Tag: Old Testament Sinners and Saints

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Biblical People: Elijah (2)

Elijah

Our first encounter with Elijah in Scripture occurs when he goes to King Ahab to warn of a famine-producing drought; no dew or rain will fall until Elijah says so. During this famine, God provides for Elijah, first through ravens at a brook and later through a widow in Zarephath.

After three years of no rain, God sends Elijah back to Ahab. Elijah challenges Ahab’s prophets of Baal and Asherah to a spiritual competition of sorts. Elijah and the prophets will each build an altar and pray for fire to rain down from the sky and ignite the offering. The deity who answers will prove he is God. 

The 450 prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of Asherah build their altar and cry out to their gods to send fire. Nothing happens.

Elijah taunts them. 

They plead even more, dancing with fervor and mutilating themselves to get their gods’ attention. Still, nothing happens.

Now it’s Elijah’s turn. He builds his altar and arranges the sacrifice on it. Then he drenches everything with water. He prays a simple prayer to God—no pleading, dancing, or self-affliction—asking the Almighty to send fire so the people will know he is the one true God.

Fire shoots down from the sky, burning up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil around the altar, even consuming the water Elijah poured on everything.

The people bow low in worship, proclaiming the Lord is God.

Instead of joining the celebration, however, Elijah instructs the people to seize the prophets of Baal and Asherah. He executes all 850 of them. 

Elijah prays for rain and a downpour occurs.

This would be the perfect place to end our story, but there’s more.

When evil Queen Jezebel learns what Elijah did, she threatens to kill him. He runs away in fear.

Yet God doesn’t give up on his fickle prophet. He reveals his presence and speaks to Elijah in a quiet whisper. Among other things, God tells him to go and anoint Elisha to succeed him.

Elijah does, and later God takes him up into heaven in a whirlwind. That’s the end of the story.

Do we have the courage to do what God says even when the odds are against us? Have we ever floundered under the threats of one person, like Elijah did?

[Read Elijah’s story in 1 King 17–19 and 2 King 1–2. Discover more in James 5:17–18.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Jehoshaphat (3)

Jehoshaphat

Jehoshaphat is the great-great-grandson of King Solomon. Though Solomon’s father David ruled well as a man after God’s own heart, Solomon’s heart was divided and many succeeding kings in their family line did more evil than good.

Jehoshaphat is an exception. 

Scripture calls him a good king, just like his father Asa. He follows his father’s example and doesn’t stray from how his dad raised him.

During Jehoshaphat’s twenty-five-year reign, his country, Judah, experiences a time of peace with the nation of Israel. Although Jehoshaphat allies himself with Israel’s evil king Ahab in conducting a joint military campaign, God doesn’t criticize Jehoshaphat for doing so.

Overall, the Bible characterizes Jehoshaphat as someone who does what is right in God’s eyes. Yet this doesn’t mean he does everything he should have. No one does. 

Despite ruling with wisdom and following God, Jehoshaphat fails to remove the high places where the people go to offer sacrifices and burn incense, contrary to God’s command.

Though we could fault Jehoshaphat for this one failure, remember that the Bible characterizes him as doing what is right. This is his legacy.

Do we judge others on what they do right or what they do wrong? As Asa did with Jehoshaphat, what are we doing to train the next generation to follow God?

[Read Jehoshaphat’s story in 1 Kings 22. Discover more in Matthew 1:1–8.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Ahab (1)

Ahab

After Solomon’s reign, the nation of Israel splits into two countries. David’s line continues to rule the nation of Judah, while other kings reign over the rest of Israel. Both nations have God as their legacy, but the kings of Israel are consistent in not following him. They rebel and do evil.

One such king, who reigns about a century after David, is Ahab. He’s the evilest king of Israel so far. He establishes the worship of foreign gods, Asherah and Baal, instead of God. 

He marries Jezebel, a woman even more wicked than himself. Though we can criticize her for her negative influence on her husband, he alone is at fault for what he does.

Ahab begins his twenty-two-year rule as king of Israel while Asa, a good king, reigns in Judah. When Asa dies, his son Jehoshaphat succeeds him. Jehoshaphat is also a God-honoring king like his father.

