Year 5, Day 5: 2 Kings 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

In 2 Kings 7 we see several great stories to demonstrate the kingship of God.  He truly is omnipotent.  He is omnipotent in foresight.  He is omnipotent in sheer power and ability.  He is omnipotent in the scope of His love.

First, God is omnipotent in foresight.  We get the story of the captain of the guard who doubts God’s ability to change the situation of Samaria in a single day.  God demonstrates His ability to know the future and even have power over the future through the prediction of Elisha.  Elisha says the captain will see the deliverance of Israel but he will not participate in it.  That very thing happens.

God is king in sheer ability and power, too.  We see in this story that when the Syrians come face to face with the power of God they flee.  They flee hard and fast.  They flee so hard and fast that they don’t even take their horses with them!  They leave all of their possessions behind, ready to be plundered by the Israelites.  That’s what it means to be king in terms of power right there.

Finally, we see God as king in terms of scope.  Worldly kings like to surround themselves with the important, rich, and beautiful.  But God is king over everyone.  At the end of this story God demonstrates that He even loves the lepers.  It is the lepers who first discover God’s salvation.  It is the outcasts of society – those for whom there is no hope of being a part of society – that God reveals His deliverance.  It is the outcasts of society who are given the opportunity to reveal this to the rest of Samaria.

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Year 5, Day 4: 2 Kings 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Authority

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

Since we spoke about power yesterday, I think it only makes sense to speak about authority today.  Let’s take a deeper look at the middle story of this chapter.  The king of Syria sends raid after raid into Israel, but they are thwarted.  So the king sends an army after Elisha believing that Elisha is the one telling the king of Israel how to avoid the Syrian raids.

Elisha’s servant wakes up to see them surrounded and is alarmed.  Yet Elisha sees through the eyes of God and knows that God is with them.  Elisha sees through the eyes of the true king.  He understands that he has authority in this situation.  He understands that he has God-given power in this situation.  So he acts.  He asks God to blind the soldiers so that he can lead them into Samaria – the capital of Israel.

But look at what Elisha does with his authority.  Elisha could have led these men to their death.  But instead Elisha leads them to a place where they are fed, cared for, and sent back on their way!  Elisha’s authority doesn’t just extend over the soldiers but also over the King of Israel.

Elisha doesn’t use his authority to kill Syrians or even to extend the influence of Israel.  Elisha uses his God-given authority to help the Syrians understand love for one’s enemy.  What is the net result?  This particular king of Syria no longer sent raids into Israel.  They may not have all converted to believe in the true God.  But they did learn the lesson that Elisha had the authority to teach them.

It’s a valid lesson to learn.  How do we use our authority?  Are we about making our name great and exerting our dominance?  Or are we about making God’s name great and demonstrating His love?  What’s more important to us as we embrace the authority that God gives to us to go out into this world?

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Year 5, Day 3: 2 Kings 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Power

• Power: This is the natural outcome when we truly get our authority from the king.  When our authority is from God, we are equipped with His power to accomplish His will.  We act on His behalf in a world that He desperately loves.

While this chapter is about Naaman and most people who study this chapter talk about Naaman and Elisha, today I am going to focus on my favorite character of this story.  We have a humble slave girl.  Naaman is an officer of the army, so it is highly likely that this slave girl was captured during a battle.  She was likely torn from her home when a military struggle came to her area and she was on the losing side.

What this means for this girl is that she is in the lowest position of society.  She has no rights.  She has nobody who really cares about her needs because they are family.  Granted, she seems to have a good relationship with Naaman and his wife, but that’s from grace in Naaman’s family not because it is culturally due to her as a slave.

However, look what this slave girl does.  She understands her place with God.  She understands her relationship with God.  And she understands that just because she is a slave does not mean that God cannot give her the power to speak truth into Naaman’s life.

That’s exactly what this unnamed young girl does.  She tells Naaman about the prophet Elisha.  She speaks up when culturally she should have stayed quiet.  This lowly slave girl that was captured on some military excursion begins the process of bringing healing in Naaman’s life simply by sharing truth with him.  That’s what it is like to get one’s power from God and not ourselves or the world around us.

