Archive for September, 2009
September 27, 2009: Solomon Builds the Temple
The text for this lesson is 1 Kings 5:1–6:38.
Key Points
- Though He was hidden, God resided within the Old Testament temple; Jesus is the unveiled, human Most Holy Place and is truly accessible to all, enfolding believers in the arms of His Word and Sacraments.
- Law: In my sin, I want to keep God at a distance; I don’t want Him to see who I really am.
- Gospel: God, in His love, draws me near to Him; in Jesus, He tabernacles (dwells) among all believers through Word and Sacrament.
Context
David desired to build a “house of cedar” for God, to replace the tent in which his Lord had been residing (2 Samuel 7:1–29). But the Lord declared it would be Solomon who would build such a house. Work on the temple was begun 480 years after Israel left Egypt, around 967 BC (1 Kings 6:1), and was completed seven years later (1 Kings 6:38). It consisted of two main parts: the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies) and the Holy Place. It was a sight so dazzlingly beautiful that it was deemed an “exalted house” for the King of kings (1 Kings8:13). Yet it was only temporary. The Babylonians bulldozed it in 587 BC.
September 20, 2009: The Wisdom of Solomon
Key Points
- Solomon, though wise, needed what we and all sinners need: Christ, Wisdom Himself, and the forgiveness He brings.
- Law: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, yet, in my sin, I fear many things more than I fear the Lord.
- Gospel: Jesus is wisdom personified, who gives to me and all who believe in Him a share of His wisdom, that is, Himself.
Context
Solomon, the second child of David and Bathsheba, was Israel’s third king. A self-described “little child” when be assumed the throne (1 Kings 3:7), he reigned forty years (tenth century BC). Right after becoming king, he settled some old political scores relating to his father’s reign (1 Kings 2:13–46); then “the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon” (1 Kings 2:46). Though the nation expanded its borders, there was money galore, the temple was built, and Israel was relatively at peace with its neighbors, all was not well. Solomon, though “he was wiser than all other men” (1 Kings 4:31), foolishly overtaxed and overworked his citizens and contracted alliances with Gentile nations. Worst of all, his pagan wives “turned away his heart after other gods” so that he “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” (1 Kings 11:4, 6). As a result, after his death the nation split into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah).
September 13, 2009: Nathan Rebukes David
Key Points
- Just as God accepted and forgave King David and other great saints who committed grave sins, He accepts and forgives us, all for the sake of Christ.
- Law: Weighted down by my sins, I make excuses and put the blame on God and others.
- Gospel: God is faithful and just to forgive my sins because Jesus, God’s Son, has taken the blame for me, heaping upon Himself the sins of the world.
September 6, 2009: David Becomes King
The text for this lesson is 1 Samuel 16:1–13; 2 Samuel 5:1–10.
Key Points
- Just as David reigned over Israel, so the God-man, Jesus, our David, reigns over the kingdom of grace, of which we are citizens.
- Law: My sinful foolishness blinds me to the wise ways of my heavenly Father.
- Gospel: God truly sees and knows what I need; He does what is good, right, and salutary for me through His Son.
Context
For the Israelites, the grass was always greener on the other side of the political fence. Not content with having God alone as their King, they wanted a man to wear the crown, like their peer nations had. (See 1 Samuel 8:19–20.) So God gave them Saul. But God also forewarned them: green grass is deceptive, as the Israelites soon discovered for themselves. Saul’s reign began well but then went downhill. Angered by Saul’s acts of insubordination, the Lord through Samuel told Saul that because he had rejected God’s Word, God had rejected him from being king over Israel (1 Samuel 15:26). The Lord would give the kingship to a neighbor of Saul’s, someone better than he (1 Samuel 15:28). As the ensuing story tells us, David was that neighbor.
