Friday, May 31, 2013

1 Kings 14-15 & 1 Corinthians 15

A two part narrative now begins in 1 Kings 14 as the story follows the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Following on Jeroboam's sin of creating high places of worship, we find out that his son, Abijah, is sick. Seeking to find out what will happen to Abijah, Jeroboam sends his wife, in disguise, to see the prophet Ahijah. God sends word to Ahijah that he will have a visitor who is Jeroboam's wife and gives him a message to give her.

It is not good news. Ahijah tells her that because of Jeroboam's sin, because he has failed to follow God in the manner of David, God will tear the kingdom away from Jeroboam and Jeroboam's line will die. The moment his wife sets foot back into the city, her son will die. At least her son will be mourned and have a proper burial, the rest of Jeroboam's line will not. Of course we are not told about how the line will die, just a short statement that Jeroboam dies with the rest of the information in the Book of Annals of the Kings of Israel, which has not be recovered.

Meanwhile in Judah, things are not much better. Rehoboam reigns but Judah is falling away from God. They are erecting new altars and following the ways of the other people. A sign of how far Judah has fallen is offered in the reality that Egypt is able to come sack the city and steal many of the items that Solomon had gathered, including treasures from the temple itself.

We are also told that a constant state of war seems to exist between Jeroboam and Rehoboam. The tribes of Israel have not found peace, only bloodshed.

The fall of Judah and Israel into sin continues in 1 Kings 15 as the pattern emerges. For the most part, the north will continue in its sin, growing worse with each king and reaching the lowest point under King Ahab. For Judah, it is more of a mixed bag, with most kings not following God but some, such as Asa, doing what they can to remain faithful to the covenant and follow the example of David.

The warfare between Israel and Judah continues, and Israel seems to have the upper hand in capturing territory in the south. The encroachment towards Jerusalem becomes such a concern, that Judah creates an alliance with Aram (Syria) to go to war against Israel. During this war, Israel is subdued and Judah is able to reclaim lost territory.

The story of Baasha confirms the judgment against Jeroboam, as Baasha eliminates any competition for the throne from his relatives, so the line of Jeroboam is cut short.

1 Corinthians 15

For Paul, to deny the resurrection is to deny the Gospel itself. It would seem that either some people in Corinth believed that spiritually they had achieved the "resurrection" in a spiritual level, or they held a belief that saw the resurrection as being spiritual following death. Both held a very limited and negative view of the human body and many denigrated matter and substance as well, which was a core of many of the Greek philosophers.

Paul, however, can only affirm the bodily resurrection. To deny the resurrection in a bodily form, negates the resurrection of Christ, who did appear to many including Paul. To deny a resurrection means that all belief in Jesus is for naught. God did raise the body in the Christ, God did defeat the power of death. Whatever shape or form of the body is only conjecture but for Paul, we will be transformed on that day. Our spiritual bodies will come and we will live in the kingdom forever. To deny this is to deny Christ.

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