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Year 5, Day 2: 2 Kings 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: People of Peace

• People of Peace: A person of peace is someone whom God has prepared to hear God’s message through you.  God does all the work of preparing that person for your presence in their life. Because of this preparation, these people will like you.  They will listen to you.  They will serve with you as you live out God’s calling for your life.

I was touched by the Shunammite woman as I read through this passage today.  Take a look at what she does.  She asks her husband to build a room for Elisha.  The room is up on their rooftop.  And it is just to be used for Elisha.

Notice that Elisha doesn’t even ask for this.  In fact, let’s look back even further as to how that relationship happened.  When Elisha would pass by, the woman fed Elisha.  She had been in the habit of giving him food and supporting his ministry well before she built the room for Elisha.  Elisha didn’t ask for any of it; but he sure appreciated the effort.

Here is a person of peace for Elisha.  Here is a woman who desires to serve him.  She desires to help him in whatever way to fulfill God’s calling for his life.  God had prepared her heart to help Elisha.  God had also prepared her heart to receive a symbol of His grace as well.  Elisha recognizes this fact and ministers in her life and she has a son.  The woman was a person of peace for Elisha and Elisha was present in her life in a very meaningful way.

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Year 5, Day 1: 2 Kings 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Guidance

• Guidance: God grants us His guidance.  Sometimes this guidance is God leading us away from temptation.  Sometimes this guidance is helping us to follow in a direction for which He has chosen.  Our default position should be to wait for God’s guidance and then follow when it comes.

Jehoshaphat is such a human character in this story.  We already know from the last few chapters of study that he followed in the righteous footsteps of his father, Asa.  But what I love about Jehoshaphat is that his humanity still comes through.  The King of Israel comes to Jehoshaphat with a request for help in battle.  Jehoshaphat listens to the plan, thinks it sounds like a good idea, and marches out to battle.  He forgets to check in with God.  How many times have I made that very mistake in my own life?

But here is the really neat part of this story.  God – a Father who cares for Jehoshaphat and a King who is ultimately in control of the universe – causes there to be no water as they head out to Moab.  The armies stop, knowing that if they go further they will not have the supplies they need to be prepared for battle and they won’t be able to get them easily, either.  So they stop the figure out what to do.  It is then that Jehoshaphat remembers to ask for counsel from God!

What’s neat is that God provides guidance.  In spite of being left out of the original decision, God doesn’t hold a grudge and provides guidance.  He tells Jehoshaphat to continue with the plan.  In fact, God adds a divine element of the water that really makes the difference in the whole way that the battle plays out!

How great is God – our Father and King!  Even when we ignore Him – whether intentional or not – He is willing to guide our lives once we remember to consult Him and ask.  His guidance is always true and always leads us closer to Him and His will for our life.

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Year 4, Day 365: 2 Kings 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Calling

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.

There can be little doubt that Elisha is called to not only be a prophet, but to be Elijah’s immediate successor.  Immediately after Elijah leaves, Elisha picks up Elijah’s cloak and performs the same miraculous parting of the Jordan that Elijah had just done.  Furthermore, Elisha is mocked by the pagan people in Bethel, indicating that they likewise sense Elisha’s spiritual calling.  Yes, Elisha is called to be a prophet.

But let’s look at what Elisha does before his calling.  First of all, Elisha follows Elijah.  Even when Elijah gives him space enough to go away, Elisha stays close.  Elisha knows where he can learn best, and he doesn’t give it up even where the option to leave is extended.  Elisha experiences calling because he is faithful.

Second, Elisha asks Elijah for a “double portion.”  This is not greed; it is a sign that Elisha considers himself to be Elijah’s first-born spiritual child.  Elisha has voluntarily placed himself in a place of submission underneath Elijah.  Elisha experiences calling because he is humble.

Third, we return to the first miracle of Elisha and the last miracle of Elijah.  Elisha is called because he is willing to imitate.  Elisha is willing to learn from others before going out and innovating his own way.

Elisha is certainly called.  But Elisha was called because his character was also in a good place.  He was willing to lead by following first and submitting to God.

