24th Day in the Bible Food Reading

Good morning and welcome to the daily bible food where we're reading the bible in 90 days.

I hope you've stretched and are ready to go...read.

Today we will begin in 2 Samuel chapter 23

2 Samuel 23

 ¹Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
 ²The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.
 ³The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
⁶But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:
 ⁷But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

This chapter began with David giving his final accounts as his administration is coming to a close as he is preparing his house before he sleeps.  In verses 2-3; David tells us what Jesus wants, kings must rule over men justly, in the fear of God; but sons of the devil will be taken and utterly burned with fire; David knew about the lake of fire.

2 Samuel 24- Here the Lord was upset with Israel for something they did perhaps generations ago; and the Lord put in David's mind to number Israel a thing that should not be done.  Joab attempted to talk him out of it because it was sin; but David was king.

David realize he had done foolishly and repented to the Lord to have mercy on him.  It was too late then.  Gad the prophet was already sent to him to offer David three things and David must choose one.  This sounds like something right out of a gangster or mafia movie.

¹³So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

David chose 3 days of pestilence in the land hoping God would have mercy; however 70,000 people died in that mercy David hoped for.  The Lord even let David see the angel that destroyed Israel.  Finally, Gad told David to perform a sacrifice and peace offering for the plague to be stopped.  
At times the Lord is punishing you for things you did when you were 16, and you can't even remember because you're 47 now.  However you may think it's something you did yesterday because that is how far you can recollect; but God has a longer eternal memory.

Now we move into 1 Kings chapter 1

 ¹Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.  

This chapter begins with David being an aged man and his body heat was low so they thought to bring him a young virgin to cuddle with him care after him; and if he chose to wife her that would be for her.  All this was to help warm the king and increase his body heat.

So they brought a very beautiful girl named Abishag and brought her to the king; and she cared for him tenderly and served David; but he did not go into her.  Then Adonijah, the second son after Absalom, decided to make himself king without telling David.  He called a lot of people but didn't bother to tell David nor his men, nor Bathsheba, nor Solomon, nor Zadok, and not even Nathan.  

So Nathan had Bathsheba talk to David about how he promised Solomon would take over and while they are talking he would come in and confirm those words.  So much plotting in administrations.
They spoke with David and he confirmed that Solomon should be king and they rained on Adonijah's party and Solomon was anointed king over Israel in place of David.  Adonijah then feared for his life; but Solomon let him go.

1 Kings 2

David here is giving Solomon the pep talk in what he should to to establish a great kingdom; keep the charge of the Lord, walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do.
David didn't forget what Joab did to him in killing two nobles in Israel and in slaying Absalom, David told Solomon to get him back and not to let him die in peace.  

⁶Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.

David had a few confrontations to settle before he died.  

¹⁰So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
 ¹¹And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. 

Thus David died; a great man in Israel, a valiant man, a mighty man, and great king.  Unto him was given the kingship over Israel forever, thus we will see at the resurrection.

Solomon took over and when Adonijah asked for the young virgin that took care of David; Solomon was offended and put him to death.  Solomon also put to death Joab who had taken to follow Adonijah.  This is what you call "cleaning the house."  Also the man Shimei, who cursed David; Solomon put him on house arrest.  ⁴³Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?  But Shimei broke his vow to Solomon and the Lord and left and Solomon had him killed.  The two men David wanted avenged had been avenged.

David could have killed them; but this is a prime example of letting the wheat grow with the tares and separating them at the harvest.  At the end of the road, our wickedness will catch up to us; be it before we die or when the Lord wakes everyone up to judge them.

1 Kings chapter 3

⁵In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.  God appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked Solomon what does he want from the Lord.  Solomon asked for understanding and wisdom to rule God's people well. ⁹Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

 ¹⁰And the speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing.
  Solomon could have asked for gold, women, power, but he asked for what people rarely ask God for.  He wanted understanding!  That is why it pleased the Lord because he saw he wasn't caught up in material things.

¹²Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

So the Lord gave it to him; but look what comes with wisdom and understanding: ¹³And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.

Also the Lord said if you walk in my ways, statues, and commandments, like David did, God will also lengthen his days.

¹⁶Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.  

In this recorded event we see the Lord's wisdom in Solomon right away, they were disputing over a baby and Solomon settled it by cutting the baby in half.  But the real mother told the other to keep the baby; while the liar said yes, cut him.  The baby was given to the lady who said save the child alive.  
Solomon's fame went out because of his judgment here. 

²⁸And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

1 Kings 4

 ¹So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

He was established; his administration was ordered, his workers were happy, and the Lord was using him as an example of what the entire nation was to be.  Kings and nations came up to Solomon to hear his wisdom: ³⁴And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

He was wiser than all the wise men of other countries known for their wisdom:

²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
 ³⁰And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

If you've ever heard of the man who never fights because he is too smart to fight; it is Solomon.  He did not have to war nor go against anyone because he would and could simply out smart them.

1 Kings 5

The king of Tyre, Hiram, sent Solomon good tiding once he heard Solomon had taken over from David; because Hiram loved David.  And Solomon asked Hiram to cut trees in Lebanon, you know the fine wood, so that he can begin to make the Temple of the Lord, which David wanted to build.

So Hiram gave Solomon trees, and Solomon gave Hiram wheat and food yearly and the two made a league together.  We see thus that Solomon made a league with Egypt and with Tyre.  Solomon is making friends here.

1 Kings 6

Just 480 years after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, Solomon began to build the house of the Lord.  He did so in the fourth year of his reign over Israel, in the second month of the Israel calendar, which is named Zif (that's like May or so in the Roman calendar).

¹¹And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, ¹²Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:  ¹³And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.  

The Lord makes this promise to every generation, even today, but we have to keep our side of the bargain.

The design of the Temple is laid out in this chapter; it is beautiful to read how he made the cherubims with their wings stretched forth, which is the cherubs covering the Lord God, the Tree of Life.

The foundation was laid in fourth year of the kings reign and it was finished on the eleventh year in the 8th month for a total of 7 years to build.

1 Kings chapter 7

We can certainly see that Solomon spent a great deal of money on building this Temple and building his own house.  In today's money this would be in the billions of dollars in constructing this Temple.  Israel was on top then and had a booming economy.  Israel put a lot of work into building this temple of the Lord; to dwell among them.

This concludes the reading today; we will pick up tomorrow on day 25 and we'll read 1 Kings chapter 8 - 16.  See you then.

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Bible Food 2 Samuel - Day 23

Good morning we are moving along; I hope this has become a habit to you.

We are starting in 2 Samuel 13
In this chapter Amnon, David's son wanted Tamar, his half sister, who was also the sister to Absalom.  And he wanted her desperately; so he laid a trap to lay with her.  And when she refused; he raped her and sent her away.
Absalom and Tamar had the same mother; while Amnon had a different mother; so Absalom waited two years and killed Amnon for raping his sister.  

We can't help but remember what Nathan the prophet sentenced against David for sinning against the Lord by laying with Uriah the Hittites wife.  Now all this evil is in the house of David.

 ³⁹And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.

Absalom fled; and David was still worried sick about him as a father would a son; but he was comforted in Amnon being dead because at least he knew he was dead.

 In 2 Samuel chapter 14
Joab didn't want Absalom to get away with this and wanted David to summon him back to Jerusalem; and Joab had a lady do all this talking and fibbing to David and finally David ordered Absalom to return to Jerusalem; but did not want to see Absalom.

 ²³So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 15

 ¹And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.  Since David would not come see Absalom; Absalom slowly plotted to take the kingdom of Israel from David.  
He started being pleasing to the people and being a politician.  Thus he ended up stealing the hearts of the men of Israel.  So David left Jerusalem for fear Absalom would raise up and kill the kings.

¹⁶And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house.

2 Samuel 16

As the king fled a man named Shimei out of Saul's family, who was still very bitter about the kingdom going to David, came and shouted at David and cursed him.

This guy did what is done in Iraq today how people throw rocks at US military men; he cast stones at David and all David's men.  I could tell he was emotional and crazy; because he threw rocks at David's mighty men, who are proven killers.

Shimei called David a "bloody man" and Abishai the son of Zeruiah ask David the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head."  If David would have done so; it would not correct anything but look how easy David's men said that and they would have done it for David.

David was logical and reasonable; and said if my son wants to kill me (speaking of Absalom), what of this man from the house of Saul?  Meanwhile, another prophecy spoken against David came to pass as Absalom slept with all his father's concubines who were left behind.

²²So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.

2 Samuel 17

Now Ahithophel was giving the counsel to Absalom and they began to get better counsel so this guy went and got his house in order and killed himself.  He did this because he knew that if Absalom didn't kill him later, David and his men surely would.  So he settled with a suicide.  


In 2 Samuel Chapter 18: Joab convinces David to fight back and stop running away from Absalom; and David agreed; but warned his men not to kill his son but to bring him back alive.  

They battled and 20,000 men died and as Absalom got his head caught in the boughs of a great oak tree while riding his mule.

 ¹⁰And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.

The man did not kill the kings son; but Joab did putting three arrows in his heart while he was alive caught in the tree.  Joab is a vengeful man, and will disobey orders to get revenge.  

He did it was Abner (who killed his brother), and he did it here with Absalom (who burned his field).  If you cannot control your emotions; it will come back and haunt you as all of this is haunting David who did not control his lustful emotions for Uriah the Hittites wife.  In addition to that Joab had ten young men smote Absalom to make sure he was dead.

When this was reported to the king, he wept for his son like any loving parent would for their child who is not.

³³And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

2 Samuel 19

 ¹And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.
⁶In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

Here Joab was making a valid point.  If the king keeps weeping for his son; all his servants will start to look at David weird saying, "this the son that was trying to kill you and us, and probably the rest of your family, why are you crying for him?"

So he advised David to stop and to carry on the administration.  And David did so.

2 Samuel 20

Another Benjamite was running across Israel telling people not to deal with David.  We have to imagine the children of Benjamin, where Saul was from, probably did not like David because they feel he stole the kingdom.

So a wise woman of the Benjamites got all the people to deal with Sheba, the man who did not want to deal with David, to shut him up because Joab and David's men were going to deal with that town.  So they brought the man out and had him killed, giving his head to Joab.

David did return to Jerusalem and had to put those ten concubines into widowhood because of the Levite law that once a woman is gone into by another man by means of rape or adultery, the husband cannot go back unto her.

2 Samuel 21: Here in chapter 21 there was a famine 3 years in Jerusalem and David went to the Lord to see why and found out it was because Saul killed the Gibeonites in the land.  This was not to be done because the league Joshua made with them.  

The Lord does not let people break vows or covenants.

The Gibeonites demanded 7 of Saul's sons be hanged; and this had to be done to stop the famine.  And they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

2 Samuel 22

 ¹And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:
 ²And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

David gives thanks and praises the Lord.  This same prayer and song is found in Psalm chapter 18; thus letting us know that David did write many of the Psalms.  This concludes today's reading.  Join again tomorrow. 


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Peace & Grace
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