We’ve experienced plenty of failure so far. Israel failed as a people (with the golden calf), failed as a nation
(throughout the period of the Judges), and failed as a Kingdom, first with Saul and then with a whole line of despotic, unfaithful kings. But this is much worse than failure.
For no matter how bad things got, they always had the Lord. They might share him with other local deities, but his presence was always somewhere nearby–in the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, or the Temple. The Temple was like a safe zone, where they could run after a rough patch with some foreign enemy and claim covenant status. Their golden-boy king Solomon even foresaw that possibility in his dedicatory prayer for the temple. The people might even repent–temporarily. As for the temple, as long as it stood, they had an “in” with their God. It seems never to have occurred to them that someday the temple would no longer stand.
Do we have some of the same kinds of assumptions?
To download a copy of this week’s challenge, with scripture passages, key verses, questions, and activities, click here:
(This is a continuation of a series of posts about the “whole story” of the Bible. I plan to run one every week, on Tuesdays, with a printable PDF. The printable includes a brief 2-3 paragraph introduction, Bible passages to read, a key verse, 5-7 thought/discussion questions, and 2-3 activities for the kids. Here’s the Overview of the entire Bible series.)
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David’s reign ended with an ugly scramble for a successor, but God already had someone in mind. Once again, he passed over the older sons to settle on a younger one–a boy who may have been overlooked in the mad scramble of palace intrigue, but who, we are told, was loved from birth (II Sam. 12:24). Solomon was known for wealth, wit, and wisdom–and later for women. But his place in redemption history was secured by what he built.