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Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!" (Jeremiah 7:4) Symbolism sounds like one of those literary words reserved for high school English class. Maybe you enjoyed it, maybe you were happy to leave it behind. Whether that was a pleasant memory for you or not, we crave symbols and their assoc...
Keep Reading"'Take a trip down to the place that was once in Shiloh, where I met my people in the early days. Take a look at those ruins, what I did to it because of the evil ways of my people Israel (Jeremiah 7:12 MSG). Before I moved with my family this summer, I spent some extra time in the worship and outdoor spaces at each of our campuses. Whenever I had some spare minutes in my...
Keep Reading"Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!" declares the Lord (Jeremiah...
Keep ReadingHear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gatesto worship the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:"Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place" (Jeremiah 7:2-3). A few weeks ago, we looked at the Ten Commandments given to the people of Israel. As we learned, these laws were given by God...
Keep Reading"The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord" ..." Look,' the Lord says, "you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless" (Jeremiah 7:4,8). Israel is unified, prosperous, and at peace when King Solomon dedicates the glorious new temple. God then appears to him with this encouragement -- and a critical warning: I have consecrated this te...
Keep Reading"This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites.Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing." So they obeyed the word of the Lordand went home again, as the Lord had ordered (1 Kings 12: 24). My wife has a saying for when things start to go poorly. She calls it a "hot mess." And when things get crazy, she describes it as a "hot...
Keep ReadingBut Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consultedthe young men who had grown up with him and were serving him (I Kings 12:8). I Kings chapter 12 provides us with some powerful examples of how NOT to be faithful to our faithful God. It tells the story of Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Rehoboam was Solomon's son and heir to the throne. Jeroboam was a rival to the t...
Keep Reading1 Kings 12 One thing I particularly love about going to a classical Christian school is that we get to talk about difficult cultural issues that are not common topics but are still highly relevant today. In my Apologetics class, we are reading The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis. We are not very far into the book, yet, one point has stuck out to me, and it is this: kindness...
Keep ReadingThis turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word He had spoken (1 Kings 12:15,24). Do you ever struggle to see God's faithfulness? You know He's faithful; you've witnessed it in the past; but sometimes you wonder if He'll be faithful since you've messed up again. The Old Testament shows us Israel's repeated failures and disobedience. It might have taken repeated...
Keep Reading1 Kings 11-12 To get a handle on this week's passage (1 Kings 12) in our Age to Age: The Big Story of God's Faithfulness series, we need to understand some background (1 Kings 11). A summary follows, but you would be well served by reading 1 Kings 11-12 for yourself as we start this week (estimated reading time is 5-6 minutes for each chapter c'mon, you can find 10 or so...
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