubilation.

The dedication of the temple occurs almost an entire year after its completion. This likely occurs to dedicate the temple during the festival of Succoth which marks the ending of the harvest and enables the people to be away from their fields for an extended period. The leaders of the tribes are the first people listed along with the elders of Israel, but as we have seen Solomon has also been replacing the traditional tribal leadership with a different set of leaders over the twelve regions of Israel. The ark of the covenant is brought to its new home in the temple with the priests bearing it like they did in previous ages, but now instead of a tent that travels with the ark there is a ‘permanent’ resting place. However, the poles extend beyond the dimensions of the inner sanctuary and their continued presence in the ark may highlight both the inability of the sanctuary to contain the LORD the God of Israel as well as the continued mobility of the God of Israel.

Yet, there is a shift of gravity taking place in Solomon’s dedication from the time when God did not choose any city or any tribe to build a house to the location of the temple in the city of David. Jerusalem now becomes Zion, the city of David and the city of the house of the LORD. The temple is intended to be a resting place for God and Solomon at his most audacious declares that this exalted house is to be a place where the LORD can ‘dwell’ forever. Yet, even within verse twelve and thirteen there is a tension not reflected in English. The LORD has declared that God will dwell (tabernacle-Hebrew sakan) in thick darkness. I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell (be enthroned- Hebrew yasab) forever. (NIB III:70) The subtle change in wording may not seem like much but the divine promise to tabernacle or dwell among the people in their movement where the divine freedom is preserved, and God’s dwelling is conditional upon the people’s obedience to the commandments, ordinances, and statutes God has given them. Solomon’s enthroning notion in relation to God in the temple has the connotation of sitting permanently. Yet, as we saw in God’s words to Solomon in 1 Kings 5: 11-13, God’s presence and blessing is always conditional upon the obedience to the covenant. Despite the royal claims for God to be the patron of the Davidic regime, God’s presence is never to be taken for granted. The ark of the covenant cannot contain God, only the tablets of the covenant. This costly temple cannot contain God or permanently decide God’s favor.

Yet, in the moment when the ark of the covenant is placed within the inner sanctuary of the temple the presence of God makes itself felt. The cloud which fills the space echoes the presence of God in the dedication of the Tabernacle (Exodus 40: 34-35) and now the priests, like Moses, are unable to enter in this moment. This moment marks the culmination of the priestly hope for the presence of God among the people, and the temple now replaces the tabernacle as a place where Israel and the nations can come to seek out God. Now the city of David and the temple mountain are lifted up as a place for Israel and all the world to direct their prayers and their appeals to the God of Israel.

Solomon views this moment as a culmination of the promises made to his father David and as a demonstration of the faithfulness of the LORD toward David and himself. Solomon has already been informed that this covenant faithfulness requires both the LORD and Israel to keep faith, but Solomon asks for God’s continual provision of the monarchical line of David. The temple and the monarchy are two symbols that will be important for the people of Israel (or later the people of Judah) and often Zion/temple theology and royal theology are intertwined in this era of king and temple. However, there is always a countervailing covenant/Torah tradition within Israel’s relationship with their God. No matter the beauty of the temple, or the line of the ruler covenantal faithfulness remains the continual condition for the LORD’s presence among the people. As Walter Brueggemann can aptly state, “Yahweh’s presence among Yahweh’s people is much desired, but never easy, never obvious, always a problem.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 107)

1 Kings 8: 27-53 A Forward-Looking Prayer

²⁷ “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! ²⁸ Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; ²⁹ that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰ Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.

³¹ “If someone sins against a neighbor and is given an oath to swear, and comes and swears before your altar in this house, ³² then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their righteousness.

³³ “When your people Israel, having sinned against you, are defeated before an enemy but turn again to you, confess your name, pray and plead with you in this house, ³⁴ then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land that you gave to their ancestors.

³⁵ “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and then they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin, because you punish them, ³⁶ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and grant rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

³⁷ “If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in any of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; ³⁸ whatever prayer, whatever plea there is from any individual or from all your people Israel, all knowing the afflictions of their own hearts so that they stretch out their hands toward this house; ³⁹ then hear in heaven your dwelling place, forgive, act, and render to all whose hearts you know — according to all their ways, for only you know what is in every human heart — ⁴⁰ so that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors.

⁴¹ “Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name ⁴² — for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm — when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, ⁴³ then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.