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Year 4, Day 364: 2 Kings 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Authority

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

The story of the captains always amuses me.  It takes three captains before one of them comes humbly before Elijah.  Remember, this is the man who called down fire from God and consumed an altar.  This is the man who brought about the slaughter of 450 priests of Ba’al.  This is the man who through the power of God caused a famine to happen in Israel for at least three years.  This is no back-woods flunky.  This is God’s prophet, whom the Hebrew people consider the greatest prophet to have ever lived.  How do you not go out in humbleness before him?

This is why the third captain gets my respect.  He goes out with fifty armed guards to catch a single man of God.  What does he do when he gets there?  He begs for mercy.  He understands the authority that God has given to Elijah.  He has all the authority of the king behind him and he still begs for mercy because he knows God’s authority is far superior to the authority of the king.

We have much to learn from this third captain.  Because of his humbleness before God, his life – and the lives of those entrusted to him – are spared.  Because of his humbleness he is allowed to see the gracious side of God’s authority rather than the wrathful side of God’s authority.  When we are faced with God’s authority we have a simple choice to make.  Humbleness is always the right answer.

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Year 4, Day 363: 1 Kings 22

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: In

• In: This is the word we use to express our relationships with our spiritual family.  These are often the people who hold us spiritually accountable.  They are the ones to whom we typically go for discussion and discernment.  These are the ones with whom we learn to share leadership.  They are the ones with whom we become family on mission.

Yesterday we talked about Ahab and his appetite.  The spiritual opposite of appetite is In.  Appetite is all about doing what I want, when I want it, and as much as I want it.  The purpose of In is to help me discern what is really good for me and what I need to let go.  So while we saw a huge dose of appetite yesterday, let’s look for In today.

At the beginning of this passage we see Ahab go to meet with Jehoshaphat.  Here we see Jehoshaphat do something really cool.  In the face of all the prophets that are telling Ahab what he wants to hear, Jehoshaphat asks if there is a prophet of the Lord.  Jehoshaphat seeks out In in the midst of Ahab’s appetite.

Unfortunately, Jehoshaphat doesn’t seem to listen to Micaiah and he still goes out to war with Ahab.  Human beings don’t always get it right, and that’s important to note.  But Jehoshaphat does still seek out an In.  We can learn from his example at least part-way.  We can learn by the ideal of his action rather than the full outcome of his choices.

In general, the epitaph of Jehoshaphat mimics this principle.  In general, Jehoshaphat was a righteous king in the practice of Asa.  He wasn’t able to purge the whole of the land.  But He was still obedient to God and seeking His ways.  We get a very human perspective of Christian leadership in Jehoshaphat here.  He’s not perfect, but he has the ideal within him to be his guide even when he’s not perfect.

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Year 4, Day 362: 1 Kings 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

As we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in political leaders, in Ahab we see appetite at work.  He wants the vineyard of another man.  This is no different than David wanting Bathsheba or Solomon wanting wealth.  Ahab wants something that isn’t his and belongs to another.

Quite simply, this is violating at least three of the Ten Commandments.  Ahab is desiring something more than God, so he’s guilty of idol worship (II) and having something before God (I).  He’s also coveting (X).  So there are three of the ten broken because Ahab chooses his own personal appetite over God.

But it gets worse from there.  Enter Jezebel.  Jezebel schemes against Naboth and entices others to lie (IX).  And then Jezebel gets the community to put Naboth to death through her lies (VI).  There’s another two commandments broken.  That brings the tally up to five.

Finally, Ahab takes Naboth’s vineyard.  Since Naboth is dead, he doesn’t even need to pay for it.  Quite literally, Ahab steals (VIII).  There’s another commandment.  Six of the Ten Commandments broken simply because Ahab’s appetite is out of check.

It makes me wonder how many commandments I break on a daily basis when I let my appetite get out of control.  For that matter, how many commandments can I break when my need for approval or my need for ambition really get going?

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Year 4, Day 361: 1 Kings 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Invitation

• Invitation: God is always inviting us into relationship with Him. He desires that we know Him and that we know His desire for us.

