The Bible180 challenge, week 11

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The Bible180 challenge, week 11

It's sometime in the mid-900s B.C., Jerusalem, Israel.

The nation is in chaos. King Solomon, maybe the nation's most impressive king in terms of wisdom and splendor, has reached and passed the peak of his greatness; he has recently completed the building of the magnificent Temple, he has become famous throughout the known world for his wisdom, he has "made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem" (1 Kings 10:27). But just when all is nearly perfect, sin creeps in - silent and smooth, like the serpent in the Garden - and God's covenant with Israel demands that He respond to Solomon's rebellion:

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The Bible180 challenge, week 10

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The Bible180 challenge, week 10

It's week 10, and we've finally started into the stories of the kings. King Solomon has been crowned, the incredible Temple has been built, and the spectating Israelites "went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David His servant and to Israel His people" (1 Kings 8:66b). At last, after their centuries of slavery and decades in the wilderness and long years of growing pains as a nation, it feels like Israel has found rest in her Promised Land.

And it's here, at the pinnacle of their prosperity, that we heard God issue a prophetic warning.

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