Bible Studies, Inspired by Faith and Science

So many prophets, so many names, so many missing books: I hope you're enjoying our trip through the prophets as much as I am, and I'm sure we'll soon come to names more familiar from lists of books in the Bible. This week we're going to meet a familiar prophet without a book of his own - is that like a minister without portfolio in the British government? (5) More Prophets, Priests and Kings We usually think of the Northern Kingdom as being “more evil” than the Southern after Israel splits. Read 1 Kings 14:22-25 and see if you think that’s true. What parts of the modern world do we consider more evil? Should we? After the split, many priests return from the North to the (Southern) Temple, as might be expected. Those who return write Chronicles, which characterizes priesthood as vitally important, and the North as comprehensively evil. Read 2 Chronicles 11:13-17. Do we try to twist things into simple good and evil when the world’s really more complicated? Sh

We're coming up to where the kingdom grew and split, where worship of God got mixed with so many other things, and where prophets, major minor and unknown, were led in trying to hold things together. I'm looking forward to seeing where each prophet appears. But the first ones might not even be ones that we know: (4) Who is the Next Prophet? Which three prophets did we look at last week? Read 1 Chronicles 29:29 What happened to their books? How is Solomon’s anointing different from David’s and Saul’s? Read 1 Kings 1:22-34. 2 Samuel 7:12-15, 26, 1 Chronicles 22:1-9 1.        Does God always do things the same way? 2.        Does God want us to always do things the same way? 3.        Is it okay if we make our own choices about what to do? David instructs Solomon in the politics of succession, which in those days included killing your father’s enemies and any alternate claimants to the throne. What are the politics of succession in modern-day America? Should

Samuel was still the nation's prophet when David became king. But who came next? That's where our next study in prophets, major minor and unknown, takes us: 1.        Kings were ordained by prophets, so let’s start with the first two kings, Saul and David. Do you remember what 3 crimes caused Saul to lose God’s favor? Does God keep count of our sins? Read 1 Samuel 15:22-23, 35. What modern sins might a modern Samuel speak of? 2.        Do you remember what Saul was doing when Samuel anointed him? What was David doing before his anointing? Read 1 Samuel 16:11. How should we be ready to hear God’s call? 3.        Do you remember Saul’s appearance? How does it compare with David’s? Read 1 Samuel 9:1-2, 16:12 4.        We all know the David and Goliath story, but what was David doing before he fought Goliath? Try to answer before reading the next reference. 5.        Read 1 Samuel 16:18-21. How does this square with 1 Samuel 17:17-20 ? How does it square with t