As we read through this chapter, we see that God is incredibly gracious to the people of Israel.  He allows them to be victorious against a superior force of the Syrians.  He is gracious and allows Ahab to truly see that He is God – far more God than Ba’al could ever be.  Even though Ahab doesn’t deserve it, God is still inviting him into His grace.

What does Ahab do with this invitation?  He certainly doesn’t recognize God.  He certainly doesn’t judge the Syrians as God gave them into his hands to be judged.  Neither does he take the opportunity to talk to the Syrians about how God is stronger than the god of the Syrians.  No, Ahab turns it into an opportunity to make money.  Ahab gets a treaty out of it.  Ahab turns God’s invitation into his own personal gain.

What do we do with God’s invitation to know Him more deeply?  Do we turn His blessings upon us into avenues for proclamation of God’s name?  I know I could certainly do much better responding to God’s invitation to relationship.  Far too often I take God’s invitation and merrily go on my way.  I need to do a better job responding to God.

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Year 4, Day 360: 1 Kings 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Grace

• Grace: Grace comes to us when we make mistakes and have a failing of character.  Grace comes to us when we have a typical D₂ moment.  Grace comes to us when we need space to recognize a mistake, repent of it, and allow God to redeem it while calling us back into His will.  Grace is partnered by Time and Vision.

What a wonderful chapter in which to study grace.  Elijah, perhaps the greatest prophet ever known, gives us an opportunity to learn from his example.  His boldness in faith in the last chapter turns into a bold rebuttal from Ahab and Jezebel.  They vow to kill him.  So he runs away and asks God to die. 

I can’t help but hear Jonah in Elijah as he begs to die.  I can’t help but wonder if that aspect of humanity isn’t within us all.  When we’re in the moment of our life falling apart, don’t we all feel the temptation for despair?

But then God gives grace to Elijah.  God allows him the time to get through his temptation into despair.  God feeds Elijah and invites him into His presence where he can abide and learn and grow.  Then God gives Elijah a two-part vision: his enemies will be killed, but that’s God’s business; Elijah needs to focus on discipling Elisha.

That’s grace.  Elijah wants to die.  He’s followed God to the point that the world has come to hate him.  He’s been so faithful that he can no longer see any connection to this world and he wants his life to end.  But God comes along.  God gives Elijah grace.  He gives Elijah the ability to reconnect and have a purpose.  God graces Elijah with the ability to not worry about changing the world but instead changing a single person: Elisha.

That’s God’s grace.  Just when we think it’s over, we find out it is only just beginning.

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Year 4, Day 359: 1 Kings 18

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: King

• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

Is there any better day to talk about God as King besides December 25?  This is the day we celebrate the coming of our Lord.  This is the day we commemorate God’s plan of salvation taking literal shape.  So today we’ll talk about God as king, which isn’t hard to do.

I love the story of Elijah and the prophets.  In this story it is easy to see God as King.  The prophets of Ba’al cannot get their altar to light regardless of how much they pray, how much the plead, how much they worship, and how much they cut themselves.  But Elijah dumps all kinds of water all over the altar to God and holy fire consumes it.  That’s what being the king of the universe can do.  The king of the universe can prevent normal fire from occurring while at the same time providing enough fir to consume soaked wood and a soaked sacrifice enough so that the wood, sacrifice, and even the water is consumed!  God has dominion over the universe and its governing laws.

As King, God’s word is true.  In the last chapter we talked about how God promised there would be no rain and then sends Elijah away.  Today we discover that Elijah was away for three years!  God is a God of His word as a king should be.  But to demonstrate His kingship, God has Elijah return.  On the day Elijah returns, rain gathers and falls from the sky.  Again we see that God commands the universe.  The universe obeys the will of the King.

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Year 4, Day 358: 1 Kings 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Provision

• Provision: God gives us what we truly need.  God knows our needs better than we can know them.  We learn to trust God to provide for us.

