11/6 Reading (1 Kings 22; Galatians 3)

1 Kings 22: Ahab meets Judah’s king Jehoshaphat. Ahab goes to war again with Aram, but this time God is not on his side and he loses, dying in battle. We then learn about how long Jehoshaphat rules Judah and how long Ahad’s son, Ahaziah, rules Israel.

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11/4 Reading (1 Kings 19-21; Psalms 56-59)

1 Kings 19: Ahab and a friend pretty much threaten Elijah, who runs in fear of his life. God meets him on the road and tells him to go to certain people and anoint one as the next King of Israel and another as the next prophet to succeed him.

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11/3 Reading (1 Kings 16-18; Galatians 2)

1 Kings 16: Information about more kings of Israel and how each of them did something bad to anger God. Again it’s clear that this is setting up the complete downfall of Israel.

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11/2 Reading (1 Kings 13-15; Galatians 1)

1 Kings 13: This is a really strange story about Jeroboam and a man of God. We are never told his name. The man of God successfully predicts something in front of Jeroboam almost in what seemed to be an attempt to make him leave his evil ways. The man of God then leaves and refuses to eat or drink with Jeroboam because God explicitly told him not to. He then leaves town and is approached by another prophet who tricks him into returning to his home and eating and drinking. God gets angry and a lion kills the man of God on his way back home. The old prophet gets his body and buries him in his own grave and mourns his death.

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11/1 Reading (1 Kings 10-12; 2 Corinthians 13)

1 Kings 10: The Queen of Sheba shows up to meet and test Solomon. We then learn all about Solomon’s amount of wealth. I️ still struggle with this part of the Old Testament considered the fact that wealth doesn’t seem to be as valued in the New Testament.

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10/31 Reading (1 Kings 7-9; 2 Corinthians 12)

1 Kings 7: Lots of detail on the palace Solomon built for himself including the furnishings. Also discussion of the furnishings for the temple.

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10/30 Reading (1 Kings 4-6; 2 Corinthians 11)

1 Kings 4: Provides an overview of Solomon and all of his people who served him and helped him rule all over the land. It ends with description of his wisdom and how everyone came to listen to him. I’m intrigued by one of the last verses: “He described the botany of trees, whether the cedar in Lebanon or the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He also described cattle, birds, anything that crawls on the ground, and fish” (CEB version; 1 Kings 4.33).

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10/28 Reading (1 Kings 1-3; Psalms 52-55)

Introduction to 1 Kings: It’s interesting to read that we don’t know who wrote the two books of Kings. I do like that based on what’s written here that we can determine when they were most likely written. For example, “based on the latest events recorded in 2 Kings, the author must be living either in exile in Babylon or in Jerusalem in the post-exilic era” (CEB Study Bible, p. 514 OT).

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