Day 167, June 16: Bible reading & prayer

1 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 8 (chronological); Nehemiah 1-3, Acts 2:1-13 (OT/NT)

Yesterday we read six more Psalms, likely also used for the occasion of the dedication of the temple built by King Solomon in Jerusalem. Repeating what I wrote yesterday, this brings the total number of Psalms we’ve read to 139. Chronologically, the first two were written by Moses, and then the great majority were written by David or during the time of David, and nine were written after David’s death, early in the reign of Solomon. The next Psalms we’ll read weren’t written until the time of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. I am still putting excerpts from the Psalms we read in my chronological order of the book of Psalms.

Psalm 134, “A Song of Ascents”: “bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD”

Psalm 146: “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation….How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever; Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free. The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous; The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.”

Psalm 147: “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is becoming….The LORD favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”

Psalm 148: “Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.”

Psalm 149: “He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. Let the godly ones exult in glory; Let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, To execute vengeance on the nations And punishment on the peoples, To bind their kings with chains And their nobles with fetters of iron, To execute on them the judgment written; This is an honor for all His godly ones. Praise the LORD!”

Psalm 150: “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!”

Our reading two days ago included promises and warnings given by God to Solomon after the dedication of the temple, recorded in 2 Chronicles 7. We will read those same promises and warnings today in 1 Kings 9.

The reign of King Solomon is recounted in 1 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.

I include housekeeping details daily for those who have newly joined this study. I usually try to schedule the timing of each day’s post so there is consistency, but sometimes I fail due to my own schedule. If you are looking for the day’s reading earlier than the post is available, you can always search for the same day’s reading from last year.

An overview of our yearly Bible reading plan, with all edited summaries so far, can be found here. My appeal for the resolution to read your Bibles is here. My challenge for us to read in wonder, recognizing the Bible is true and has consequence for our lives is here.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

I do find typos in my writing after the fact. I schedule these posts early, but always re-read and edit them on the morning they’re posted. So, if you notice a lot of typos in an email version, just check back on Substack for an edited version (you can tell the timing of my editing by when I post the day’s reading and prayer on X: @KDMilhoanMD. If you found this study this way, praise God, and…welcome!)

June 16 chronological reading: 1 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 8

1 Kings 9

v1-5 “Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all that Solomon desired to do, that the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. The LORD said to him, 'I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, "You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.”

v6-9 ‘But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, "Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?" And they will say, "Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the LORD has brought all this adversity on them.”’

v10-14 “It came about at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king’s house (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold according to all his desire), then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. So Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him. He said, ‘What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?’ So they were called the land of Cabul to this day. And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

v15-22 “Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon levied to build the house of the LORD, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower Beth-horon and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, and all the storage cities which Solomon had, even the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule. As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel, their descendants who were left after them in the land whom the sons of Israel were unable to destroy utterly, from them Solomon levied forced laborers, even to this day. But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his servants, his princes, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

v23 “These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.

v24 “As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo.

v25 “Now three times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to the LORD, burning incense with them on the altar which was before the LORD. So he finished the house.

v26-28 “King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. They went to Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.”

2 Chronicles 8

v1-2 “Now it came about at the end of the twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house that he built the cities which Huram had given to him, and settled the sons of Israel there.

v3-6 “Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it. He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities which he had built in Hamath. He also built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates and bars; and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.

v7-10 “All of the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, namely, from their descendants who were left after them in the land whom the sons of Israel had not destroyed, them Solomon raised as forced laborers to this day. But Solomon did not make slaves for his work from the sons of Israel; they were men of war, his chief captains and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. These were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty who ruled over the people.

v11 “Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, ‘My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy where the ark of the LORD has entered.’

v12-13 “Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD which he had built before the porch; and did so according to the daily rule, offering them up according to the commandment of Moses, for the sabbaths, the new moons and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths.

v14-15 “Now according to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for David the man of God had so commanded. And they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any manner or concerning the storehouses [see 1 Chronicles 23-29, Day 145 & Day 147].

v16 “Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.

v17-18 “Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the seashore in the land of Edom. And Huram by his servants sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.”

June 16 OT/NT readings: Nehemiah 1-3, Acts 2:1-13

We finished the book of Ezra yesterday, and today we will start reading Nehemiah in the Old Testament plan. The text of Nehemiah 1-3 is available on Day 269 of the chronological plan. Ezra, the priest and scribe, recounted the story of the first group of exiles that returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, under the decree of King Cyrus of Persia, and rebuilt the temple. Ezra was part of a later group of exiles that returned from Babylon to Jerusalem, during the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. Nehemiah, cup bearer to King Artaxerxes, went from Babylon to Jerusalem in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, led the rebuilding of its walls in 52 miraculous days, and then became governor for twelve years.

