Author: Norm

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 11 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. [Matthew 21:43] This chapter shows both God’s justice and mercy. Solomon’s sin results in the eventual breakdown of Solomon’s kingdom. But the kingdom is not totally destroyed –…

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 10 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. [Luke 12:15] Jesus’ warning was one piece of wisdom Solomon forgot. This chapter sets the stage for the fall that follows. We see his great success, fame and power, yet…

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 9 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, `You shall never fail…

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 8 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! [1 Kings 8:27] God cannot be contained by a temple, Solomon knows this. But he also knows that God chooses to reveal Himself powerfully, and personally, through His covenant bond…

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 7 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. [Matthew 6:28-29] Solomon in all his splendour! When I read 1 Kings 7, I am struck…

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 6 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.” [1 Kings 6:12-13]…

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 5 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, `Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’ [1 Kings 5:5] A permanent, fixed temple was not God’s…

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 4 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy. [1 Kings 4:20] This describes the blessing God promised Abraham: I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand…