Solomon builds a temple to honor the Lord. In the prayer of dedication, he anticipates a time when foreign peoples will journey to the temple in Jerusalem because the God of Israel is famous for answering the prayers of all people. Yet the final chapter of 2 Kings describes a foreign nation coming to Jerusalem, not to worship there but to destroy the temple and take the people of God into exile. The tragic history that unfolds between the dedication and destruction of the temple shows how God’s people and God’s kings fail in their commission to reflect his character among the nations. Scriptures referenced include 1 Kings 8:23 ; 2 Kings 25:8–21; 2 Kings 10:12-14; Proverbs 14:12; 2 Kings 11:1–3; 1 Kings 19:17-21.
Amos' prophecy of spiritual famine (recorded in Amos 8:11-12) might have been a stark reality in his time, but Jesus transforms this bleak picture....
Leviticus 20:7, “Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.” In the Bible the word consecration means “the separation...
In Part 12 of The Disciple Whom Jesus Loves, John narrates two powerful and escalating encounters in Jerusalem that deepen the revelation of Jesus’...
