In 1 Kings Chapters 13 & 14, a prophet warns Jeroboam about worshiping false idols and even paralyzes his hand! The prophet Ahijah warns Jeroboam again and his son ends up dying. Rehoboam is also up to no good. Wars and conflict were abundant during their rulings. All the while, God was right there for them to repent and turn their ways.
In 1 Kings Chapter 12, Solomon's son, Rehoboam, takes charge. We see the divide of Israel happen with 10 tribes to the north under the rule of Jeroboam and 2 tribes of Judah to the south under Rehoboam's ruling. We see some similarities to Exodus as the northern tribes build golden calves and start worshiping idols instead of God.
In 1 Kings Chapter 11, we see King Solomon has also taken 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines (which is just below a wife status) - that's 1000 women and a whole lot more words in the house! He's taken on his own path instead of God's and ultimately leads Israel into a huge downfall. He's the wisest man, yet the most foolish and can't see it past his pride.
In 1 Kings Chapter 10, King Solomon is forgetting God's instruction and starting to do his own thing. His focus is veering off of God. He's storing up gold, wealth, and Egyptian horses which was all warned against by Moses in Deuteronomy 17. Will he straighten his ways back to God before it's too late?
In 1 Kings Chapter 9, King Solomon hears a response from God to his earnest prayers. God hears us. God tells King Solomon IF he chooses to follow God completely and continually, the covenant promises will continue. IF he chooses not to, Israel is sure to fall. What will he choose?
In 1 Kings Chapters 7 & 8, King Solomon builds himself and his wife, Pharaoh's daughter, a palace. He also finishes the final details of the inside of the Temple of God. They bring the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple and God shows up in a thick cloud affirming them that He is indeed with them at the Temple. King Solomon praises God, prays a beautiful prayer of dedication pouring out his heart and giving all the glory and honor to God, and dedicates the Temple. He truly seems to have good...
In 1 Kings Chapters 5 & 6, King Solomon carries out the covenant God promised to King David that his son, Solomon, would build a Temple to honor God. He goes through great detail and care to get it just right as he builds a Temple that properly honors God.
In 1 Kings 3&4, God blesses Solomon with great wisdom and knowledge. He's now super smart in all areas and his fame grows and spreads throughout the land. He has a super strong team and his kingdom is doing quite well.
In 1 Kings Chapter 2, King David is passing and gives his son Solomon instruction and orders. He carefully warns him to follow all of God's decrees, commands, regulations, and laws. He stresses the importance of keeping God at the forefront of his kingdom. He also gives him instructions to "clean house" in the kingdom and the chapter depicts him doing just as his father recommended. So far, King Solomon is off to a good start.
1 Kings Chapter 1 shares with us what was going on during the time when Solomon was 1st pronounced king by King David and the hurdles they had to overcome to get there. God called Solomon to be king and by listening to God's instruction and following the heart of God's will, that promise was faithfully brought forth.
James Chapter 5 reminds us to be steadfast against self-indulgence. If we want to make it through the waiting, we need to stop thinking about ourselves, fix our eyes solely on the Lord, and remain steadfast in prayer.
James Chapter 4 discusses how to humbly live in a broken world following God's will. It also reminds us to not judge or speak evil about anyone because only God can judge. It's not our job. We are all the same under Christ.
James Chapter 3 teaches the importance of watching what we say, how we say it, and who we say it to. Our words have extreme power to either burn things down like a spark igniting a forest fire or encouraging people with the peace and love of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our hub for all things and how we treat and talk to people matters.
James Chapter 2 shows us how to extend the same love and mercy that Jesus extended to us to others. Showing one person preference over another for any reason is a sin. God is after hearts not fancy cars or clothes. Every person on Earth has an eternal value and our actions and the things we do on Earth should reflect the love and mercy of Jesus for every single person.
James! The half-brother of Jesus - talk about growing up in a sibling's shadow! Right out of the gates, he tells us how to make it through life's trials, which will come. He teaches us that religion without the power of Jesus is pointless and how we end up fooling ourselves in so many ways. As our love for God increases, our selfish ambitions decrease and that is exactly what we should want through life.
In Job Chapters 38-42, God enters the scene and shows Job the intricate vast details of the universe. Job is humbled, repents, forgives his friends, and is restored doubly by God.
In Job Chapters 32-37, a mysterious 4th friend pops in. It appears he's been there the whole time listening. He has a bit of truth as he speaks about how powerful God is, but has a lot of sprinkling of accusations and criticism towards Job who continues suffering with no encouragement from his friends.
In Job Chapters 28-31 Job continues to cry out in his sufferings. We see a bit of Pride and entitlement bubbling up, but also still see his firm steadfastness in his faith in God.
In Job Chapters 23-27, Job continually remains steadfast in his faith and trust in God. His awe of God and who God is shines through these passages. His friends continue to be jerks and Job's sarcasm starts to peek out as I'm sure he is utterly exhausted physically, emotionally, and spiritually - especially as he has to continually defend himself to his cruel, heartless "friends" throughout his suffering.
In Job Chapters 20-22, Job's friends continue the cruelty rather than encouragement. Job challenges their theories and refuses to budge from his steadfast faith in God.
In Job Chapters 16 - 19, Job responds to his friends begging for mercy and calling them horrible comforters. We see another prelude to the coming of Jesus and Job's faithful hope in God shines through loud and clear. We are reminded to let God do His job in people - He's good at being God.
In Job Chapters 13, 14, & 15 we see more foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus to save us from ourselves. Through all his suffering, Job does not waiver in his reverence of God. He gives up on his friends and cries out to God for answers and understanding.
In Job Chapters 9, 10, 11, & 12, his friends continue to gang up on him with accusations and assumptions. We see a beautiful foreshadowing to Jesus and Job is starting to give up on his friends and cry out to God.
In Job Chapters 6, 7 & 8, we see Job is continuing through his suffering. He again stands up for himself against his friends who are falsely accusing him and making bad assumptions rather than offering encouragement and comfort. Job then cries out to God.
In Job Chapters 3, 4, and 5, after 7 days and 7 nights of silence, Job finally cries out in agony of his pain and suffering. We can see he is clearly struggling. One of his friends finally speaks up and doesn't offer a whole lot of encouragement. Rather, he condemns and assumes he "must" deserve this.
Is God right and just? Assumptions of justice tend to fall into good = reward and bad = punishment. Is this always the case? We will take a close look at just that in the book of Job.
Daniel Chapter 12 tells us about what to expect when an evil kingdom ends. Daniel is a book of hope and motivates faithfulness for all generations. We find a pattern and a promise that humans become violent beasts when they glorify their own power and don't acknowledge God as their true King. God will one day confront the beasts and will rescue us and His world by bringing His Kingdom over all nations.
Daniel Chapters 10 & 11: Jesus visits Daniel to give him some much needed strength, there's a lot of fighting between kingdoms and a daughter, who I'm pretty sure is Cleopatra, enters the Scriptures!
In Daniel Chapter 9, Daniel is pleading with God for deliverance, faithful mercy, grace, and forgiveness for Jerusalem. He gives God an honest confession that they have not held up their end of the covenant with God. He's admitting their errors and asking for forgiveness. Gabriel shows up giving Daniel some insight and understanding of things coming.
In Daniel Chapter 8, Daniel has another vision. This time, of empires taking over each other and the Temple being destroyed. We are again reminded that God reigns - always has and always will. We can stand firm on the hope in God regardless of what is going on around us in our man-made kingdoms.
