Mike Blogs

Bathsheba’s son Solomon’s birth name was Jedeiah, ‘beloved by Yahweh’. In some ways he was like his father David, and in other ways he was not like his father. David came from the bottom of society up, Solomon was born royalty. David fought many battles and even had to fend off attempts by his sons to usurp the throne. Solomon was not a warrior but more like a sage, a wise man collecting wise sayings and writing poetry. Of course, David wrote poetry too as he composed many of

God has excoriated the wise, the rich, and the powerful in Judean society with the words of the prophet that we read last week. What remains is God’s prediction/prophecy of what is going to happen. I said last week, “They will pay the price for ignorance and disobedience.”   Along the way in this text there are many voices with claims, objections, and questions, including the voices of Yahweh and Jeremiah. It is more difficult to read without attributions for the quotes, rath

This will conclude the sub-series about the many wives of David. Let’s back up for a bit of perspective on this darker side of David’s life, his relationship with his wives and children. David was not much of a family man, it turns out.  Let’s clarify the chronological order. I presented episodes according to the particular wife I was writing about. However, the stories do overlap as do the wives. So, what order did they come in and what difference did it make? Michal  was

God returns to poetry to express his passion; because the people that God loves have become so certain of their view of the world, about what it means to know God and what are appropriate ways to treat one’s neighbor that they no longer question their own behavior. One should always be self-critical, examining all one’s beliefs and perceptions. Does knowing God mean knowing about God or does it mean having an ongoing relationsjhip with God? Is knowing the Law the same and fu

As you no doubt have guessed, I have a reason for putting the word ‘merry’ in quotation marks for this subseries. So far, the wives of David have not always been merry, and David has not always been thoughtful and kind. Seems that David was always lusting, rarely loving.    The affair with Bathsheba, including the killing of her husband, Uriah, seems to have been the tipping point that exposed David’s weakness as a husband and as a father.    Last week we read that God’s prop

Last week we learned that according to God neither worship or rituals (songs or sacraments) nor sacrifices (sheep or tithes) come first. First comes obedience to God. God says that this was his first word to newly escaped Israelites: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you” (Jeremiah 7:21-23).   There is proper worship with sacraments and offerings, but these will not stand al

“ Thou art the man! ”   “Everyone keep cool; nothing going on here, no deception. We’re just the people of God sitting around talking, right?”  “ Thou art the man!”  “Who keeps saying that? And why is he speaking King James English? Maybe we will wake up; it’s a nightmare, right?”  Yes, David and Bathsheba, it is a nightmare, but you are not asleep. Instead, Nathan the prophet is here in the king’s court, and he has been telling a story. Wind it back a little. Listen again to

Look back a few verses to verse 4: “Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD’.  It is not clear whether this is a chant, or just an oft-repeated saying. Either way, it's like whistling in the dark while walking through a cemetery. Some people are like that at church; thinking they are safe when they are not.   Jeremiah 7: 8-11.  Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal,

“ Thou art the man! ”   “Everyone keep cool; nothing going on here. We’re just the people of God sitting around talking, right?”  “ Thou art the man!”   “Who keeps saying that? And why is he speaking King James English? Maybe we should wake up; it’s a nightmare, right?”  Yes, David and Bathsheba, it is a nightmare, but you are not asleep. Instead, Nathan the prophet is here in the king’s court, and he has been telling a story. Wind it back a little. Listen to the story that

Jeremiah 7: 1-2.  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah, you who enter these gates to worship the LORD’.”   With this heading, we can see that the sermons or prophecies of the previous chapters are now behind us and we move on to a new part of the story. In fact, if Chapters 2-6 are a collection of Jeremiah’s early prophecies, as they seem

One would think that David has enough wives; but his attitude and behavior toward women is his weakness. His character flaw carries over into the next generation; it is also Solomon’s weakness. We saw some of the results because we followed the woes of David’s wife Maacah to its end, that is, until Scripture stops telling her story. That tragedy happened after this affair with Bathsheba. In fact, this case of adultery unwinds David’s life.   Who was at fault? Scripture is not

Jeremiah 6:16-21.   Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads and look,    and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies;  and walk in it,  and find rest for your souls. But they said,  “We will not walk in it.” Also, I raised up sentinels for you:     “Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!” But they said,  “We will not give heed.” Therefore hear, O nations,    and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on

We return to the conclusion of the story of Maacah, the only royal princess among David’s wives. She was in grief over the rape of her daughter Tamar by one of David’s other children, a son by a different wife. Amnon had tricked David to send Tamar to him. He faked being sick, but then overpowered Tamar. It was a deceitful and violent rape. However, King David, the leading judge over the land, did nothing to comfort Tamar and Maacah nor did he punish Amnon. The text says th

God spoke the last line of Chapter 5: "An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule as the prophets direct; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?”   If God speaks to us through Scripture, and we believe that God does this, what is God saying to us today through the prophet Jeremiah? First comes a warning we should heed. “Prophets and priests” are religious personnel; so are today's p

Thanks to Luke, we have more insight into Mary’s thoughts, wishes, and suffering than we do for most other women in the Bible. Luke says that he “ investigated everything carefully from the very first.” My own guess is that, among his informants, that is, among the “ eyewitnesses and servants of the word” that he consulted, was Mary. Mary was young when Jesus was born, perhaps just 15, and we know that she lived into the AD 30s because she was at the cross. She could have li

God, through the prophet Jeremiah, is making his last call to the only remaining Jewish state in the ancient world: Judah.   The northern kingdom, which was called Israel, disappeared from the annals of history in 721 BC, one of many conquests of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-609 BC). The people living in Israel were deported in order to prevent them from organizing a rebellion against Assyria. They are sometimes referred to as ‘the ten lost tribes,” but they were not all lost

Did you ever feel like you are not getting the respect that you deserve? Other people are emerging as the big players on the field while you remain on the sidelines. It may be that this wife of David felt that way. Or perhaps early in her lifetime, she was in the game, maybe even cherished by David at one time, but we don’t read much about later in life. Her name was Maacah. She was the mother of Absalom, Tamar, and Hanan. And therein lies the tale.  After Saul and his son Jo

Hope for the nation of Judah? No. God has made that clear. Unless there is mass repentance, that is, the leaders publicly confess their sins and bow only to YHWH and people abandon their idols, ideals, and the ideology of military domination over other nations (power), of the legitimacy of fleecing the lower classes (greed), and the practice of abusing others for their own pleasure (lust). Unless there is widespread repentance and prayers for forgiveness, there is no hope for

Abigail you may have heard of, and David you know; or at least you think you do. Maybe you know the good parts with that one big mistake with Bathsheba. There is more, though, as you will see later.  While David was on the run, King Saul took back his daughter Michal and gave her to another man as his wife. From the devotionals for the last two weeks, we know that during this time he took a widow named Abigail as his wife. We actually know something about her.  However, at ab

Perhaps you have heard about the Greek philosopher Diogenes the Cynic. He lit a lantern during daylight hours and walked around town. When people asked him what he was doing, he said: “I am looking for an honest man.” Actually, according to the reports of other philosophers, he said he was tired of brutes and animals, so he was looking for a human. Of course, the ‘brutes and animals’ were human beings of little worth, and he could not find a human of any worth. Diogenes lived