Day 102: 1 Kings 19 - 22

One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off. (1 Kings 20:11)

Yesterday I told you what a despicable person King Ahab was. Today I confess that one of my favorite quotes in the Bible must be attributed to Ahab himself.

In this passage, the King of Aram, along with 32 of his vassal kings and their forces, came out to attack Ahab's Israel. It wasn't looking good for Ahab, and Ben-Hadad of Aram was boasting of how he was about to destroy Samaria (the capital city of Israel). When I get done with you there won't even be enough dust remaining in Israel to give each of my men a handful! (20:10) And then Ahab's priceless response: One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off.

Henry Ford said, You can't build a reputation on what you intend to do. Ben-Hadad's taunts were brave talk for a man who hadn't yet drawn the first blood from his enemy. Somehow, Ahab's axiom sounds tougher than Ben Franklin's Don't count your chickens before they're hatched, but it's the same sentiment.

Are you putting your armor on? ...or taking it off?

Day 101: 1 Kings 16 - 18

Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. (1 Kings 16:30)

The Omrides (Omri and his descendants) were the most evil royal family in the history of Israel. They put the nasty in dynasty. Omri had been the commander of Israel's army, when the previous king was assassinated by Zimri. A week later Omri and his army attacked Zimri's stronghold. When Zimri saw he was surrounded, he set his palace on fire forfeiting his own life.

The changing of the guard was not uncontested, but Omri's supporters were stronger than those of his opponent. His opponent was executed and Omri was crowned king. Thus begins the dynasty.

After Omri's death, his son Ahab became king in his place. Ahab's wife Jezebel was the Baal-worshiping princess of Sidon. The couple set out on a literal reign of terror, during which time prophets of the Lord feared for their lives. There were no more feared Old Testament names than Ahab and Jezebel. Even after their deaths, their evil would infect Israel's sister nation of Judah for generations to come, but that's a story for another time.

Day 100: 1 Kings 13 - 15

King Rehoboam made bronze shields. (1 Kings 14:27)

Shishak of Egypt invaded Judah and carried off the treasures of the palace and temple. This was most likely when the Ark of the Covenant was lost, yet the writer of 1 Kings doesn't even mention it – instead the account focuses on the loss of Solomon's gold shields. It would seem, then, that the shields are a very important part of this story.

We just read (1 Kings 10:16,17) about Solomon having the shields made from hammered gold. Once they were stolen by Egypt, the once wealthy nation of Judah couldn't afford the gold to replace them, so Rehoboam had copies made from bronze.

Every Sabbath, as Rehoboam made his way to the Temple, he would be surrounded with Secret Service agents equipped with those bronze shields. I imagine as the sun shone down on that bronze it must have dazzled the eyes of anyone looking, maybe even giving the appearance of real gold – but it was not.

After church the guards would put the shields away, locked in a cabinet where they would stay until the next Sabbath for their weekly parade to Temple.

You probably know where I'm going with this. It's easy to play dress up on the weekend. Some people head for church wearing their shiny best. They look the part, but there's no authentic relationship with God. Others fear what might happen if they were to be transparent.

Are you authentic gold? …or wannabe bronze?

Day 99: 1 Kings 10 - 12

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women. (1 Kings 11:1)

The smartest man in the world lost his head over foreign women. Oftentimes a king would give his daughter in marriage to another king to seal an alliance. That's probably where a lot of Solomon's wives came from. But no matter where they came from, the result was that these foreign wives enticed Solomon to worship their gods.

These dalliances affected not only Solomon, but brought great hardship on the kingdom. 1 Kings 1:11 cites Solomon's disobedience as the root cause of Israel's dissolution, which would be realized during the reign of his son Rehoboam.

One can choose obedience or disobedience, but not the consequences.

Day 98: 1 Kings 7 - 9

This is the place for your comments and questions about 1 Kings 7-9.

Day 97: 1 Kings 4 - 6

Solomon also had twelve district governors over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. (1 Kings 4:7)

The nation of Israel was growing up. During the reign of Saul, Israel was at war, subject to, or at the very least tormented by the Philistines. During the reign of David, Israel conquered its enemies and its borders were expanded. During the reign of Solomon, Israel enjoyed a season of peace and prosperity - temporary prosperity.

As enemies were conquered, they were required to pay tribute to Israel. That partially accounted for its prosperity. Under Solomon, however, the kingdom quit expanding even though its bureaucracies did not. In today's reading, we get the first glimpse of Solomon organizing Israel into 12 administrative districts (read: tax districts), organized roughly along tribal lines. Each district was responsible to provide the funding for one month's national budget.

No longer were the costs of doing business garnered through tribute from other nations (there was still tribute, but it was not enough), but the nation itself was being taxed to help pay for the many levels of bureaucracy.

This was the golden age of Israel.

And you thought fiscal mismanagement was a new thing?

Day 96: 1 Kings 1 - 3

Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. (1 Kings 3:4)

At some point, probably soon after the Battlew of Shiloh, Moses' tabernacle was moved to Gibeon. But what's a tabernacle without the Ark of the Covenant? After the ark was captured by the Philistines, and then returned, it was never again installed in the tabernacle. For many years (throughout the reign of Saul and beyond) it was sheltered at the house of Abinadab. When David conquered Jerusalem, he set up a new tent for the ark called Zion, but Moses' tabernacle remained at Gibeon.

There was no altar for burnt sacrifices at Zion, so Solomon went to Gibeon, where he offered up a thousand sacrifices. In return for this act of worship, God offered Solomon anything he asked for and Solomon asked for wisdom. In addition to wisdom, God promised Solomon all the wealth and power he could have asked for.

Extravagant worship. Extravagant blessing.

Could there be a connection?