⁴⁴ “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ⁴⁵ then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

⁴⁶ “If they sin against you — for there is no one who does not sin — and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; ⁴⁷ yet if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken captive, and repent, and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done wrong; we have acted wickedly; ⁴⁸ if they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies, who took them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name; ⁴⁹ then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, maintain their cause ⁵⁰ and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you; and grant them compassion in the sight of their captors, so that they may have compassion on them ⁵¹ (for they are your people and heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron-smelter). ⁵² Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant, and to the plea of your people Israel, listening to them whenever they call to you. ⁵³ For you have separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your heritage, just as you promised through Moses, your servant, when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.”

The inauguration of the temple is a critical moment in the narration of 1 Kings and therefore it is not surprising that this moment brings together numerous theological perspectives and unites them under Solomon’s voice. This forward-looking set of prayers foreshadows the remaining narrative of First and Second Kings which has the people frequently encountering God’s judgment for their lack of faithfulness which ends in their captivity. The prayer looks to a future where the people’s lack of faithfulness leaves them with only the option of prayerful repentance and reliance upon God’s hearing and responding to their petitions gracefully.

In contrast to the previous words of Solomon desiring God to dwell in this magnificent house, now the words placed in Solomon’s prayer declare this is impossible. The house, like the ark and tabernacle before it, cannot bear God. The earth and the heavens are not enough to contain God. As Choon-Leong Seow states:

The Temple is neither God’s residence nor the place where the petitioner personally encounters the deity. Rather, it is a place at which the needs of the petitioner coincide with the willingness of the deity to respond. The Temple is not the place where the person of God is; rather it is merely the place where God’s presence may be known, where the authority of God is proclaimed. (NIB III: 75)

The list of troubles that may come upon Israel bear several similarities to the lists in Leviticus 26: 14-39 and Deuteronomy 28: 15-68. Within the Torah there is blessings for obedience and consequences/curses for disobedience. The prayer also shares several similarities to the narrative of Judges where the people continue in disobedience until they call upon the LORD for their God to deliver them. This prayer to the people dealing with famine, defeat, or exile may provide hope that their separation from God’s blessing is not permanent and that despite their unworthiness God will hear and respond in forgiveness, acceptance, and reclaim the people.

Within this prayer the expectation goes to people beyond the boundaries of Israel calling upon God’s name. The non-Israelite calling upon the LORD is the foreigner who does not reside in Israel (nokri) instead of the resident alien (ger). (Cogan, 2001, p. 286) This fits with the prophetic hope of prophets like Isaiah looking at the nations gathering around Mount Zion:

In days to come the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all nations shall stream to it. Many people will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction. Isaiah 2: 2-3

People like Naaman, the Queen of Sheba, the sailors in the story of Jonah, and countless other foreigners are expected to see the obedience and the prosperity of the Hebrew people and want to know their God’s way. This moment of great expectations sees the dedication of the temple as the center of the story of Israel and now the city and the temple are theologically the center of the world because it is a place where God’s presence may be known. The temple may not be able to contain God’s presence, but it still remains an important space in the life of the people.

1 Kings 8: 54-66

⁵⁴ Now when Solomon finished offering all this prayer and this plea to the LORD, he arose from facing the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven; ⁵⁵ he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice:

⁵⁶ “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel according to all that he promised; not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke through his servant Moses. ⁵⁷ The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors; may he not leave us or abandon us, ⁵⁸ but incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors. ⁵⁹ Let these words of mine, with which I pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires; ⁶⁰ so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. ⁶¹ Therefore devote yourselves completely to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

⁶² Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. ⁶³ Solomon offered as sacrifices of well-being to the LORD twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand 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 in front of the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the sacrifices of well-being, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to receive the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the sacrifices of well-being.

⁶⁵ So Solomon held the festival at that time, and all Israel with him — a great assembly, people from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt — before the LORD our God, seven days. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents, joyful and in good spirits because of all the goodness that the LORD had shown to his servant David and to his people Israel.

The commemoration of the temple concludes on a note that echoes the words of Joshua to the people at the completion of the occupation of the promised land: Not one of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. (Joshua 21: 45) Now God’s fidelity is linked to the completion of the temple. As mentioned earlier there is the view in 1 Kings that the completion of the temple is the high point of the story that begins with the occupation of the promised land and runs through Joshua, Judges, 1&2 Samuel and 1&2 Kings. Looking backwards upon the story from the end at the exile there is a knowledge that “the royal-temple establishment does not quite work.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 119)

The massive feast that the dedication becomes with the sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep would be a week-long indulgence for the people. On the one hand it is a communal gathering celebrating the completion of the temple and the abundance that the LORD has provided. It is easy from a modern perspective to view this as excessive and a commoditization of religion, but a gathering of the entire population for a week would involve feeding a very large congregation. The number may be an exaggeration, but we also are part of a culture that views life through the lens of scarcity. For the people of Israel who have labored and sacrificed for seven years to come to this moment this is a time of feasting.

