Foundational Stories, Part 3

Loving the Old Testament

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In January 2023, I wrote a substack regarding my exploration of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. If you missed Part 1, you can find it here. I also wrote Foundational Stories Part 2 (Joshua through Second Samuel).

Over the years, I have tried many times to follow “Bible in a Year” courses. I could never stick to the schedule, and it seemed so contrived to me. So now, I’m taking my time and making the reading meaningful. I just finished the next sections for this writing.

1^st and 2^nd Kings

Several of the Bible references I use have commented that 1 & 2 Kings were, at one time, one combined text. The author is unknown, and perhaps they are the notes compiled over an extended period by multiple authors. It is a chronology of hundreds of years of kings and people who stubbornly turned their backs on the God of King David and, after much patience, how God allowed the predicted curses of the Covenant to come to pass.

The narratives document the kings who followed, or failed to follow, God’s promises and warnings from the end of Solomon’s rule until the time of the Babylonian and the Assyrian captivity, approximately 340 years, from around 930 B.C to about 586 B.C. The author(s) sought to show why the exile occurred, tracing the sad history of Israel’s disobedience to God’s faithfulness through a long history of its kings.

Some of these kings ruled for a very long time, such as evil kings Jehoahaz (17 years),  Jeroboam I (22 years), Jeroboam II (41 years), and Manasseh (55 years), and good kings Jehoshaphat (25 years), Hezekiah (29 years), Josiah (31 years), Asa (41 years), and Uzziah (52 years). This is a good chart that lists the kings of Judah and of Israel, and listsif they were good vs evil.

Could you imagine our present-day presidents, especially the ones in the recent past who have done “evil in the eyes of the Lord,” being at the helm in America literally for decades!?

Some of the good “stories” I learned about included:

• A better understanding of the full spectrum of good vs bad Solomon

• The many works of prophets Elijah and Elisha

• The deceptions of Naboth and Jezebel (1 Kings 21)

• Elijah taken up into heaven (2 Kings 2)

• The meaning of the floating ax head of Elisha’s worker (2 Kings 6).

I have to admit that reading through these two books was more labor than a labor of love. So many of the kings “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” Battle after battle, thousands upon thousands were killed. Reading about these battles became like Groundhog Day to me. One more battle, ten thousand more dead. And it seemed like the solution to every problem, between neighboring kings or within a given king’s court, was to kill someone. So much blood and gore. Bleh.

1^st and 2^nd Chronicles

The author of these events is also unknown, but it is suspected to be the prophet Ezra, or the prophet Nehemiah, or both. I enjoyed this writing style much more than in the books of the Kings. The chronicle writer(s) describes an idealized version of the reigns of David and then Solomon. No mention of David’s sins with Bathsheba and against her husband, Uriah. Nor are many of David’s other shortcomings mentioned. For Solomon, there is no mention of his idolatry, the Mosaic laws he broke, or his sinful activities associated with his (many) foreign wives. I wrote a little about Solomon’s good years here and his bad years here.

The wealth of Solomon

The more I learn about Solomon, the less surprising it becomes to learn why he drifted into his wayward ways: he was born with a huge silver spoon in his mouth. (As Paul would write later in 1 Timothy 6:10 - “For the love of money is the root of all evil.”)

I shook my head when I read 1 Chronicles 22:16-17, (ISV) where David said to his son:

“At great effort, I have provided for the Temple of the Lord 100,000 gold talents, 1,000,000 silver talents, as well as bronze and iron beyond calculation since there is so much of it. I've also provided timber and stone, but you'll need to obtain more. You already have plenty of workers, including stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and an innumerable group of artisans who are skilled at working in gold, silver, bronze, and iron. So, begin the work, and may the LORD be with you."

The exact weight of a talent has varied across different cultures and time periods. The talent of the Bible is generally believed to be equivalent to approximately 75 pounds (34 kg).  According to vCalc.com, when David gave Solomon the funding he has saved (gathered?) for the temple, in today’s equivalent dollars, the gold would be worth more than $ 223.6 billion, and the silver would be worth more than $ 25.3 billion. The bronze, iron, timber, and stone no doubt added billions more. Solomon was a multi-billionaire when he became king, somewhere between 20 and 24 years of age (by various expert’s calculations.)

In addition, each year, Solomon’s annual revenue was 666 talents of gold ($1.489 billion), not including revenue and tributes from traders, merchants, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land. (1 Kings 10:14-15). Solomon reigned for 40 years; hence, his wealth grew another $59.56 billion over his lifetime, making the gross amount of wealth he gained in his lifetime (before expenses) was around $308 billion in today’s dollars.

That makes Solomon not only the wisest man to ever live (1 Kings 4:29-34), but also quite likely the wealthiest man to ever live.

As far as we know, Solomon really didn’t grow up in a close relationship with his father, David, but we know they spent time together as the transition was being made. David left instructions for how much gold and silver was to be used for every table, lampstand, challis, bowl, utensil, and more, to be used in the temple, saying, “All of these things the LORD made clear to me in writing at his direction the construction plans for all of the building." (1 Chronicles 28:11-19)

David also gave wise counsel to his son: (I Chron 28:20)

"Be strong and courageous, and get to work. Never be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you, nor will he abandon you right up to your completion of the work for the service of the Temple of the LORD.”

Continuing…

The author of the Chronicles detailed many genealogical lists and family lines as part of the official record. I found it easy to skim past these lists of unusual names and relationships, lists that were obviously made as bloodline records, connecting the threads of the past up to the author’s present tense.

One of the things that blew my mind was the massive slaughter of sacrificial animals. For example, when King Hezekiah purified the temple and called to the people to bring sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings for a 14-day Passover celebration, the King gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes contributed an additional 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. That’s sacrificing 2,000 bulls and 17,000 sheep! (2 Chron 30:24)

For comparison, an article published at www.food-safety.com was a review of safety requirements for cattle and pig slaughterhouses across Europe. A total of 72 slaughterhouses—36 pig and 36 cattle—were audited. A majority (69%) were medium-sized plants, processing an average of 1,000 animals per week, and the remainder (31%) were large-scale plants, processing 1,000–5,000 animals per day.

How did they handle this many sacrifices so quickly? It must have been a mess, a bloody mess.

And what about the massive number of deaths in the battles?

One of many examples: (summarized, 2 Chron 28:1-6)

“Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign (king of Judah), and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he didn't do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He made molten images for the Baals, burnt incense to the gods, and burnt his children in the fire. As a result, Pekah (the king of Israel) killed 120,000 elite forces of Judah in one day because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.”

What did they do with 120,000 bodies? Where are all the bones? Have archeological digs uncovered massive graves or fields full of human bones? I asked that question to several knowledgeable pastor friends; no one has an answer.

My takeaway from these four books:

No matter how far we fall, no matter how far we drift into “evil ways,” God loves us and is always ready to bring us back into the fold by asking:

2 Chronicles 7:14 –If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Today’s prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word and for the ability to study some of the history of Your people. The lessons from thousands of years ago are just as pertinent today as they were during the times of David, Solomon, and all the good and evil kings.

We are forever grateful that You love us, and You will pick us up, forgive our sins, and allow us to continue on by Your grace and mercy. The stories of Your power and Your forgiveness continue to resonate with us. Thank You that we can learn about history and about You though the struggles of Your chosen people from so long ago. In Jesus’ name. Amen.