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.
Ezekiel 26:36, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the...
On a given day, hundreds, perhaps thousands of people from around the world visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter...
As Paul begins this letter, in the first few verses he introduces himself, explains the world-wide scope of the Christian movement, and then tells...