Though Ahab and Jehoshaphat are opposite from a faith perspective, their nations have a common heritage and a common enemy, the nation of Aram. When Ahab asks Jehoshaphat to join forces in battle to retake the town of Ramoth Gilead, Jehoshaphat agrees.

But he also wants to seek God’s counsel. Ahab’s four hundred prophets all predict victory. Jehoshaphat, however, wants input from the Lord’s prophets. Ahab knows of one, Micaiah. But the king doesn’t like him because the prophet never predicts anything good.

After first sarcastically agreeing with the other four hundred prophets, Micaiah then speaks God’s truth. He says Israel will face defeat if they go to battle, and he says Ahab will not return, implying he will die in the skirmish.

Attempting to avoid this, Ahab disguises himself as a chariot soldier so that he won’t stand out as a target. But a random arrow hits him, and he dies. 

Is there ever a time when we should align ourselves with someone who is evil and doesn’t share our faith? When we seek counsel, do we believe the majority opinion or follow the single voice who represents God?

[Read Ahab’s story throughout 1 Kings 16–22. Discover more in Micah 6:16.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Solomon

Solomon

After David and Bathsheba’s first son dies, the pair later has Solomon. Solomon succeeds his father David as king, though an earlier coup—thankfully unsuccessful—by Absalom nearly kept this from happening.

Another brother, Adonijah, also attempts to steal the throne before David makes Solomon king.

As David’s successor, Solomon builds the temple his father yearned to construct. Solomon rules well, enjoys peace, and has a reputation for being wise, wiser than anyone else.

Yet for all his wisdom, Solomon makes an unwise decision. It’s an action he repeats hundreds of times. He marries foreign women, something the Law of Moses forbids (Deuteronomy 7:3–4). In total, Solomon amasses seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.

In his old age, his foreign wives turn his attention from the God his father served to the gods they serve. Solomon’s heart is divided in loyalty between the one true God and the gods his wives worship.

Though Solomon received a great start in life and ruled with wisdom, his foreign wives distracted him from living a life fully devoted to the Lord, as his father, David, had done. This is a sad ending to an otherwise successful life.

What relationships do we have that may turn our focus away from God? Do we follow all of God’s commands or assume, like Solomon, that some don’t apply to us?

[Read Solomon’s story in 1 Kings 1–11. Discover more in 2 Samuel 12:24 and Nehemiah 13:26.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Mephibosheth

Mephibosheth

You may remember David’s best friend, Jonathan, King Saul’s son. Though Saul and all his sons, including Jonathan, die in battle, this doesn’t mean his line is wiped out. Saul’s grandson, Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, is still alive.

The one physical characteristic we know about him is he is lame in both legs due to an accident when he was young.

As a sovereign king, David has the power to kill all members of the former king’s family. This would ensure that no heir of the former king remained to try to reclaim the kingdom and overthrow the new ruler.

But King David doesn’t follow this practice. In fact, he does the opposite. He seeks out members of Saul’s family, not to end their life, but to demonstrate kindness. When he learns of Mephibosheth, he sends for the man.

It’s easy to imagine Mephibosheth receiving this summons, no doubt expecting to be executed. He comes before David and bows down in honor.

Though this would be the response of anyone called to appear before the king, I suspect Mephibosheth prostrates himself lower, longer, and more reverently than most. He must have assumed this was his last chance at survival and his final act in life.

Instead of ordering Mephibosheth’s death, however, David elevates his best friend’s son, granting him all his grandfather Saul’s land and possessions. David also gives Mephibosheth a place of honor by giving him a permanent seat at the king’s table.

David does all this without knowing much about Mephibosheth. The fact that he is Jonathan’s son is all David needs to know.

In response to David’s generosity, Mephibosheth remains appreciative and loyal to David throughout his life. Mephibosheth continues his commitment to the king even when his servant Ziba lies about him, slanders his reputation, and betrays him.

In all this we see Mephibosheth as an upright man.

What accepted practices should we stop doing to offer a God-honoring alternative? Is there a person we can show kindness to?

[Read Mephibosheth’s story in 2 Samuel 4:4; 9:3–13; and 19:24–30.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Uriah (1)

Uriah

Despite being a foreigner, Uriah the Hittite is loyal to the nation of Israel, to King David, and to God. He’s an honorable man, serving in the nation’s army. 

