Stones of Offense of Another Sort
A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both. Proverbs 27:3
What does this proverb mean? It means a fool who loses his cool is insufferable. The wise man wins souls, but the unleashed fool torments the spirits of men and grinds them to powder.
Do you know this individual? I think you do. As a matter of fact, we all do. Each one of us may, at this point, borrow the words of the old Jedi: “Well of course I know him. He’s me.”
Brothers and sisters, we are sinners, and this means we’ve been insufferable to God and men. Sometimes we still are. Our guilt in this alone—our foolish anger—is enough to sink us to the deepest levels of hell. The mere thought of it is pulverizing. Is there really hope for people like us?
Glory to God! Jesus loves us and bore the crushing weight of our sin on the tree.
When Prophets get Wheels
“And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” 1 Kings 18:46
Elijah had mad prophet game. When the Spirit of God was upon him, he was quick-witted, and quick-footed (and, before the end, quick-winged). The word of God sped swiftly from his lips, fulfilling its purpose, summoning drought and rain, rendering judgment, and grace, and life to the dead. And, he enjoyed physical superpowers for a short while.
God’s prophets sometimes experienced supernatural traveling arrangements: Philip’s teleportation, Paul’s visit to paradise, Ezekiel’s vision-journeys, and Elijah’s escort to heaven. But this was a physical enablement, more akin to Samson’s feats of war. Here was bodily training that was profitable for all things. The Tishbite Wingfoot left Ahab’s chariot in the dust.
What can we say? When God needs his prophets to run, they will run. He provides for us in similar ways. I suppose the rare, extraordinary physical feat could still occur among us, but more ordinarily, he quickens us with supernatural grace and speeds us along on our errands for his glory. With his hand upon us, we easily outpace the machinations of the evil one.
A prophet’s stipend
“You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 1 Kings 17:4
Elijah administered the drought, but didn’t suffer the drought. He lived, and ate, and drank, while Ahab’s Israel languished under the judgment. A prophet need not feel bad about it either. Elijah wasn’t super-holy, pretending to want to starve along with Ahab. It was God himself who told the prophet where to go and what to receive. He didn’t refuse God’s provision.
The church, like ol’ E, also administers spiritual judgments as part of the ministry of the word of God, but is herself judged by none of them. Her good stipend is the kindness and care of God. The prophet is, after all, still a sheep, a member of the body of Christ in his own right. Believers enjoy the rich, spiritual provisions of Christ even while declaring his terrifying judgments to a lost world.
O ye sinner, flee to the Brook to be saved from eternal death!
The Prophet’s New Clothes
“Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.” (1 Kings 11:29-30)
The Old Testament prophets were fond of object lessons. Here’s a well known one. Ahijah foretold the kingdom split using a charade with his outfit. He grabbed his brand new threads and ripped them into twelve pieces. These represented the twelve tribes; the ten given to Jeroboam represented the ten tribes that he would receive (this became Israel in the North, while Judah remained in the South).
Twice we are told that it was a new garment. What a waste! Ah, but the wasting of the new garment is nothing to the wasting of the new kingdom. Solomon just established it—when the sounds of the prophet’s torn jacket ripped through the air, the son of David still sat upon his glorious throne. It reminds us of Eden. We don’t know how long Adam ruled that happy Place, but it wasn’t very long. It seems like the command to be fruitful and multiply was still ringing in his ears when they met the tempter; Eve’s childlessness makes us think so. And so, the Garden, like the Kingdom, was but a babe when it was torn from the hands of our first father, God’s unfaithful king.
It should come as no surprise that Jesus, the true Son of David, succeeded where all who came before him failed. He established a kingdom for us that does not depend on our faithfulness, but upon his own. It does not run any risk of destruction; its fate does not hang in the balance. Eternal life is ours, and ever new it springs up in our hearts. Our garment of salvation cannot be torn, but unifies us with Jesus Christ in the utter surety of his reign. Entrust everything to the faithful Friend of sinners who sits upon the throne.
Jerusalem Zoo
Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. 1 Kings 10:22
The ESV footnote on peacocks says, “Or baboons.” Primates don’t exactly swing though the branches of the biblical text, but thanks to Solomon, we find them here. God gave that wise king a relish for understanding creation: “He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish” (1 Kings 4:33). This interest apparently extended to the brightest of the beasts.
It seems to me that Solomon imported these creatures into Jerusalem because he was fascinated by them. This, shall we say, fun aspect of his reign is not unimportant. Solomon was a Messianic figure, and as such he was a sort of second Adam. You already know that the first Adam kept the original zoo in the Garden. Humans were created to rule over all the animals in a loving, interested, and faithful stewardship. Solomon recovered some of this in his awesome reign.
This marvelous truth will be fulfilled when the true Son of David restores this creation. Just as Noah brought the animal kingdom through the flood to a new world on the other side, so Jesus will remake all things on the other side of the great judgment, including animals. His blood pays for even this (Col 1:20). All dogs don’t go to heaven, but in that place we will rule over all God’s wonderful creatures with Christ, enjoying their companionship in the happy serenity of our eternal reign.
Solomon’s throne was rowdy
“The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. The throne had six steps, and at the back of the throne was a calf’s head, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom.” 1 Kings 10:18-20
David sat upon a throne, but Solomon made his own. He designed it. We need not have any doubt that each aspect of its design was brimming full of meaning to Solomon its maker. Its very peculiarness assures us that the brilliant king was behind it. I have no idea what it all means, but it communicates one idea quite clearly: regality. It is a kingly throne, and that means magnificence.
