1 Kings 20-21

(August 1, 2014)

                There were two thoughts that I had as I read through these chapters.  The first was on the idea that the Lord is the God of only some things (the God of the hills, as opposed to the plains, in this instance).  There are, modernly, a great number of people who attempt to constrain God to be the God of only what they want Him to be God of.  The clearest example of that is the New Atheism that seeks to say that God is the God of theology but not of science – as if rationality were the plains, and God and His people dare not enter into that battleground.

                God is the God of the whole Earth.  He is the God of the hills and the plains.  He is the God of faith and of reason.  He can meet any army on any battleground, and He will prevail.  We seek to limit Him only out of our pride, rather than recognizing who He is and what He is capable of.

                The second thought was at the close with Ahab’s repentance in sackcloth and ashes, and how the Lord then said that ruin would come to his son rather than him.  At first this seemed very hard to me – after all, I have made mistakes and I don’t want my sons to suffer for those mistakes even if I am repentant.  But it dawned on me that had the sons repented likewise in sackcloth and ashes, they too would be spared.  In fact, each of us is required to repent in sackcloth and ashes or we will not be accounted worthy to stand.  So the best we can hope for is to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling and to best teach our children and those around us to do so for themselves.  Then it is all left up to their efforts and the Lord’s Grace.