Author: cackywalker@yahoo.com

The Widow at Zarephath, Part II, 1 Kings, Chapter 17

Sometime later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?”

But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the the child’s body from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have You broght tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?”

And he stretched himself out over the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life be returned to him.” The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer and the life of the child returned, and he revived! Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!”

Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.” (vv. 17-24, NLT)

The Widow at Zarephath, Part I, 1 Kings Chapter 17

Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he was a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” s she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”

But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

So she did what Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough, just at the Lord had promised though Elijah. (vv. 1-16, NLT)

Elijah Fed by Ravens, 1 Kings, Chapter 17

Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as teh Lord, the God of Israel, lives-the God I serve-there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word.”

Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan River. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and each evening, and he drank from the brook. But after the brook dried up, there was no rainfall in the land. (vv. 1-7, NLT)

Solomon’s Many Wives, 1 Kings Chapter 11

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.

In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. (vv. 1-4, NLT)

The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heard had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command. So now the Lord said to him, :Since you have not kept My covenant and disobeyed My decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take away the kingdom from your son. And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, My chosen city.” (vv. 9-13, NLT)

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba, 1 Kings, Chapter 10

When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honor to the name of the Lord, she cam to test him with hard questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, large quantities of gold, and precious jewels. When she met with Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind. Solomon had answers for al her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. When the queen of Sheba realized how very wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built, she was overwhelmed. She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials and their splendid clothing, the cup-bears and the burnt offerings Solomon made at the Temple of the Lord.

She exclaimed to the king, “Everything I heard in my country about your achievements and wisdom is true! I didn’t believe what was said until I arrived here and saw with my own eyes. In fact, I had not heard that half of it! Your wisdom and prosperity are far beyond what I was told. How happy your people must be! Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne of Israel, He has made you king so you can rule with justice and righteousness.” (vv. 1-9, NLT)

The Lord’s Response to Solomon, 1 Kings, Chapter 9

So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everyting he had planned to do. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had done before iat Gibeon. The Lord said to him,

“I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy-this place you have built whey My name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to My heart.”

“As for you, if you will follow Me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commandments, decrees, and regulations, then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made a promise to your father, David: ‘One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.””

“But if your descendants abandon Me and disobey the commandments and Decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, the I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor My name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads in amazement. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?”

“And the answer will be, ‘Because this people abandoned the Lord their God who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to then. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.'” (vv. 1-9, NLT)

Solomon Rebuilds the Temple, 1 Kings Chapter 6

It was midspring in the moth of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, that he began to construct the Temple of the Lord. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt.

The Temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 fee wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet from the front of the Temple. (vv. 1-4, NLT)

Then the Lord gave this message to Solomon: “Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David. I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon My people. (vv. 11-13, NLT)

Solomon Asks for Wisdom, 1 Kings Chapter 3

Solomon loved the Lord and followed all of the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burnt incense at the local places of worship . The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask and I will give it to you!”

Solomon replied, “You showed faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to You. And You have continued Your faithful love to him today, by giving him as son to sit on his throne.”

“No, O Lord my God, You have made me king instead of my father David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of Your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern Your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of Yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing My people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies-I will give you what you have asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or every will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for-riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow Me and obey My decrees and My commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, where he sacrificed burnt offerings and pease offerings. Then he invited all of his officials to a great banquet.” (vv. 3-15, NLT)

David’s Final Instructions to Solomon, 1 Kings Chapter 2

As the time of King’s David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son, Solomon.

“I am going where everyone must someday go. Take courage and be a man. Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all His ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you do. If you do this, then the Lord will keep the promise He made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.'” (vv. 1-4, NLT)

Then David died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. David had reigned for forty years, seven of them in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. Solomon became king, and sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. (vv. 10-12, NLT)

David Makes Solomon King, I Kings, Chapter 1

King David responded, “Call Bathsheba!” So she came back in and stood before the king. And the king repeated his vow: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has rescued me from every danger, your son Solomon will be the next king and will sit on my throne this very day, just as I vowed to you before the Lord, the God of Israel.” (vv. 28-30, NLT)

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the king’s bodyguard took Solomon down to Gihon Spring, with Solomon riding on King David’s own mule. There Zadok the priest took the flask of olive oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon with the oil. Then they sounded the ram’s horn and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” And all the people followed Solomon into Jerusalem, playing flutes and shouting for joy. The celebration was so joyous and noisy that the earth shook with the sound. (vv. 38-40, NLT)