Reading for August 28th

 Read 1 Kings 14.19-31. In 14.19-31: The reigns of Jeroboam and Rehoboam. Most of these verses are the standard deuteronomistic formulas for kings. In verse 19: The Book of the Annuals of the kings of Israel no longer exists, so its exact nature is unknown. In verse 20; Slept with his ancestors is an idiom for death. In verses 21-24: The typical beginning formula for a king of Judah included the name of the "queen mother," the mother of the king. High places were shrines used for worship. Pillars were standing stones used in worship. The biblical writers connected them especially with service to other gods. On sacred poles, see comment on v. 15. In verses 25-26: Shishak (also called Shoshenq or Sheshonk) invaded Palestine around 922 BCE. His annals mentioned sites in Israel but not Jerusalem, apparently because Rehoboam paid him off. In verse 29: The Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah also no longer exists. In verse 31: Ancestors is literally "fathers." Rehoboam is buried with the previous kings of Judah, as are subsequent kings as well, in the city of David. The location of these tombs is not known, but was probably not within the walls of Jerusalem. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 27th

 Read 1 Kings 14.1-18. In 14.1-18: The oracle against Jeroboam. In verse 3: The ten loves, some cakes, and a jar of honey are payment to a seer for revealing the future. In verse 6: Abijah, as a true man of God, know that his visitor is the wife of Jeroboam despite his blindness (v. 4) and her disguise (vv. 2, 5). In verses 7-11: These verses, a deuteronomistic insertion, focus on the fate of Jeroboam's royal house rather than on that of his ill son. Jeroboam had the opportunity to establish a dynasty like David's (v. 8), but his sin will prevent that from happening. All of Jeroboam's male heirs (v. 10, male is literally "one who urinates on a wall') will be killed by a usurper. The threat in v. 11 is drawn from a curse of non-burial. In verses 12-14: The original oracle told of the impending death of Jeroboam's son and mentioned the coming of a new royal house, but without elaboration. In verse 15: Sacred poles were fertility symbols used in the worship of the Canaanite goddess, Asherah. In verses 17-18: The fulfillment of Abijah's prophecy. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 26th

Read 1 Kings 13.20-34. In verses 20-25: The harsh judgment is meant to teach a lesson. The young man of God should have obeyed the Lord rather than trusting another prophet. In verses 31-32: The oracle is fulfilled in the purge of Josiah (2 Kings 23.15-18), who saves the bones of the old prophet. The reference to the cities of Samaria can be no earlier than 721 BCE, when Israel was  annexed by the Assyrians and turned into an Assyrian province. In verses 33-34;  After the prophetic legend, the narrative returns to the topic of Jeroboam's apostasy. Comments or Questions.. 

Reading for August 25th

 Read 1 Kings 13/11-19. In 11.11-34: The young man of God and the old prophet. This is the main part of the story. It has nothing to do with Jeroboam but concerns obedience to the prophetic word and has affinities with other prophetic legends such as 1 Kings 20 and the  stories about Elijah and Elisha. In verse 18: The motive of the old prophet in lying to his younger colleague is not explained. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 24th

Read 1 Kings 13.1-10. In 13.1-10: The oracle against the altar at Bethel. The prophetic legend in this chapter was probably inserted here after the completion of the Deuteronomistic History. Its  setting, however, is Jeroboam's ascent to the altar at Bethel, apparently at its dedication (see 12.33). In verse 2: This story probably arose after the time of Josiah (640-609 BCE), who is credited with destroying the shrine at Bethel (2 Kings 23.15-18) some 300 years after Jeroboam. In verse 3: Sign here implies an unusual or miraculous occurrence. It looks ahead to v. 5,though it is not clear there how the altar was torn down. In verse 4: Jeroboam's withered hand or arm is miraculous, but it is not called a sign. In verse 9: Eating and drinking at Bethel would have indicated approval of the shrine there. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 23rd

 Read 1 Kings 12.25-33. In 12.25-33: The sin of Jeroboam. In verse 25: Jeroboam built Shechem and Penuel not in the sense of building them from the ground up but in the sense of fortifying already existing sites. In verse 28: Images of claves and bulls were commonly used in the ancient Near east to represent deities, especially fertility god like Baal. The golden claves and Jeroboam's words to the people about them are reminiscent of the golden calf built by Aaron in Ex 32 and his words in 32.4. In verse 29: Dan was regarded as the northernmost city in Israel. Bethel was near the border between Israel and Judah. In verse 31: The houses on the high places were temples at various local shrines. Besides the royal sanctuaries at Dan and Bethel making it unnecessary to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the writer accuses Jeroboam of setting up temples throughout his land. These were probably shrines to the Lord but the writer regards Jerusalem as the only legitimate place to worship the Lord. Another aspect of Jeroboam's apostasy, in the writer's view, was his appointment of non Levites as priests at the local shrines. In verse 32: Jeroboam is also accused of changing the religious calendar by establishing a festival in the eight month to rival the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month in Jerusalem when the Temple there was dedicated (see 8.65). Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 22nd

 Read 1 Kings 12.16-24. In verse 16: To your tents, O Israel is a summons to military demobilization. The people, especially the army, of Israel is withdrawing from Rehoboam. A similar cry went up at Sheba's revolt in 2 Sam 20.1. In verse 18: Adoram is mentioned in 2 Sam 20.24 and 1 Kings 4.6 (Adoniram) as the head of the forced labor for David and Solomon. His presence was particularly bitter and insulting reminder to the Israelite people of the burden of labor they had been forced to endure under Solomon. hence, they stoned him. In verse 19; Even though the bulk of Israel left the house of David and sided with Rehoboam, the writer speaks of Israel's being in rebellion, indicating that his perspective is that of a citizen of Judah. In addition, the phrase to this day shows the writer lived at a considerably later date. In verses 21-24: Shemaiah's oracle expresses the view of v. 15 that the division was the Lord's doing. It addresses Judah and Benjamin (v. 23) while v. 20 speaks of Judah alone as the southern kingdom. Benjamin was probably divided between the two counties. Comments or Questions..