READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  The Tomb of King Hiram of Tyre, by Charles William Meredith von de Velde

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXII

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1 Kings 10:1-29

2 Chronicles 9:1-28

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The earth, O LORD, is full of your love;

instruct me in your statutes.

–Psalm 119:64, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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I intend the quote from Psalm 119 partially as a counterpoint to the texts from 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

Sheba was Sabea, on the southwestern corner of the Arabian peninsula.  The strategically-located Sabea controlled access to the Sea of Aden from the Red Sea.  The queen was in Jerusalem to meet a potential trading partner. The story of her state visit flows from the end of 1 Kings 9 and 2 Chronicles 8, and flows into accounts of extreme wealth late in 1 Kings 10 and 2 Chronicles 9.  The story of the state visit also builds up King Solomon’s reputation before the turmoil of 1 Kings 11 and 12 and 2 Chronicles 10 and 11.

In ancient societies without a strong middle class, one could not accumulate extreme wealth without exploiting people and perpetuating their exploitation.  Biblical authors have already told us that King Solomon used slavery and forced labor.

King Solomon’s court does not impress me.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 22, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF FREDERICK PRATT GREEN, BRITISH METHODIST MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER, U.S. METHODIST AUTHOR AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF KATHARINA VON SCHLEGAL, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF PAUL TILLICH, GERMAN-AMERICAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN

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Above:  Amaziah

Image in the Public Domain

Learning to Walk Humbly with God

JUNE 12 and 13, 2015

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The Collect:

O God, you are the tree of life, offering shelter to the world.

Graft us into yourself and nurture our growth,

that we may bear your truth and love to those in need,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 39

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The Assigned Readings:

1 Kings 10:26-11:8 (Friday)

2 Kings 14:1-14 (Saturday)

Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15 (Both Days)

Hebrews 11:4-7 (Friday)

Mark 4:1-20 (Saturday)

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The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,

and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.

Such as are planted in the house of the Lord

shall flourish in the courts of our God.

They shall still bear fruit in old age;

they shall be vigorous and in full leaf;

That they may show that the Lord is true;

he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

–Psalm 92:12-15, Common Worship (2000)

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The readings for these two days are not entirely comforting and consistent with a Christian ethic.  Psalm 92 is straight-forward in its affirmation of divine righteousness and fidelity.  Hebrews 11 defines faith as

the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen

(Verse 1, The New Revised Standard Version, 1989)

then provides examples of people who, by acting out of trust in God, pleased God.  We know some deeds which displease God.  The Hebrew Bible tells us, for example, that God disapproves of idolatry and human explanation, so the condemnations of Solomon and Amaziah do not surprise me.  At least Amaziah disregarded custom and obeyed the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 24:16, to be precise) by not executing the children of his father’s assassins.  Nevertheless, Amaziah became arrogant when he should have been humble before God.  The same statement applied to Solomon.

Being humble before God enabled many people to follow Jesus, for they knew of their need for him and were not ashamed of it.  Many others who encountered our Lord and Savior, however, were haughty and opposed him.  Their spiritual blindness prevented them from understanding his parables then following him or continuing to do so.  The truth of God was in front of them plainly, but they did not recognize it as such.  Perhaps the main reason for this reality was that it threatened their status and egos.

We see what we want to see much of the time, for we walk around with spiritual blinders we have inherited or learned from others and those we have imposed on ourselves.  Many of us claim to follow God when God knows the opposite to be true.  May God forgive us for our spiritual blindness, may we recognize that blindness, and may we walk with God instead.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 19, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSEPH OF NAZARETH, HUSBAND OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2015/03/19/devotion-for-friday-and-saturday-before-proper-6-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  Television Sets for Sale

(Image in the Public Domain)

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The Collect:

Almighty and ever-living God, you revealed the incarnation

of your Son by the brilliant shining of a star.

Shine the light of your justice always in our hearts and over all lands,

and accept our lives as the treasure we offer in your praise and for your service,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 21

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The Assigned Readings:

1 Kings 10:1-13 (January 7)

1 Kings 10:14-25 (January 8)

Psalm 72 (both days)

Ephesians 3:14-21 (January 7)

Ephesians 4:7, 11-16 (January 8)

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Some Related Posts:

1 Kings 10:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/week-of-5-epiphany-wednesday-year-2/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/devotion-for-august-27-lcms-daily-lectionary/

Ephesians 3:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/week-of-proper-24-wednesday-year-2-and-week-of-proper-24-thursday-year-2/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/devotion-for-september-1-2-and-3-lcms-daily-lectionary/

Ephesians 4:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/devotion-for-september-4-lcms-daily-lectionary/

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Give the king your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to the king’s son;

that he may rule your people righteously

and the poor with justice;

that the mountains may bring prosperity to the people,

and the little hills bring righteousness.