Reminder that the line of the kings of Israel ended when the kingdom of Israel was carried into exile by the Assyrians. Assyria was conquered by Babylon, and the Babylonians eventually carried the kingdom of Judah into exile, destroying Solomon’s temple. The genealogical line of the kings of Judah was preserved under exile (as I’ve noted before, all the way to Jesus the Messiah), though their rule was not. The Babylonians were conquered by the Medo-Persians, and Persian King Cyrus fulfilled prophecy spoken by the LORD through Jeremiah when he decreed that exiles could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Ezra tells the story of this return to Jerusalem and the building of the temple, and his own later return to Jerusalem under a later Persian King Artaxerxes. 2 Chronicles ended with the exile of the kingdom of Judah to Babylon, and the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the temple.

We read in Ezra 1 and 2 about Persian King Cyrus’ decree to allow the exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, and that 42,360 returned, besides male and female servants. We read in Ezra 3-5 that the exiles initially returned to and lived in their cities, but in the seventh month, they gathered to Jerusalem, built the altar of the God of Israel, celebrated the Feast of Booths, and made offerings as required by the Law. In the second month of the second year, they laid the foundation of the temple, but “the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia,” who issued a decree to stop building, and “work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased [by force of arms], and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.” Eventually, the words of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah inspired Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel [in the line of the kings of Judah] and Jeshua the son of Jozadak [in the line of the priests] to continue building. The governor and the officials wrote to King Darius. Meanwhile, “the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report could come to Darius, and then a written reply be returned concerning it.”

We read in Ezra 6 that Persian “King Darius issued a decree, and search was made in the archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon.” King Cyrus’ decree was found, so King Darius issued a decree that the Jews be allowed to rebuild the temple, with the cost to be paid from the royal treasury.” Thus, “the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia….And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy….Then they appointed the priests to their divisions and the Levites in their orders for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.” Then they observed the Passover and “the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had caused them to rejoice, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”

Ezra himself entered the story in Ezra 7. He went up to Jerusalem under the decree of King Artaxerxes of Persia. “Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” The king recognized Ezra, priest and scribe, as “learned in the words of the commandments of the LORD and His statutes to Israel.” He allowed any that were willing to go with Ezra, he gave offerings from the royal treasury, and he commanded that Ezra be given whatever he needed as “commanded by the God of heaven…so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons.” He commanded Ezra, “according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, even all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them.”

Just as Ezra 2 recorded those who first went up to Jerusalem under the decree of King Cyrus, Ezra 8 recorded those who went with Ezra. They assembled at the river Ahava, fasted and prayed for a safe journey, and the LORD answered their prayer. When they arrived in Jerusalem, they delivered to the temple the treasure that King Artaxerxes had offered.

Yesterday’s story in Ezra was quite remarkable. The princes of the people of Israel approached Ezra and confessed, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.”

Ezra understood the significance of this sin. God had commanded through Moses that this not be done so that the people of Israel would not be led astray into the worship of other gods. It was Solomon’s foreign wives who had led him astray to the worship of other gods, and the kingdom of Israel was divided as a result, and then finally led into exile. Ezra wrote, “When I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering. But at the evening offering I arose from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the LORD my God.” Ezra prayed a prayer of confession, realizing, “After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this, shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations?”

Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept bitterly….“We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. So now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise! For this matter is your responsibility, but we will be with you; be courageous and act.”

Then Ezra rose and made the leading priests, the Levites and all Israel, take oath that they would do according to this proposal; so they took the oath….They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they should assemble at Jerusalem, and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his possessions should be forfeited and he himself excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days….all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain. Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel. Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” Then all the assembly replied with a loud voice, “That’s right! As you have said, so it is our duty to do….until the fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.”

Over the course of three months, Ezra and the heads of fathers’ households investigated all the exiles who had married foreign wives, and most were willing to put away their foreign wives and offer sacrifices for their offenses.

We started the book of Acts yesterday in the New Testament plan. This account by Luke begins after Jesus’ resurrection and before His ascension into heaven. Luke summarized about his Gospel account, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.” Remember Luke wrote about that first account to Theophilus, “having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, [I wrote] it out for you in consecutive order…so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

Luke taught us at the beginning of Acts, “To [the apostles Jesus] also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” When they asked Him, “‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’ And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.’”

After this, they were gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem. “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said, ‘Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.’…Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.’ So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. And they prayed and said, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”

A summary of the book of Acts, which is really a summary of the rest of the New Testament, including when all the letters of the apostles were written, is here.

Acts 2

v1-4 “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

v5-13 “Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, ‘Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.’ And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others were mocking and saying, ‘They are full of sweet wine.’”

Dear Lord,

they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance….“we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”

Tongues are a mystery to us, but they are given by Your Holy Spirit and they speak of the mighty deeds of God. May we trust You as the Giver of all gifts of the Spirit, and may we desire to glorify You and You alone.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.