We’re beginning the back and forth narrative of the kings: “X was king in Judah, beginning his reign at age Y during the Zth year of the reign of W in Israel…” and so on. 1 Kings 14 records the death of Jeroboam’s son (an interesting story involving Jeroboam’s wife (see 1 Kings 14.1 – 20) and pronounced judgment on the house of Jeroboam because of his sin with the golden calves.

Chapter 15 starts the usual way:

In the eighteenth year of the rule of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah took over the throne of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Absalom. He continued to sin just like his father before him. He was not truehearted to GOD as his great-grandfather David had been. But despite that, out of respect for David, his GOD graciously gave him a lamp, a son to follow him and keep Jerusalem secure. (1 Kings 15.1 – 4, MSG)

Remember, the Kingdom of Judah has only one dynasty: David. Dynasties in Israel change regularly as we’ll see shortly.

But here’s the kicker, the account of Abijah adds an intriguing sentence from whence the title of this blog: “One-mistake Air Force.” That’s a slogan we all coined after years of observation. One major mistake, and your career is over, at least your upward mobility is over. Is God’s Kingdom a one-mistake operation? You’d think so, given God’s holiness and justice.

But look at what the scripture says about David:

For David had lived an exemplary life before GOD all his days, not going off on his own in willful defiance of GOD’s clear directions (except for that time with Uriah the Hittite). (1 Kings 15.5, MSG)

“An exemplary life before God all his days, not going off on his own in willful defiance of God’s clear directions…” Except, of course, for that little matter involving Uriah…” – adultery and murder!

That says a lot about God’s forgiveness, doesn’t it? We would have put David under the jail! Apparently God is not like the “one-mistake Air Force.” I’ve seen senior commanders relieved of duty for indiscretions involving young female airmen.

Of course there were consequences, and David repented:

Then David confessed to Nathan, “I’ve sinned against GOD.” (2 Samuel 12.13, MSG)

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight– That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. (Psalm 51.1 – 4, NKJV)

And God is a God of unimaginable grace:

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. (Psalm 86.5, NKJV)

The kingdom is divided, and we now follow separately the adventures of kings of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and the kings of Judah (the Southern Kingdom, David’s dynasty).

Jeroboam, first king of “Israel” starts off badly:

Jeroboam made a fort at Shechem in the hills of Ephraim, and made that his headquarters. He also built a fort at Penuel. But then Jeroboam thought, “It won’t be long before the kingdom is reunited under David. As soon as these people resume worship at The Temple of GOD in Jerusalem, they’ll start thinking of Rehoboam king of Judah as their ruler. They’ll then kill me and go back to King Rehoboam.” So the king came up with a plan: He made two golden calves. Then he announced, “It’s too much trouble for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. Look at these—the gods who brought you out of Egypt!” He put one calf in Bethel; the other he placed in Dan. This was blatant sin. Think of it—people traveling all the way to Dan to worship a calf! (1 Kings 12.25 – 30, MSG)

Keep this in mind. We’ll read again and again about the Northern kings, “He did not turn away from the sin of Jeroboam.” The golden calves stay in place until the end of the Northern Kingdom.

Chapter 13 is a strange one that I won’t begin to try to explain. It starts simply enough: God sends a “holy man from Judah” to warn Jeroboam:

And then this happened: Just as Jeroboam was at the Altar, about to make an offering, a holy man came from Judah by GOD’s command and preached (these were GOD’s orders) to the Altar: “Altar, Altar! GOD’s message! ‘A son will be born into David’s family named Josiah. The priests from the shrines who are making offerings on you, he will sacrifice—on you! Human bones burned on you!’ ” At the same time he announced a sign: “This is the proof GOD gives—the Altar will split into pieces and the holy offerings spill into the dirt.” When the king heard the message the holy man preached against the Altar at Bethel, he reached out to grab him, yelling, “Arrest him!” But his arm was paralyzed and hung useless. At the same time the Altar broke apart and the holy offerings all spilled into the dirt—the very sign the holy man had announced by GOD’s command. The king pleaded with the holy man, “Help me! Pray to your GOD for the healing of my arm.” The holy man prayed for him and the king’s arm was healed—as good as new! (1 Kings 13.1 – 6, MSG)

A warning which Jeroboam ignores. The rest of the chapter involves the holy man declaring he’s not supposed to eat or drink until he gets back home to Judah. An “old prophet” lies to him, telling him that God changed his mind. The holy man eats with the old prophet and is subsequently slain by a lion. After which the old prophet, remorseful(?), fetches the body of the holy man and buries him in his own family tomb. (You can read the whole story in 1 Kings 13.)