I am always struck by this chapter.  On the surface, it seems so diabolical to have Elijah pronounce that there will not be any rain until he speaks for rain to happen and then God has Elijah leave so that he is not even present to speak the words.  Talk about removing all hope from the Hebrew people!  They can’t even find Elijah to try and get him to capitulate!  But it is not mean.  God is just giving the Hebrew people some time to think about their sinfulness.

What strikes me even more deeply is how the prophet is similarly affected by the punishment.  Sure, Elijah is sinful.  All human beings are sinful.  But Elijah was a godly man.  He listened to God and obeyed God.  We have every reason to believe that he was repentant in his times of sin.  Yet he gets caught up in the same drought that affects God’s people.

So what does this mean for Elijah?  Even though he is a prophet – perhaps the greatest prophet to have ever lived – he can still learn a lesson.  What is the lesson Elijah learns in the drought?  He gets the opportunity to learn to trust in the provision of the Lord.

First the Lord provides with a brook and the ravens.  Imagine having to humble yourself to the point of eating whatever ravens feel appropriate to bring to you!  I cannot imagine this was one of Elijah’s glorious moments in life.  Imagine the humbleness it would take in life to be willing to eat leftovers from birds!  But God provided; Elijah trusted.

Then God provides through the widow and her endless jar of flour.  While this might seem like an easier placement than eating after ravens, notice how this woman speaks.  Every time she talks about God to Elijah she says “your God.”  Elijah goes from having to eat after ravens to having to eat after Gentile hands have prepared him food.  While certainly different, I’m not sure which is worse from a kosher perspective!

But in either case, God’s provision is evident and ample.  The Hebrew people might be living under a drought, but Elijah can live through God’s provision.  Elijah has an opportunity to grow and trust in the Lord.

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Year 4, Day 357: 1 Kings 16

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

Ahab is to the northern kingdom as Lex Luther is to the people of Metropolis (Superman’s home city).  Here is a charismatic king that is all about doing what he desires and letting the people live as they want.  Ahab is like what happens when we eat too much sugar.  It really tastes good when you are eating it, but after a while you get the jitters and an upset stomach and maybe a headache.  On the outside, Ahab looks like a fun guy.  But the reality is that the effect of his leadership is continued decline.

We know is that the northern kingdom was in spiritual decline.  There have been political coups leading up to Ahab.  The authors of the Bible repeat again and again that the kings of the northern kingdom walked in the evil ways of Jeroboam.  While Asa, the king of Judah to the south, is reforming his kingdom back to God, the northern kingdom slides further and further away from God.

This leads us to the character of Ahab.  He wants his own selfish desires.  He does what is right in his own eyes and encourages his people to do likewise.  What does verse 33 tell us?  Ahab did more to provoke the lord to anger than any king before him. 

As we prepare for the next few chapters, keep this in mind.  Character is what we do when faced with hard decisions.  Character is what we do when nobody is looking.  Character is hearing from God and obeying.  As Ahab becomes king and as Elijah the prophet enters the life of the northern kingdom, watch and learn from what the Bible has to say about Ahab and his character.

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Year 4, Day 356: 1 Kings 15

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Challenge

• Challenge: God does not merely wish us to be in relationship with Him as we are.  He challenges us to grow, stretch, and transform as we take on the mantle of being His representatives to this world.

What a wonderful passage to look at this idea of challenge.  Look at the position that Asa finds himself as we open up God’s Word today.  Asa follows kings who were falling away from God.  It hasn’t been that long since David was king, but his family was already moving away from God.

Asa has a simple choice.  Asa can define his family by the human beings that raised him or he can define family by the God who loves him.  I don’t know how it is that Asa learns about the faith, but I love that Asa rises up against his biological family and pursues God.  I give him all the credit in the world for pursuing God over his biological family.

Look deeply at the challenge that was before him.  Asa didn’t just have to believe in God.  Asa had to remove his mother from office.  Asa had to pull down her images.  Asa had to destroy public worship spaces – even if he didn’t get them all.  Asa didn’t just choose God.  Asa rose to the challenge and did his best to bring Judah back to God.  Asa responded to the challenge in a very good way.

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Year 4, Day 355: 1 Kings 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

Both of the stories of Jeroboam and Rehoboam speak to character in a negative way.  First, let’s look at the hypocrite Jeroboam.  Let’s see how he puts his character on display.