–Psalm 72:1-3, Book of Common Worship (1993)

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The great power of King Solomon came with great responsibility–to build up the body of the kingdom, to function as an instrument of God, and not to exploit anyone or to consent to the exploitation of anyone.  Sometimes he came close to fulfilling parts of this ideal, but his royal lifestyle depended on high rates of taxation as well as on forced labor; it was inherently exploitative.

I have become increasingly conscious of how much my lifestyle–as simple as it is–depends upon human exploitation.  For example, who made my consumer electronics?  Under what conditions?  How old were they?  And did they earn a living wage?  Although I purchased most of these items at thrift stores and received a flat-screen television as a gift (quite unexpectedly; I was content with the larger set I had purchased from a pawn shop in 2002), I cannot help but ask such questions.  Greater responsibility resides upon the shoulders of corporate leaders, of course, but I am not innocent.

On the other hand, perhaps the only sure way to avoid such ethical issues is to live off the land, make everything myself, and live in a hut or a cave.  I am not willing to do that.

All of us are plugged into certain ways of doing things.  We might not have created such systems, but we are part of them.  And change begins with the consciousness of the need for it.  This change can come through us by grace, for there is available to us divine power which,

working in us, can do infinitely more that we can ask or imagine.

–Ephesians 3:20b, The New Jerusalem Bible

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 COMMON ERA

LABOR DAY (U.S.A.)

THE FEAST OF HANNAH, MOTHER OF SAMUEL

THE FEAST OF DAVID CHARLES, WELSH CALVINISTIC METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF NEW GUINEA

THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM OF ROSKILDE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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Adapted from this post:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/devotion-for-january-7-and-8-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  The Meeting of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

Artwork from 1899

Reproduction Number = LC-USZC4-5226

Copyright by The U.S. Printing Co.

Image Source = Library of Congress

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

1 Kings 9:1-9; 10:1-13

Psalm 54 (Morning)

Psalms 28 and 99 (Evening)

2 Corinthians 5:1-21

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The story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba reaches its peak in 1 Kings 9-10.  God talks to him, the monarch is fabulously wealthy, and the Queen of Sheba visits.  1 Kings 9:1-9 provides foreboding foreshadowing:  Disobedience to God will lad to national disaster.  One needs to be careful here, lest one blame natural disasters frustrated by foolish human decisions (often regarding infrastructure or where to live) on homosexuality, not on the climate and what we humans are doing to change it.  But 1 Kings 9:1-9 addressed political forces, not natural ones.  Those verses date from a time after which people had experienced national collapse and exile, so they constitute hindsight also.  They come from a place of loss and introspection, of being humble before God and of grieving over losses.

Yet, as Paul reminds us, our life is in God.  Our only proper boasts are in God–in Jesus, specifically.  (That part about Jesus did not apply in the BCE years, of course.)  And our confidence is properly in God, in whom we have reconciliation not only to God but to each other.  So there is always hope in God, who seeks us by a variety of means over time.

Our decisions matter.  Although nobody is the captain of his or her soul, our decisions matter greatly.  How we respond to God is important.  Here I take my cues from Hebrew Prophets:  Will we commit idolatry?  Will we condone and/or practice economic exploitation?  Will we condone and/or condone corruption?  Will we become so enamored of ourselves and our institutions that we will fall into hubris?  Or will we recognize the Image of God in each other and serve God by serving each other?  Society is concrete, not abstract; it is merely people.  Societies can and do change.  So the choice is ours.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 14, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT VENANTIUS HONORIUS CLEMENTIUS FORTUNATUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF POITIERS

THE FEAST OF CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH, COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC

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Adapted from this post:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/devotion-for-august-27-lcms-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  King Solomon Meets the Queen of Sheba

Image Source = Richardfabi

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saabaghiberti.jpg)

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Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada.  I invite you to follow it with me.

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1 Kings 10:1-10, 13 (TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures):

The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, through the name of the LORD, and she came to test him with hard questions.  She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels bearing spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones.  When she came to Solomon, she asked him all she had in mind.  Solomon had answers for all her questions; there was nothing that the king did not know, [nothing] to which he could not give her an answer.  When the queen of Sheba observed all of Solomon’s wisdom, and the palace he had built, the fare of his table, the seating of his courtiers, the service and attire of his attendants, and his wine service, and the burnt offerings that he offered at the House of the LORD, she was left breathless.