Weird. Part of the lesson may be related to Tuesday’s Ewellogy about God appearing to Solomon only “twice.” God had already appeared to the holy man. That should have been enough for him to refuse to listen to the old prophet.

At any rate, the holy man did his job, warning Jeroboam with the result that:

After this happened, Jeroboam kept right on doing evil, recruiting priests for the forbidden shrines indiscriminately—anyone who wanted to could be a priest at one of the local shrines. (1 Kings 13.33, MSG)

Sometimes we’re called to speak truth with no expectation of its “effectiveness.” I heard Billy Graham say on the radio something like, “I don’t pay any attention to statistics. I don’t know how many people actually came to Christ as a result of my preaching. I do know that no one in New York City or Los Angeles or London or any of the great cities where I preached will be able to stand before God and say, ‘I didn’t have a chance.’ They did have a chance. I told them!”

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.” (Isaiah 6.8 – 12, ESV)

We left Solomon with the “promise” of a divided kingdom beginning with his son:

GOD said to Solomon, “Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime. It’s your son who will pay—I’ll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won’t take it all; I’ll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem.” (1 Kings 11.11 – 13, MSG)

And it happens in 1 Kings 12. Solomon dies at the end of chapter 11, and the whole nation comes to crown Rehoboam king at the beginning of chapter 12. The people asked that he be a little easier on them than Solomon was – all those building projects! Rehoboam rejects the counsel of the elders who encouraged him in servant leadership, listening instead to arrogant young men like himself:

King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: “What’s your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?” They said, “If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they’ll end up doing anything for you.” But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he’d grown up with who were now currying his favor, “What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, ‘Give us a break from your father’s harsh ways—lighten up on us’?” The young turks he’d grown up with said, “These people who complain, ‘Your father was too hard on us; lighten up’—well, tell them this: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!’ ” (1 Kings 12.6 – 11, MSG)

And the kingdom is split:

Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. GOD was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh. [See 1 Kings 11.26 – 39] When all Israel realized that the king hadn’t listened to a word they’d said, they stood up to him and said, Get lost, David! We’ve had it with you, son of Jesse! Let’s get out of here, Israel, and fast! From now on, David, mind your own business. And with that, they left. But Rehoboam continued to rule those who lived in the towns of Judah. (1 Kings 12.15 – 17, MSG)

From now on, as we read the rest of 1 and 2 Kings as well as the parallel passages in 2 Chronicles, beginning with 2 Chronicles 10, we’re reading about two different kingdoms. Here is an important summary to keep in mind:

Northern Kingdom: “Israel”

• Capital city: Samaria (beginning in 1 Kings 16)
• Many dynasties
• No good kings
• Scattered by the Assyrians, as recorded in 2 Kings 17

Southern Kingdom: “Judah”

• Capital city: Jerusalem
• One dynasty: David (see 1 Kings 11.13, above)
• A few good kings
• Taken to Babylon in captivity, as recorded in 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36)

Back to Rehoboam, it appears that his father, Solomon, hadn’t mentored him as David had Solomon OR he tried to mentor him without success (after all, Proverbs is filled with instructions to listen to your father). At any rate, Rehoboam had no fear of God, no humility. Back to instructions for kings which Solomon and then Rehoboam ignored:

This is what must be done: When he sits down on the throne of his kingdom, the first thing he must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation on a scroll, copied under the supervision of the Levitical priests. That scroll is to remain at his side at all times; he is to study it every day so that he may learn what it means to fear his GOD, living in reverent obedience before these rules and regulations by following them. He must not become proud and arrogant, changing the commands at whim to suit himself or making up his own versions. If he reads and learns, he will have a long reign as king in Israel, he and his sons. (Deuteronomy 17.18 – 20, MSG)

This is as good a paragraph as any on the importance to all of us of daily Bible reading so that we may:

• Learn to fear God
• Live in reverent obedience to the Word
• Not become proud and arrogant

Back to 1 Kings, we left Solomon at the height of his glory marveled at by the Queen of Sheba, but ignoring Moses’ commands to future kings including:

And make sure he doesn’t build up a harem, collecting wives who will divert him from the straight and narrow. (Deuteronomy 17.17, MSG)

And how does 1 Kings 11 start?

