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The House of Solomon is no more. Rehoboam, his son, is unable to remain on the throne, and in his place there is another called Jeroboam.
But Jeroboam is not a secure king, and he makes his home not in Jerusalem, where the great temple is and where the royal palaces are, instead, he chooses to live in Schechem, the hill country in Ephraim. But in doing so, he also intends to make that place the center of attention.
For he knows full well that the people will travel to Jerusalem at least twice a year for the holy festivals. And once there, Jeroboam is afraid that there might be a movement to reconsider Rehoboam as king. And so, Jeroboam does a most abominable thing: he installs two large idols—golden images of calves, and introduces these as alternatives for worship and to offer sacrifices to. There is now no need to go down to Jerusalem, you see!
And if you wonder what Jeroboam must have been thinking in doing this, you wonder even more at what the people must have been thinking in going along with this sacrilegious idea! If their two-thousand year old history had taught them one thing, it was this: idolatry is prohibited, and is the numero uno commandment in the set of laws handed down to them.
And yet, time and time again, the people and the kings of Israel have turned away from Yahweh, the living God, to graven and molten images of animals made with and by their own hands. These momentary lapses of reason occur every so often, it seems, but they do serve to make the point that these are people with all the frailties of humanity. They fall and pick themselves up; then, they fall again, and yet again go through the motions.
But there are strange things happening in the kingdom of Jeroboam. Warnings are not heeded; prophesies are made; prophets are deceived; and there is no end to the general disarray among the people of Israel. It is to be seen if the prophecy concerning a new king by the name of Josiah will indeed come true.
Turning now to our reading in the book of Acts, we begin to see the new life of Saul after his conversion on the road to Damascus. Some time has passed, and Saul now returns to Jerusalem and begins to preach this new gospel regarding Jesus Christ being the Messiah to his Jewish brethren, but they will hear none of it. They are quick to make clear their intent toward him: they seek to kill him! And so, Saul must be careful for his life, and he receives support and protection from a young man by the name of Barnabas. We will continue to learn more about Saul in the days to come.
In the meantime, we learn about Peter’s continued ministry of teaching, preaching, and even healing. Does this not sound familiar to you? Is this not what our Lord Jesus himself did while he moved within their midst? And now that Jesus’ work was complete in the great redemption on the cross, and in the new covenant that had been established, his disciples had been endowed by the Holy Spirit to allow them to minister and serve the people and to spread this good news, aka, the gospel, everywhere they went.
In this passage, we learn about how Peter, empowered by the Spirit, raises two people on two different occasions to full health. While the man, Aneas, is paralyzed, the woman called Tabitha is said to be dead. While Aneas is restored to full health, Tabitha is raised from the dead!
This is the first and possibly only account of the disciples raising a person from the dead. Imagine the reaction of the townsfolk, nay, of the surrounding regions to which word about this miraculous act would have been sure to spread.
Turning now to our reading in the book of Psalms, we find a psalm in which David is perhaps speaking of himself in the third person. The psalmist is recounting the great promise made by the Lord to the House of David in these verses:
11 The LORD swore an oath to David,
a sure oath he will not revoke:
“One of your own descendants
I will place on your throne. 12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the statutes I teach them,
then their sons will sit
on your throne for ever and ever.”
Finally, a lovely verse that affirms the great gift of parents, grandparents, and children. Each is a blessing to the other.
6 Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
