Bible Study Lessons 10
Lesson Objectives
1. Reading the Old
Testament (1 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Psalms & Wisdom) and to read with
understanding.
2. To understand the broad outlines of the history of Israel
3. To appreciate the crucial importance of God's everlasting covenant with David.
Lesson Outline
I. Entering the Kingdom
a. The Shape of Things Under Solomon
b. Psalms and Wisdom
II. Study Questions for Lesson 10
I. Entering the Kingdom
a. The Shape of Things Under Solomon
The Davidic covenant is the climactic event in Old Testament salvation history. Of course, the fulfillment of God's plan awaits the coming of Jesus and establishment of the Kingdom of God
But we can detect in the Davidic Kingdom
Solomon's is a monarchy ruled over by God's son (see Psalm 2:7), who is both a priest and a king (see Psalm 110:1,4). At the right hand of the King is his mother, the Queen, who intercedes for the people with the king and is a trusted adviser to the King (see 1 Kings 3:19-20; Proverbs 31).
The day-to-day affairs of the Kingdom are administered by a prime minister, variously called the royal "vizier," the "superintendent" or "master of the palace." He is considered to be "a father to the inhabitants" of the Kingdom (see 1 Kings 16:9; 18:3; 2 Kings 15:5; 18:18,37; 19:2; Isaiah 22:22).
The Davidic Kingdom
In an echo of God's promise to Abraham and his descendants, the Scriptures tell us that by the Davidic King and Kingdom "shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed, all the nations" (see Psalm 72:17).
The Kingdom, with its capital in Zion , Jerusalem
It is a Kingdom that rules, not by military might, but through liturgy and prayer, wisdom and law. The liturgy and worship of the kingdom is shaped by the eternal presence of God in the Ark in the Temple at Jerusalem
Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah Mount Moriah Calvary , where Jesus is crucified, is one of the hills in the Moriah range.
The Temple , atop the holy mountain of Zion
Another feature of the Kingdom is the "everlasting priesthood" that God promised to Phineas, the grandson of Aaron (see Numbers 10:13). Solomon restored this by making Zadok high priest and his sons "officers of the holy place and officers of the divine presence" (see 1 Kings 2:35).
The Temple was to be more than a shrine for the chosen people of Israel Israel
A new form of worship characterizes Solomon's Temple and the Davidic Kingdom
Prayer in the Kingdom becomes a personal encounter with the living God: "Bring me to Your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place. Then I will go into the altar of God...I will give You thanks....thanking Him in the presence of my Savior and my God" (see Psalm 43:3-5).
The liturgy of Moses and Sinai required animal sacrifices and offerings for the people's sin. In the liturgy of Zion
Passover, the feast that characterized the liturgy of Sinai, recalled God's saving deeds in the Exodus. The todah, too, is a celebration of remembrance, often involving the offering of unleavened bread and wine. It is a prayer in which the believer proclaims God's saving deeds, gives thanks for God's salvation, and swears himself or herself to a life of praise and self-sacrifice.
Echoes of the todah can be heard throughout the Book of Psalms, the royal prayers and songs of the Davidic Kingdom
In the thanksgiving sacrifices of the Davidic kingdom we see the true dimension of worship - the way God wanted men and women to serve Him from the beginning. Not in abjection and in servitude, not with the blood of animals, but with their whole hearts, their whole lives made a sacrifice of praise and thanks, their whole lives given over to the will and the heart of God:
"For You are not pleased with sacrifices, should I offer a holocaust, You would not accept it. My sacrifice, O my God, is a contrite spirit, a heart contrite and humbled" (see Psalm 51:18-19).
"Sacrifice or oblation You wished not, but ears open to obedience....Holocausts and sin-offerings You sought not....To do Your will, O my God, is my delight, and Your Law is within my heart!" (see Psalm 40:7-9).
b. Psalms and Wisdom
Look for this spirit of self-offering and thanksgiving as you read the Book of Psalms.
Traditionally associated with David, many of the psalms were doubtless written by him. All of them reflect his heart which, as we've seen, reflects the Lord's own heart (see 1 Samuel 13:14).
Prayed daily, even hourly, the psalms were intended to give God's covenant people a new heart - that heart of David, that heart of the Lord.
The psalms teach God's royal sons and daughters how to pray - how to praise, thank, petition, and pledge faithfulness to their Father. The psalms teach God's people the history of their salvation and of God's faithfulness to His covenant plan (see Psalms 78; 105-106; 135-136).
Underlying all the varieties of psalms is the Father's desire to instill in His children a love for His ways and His Law: "You will show me the path of life, fullness of joys in Your presence" (see Psalms 16:11).
The psalms teach God's people to seek His wisdom in His Law (see Psalms 37:31; 90:12). In this, the psalms are closely tied to the other great spiritual legacy of the Davidic Kingdom
The Psalms are associated with David. The Bible's wisdom literature - the books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, Wisdom and Sirach - is associated with David's son, Solomon, who traditionally is held to be the author of four of the books.
The wisdom of Solomon was a divine gift (see 1 Chronicles 1:7-12). And his reputation for being a wise man drew the Queen of Sheba and "all the kings of the earth" to seek audiences with him and to pay him tribute (see 1 Kings 10:1-13, 24-25).
Think of the wisdom books as recording the kinds of things that Solomon told the Queen and the kings of the nations.
Read in their place in the Bible, the wisdom books function as a sort of fatherly instruction - God the Father, through His divine son the king, teaching His worldwide family how to live. This is seen most clearly in Proverbs, which is presented as the advice of a father to his son (except for Proverbs 31 which is said to be a Queen Mother's teaching to her son, the king).
As you read the wisdom literature, understand that, like the psalms, these books are designed to instruct and to form the children of God's worldwide family.
This is the meaning of the strange passage in David's prayer of thanksgiving for His covenant - "This too You have shown to man" (see 2 Samuel 7:19). The phrase in Hebrew is "torah 'adam" - literally, "the law of mankind." This is what wisdom is - God's law, given through His king, for all men and women.
The Davidic Kingdom
The wisdom books are meant to instruct people like Job, a righteous non-Jew who, in his extraordinary sufferings, seeks saving knowledge and redemption: "Whence, then, comes wisdom" he cries, "and where is the place of understanding?"
He finally arrives at the answer: "The fear of the Lord is wisdom" (see Job 28:20,23,28).
This is the refrain you will hear running beneath all the practical counsel and advice found in these books: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord" (see Proverbs 9:10)
Of course "fear of the Lord," doesn't mean cowering in fright before the Lord. It means reverence and awe, the loving trust of a child: "All wisdom is fear of the Lord. Perfect wisdom is the fulfillment of the Law" (see Sirach 19:17).
The Law given to Moses is seen in the wisdom literature as the perfect reflection of divine wisdom. At times, you will even see Wisdom depicted as divine Person - a communication of God, who "created her...poured her forth upon all His works" (see Sirach 1:7-8; Proverbs 8).
II. Study Questions for Lesson 10
1. Why is Mount Moriah
2. What is the todah?
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