King Solomon was obsessed with women…He took them from the surrounding pagan nations of which GOD had clearly warned Israel, “You must not marry them; they’ll seduce you into infatuations with their gods.” …He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines—a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God. As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful—he didn’t stay true to his GOD as his father David had done. (1 Kings 11.1 – 4, MSG)

God’s response is predictable and also instructive:

GOD was furious with Solomon for abandoning the GOD of Israel, the God who had twice appeared to him and had so clearly commanded him not to fool around with other gods. Solomon faithlessly disobeyed GOD’s orders. (1 Kings 11.9 – 10, MSG)

I get the furious part, but what jumped out at me was “the God who had twice appeared to him…” Twice is not a lot: once when Solomon asked for wisdom, and once when God warned him after the temple was built. Two dramatic encounters with God, and God expected that was enough.

We love our “mountain-top experiences”! I talked with a fellow once who had a dramatic encounter with Jesus when he was playing the part of a Roman soldier at the foot of the cross in his church’s passion play. Every year thereafter, he played that same part, looking in vain for that same encounter. But I’m sure God is thinking, “I met with you once. Now go carry out what I told you to do.”

Appearances and mountaintop experiences are great things, but faith must sustain us for the long haul.

God pronounces judgment on Solomon which begins to play out in chapter 11 and finds its full fruition in chapter 12. Stay tuned:

GOD said to Solomon, “Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime. It’s your son who will pay—I’ll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won’t take it all; I’ll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem.” (1 Kings 11.11 – 13, MSG)

In the meantime,

Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” – Moses, Deuteronomy 32.45 – 47, ESV

Continuing yesterday’s observation on evangelism, there’s probably something worse than not communicating clearly. Have you ever heard of “Net Promoter Score”? Me neither although I’ve answered the Net Promoter Score question many times as I’m sure you have too. I received this one within the last week:

“How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” It’s today’s go-to question for many companies. Here’s a full explanation by company who sells it. Basically, the interpretation is that if you answer 9 or 10, you’re a “promoter;” 0 – 6, a “detractor;” 7 – 8, “passive.” Subtract the detractors from the promoters and voila! a net promoter score.

But Seth Godin shoots all that in the head:

More than two-thirds of the companies surveyed said that they used NPS methodology with their customers. Some are using it to measure employee satisfaction as well.

The P stands for “promoter”, but of course, it doesn’t actually measure promotion.

If that many of your customers are actually promoting and recommending your business to others, you would be so busy you wouldn’t have time for a survey. – Seth Godin, The Net Promoter Score, April 29, 2024

Seth went on to explain and drop a bomb into my comfortable Christian discipleship at the same time:

“Would you recommend” is not the same question as, “how many people have you told?”

Do you love Jesus? Yes! Absolutely! He’s the best! Would you recommend him to others? Of course! How many people have you told?

Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age. – Jesus, Matthew 28.19, 20, MSG

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. – Paul, Colossians 1.28, ESV

I should not fail to mention one of the biggest sports stories going around right now. No, not University of Oklahoma’s winning its fourth-in-a-row national championship in Women’s Softball, as monumental as that is. I’m talking about the US defeating Pakistan in…wait for it…cricket.

Cricket?! I didn’t even know the US had a cricket team. Someone asked for an analogy for the importance of the US defeating Pakistan. Answer: Pakistan defeating the US in basketball. You can read all about the match in the ESPN article: USA outclass sloppy Pakistan in thrilling Super Over finish. You can read it, but if you’re like me, you won’t understand much of it. I don’t even understand the headline. Here are a couple of sample paragraphs:

Thanks to the extras and other acts of fielding indiscipline from Pakistan, USA made 18 off their Super Over

If this already seemed a tough ask for Pakistan to better, Saurabh Netravalkar made their job even more difficult. He had been outstanding for USA in regular play, taking 2 for 18 from his four overs. His Super Over was outstanding too, as he conceded just one boundary.

Thanks to four leg byes off the penultimate delivery, Shadab Khan had the opportunity to send the match into a second super over if he clobbered a six off the last ball. He could only hit it to deep point, all along the ground.

Huh? How can something written in plain English be that unintelligible?

Answer: I don’t know anything about cricket.

Do some of our presentations of the gospel sound like that to an unbeliever who’s never given God much of a thought? Randy Newman, writing in Questioning Evangelism, opens with a story of his attempting to share the gospel using the well-known Four Spiritual Laws with a Ukrainian student.

I read the first point: “God loves you and created you to know Him personally.” I don’t remember pausing at that point. I don’t think I even breathed. But somehow Artyum interrupted. “What do you mean when you say the word God?” he wondered aloud. “And what do you mean when you say the word love? And, most importantly, how do you know all this is true?” – Questioning Evangelism, Randy Newman, page 23.