She said to the king,

The report  heard in my own land about you and your wisdom was true.  But I did not believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes that even the half had been told me; your wisdom and wealth surpass the reports that I heard.  How fortunate are your men and how fortunate are these your courtiers, who are always  in attendance on you and can hear your wisdom!  Praised be the LORD your God, who delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel.  It is because of the LORD’s everlasting love for Israel that He made you king to administer justice and righteousness.

She presented the king with one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a large quantity of spices, and precious stones.   Never again did such a vast quantity of spices arrive as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon….King Solomon, in turn, gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for, in addition to what King Solomon gave her out of his royal bounty.  Then she and her attendants left and returned to her own land.

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The Collect:

Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

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The author of 1 Kings 10 means for us to admire the wealth and wisdom of Solomon.  In this account Solomon receives the esteemed and wealthy Queen of Sheba.  Sheba, for those of you who wonder, was probably Sabea, located where present-day Yemen occupies space on the world map.  Yemen, of course, has fallen on hard times, with its combination of high illiteracy, poverty, fertility, and social frustration on one hand and little opportunity for economic development on the other.  But it fared much better in ancient times.

Imagine reading or hearing this story while living in exile in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire.  ”Those were the days!” people must have said in Hebrew.  Or imagine reading or hearing this account after the Persians allowed exiled Jews to return to their homeland, then a poor place in a backwater province.  ”Those were days!” people must have said in Hebrew upon pondering Solomon’s prestige and wealth.

But I am an American.  As such, I am an heir of a revolution.  (Historians dispute the precise definition of the American Revolution–indeed a good question–but I am an heir of the American Revolution.)  To the extent that I am a monarchist, I am a constitutional one.  As an heir of the American Revolution, I assume the veracity and wisdom of certain Enlightenment theories of governance, and divine right monarchy is not one of them.  Nevertheless, I do not expect to detect foreshadowing of Montesquieu and Locke in the Hebrew Scriptures, for I know better than to look for them there.

For some germane background to 1 Kings 10, let us turn to 1 Kings 6:38-7:1, which tell us that the construction of the Temple took seven years and the building of Solomon’s palace required thirteen years.  The Temple was splendid, as the detailed descriptions of it and its furnishings in 1 Kings indicate.  How ornate, then, was Solomon’s palace, which took six more years to construct?  And who paid for all this?  You, O reader, can guess, can you not?  The taxpayers of the Kingdom of Israel did.  They also paid for the upkeep of the palace and for the royal wine.

1 Kings 10 speaks of how wise, wealthy, and respected Solomon was.  In the next chapter, however, the tone of the narrative changes.  That is where the Canadian Anglican lectionary will take us next, so I will reserve a discussion of those details for then.

1 Kings 10 makes clear that Solomon was most uncommon, and that this was supposed to be a compliment.  Being uncommon was a point of pride to the Pharisees.  To be uncommon was to be pure, and to be common was to be defiled, or impure.  In fact, the standard English translation in the reading from Mark is “defile,” but J. B. Phillips cut to the chase and rendered the Greek text as “make common.”  Haughty Pharisees delighted in not being like other people.  This is not necessarily a fault in a person, as I ponder the concept as an abstract notion, but I am not discussing an abstraction.  No, I am referring to a concrete situation.  Only those with a certain level of wealth could afford to keep the purity codes the Pharisees advocated, so their piety was one to which most people, who were poor, had no hope of achieving.  Thus the Pharisaic piety Jesus criticized was one which marginalized the vast majority of people.

It is no wonder that there was a rebellion after Solomon died.  His grandeur came at a cost to his subjects.  And I understand why Jesus disagreed with so many Pharisees.  Furthermore, as an heir of the American Revolution, which, ironically, colonial elites led, I like the common, to an extent.  The Revolution did lead in time to the extension of voting rights without regard to property, for example.  And the ideals of the American Revolution did bring into sharp relief the hypocrisy of maintaining slavery.  Furthermore, another ideal of the Revolution was that, given opportunity and motivation, one can improve himself and his social station.  So there was not an acceptance of the lowest common denominator embedded in the ideals of the Revolution.  To the extent that one considers the lowest common denominator “common,” I do not like the common.  However, so far as one shuns the systems of firmly fixed social orders and deference to elites, I do like the common.

There is great dignity embedded in every human being by virtue of the image of God present in each of us.  So may we not look down upon others, for they are also God-bearers–as much as Solomon was, the Pharisees were, and the vast population of people who, for financial reasons, could not keep their piety, were.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 21, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALL FAITHFUL MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY

THE FEAST OF HENARE WIREMU TARATOA OF TE RANGA, COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEING

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Adapted from this post:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/week-of-5-epiphany-wednesday-year-2/

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