Thoughts on the Bible Readings (1 Kings 20; Jeremiah 47, 1 Corinthians 6) for Aug 25th

1 Kings 20  describes the ongoing wars between Ahab and Benhadad, the Syrian king. Syria was a powerful realm and under Ahab Israel was a feeble and impoverished country. So Benhadad made excessive demands of tribute from Ahab. When Ahab accedes to these the Syrian monarch increases his demands and Ahab refuses to accept the increasing demands. Benhadad becomes enraged and swears to raze Samaria to the ground by tomorrow. Ahab's response was, "Let not the one who straps his armour on boast. That is reserved for the one who will take his armour off". The LORD sent a prophet to tell Ahab that Yahweh would give Israel the victory over the huge host of the Syrians and their allies. The army of Israel was a mere 232 town officials and 7,000 men. Benhadad had 32 kings with him. So confident was Benhadad that his orders were that the king of Israel and his officials were not to be slain, but taken alive. God sent confusion into the enemy host and in their panic they slew one another as they sought to flee. Ahab was told that next spring, that was the time for making warfare, the Syrians would renew their struggle. The Syrian wise men suggest that the reason for Israel's victory was that Yahweh was a hill god. The next campaign must be fought in the valleys. The prophet said that Yahweh would humble the Syrians and their gods, who were no gods. When the time for battle came Israel's army was like two tiny flocks of sheep; but nonetheless they were protected by the Almighty Shepherd of His people. In contrast the Syrians, who despite their overwhelmingly superior numbers, were nervous because of their last encounter. On the first day of the battle 100,000 of Israel's enemies are killed and the remainder flee only to be overtaken by further calamity in Aphek, where a wall collapsed killing 27,000 more. Benhadad went into hiding in a secret chamber from where he sent skilled emissaries to Ahab, to determine his attitude. Foolishly Ahab accepted the peace terms and treated the Syrian monarch with clemency. The Almighty sent another prophet to Ahab to rebuke his dereliction of the divine determination and this prophet pronounces retribution upon Ahab. 

Jeremiah 47 pronounces divine judgment upon Philistia. The word in Hebrew for'Philistine' means "those who grovel in the dust". It was the origin of the Roman word 'Palestinian' given to Israel's land by the emperor Hadrian in AD 135. The judgment upon the Philistines happened in Jeremiah's lifetime and undoubtedly carries applications for our era.

Among the Corinthians there was a misunderstanding in relation to the responsibility of making judgment on disputes between believers. They were taking their fellow believers before the bench for decisions. So Paul urges them in this 6th chapter to settle the issue among themselves and declares that it is shameful for believers to go to law to settle disputes among themselves. The Apostle says that the time is coming in the kingdom when the worldly authorities would be ruled by the saints. So surely determinations of differences must be decided in the ecclesia. The ancient city of Corinth was renowned for fornication. It was a proverb of the first century AD that visitors would go to the Acrocorinthus to 'Corinthianise', that is to fornicate. The Acro Corinthia, atop of the city's mount, had a temple with many restaurants and 3,000 temple prostitutes. So wrong was this activity that Paul warns believers from going there for a meal if they were going to be distracted by the evil practices which occurred there. And even if they were not personally affected the Apostle says that a believer should not go there in case it should become a cause of stumbling to another. Engaging in a sexual union outside of marriage is defiling for holy believers - they are God's temple: see Hebrews 13:4. And in today's world their are many places and practices that believers must avoid in order to live lives of holiness as we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: read aloud slowly Titus 2:11-14 and let us live this way.