The Apostle Paul knew that effective communication is non-trivial, requiring careful thought and much prayer:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. (Colossians 4.2 – 4, ESV)

A lot of 1 Kings 4 – 9 is devoted to describing Solomon’s wealth (plus the building of the Temple). Chapter 10 is the last such chapter, beginning with the visit of the Queen of Sheba:

The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon and his connection with the Name of GOD. She came to put his reputation to the test by asking tough questions. She made a grand and showy entrance into Jerusalem—camels loaded with spices, a huge amount of gold, and precious gems. She came to Solomon and talked about all the things that she cared about, emptying her heart to him. (1 Kings 10.1, 2, MSG)

The queen was a wealthy woman in her own right, but…

When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself Solomon’s wisdom and saw with her own eyes the palace he had built, the meals that were served, the impressive array of court officials and sharply dressed waiters, the lavish crystal, and the elaborate worship extravagant with Whole-Burnt-Offerings at the steps leading up to The Temple of GOD, it took her breath away. She said to the king, “It’s all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself; they didn’t exaggerate! Such wisdom and elegance—far more than I could ever have imagined. (1 Kings 10.4 – 7, MSG)

The chapter ends with a description of Solomon’s wealth (see 1 Kings 10.14 – 29). Here’s a summary:

• 25 tons of gold annually
• Shields of gold
• Throne of ivory
• Gold chalices – nothing made of silver
• A fleet of ships
• Wiser and richer than all the kings of the earth
• 12,000 horses “brought in from Egypt”

Wow…except there’s an oops in there – do you see it? Look at Moses’ instructions about their future kings:

When you enter the land that GOD, your God, is giving you and take it over and settle down, and then say, “I’m going to get me a king, a king like all the nations around me,” make sure you get yourself a king whom GOD, your God, chooses. Choose your king from among your kinsmen; don’t take a foreigner—only a kinsman. And make sure he doesn’t build up a war machine, amassing military horses and chariots. He must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because GOD told you, “You’ll never go back there again!” And make sure he doesn’t build up a harem, collecting wives who will divert him from the straight and narrow. And make sure he doesn’t pile up a lot of silver and gold. (Deuteronomy 17.14 – 17, MSG)

• No “war machine, amassing military horses and chariots”
• No going to Egypt to get horses
• No harem (we’ll get there shortly, but here’s a sneak peak: 1 Kings 11.1 – 3)
• No piling up a lot of silver and gold

Solomon did what the Law of Moses told him not to do, and there’s no record that he did what the Law told him to do:

This is what must be done: When he sits down on the throne of his kingdom, the first thing he must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation on a scroll, copied under the supervision of the Levitical priests. That scroll is to remain at his side at all times; he is to study it every day so that he may learn what it means to fear his GOD, living in reverent obedience before these rules and regulations by following them. He must not become proud and arrogant, changing the commands at whim to suit himself or making up his own versions. If he reads and learns, he will have a long reign as king in Israel, he and his sons. (Deuteronomy 17.18 – 20, MSG)

It’s tough. God promised him wealth, but the wealth became a distraction.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8.36, ESV)

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In 1 Kings 8 we experienced the excitement at the dedication of the temple, including a visible manifestation of God’s presence and marveled at Solomon’s long prayer. Then we have something very significant:

After Solomon had completed building The Temple of GOD and his own palace, all the projects he had set his heart on doing, GOD appeared to Solomon again, just as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. (1 Kings 9.1, 2, MSG)

God “appeared to Solomon again…” Keep that in mind – we’ll revisit it in a few days.

When God appeared, he gave a promise and a warning:

I’ve listened to and received all your prayers, your ever-so-passionate prayers. I’ve sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel, make it a sure thing on a solid foundation. The same guarantee I gave David your father I’m giving you: “You can count on always having a descendant on Israel’s throne.“

But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them, then the guarantee is off: I’ll wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this Temple I’ve just sanctified to honor my Name. And Israel will become nothing but a bad joke among the peoples of the world. And this Temple, splendid as it now is, will become an object of contempt; visitors will shake their heads, saying, “Whatever happened here? What’s the story behind these ruins?” Then they’ll be told, “The people who used to live here betrayed their GOD, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshiping and serving them. That’s what’s behind this GOD-visited devastation.” (1 Kings 9.3 – 9, MSG)

And it happened. Solomon’s temple was destroyed in the Babylonian captivity (we’ll get there in this year’s readings in 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36). They rebuilt it in Ezra’s day with prodding from the prophet Haggai:

Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. (Haggai 1.7, 8, ESV)

That Temple was destroyed also (not recorded in the Old Testament). The Temple in Jesus’ day was built by Herod – the third temple – and the Romans took that out in 70 A.D. There is no temple on the Temple Mount today – just a mosque, the Dome of the Rock.