I say again that Solomon designed this throne. He was the sort of man who wanted to have his hand in everything. He was the artist as well as the authority. And this creation of his had no competitors. It was unique among all kingdoms. It glorified the king who sat upon it as its make declared his otherness.
This throne is very much like God’s, for God too is the Maker of his own throne. Where God sits enthroned in heaven was created by him (Paul went there and said it was so unique that we can’t even talk about it here). God made that place (out of nothing and nowhere). The earth, his splendid footstool, is also his creation. God fashions his own throne and fills it with meaning. In fact, the only meaning that creation itself has at all is that God dwells in it.
Watch the Throne
"Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.” 1 Kings 10:1
It is well known that Sheba was drawn to Israel by the stories of Solomon’s exquisite wisdom. His fame spread far and wide to all lands and peoples (1 Kings 4:34). But the careful reader will notice the additional information provided by this verse, namely, that Solomon’s fame was kept in connection with another name, the name of the LORD.
Everything God did in Israel was done to magnify his name. They were his people, in his land, worshipping at his temple, through his priesthood. They were animated by his word and marked by his statutes. Their greatest champions were his warriors and, blessed gift to his people and to the whole world, their great kings were his kings. Solomon’s fame was God’s fame.
Is it any wonder then that he surpassed all the wisdom of all the wise men of all the earth? Is it any surprise that the prosperity of his reign was unprecedented, and that the flower of youthful vigor and manful endeavor and highest thought were his? God’s king is unique, because he’s God’s king.
I need not press the implications for those living under the glorious and sure reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is even now seated comfortably upon his cosmic throne. Our King is the great King, and his fame is spreading far and wide through all lands and peoples. Go to him willingly like Sheba, lest you be dragged before him against your will on the Last Day!
Sabbath for a G
“Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” Psalm 8:2
The late Tupac Shakur famously asked, “Is there a heaven for a G? A place where criminals and drugs dealers meet?” Sadly (or, happily) there is not. There is a heaven for criminals and drugs dealers and liars and fornicators and the proud and self-righteous who flee to Jesus Christ for safety! But there’s no heaven for gangsters as gangsters.
There is, however, a Sabbath for a G. David says so in the beloved eighth Psalm. God uses the Infant to still the enemy. What does he mean by still? Well, the Hebrew word that David used is shabbat, Sabbath. God makes his enemies take a Sabbath. When Israel refused to observe the land Sabbaths, God cast them out “until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths” (2 Chronicles 36:21). God will have his Sabbath, his people with have their Sabbath, his creation will have its Sabbath, and those who fight against him will have no choice.
How is Sabbath a punishment? Well, our present Sabbath, the Lord’s Day, is an unthinkable punishment to unbelievers. Having to wake up, get dressed, and sit through a church gathering where God is praised and the word is preached and idols are demolished and Christ is exalted and nice, spiritual people ask them how they’re doing is insufferable to them. If that is the type, hell is the antitype. As I understand it, the damned will be able to see into heaven (Luke 16:23). If so, God will make his rejectors sit through church for eternity, from the hot seats. And that’s the only heaven for a G.
Repent of your worthless sin and go to Jesus, whose arms are open wide to gangsters and Pharisees alike, and rule the new universe with us for an eternal Sabbath. Now that’s gangster.
Of dwellings and Dweller
“The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.” 1 Kings 8:12
The words are Solomon’s. The occasion is the dedication of the temple. Their meaning is great. There is Biblical Theology in these words.
God dwells in secret. Chapter and verse? Ok: “your Father who is in secret” (Matthew 6:6). Lewis has it, “He walks everywhere incognito.” Sin has hidden God from us. The devil may prowl about like a roaring lion, but the living God rules from a hidden place.
But these words mean something to Solomon because God has just disclosed himself in the temple. It was his dwelling; he was manifested there. And he is seen there, in all the imagery of the building itself and the Temple worship. The dwelling, and what happens there, teach us about the Dweller.
Solomon’s temple is long gone, but God’s temple continues. We are the temple of God. The church is his dwelling. The beauties and gifts of the living stones, and the breathtaking union of the whole, and the great work taking place within, and without, are the disclosure of God. The day has dawned, the Morning has begun. In the common tongue, get yo self a church.
Long-forgotten gold
“The floor of the house he overlaid with gold” 1 Kings 6:30
Not just the floor, but the walls too. If you walked into Solomon’s Temple, you would find yourself in another dimension. I’m afraid our modern world and its modern wonders would not diminish our surprised awe. In fact, I think they would increase it. The plasticized and cheaply materialized age that we live in is quite distinct from the old craftsmanship of Hiram and the little golden world that Solomon’s Temple was.
Gold is found throughout the Bible. There was gold was in Eden. It was acquired by the people in Egypt, and it built the utensils and the Ark. Gold was everywhere inside the Temple at Jerusalem, and gold paves the streets of that heavenly city to come.
Gold is unique among the precious metals. They are all of a silver hue, but gold is rich, colorful, and unique. It’s warm. It images God’s glory, even as the golden beams that light our world. Gold is our faith, tested and precious. We are not much to look at; the temples of our bodies are decaying. But inside, our hearts are golden with God’s grace and his glory.
We’ve seen this world’s gold. We’ve even seen and tasted something of God’s glory in it. But very soon we’ll experience it. As one of Narnia’s own prophets has said,
“I have heard of those little scratches in the crust that you Top-dwellers call mines. But that’s where you get dead gold, dead silver, dead gems. Down in Bism we have them alive and growing. There I’ll pick you bunches of rubies that you can eat and squeeze you a cup full of diamond-juice. You won’t care much about fingering the cold, dead treasures of your shallow mines after you have tasted the live ones of Bism.”