1 Kings 7 The Halls of Solomon and the Furnishing of the Temple

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James Tissot, Solomon Decicates the Temple (1896-1902)

1 Kings 7: 1-12 The Halls of Solomon

¹ Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.

² He built the House of the Forest of the Lebanon one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. ³ It was roofed with cedar on the forty-five rafters, fifteen in each row, which were on the pillars. ⁴ There were window frames in the three rows, facing each other in the three rows. ⁵ All the doorways and doorposts had four-sided frames, opposite, facing each other in the three rows.

⁶ He made the Hall of Pillars fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. There was a porch in front with pillars, and a canopy in front of them.

⁷ He made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, the Hall of Justice, covered with cedar from floor to floor.

⁸ His own house where he would reside, in the other court back of the hall, was of the same construction. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken in marriage.

⁹ All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, from the foundation to the coping, and from outside to the great court. ¹⁰ The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. ¹¹ There were costly stones above, cut to measure, and cedarwood. ¹² The great court had three courses of dressed stone to one layer of cedar beams all around; so had the inner court of the house of the LORD, and the vestibule of the house.

In the middle of the narrative about the construction of the temple the narrator of 1 Kings briefly attends to the other major construction project in Jerusalem: the construction of the houses of Solomon. On the one hand this is in keeping with the rapid transition of Solomon’s reign which completed the consolidation of Israel from a group of tribes with some interconnection to a monarchy consolidated around a king and a capital city. This inclusion in the midst of the construction of the temple may serve for the narrator as an indication that Solomon’s agenda may be drifting from its devotion to the LORD the God of Israel since the collection of buildings is significantly larger than the temple and takes roughly twice the time to complete.

The House of the Forest of Lebanon by itself covers over twice the area of the temple and the Hall of Pillars is similar in area to the temple. With the exception of the Hall of Justice and the residences for himself and Pharaoh’s daughter we are not given any indication what these buildings were used for. The narrator also does not take the time to detail the construction of these buildings except to indicate that they use large amounts of cedar and costly stones. The inclusion of Pharaoh’s daughter at this point may also be a warning that Solomon is beginning to model his leadership on Pharaoh. The text is suggestive of a criticism of Solomon but it is not explicit. The narrator may be impressed by the scale of the projects that the people under Solomon are able to achieve. It would not be surprising for a monarch to use the best materials in the construction of their residence and their place of conducting the business of running the kingdom. This complex of buildings probably serves a similar function to the White House in the United States which is both a residence and a place where the leader of the nation conducts their business.

1 Kings 7: 13-51 Furnishing the Temple

¹³ Now King Solomon invited and received Hiram from Tyre. ¹⁴ He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, whose father, a man of Tyre, had been an artisan in bronze; he was full of skill, intelligence, and knowledge in working bronze. He came to King Solomon, and did all his work.

¹⁵ He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen cubits was the height of the one, and a cord of twelve cubits would encircle it; the second pillar was the same. ¹⁶ He also made two capitals of molten bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars; the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. ¹⁷ There were nets of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. ¹⁸ He made the columns with two rows around each latticework to cover the capitals that were above the pomegranates; he did the same with the other capital. ¹⁹ Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits high. ²⁰ The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection that was beside the latticework; there were two hundred pomegranates in rows all around; and so with the other capital. ²¹ He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple; he set up the pillar on the south and called it Jachin; and he set up the pillar on the north and called it Boaz. ²² On the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work of the pillars was finished.

²³ Then he made the molten sea; it was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high. A line of thirty cubits would encircle it completely. ²⁴ Under its brim were panels all around it, each of ten cubits, surrounding the sea; there were two rows of panels, cast when it was cast. ²⁵ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; the sea was set on them. The hindquarters of each were toward the inside. ²⁶ Its thickness was a handbreadth; its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; it held two thousand baths.

²⁷ He also made the ten stands of bronze; each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. ²⁸ This was the construction of the stands: they had borders; the borders were within the frames; ²⁹ on the borders that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work. ³⁰ Each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze; at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each. ³¹ Its opening was within the crown whose height was one cubit; its opening was round, as a pedestal is made; it was a cubit and a half wide. At its opening there were carvings; its borders were four-sided, not round. ³² The four wheels were underneath the borders; the axles of the wheels were in the stands; and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. ³³ The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. ³⁴ There were four supports at the four corners of each stand; the supports were of one piece with the stands. ³⁵ On the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high; on the top of the stand, its stays and its borders were of one piece with it. ³⁶ On the surfaces of its stays and on its borders he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, where each had space, with wreaths all around. ³⁷ In this way he made the ten stands; all of them were cast alike, with the same size and the same form.