When the chips are down and life really matters, look at what Jeroboam does.  He tells his wife to go and seek out a a prophet of God.  Remember that Jeroboam had set up false temples in the northern kingdom so that his people wouldn’t need to go into Judah to worship.  Jeroboam set up false places of worship to keep his people in his own country, but when he really needs to know something he himself goes to a true prophet!  That’s hypocrisy.  Jeroboam’s character is not about doing what the people need from him.  Jeroboam’s character is all about getting what he wants, being in control, and only turning to God when he can’t get himself out of trouble.

By the way, notice how God responds to Jeroboam here.  God casts him aside.   He isn’t fooled by Jeroboam.  God brings down judgment upon his head.

Then we have Rehoboam.  Here is the man who split the kingdom by telling them that he was going to be a harsh ruler.  No doubt that when the kingdom split Egypt saw them as an even easier prey.  So in the first military campaign against them, the Hebrew people lose their wealth.  Egypt strips the gold from their significant places and Rehoboam has to replace them with bronze.  Rehoboam’s character is on display.  His ambition brought judgment upon the land and he lost even more than he could have held onto had he just obeyed God from the beginning and listened to the people.

It is interesting to see what the character of people brings into their own life.  I know I have my own struggles, too.  Jeroboam and Rehoboam are not the only people who are afflicted by their deficits in character!  There are plenty of places for me to examine my character and see where my own deficiencies bring trouble to my life.  It is a good lesson to learn as I should be striving for godliness.

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Year 4, Day 354: 1 Kings 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Calling

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.

1 Kings 13 gives us a fairly unusual story to follow.  Here we get to experience a prophet deliver the word of God.  Then we get to see a king’s hand withered and then just as miraculously restored!  Then we hear how the prophet turns from obedience into disobedience and ultimately loses his life over that decision.  What is at the heart of all of these things?  Calling.

You see, God called the prophet.  The voice of the Lord came to the prophet and instructed him.  So long as the prophet obeyed the calling, he found himself under the Lord’s protection.  The prophet under God’s protection could go into a foreign country, challenge the foreign king, and live to tell about it!  When we hear God calling and are obedient, God watches over us closely.

But then the prophet slips up.  The prophet is confronted by a man who is willing to lie to him to get him to come over for dinner, essentially.  The lying man tells the prophet that an angel told him to get the man.  The prophet wavers in his obedience and has a lapse in judgment.  He listens to the lie without questioning why God would change his mind.  Ultimately he loses his life because of that lapse in judgment.  While the prophet was obedient to the calling, he had God’s protection.  But when the prophet stopped being obedient, the prophet went from God’s protection to God’s judgment in a hurry.

There is a serious point to this story.  When we hear God speak to us, we need to listen.  We need to listen and stand firm to what God tells us.  It’s really that simple.  When God calls us into action, it is up to us to be obedient and trust in Him.

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Year 4, Day 353: 1 Kings 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Ambition

• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

It seems like I’m talking more about ambition, appetite, and approval more and more lately.  But given where we are in God’s Word, this really makes sense.  The period of the Kings is largely about the downfall of the kingdom.  It is about the sinfulness of the leaders of the Hebrew people.  It is about decline.  It makes sense that we’ll see ambition, appetite, and approval all over these pages.

Let’s look at Rehoboam.  Rehoboam is all about ambition.  He wants a greater kingdom than Solomon.  He wants a greater reputation than Solomon.  He doesn’t want to settle for less, he wants to reach for more.  He challenges the leaders of the people who come before him.  He tells them that he plans on being a hard king that asks for much.  He overreaches in his ambition.  The people rebel.  Rather than a modest leader of a united kingdom of God’s people, Rehoboam is remembered as the cruel leader under whom the kingdom becomes cut in two.  Misplaced ambition seldom gets us anywhere good.

