Devin and I are studying 1 and 2 Kings together. I used to write his bible studies and post them on the blog. This was to show Devin how to observe, apply, and pray scripture. Now Devin and I are doing the study together. He shares what he observes and I share what I observe. The primary is goal is for him to be able to nourish his spirit with the word of God and live it out loud each day. Today we observed 1 Kings 13:1-10. I want to encourage you to read it as well. Here are some of the key points that we observed and applied today.
Scripture
S - Read 1 Kings13: 1-10
1 Kings 13:2 "He cried against the alter by the word of the LORD, and said, "O alter, alter, thus say's the LORD, 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you."
Observation
A man of the LORD, who is not named, traveled from Judah (Southern Kingdom), to Israel (Northern Kingdom). There he went to an alter where Jeroboam was offering incense at the alter of a false god. The man of the LORD cries against the alter, prophesying that a king would come from the line of David that would kill the priests that offered sacrifices on this alter. The priests would be a sacrifice and would be burned on this very alter. Moreover, the man of the LORD names the king that would come, his name would be Josiah. As a side note, we highlighted verse two because it is prophesying about a future event.
To prove the authenticity of the message the man of the LORD offers up a sign. He say's that this alter will be split apart and ashes shall pour out of it. Sure enough in verse 5 that very thing happens.
King Jeroboam is very upset and wants this man of the LORD to be arrested; but the king's arm dries up and he ends up having to call on this man of the LORD for help. The man of the LORD calls on God to heal Jeroboam and Jeroboam is healed.
King Jeroboam offers the man of the LORD to come dine with him. But the man refuses saying that God had instructed him to not eat or drink anything, and not to travel back to Judah the same way he came.
Special Notes:
- This man of the LORD was not given a name
- He traveled outside of his comfort zone into enemy territory
- He rebuked the alter, not Jeroboam
- He spoke the word of the LORD only when he came. (Devin and I mark references to the Word of the LORD in our bibles).
- He was prepared to prove himself and trusted God for a miracle.
- He was surely tired and could have felt he deserved a good meal, but he chose to be obedient to God instead.
- He traveled back a different route then how we came.
Application
- Living for God is not about making our name famous, but His.
- When you choose to follow Christ, be prepared to step outside your comfort zone.
- When called to convict of sin, be careful only to use the words that God has given and rebuke the sin, not the sinner.
- Be bold in your requests of God and believe Him to be big enough to do it.
- Even when it looks like everything is OK, don't stop until you complete all that God has called you to do, for the favor of God is better than the favor of man.
- Be prepared to take a different route to places. Don't rely on your own wisdom or leading, rely only on God's. Sometimes that means a different road will need to be traveled.
Prayer
We prayed for boldness of character. That we would trust God to do what He say's He is going to do. We prayed that our lives would be about Him and not about us.
No comments:
Post a Comment