³⁸ He made ten basins of bronze; each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits; there was a basin for each of the ten stands. ³⁹ He set five of the stands on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house; he set the sea on the southeast corner of the house.

⁴⁰ Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the LORD: ⁴¹ the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; ⁴² the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; ⁴³ the ten stands, the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴ the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea.

⁴⁵ The pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels that Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of the LORD were of burnished bronze. ⁴⁶ In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; the weight of the bronze was not determined.

⁴⁸ So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the LORD: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, ⁴⁹ the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, in front of the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and firepans, of pure gold; the sockets for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple, of gold.

⁵¹ Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the LORD was finished. Solomon brought in the things that his father David had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.

The introduction of the artisan Hiram from Tyre who brings the technical expertise to do the metal work used in the construction of the temple again directs us to the massive project that the construction of the temple is for the nation of Israel. Hiram possesses the skill, knowledge, and intelligence like Bezalel and Oholiab did when the constructed the tabernacle. Yet, Hiram, like many of the resources for the temple, comes from Tyre and even though he mother from the tribe of Naphtali his father is from outside Israel. Yet, the narrative of 1 Kings is more concerned with the skill and knowledge that Hiram learned from his father than the kinship he shares with the people through his mother[1].

Possible Looks of the Bronze Pillars from Encylopedia Biblia (1903)

The construction of the temple has already consumed vast resources of lumber, stone, and precious metal but now the work of Hiram utilizes an uncounted amount of bronze. The two massive bronze pillars named Jachin and Boaz[2], the bronze sea, and the ten stands and basins along with the other items necessary for the sacrificial work of the temple are massive. On the one hand they may illustrate the bringing together of the resources of the people to be committed to the devotion to the LORD the God of Israel. The surrounding of the construction of Solomon’s palace complex by the commitment of the resources to the temple may be intended to present Solomon’s devotion in a positive light. Yet, as Brueggemann points out the continual focus on bronze and gold in this final description of the construction may also lead to the commoditization of the temple where the focus becomes on the gold and costly material used in the construction of the building rather than on the worship and the covenantal fidelity the temple is to embody. (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 104)

The temple built by Solomon will occupy an important place in the theological imagination of the Jewish people. This is evident when one pays attention to the vision of the throne room of God in the vision of Ezekiel and compares it to the temple. The image of oxen, lions, and cherubim play an important role in this vision. It is interesting that the temple includes several images of oxen after the golden calf and the inclusion of these animal and angelic images in the temple seems to be in tension with the prohibition of images in the ten commandments. Yet, for the narrator of 1 Kings, even if they do include some warnings in the texts, the construction of the temple is a high point in the story of the people of Israel and the reign of Solomon. The dedication of three chapter of the book to the construction and dedication of the temple while most kings entire reigns will fill significantly less space is a testament to the importance in the imagination of the people as they remember their history.

[1] In 2 Chronicles 2:14 Hiram (Huram-abi) is the child of a Danite woman and a Tyrian man, both Kings and Chronicles move over the mixed parentage of Hiram without needing to explain it.

[2] Scholars disagree on the meaning of the names for the pillars but one suggestion is “in strength” (Boaz) and “established (Jachin) (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 98)

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Digital Worship March 19, 2023

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1 Kings 13 A Man of God, the King and a Prophet at Bethel: A Strange Story

1 Kings 13

1 Kings 12: A Divided Kingdom

1 Kings 12: 1-24 A Divided Kingdom

1 Kings 12: 25-33 The Worship Places at Bethel and Dan

1 Kings 11 The Foolish End of Solomon

1 Kings 11: 1-13 The Foolishness of Solomon

1 Kings 11: 14-40 Conflict in the Peaceful Reign

1 Kings 11: 41-43 The Death of Solomon

1 Kings 10 The Queen of Sheba and the Golden King

1 Kings 10: 1-10 The Queen of Sheba and Solomon

1 Kings 10: 11-29 The Golden King

1 Kings 9 Solomon’s Second Vision and Continued Reign

1 Kings 9: 1-9 Solomon’s Second Vision of the LORD

1 Kings 9: 10-14 Entanglement with the Ways of Tyre and Egypt

1 Kings 8 The Dedication of the Temple

1 Kings 8: 1-26 The Dedication of the Temple Begins

1 Kings 8: 27-53 A Forward-Looking Prayer

1 Kings 8: 54-66

1 Kings 7 The Halls of Solomon and the Furnishing of the Temple

1 Kings 7: 1-12 The Halls of Solomon

1 Kings 7: 13-51 Furnishing the Temple