Then we get a glance at Jeroboam.  He came back with decent intentions.  He came back to lead the people of the northern 10 tribes when it was suspected that Rehoboam was going to be a tough task-master.  But Jeroboam also displays ambition.  He wants to be seen as a legitimate leader, not an alternate.  So in his ambition, he sets up places to worship so that the people don’t have to go to Jerusalem, which was in Rehoboam’s territory.  Because Rehoboam seeks after his own place, name, and power he puts himself between the people and true worship of God.  Here we see that when we seek after our own ambition we often find ourselves at odds with God.

Ambition is a dangerous thing.  We should desperately want what God wants for us.  But when we overreach and start wanting the lust of our own hearts, things go wrong for us.  As we see in both Rehoboam and Jeroboam, ambition that is pushed beyond the godly leads into sin, corruption, and offense with God.

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Year 4, Day 352: 1 Kings 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Approval

• Approval: We all need to feel as though we are accepted.  When we seek the approval of God, our Up is in the right place.  But when we seek the approval of other people besides God, we open the door to pursuing false gods and risk putting someone or something other than God in our Up position.

There is so much to learn from this chapter.  I would recommend looking at the post I wrote three years ago, to which I put a link at the beginning of this post.  In that post I enumerate three flaws in Solomon’s character that aid him in falling away from God.

As we look at those flaws, the thread we truly see running through each point is approval.  Solomon had many wives and he cared about what they thought.  Because Solomon sought their approval above God’s approval, his heart was led away from God.  Because Solomon was not as focused on God’s approval more than the approval of others, we never truly see Solomon repentant when confronted – or reminded – of His sin.  Much of Solomon’s life is wrapped up in the approval of people rather than the approval of God.

To make this point even more clear, we follow this sad ending to Solomon by reading about the set-up for Jeroboam.  Jeroboam is to be the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel after the kingdom splits.  So what is the word that God sends to Jeroboam before his reign even begins?  God tells Jereboam in verse 38 that if Jereboam follows God and God’s ways that He will be with him.  In other words, if Jereboam is obedient and if Jereboam cares more about God’s approval than his own approval and the approval of others around him then God will be with him.

It’s the same for us.  It’s so easy to follow our own course.  It’s also easy to follow the course that people around us want us to follow.  But our hearts should seek out the approval of God.

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Year 4, Day 351: 1 Kings 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Appetite, Approval

• Approval: We all need to feel as though we are accepted.  When we seek the approval of God, our Up is in the right place.  But when we seek the approval of other people besides God, we open the door to pursuing false gods and risk putting someone or something other than God in our Up position.
• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.

I remember really studying the account of Solomon three years ago and being surprised by what I found.  You see, growing up I had been taught again and again that Solomon was a great man.  He was wise.  He was rich.  He was a great example.  It would be good for me to be like Him.  Then I read commentary after commentary about Solomon.  I read how God blessed Solomon unlike any other king and Solomon ultimately turned away from the Lord.  I remember being in shock as I looked upon scripture in a new way with respect to Solomon.

As I revisit these passages three years later, I can’t believe I ever saw them as I did when I was younger.  When the Queen of Sheba visits Solomon all we hear is how impressed she is with Solomon’s wisdom, his splendor, his ability to have grand sacrifices, the amount of people who come to seek his counsel etc.  The Queen of Sheba isn’t impressed with Solomon’s faith or his walk with God.  She’s impressed with the external signs of prosperity.  She impressed with his reputation, his stuff, and his magnificence.

Then we hear about Solomon’s trading partners.  We hear about how Solomon increases his own wealth.  We hear about how Solomon trades with Egypt – something forbidden by God in Deuteronomy 17:16-20.  We hear how Solomon obtains so much gold through his own efforts that silver is like nothing in his kingdom.  We hear how Solomon increases his own wealth rather than learning to rely and depend upon God.

Solomon seems to be bitten by the appetite bug as well as the approval bug.  He is growing his own wealth rather than being content in the Lord – a definite sign of an appetite out of control.  He is also seeking the approval of people like the Queen of Sheba.  He is seeking approval of the surrounding nations through the means of trade and treaties.  He is wandering away from God.  We’ll see the end result tomorrow of what happens to Solomon when his appetite and his desire for approval get the better of him.

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