This will probably be a long post, but bear with me, I think these thoughts are extremely important to those with a passion to know God. In light of my previous post, I have tried several times to sit down and start the discussions on my forum about all the things Kenneth and I are learning, but I can’t ever seem to quantify it in a simple post without going into an exhaustive history of the events leading up to whatever Bible passage I want to talk about. It just so happens that Kenneth is teaching his small group tonight and wanted to impress upon them the importance of spending quality time in the Word and studying it in context, which has forced him to summarize a lot of our study down to one lesson. The following is based on his notes for his lesson, with edits, comments, and references inserted by me.
Intro: God’s Consistency
God is consistent and does not change. Malachi 3:6-7 (”I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you”, says the Lord Almighty) lets us know that he does not change in respect to his relationship with us in that he wants the same from us at all times. He wants our devotion and he will accept us if we turn to him in repentance and try to follow his ways. He is not out to trick those who earnestly seek him.
The idea behind this line of thinking is to take advantage of God’s consistency by familiarizing ourselves with how he works. Take the time to compare and contrast how God worked in situations in the past to find out what things are wrong and what things are right in the present.
The stories of how God worked before Christ came can reveal much to us about the nature of God and what he wants on a practical level. The main question we want to answer is “What are the keys to having God’s blessing?”
Flesh it out: Building Context
Building context cannot be easily taught (if at all) in a lesson or a series of lessons. It can only be attained by dedication to the semi-exhaustive study of God’s word on a personal level. Anyone truly dedicated to their faith must answer this question: “How much will I give to know God’s word?”
Due to generations of separation from the Jewish respect for the word of God, we (as Gentiles and Westerners) have lost the in-depth study that lends itself to the memorization of the word in a contextual setting. Therefore, it is necessary for those of us that do not have the bible memorized to use the tools we have available, such as an exhaustive concordance to help us tie up loose ends as we study.
3 Keys to Building Context:
1. Comparative stories: (Reference: 1 Samuel 13:8-14, 2 Samuel 6:12 through all Ch 7))
Question: Both David and Saul offered sacrifices before God. Neither of them was authorized to do so by the Levitical covenant. Why did Saul get rebuked and David did not?
The answer to this question takes more time then this entire lesson allows. The point to be made is the answer is found in studying the interaction of the two parties with their God while examining the rules and context of each sacrifice.
2. Locations/Places: (Reference: 2 Kings 8:1-6, Joshua 19:17-23, 1 Kings 12)
Question: What king did the Shunammite woman make her request to? This matters later in study when looking at the influence of Elisha and context surrounding his influence between the kings of 2 Kings.
In looking up the land of Shunem, it is found to be in the allotment for the tribe of Issachar which rebelled against Rehoboam with Israel after Solomon’s death. Therefore, it can be deduced that She is speaking to the king of Israel and not the King of Judah.
3. Names: (Reference: 1 Kings 19:16-18, 2 Kings Ch 9-10, Hosea 1:4-5)
Question: Jehu played a prominent role in fulfilling the word of God. He also was anointed king over Israel by Elisha’s servant. What did he do wrong that caused God to punish him?
Answer: After he was anointed king over Israel, Jehu went through and methodically executed anyone who had to do with either Ahab’s family (deceased at this point) or Ahaziah’s family. The question deepens when we find that both Ahab and Ahaziah had been prophesied to by God that their entire family would be wiped out for their sin. Upon further study of the name Ahaziah, we find that there are two Ahaziahs that are close in proximity to one another. The earlier one was the son of Ahab and the king of Israel, but the one Jehu completely destroyed the seemingly innocent family of was the son of Jehoram, the King of Judah. This leads me to believe that the massacre at Jezreel that is referred to in Hosea was of those who God had not prophesied against. (the prophecy was against Ahab’s family, not Jehoram’s) Seeing this, Jehu was obviously executing for his own political purposes and not necessarily for the purposes of God.
Question: Why does the bible tell us that Ahaziah king of Judah was Omri’s great-grandson?
Answer: Omri “did evil in the eyes of the LORD.” Omri was the king of Israel during a period away from God. Israel is historically known (worse than Judah) to turn their backs on God and not walk in his ways. This announcement of genealogy is to give background on what kind of person Ahaziah is and to let the reader know why he is prone to not follow God.
Summary
I can tell you details and all day long. To that extent, I can teach you these facts, but understanding more about how God works leads to understanding the motives and reasoning behind why God does what He does. Knowing God is not about digesting facts, but about spending enough time watching how God works to understand some of the “Why’s” on what he does. The reason that elders are to be older men is merely because they should have had a relationship with God (theoretically) longer and have witnessed him work enough to be familiar with how he works. This relationship is what enables them to recognize the handiwork of God, and provides the insight to lead the flock that God has placed them over.
In order to be better servants of God, it is imperative that we invest as much time as possible in his word and in prayer. If we are going to be the leaders of tomorrow, we need the insight of how God works in order to lessen the mistakes we make.
