Other comments on this day's readings can be found here.
Reading 1 - 2Ki 1
"1Ki and 2Ki were originally one book divided into two by the
LXX (BC 294-289). It appears Isaiah and Jeremiah were the authors, using the
public records of the kings. It could be that Isaiah wrote to the time of
Hezekiah (2Ch 32:32). Jewish tradition says that Jeremiah was the author. The
purpose of the book is to show the reason for the Davidic Kingdom being
disrupted and to reveal why Yahweh sent Israel into captivity (Eze 21:24-32). It
describes the events in the Northern Kingdom of Israel from the ministry of
Elisha to the death of Jehu, Israel's 10th king (2Ki 1-10). It provides
alternating annals of both kingdoms to the captivity of Israel. Jonah, Amos and
Hosea prophesied at this time in the north (2Ki 11-17). The record continues to
the end of the Kingdom. The prophets Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Jeremiah prophesied at this time (2Ki 18-25). Judah
outdistanced Israel for over a century. The Northern Kingdom was compared to the
shameful example of Jeroboam. The Southern Kingdom was likened to the glory of
David. The one example cast the shadows of death; the other revealed the light
of life. Nineteen kings reigned over the north for a period of 250 years, whilst
20 kings reigned in the south from the time of the Disruption for 390 years. The
19 kings of the north came from 7 different dynasties in contrast to the one
dynasty in the South. The record of the kings graphically shows the faithfulness
of Yahweh to the Davidic Covenant in the preservation of a line (cp 2Ki 8:19)"
(GE Mansfield).
Reading 2 - Jer 50; 51
Jer 50; 51 is the most detailed prophecy of the fall of
Babylon. And again, this passage was certainly fulfilled in 539 BC. But a number
of verses suggest a future fulfillment: " 'In those days, at that time,'
declares the Lord, 'the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will
go in tears to seek the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn
their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an
everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten' " (Jer 50:4,5). When in the
past has Israel bound itself in a perpetual covenant to the Lord at Jerusalem, a
covenant that cannot and will not be broken? Never. So these verses have yet to
be fulfilled.
" 'But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture and he
will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his appetite will be satisfied on the hills of
Ephraim and Gilead. In those days, at that time,' declares the Lord, 'search
will be made for Israel's guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of
Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare' " (Jer
50:19,20).
Israel will experience true forgiveness only when they accept
Jesus as their Messiah. That event is yet future.
Reading 3 - 1Co 10:32
"Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the
church of God" (1Co 10:32).
"Regardless of how 'lawful' a thing may be for us, if it is
not a necessity but just a matter of our pleasure and desire, and if we know
that it will distress our brethren and sisters, and weaken the ecclesia, and
perhaps even divide it; and if we ignore the tears and pleadings of those who
implore us to put the love of God and the peace and welfare of the ecclesia
ahead of our own selfishness -- and if we still go ahead with our willful
course, then we have committed a serious sin before God. We have brazenly
declared that our own present pleasure and satisfaction is more important to us
than the love of God or the ecclesia's wellbeing. We have declared that we
neither have nor understand the beautiful, self-sacrificing spirit of Christ,
and that we are, therefore, none of his. We may argue all too truly that few
indeed have this. That's beside the point. The point is: do WE have it? Can we
face Christ without it?" (GVG).