There are no permanent civilizations including ours. It’s possible there will come a time when people will visit what used to be the United States and say, “What’s the story behind these ruins?” And the answer might be, “The people who used to live here betrayed their God…”

All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem. The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36.14 – 16, ESV)

It’s the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Europe:

It’s worth a pause to remember that freedom isn’t free. Over 4,000 allied soldiers died that day. The opening scene of Saving Private Ryan (9+ minutes) captures some of the horror of it:

Here are a few of the comments posted on this film clip:

Imagine living for 18-30 years, then going through weeks of demanding training, just be shot dead immediately after the landing boat door opens.

This is thought to be the most accurate depiction of war ever put to film. Hundreds of veterans walked out of seeing it in theaters because it was too much to take in.

I’d like to say a thanks to all the brave men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice on June 6th 1944, lest we forget.

I can’t improve on those.

Here is a first-person account from a 101-year-old veteran of D-Day.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15.13, ESV)

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5.8, ESV)

PS I learned of this story just yesterday: the first radio report of the invasion was written and delivered by Wright Bryan, a graduate of my alma mater, Clemson University.

We’re into 1 Kings 8: the Temple has been built, Solomon has gathered all the people together, and the Ark is installed in the Holy of Holies:

Then the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of GOD to its place in the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. The outspread wings of the cherubim stretched over the Chest and its poles. The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the entrance to the Inner Sanctuary, but were not noticeable farther out. They’re still there today. There was nothing in the Chest but the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb where GOD made a covenant with Israel after bringing them up from Egypt. (1 Kings 8.6 – 9, MSG)

Then this:

When the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled The Temple of GOD. The priests couldn’t carry out their priestly duties because of the cloud—the glory of GOD filled The Temple of GOD! (1 Kings 8.10 – 11, MSG)

God shows up, and “the priests couldn’t carry out their priestly duties…” Wow. What if that happened on a Sunday morning? We used to attend a church where the pastor was proud to announce “three identical services” on Sunday. What he meant was that one could come at 8, 9:30, or 11, and the order of worship was the same, the choir would be there, the sermon was the same. It’s a feature, no doubt, but I always wondered what would happen if God showed up in a tangible way at, say, 9:30. “Identical” might go away!

Perhaps revisiting the Annie Dillard quote I have shared before is in order:

On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return. ― Annie Dillard, “An Expedition to the Pole” from Teaching a Stone to Talk (1982)

The rest of the chapter is Solomon blessing the people and praying a very long prayer. I think it’s noteworthy that Solomon recognizes that God doesn’t live at the Temple:

Then Solomon spoke: GOD has told us that he lives in the dark where no one can see him; I’ve built this splendid Temple, O God, to mark your invisible presence forever. (1 Kings 8.12, 13, MSG)

Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood? Why, the cosmos itself isn’t large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I’ve built. Even so, I’m bold to ask: Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O GOD, my God. Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I’m setting before you right now. Keep your eyes open to this Temple night and day, this place of which you said, “My Name will be honored there,” and listen to the prayers that I pray at this place. Listen from your home in heaven and when you hear, forgive… (1 Kings 8.27 – 32, MSG)

He closes with a blessing and a challenge to the people:

Blessed be GOD, who has given peace to his people Israel just as he said he’d do. Not one of all those good and wonderful words that he spoke through Moses has misfired. May GOD, our very own God, continue to be with us just as he was with our ancestors—may he never give up and walk out on us. May he keep us centered and devoted to him, following the life path he has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors. And let these words that I’ve prayed in the presence of GOD be always right there before him, day and night, so that he’ll do what is right for me, to guarantee justice for his people Israel day after day after day. Then all the people on earth will know GOD is the true God; there is no other God. And you, your lives must be totally obedient to GOD, our personal God, following the life path he has cleared, alert and attentive to everything he has made plain this day. (1 Kings 8.56 – 61, MSG)

Remember God’s promises which have been fulfilled. May God continue to be with us and “keep us centered and devoted to him…” THEN “all the people on earth will know GOD is the true GOD…” As always, the purpose of God’s blessing “us” is that we remain obedient to him and “the world may know.”

Our Father, who is in heaven… (Matthew 6.9)

God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. (Selah) That Your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! for You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth. (Selah) (Psalm 67.1 – 4, emphasis mine)

God’s response to Solomon’s prayer is recorded in 1 Kings 9. Stay tuned.