David stays home while his troops, including Uriah, are off fighting. It’s during this time that David sleeps with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, and she gets pregnant. 

To cover up their coupling, David calls Uriah back from the front lines.

After two failed attempts to send Uriah home to the arms of his wife, David resorts to plan B. He develops a battle strategy to bring about Uriah’s death. Uriah unwittingly carries the plan with him when he returns to the front lines.

The commander implements David’s strategy, and Uriah dies.

Uriah is a victim of events outside of his control. He did nothing wrong. Yet he’s effectively executed anyway, all because of the king’s affair and attempted cover-up.

Though we may view Uriah’s life as a tragedy, we should remember him as a devout man of integrity and valor. This is his legacy.

And there’s one more thing. Though not an ancestor of Jesus, Uriah’s name, nonetheless, appears in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, whereas his wife’s name is absent.

In this way, Scripture honors the admirable Uriah.

When we do what is right, do we expect everything to work out? Will we maintain our trust in God if we suffer unjustly? 

[Read Uriah’s story in 2 Samuel 11. Discover more in Matthew 1:1–6.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Abigail (2)

Abigail

In the time after Samuel anoints David, but before Bathsheba, David’s on the run, hiding from the murderous intent of King Saul. It’s at this point that David encounters Abigail.

Abigail is an intelligent, beautiful woman. Her husband, Nabal, lacks these traits. He’s surly and mean. His servants call him wicked and say he listens to no one. Abigail agrees.

She confirms his name means fool and says that folly follows him. Despite this, Nabal is also wealthy, with thousands of goats and sheep.

David and his men decide to protect Nabal’s herdsmen and flocks, anticipating he will appreciate their efforts and one day reward them. But Nabal disrespects David’s emissaries when they ask for food; he sends them away empty-handed.

Boiling with anger, David plans to retaliate. He intends to kill Nabal and his men. 

When the astute Abigail hears what happened, she acts without delay. She prepares food for David and his men. She meets his advancing army of four hundred. She humbles herself before him, assumes responsibility (while professing her innocence), wins David over, and stops the massacre.

Abigail confirms that she believes God will provide David with a lasting dynasty. She asks him to remember her when God gives him success. David accepts her words and her provisions. He blesses her.

Nabal roils with anger when he learns what his wife did. He has a stroke and later dies. David receives this news with glee, seeing it as God’s vengeance on his behalf.

David sends for Abigail so he can marry her. This may be David fulfilling her request when they first met or an honorable act to provide for her. 

This takes place while David is on the run, so her new lifestyle is not an easy one. At one point, Abigail is captured, along with the rest of the families of David’s men, but he rescues her. She and David have at least one son: Kileab (also called Daniel).

What we best remember about Abigail, however, is the bold action she took to avoid a massacre. 

What bold step does God want us to take? How can our actions and our words bring about peace and prevent discord?

[Read Abigail’s story in 1 Samuel 25. Discover more in 2 Samuel 3:3 and 1 Chronicles 3:1.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: David (1)

David

David, the shepherd boy turned king, shows up in Scripture more than any other Old Testament character. Even the New Testament mentions him often. He appears in twenty-eight of the Bible’s sixty-six books, with more than nine hundred mentions. 

It’s enough content for an entire book, with much we can learn from David and much God can teach us.

David, however, is best known for two events in his life: one a triumph and the other a failure.

The first story comes from early in his life when he kills the huge warrior Goliath. He takes down this giant of a man using only a slingshot and a single stone. But the projectile doesn’t kill Goliath, it only knocks him out.

David runs to the fallen Philistine hero and pulls out the man’s own sword. David uses it to kill him and then cut off his head.

David’s time spent protecting his father’s sheep from wild animals prepared him for this moment, but his faith in God gave him the victory.

The other well-known incident in David’s life is when he commits adultery with the beautiful Bathsheba. 

He sees her. He wants her. He takes her. It doesn’t matter that he already has several wives, and she already has a husband. 

She gets pregnant. 

To cover the pregnancy, David calls back her husband, Uriah, from the front lines and tries twice to reunite him with his wife for the night. When this strategy fails, David sends Uriah back to the front lines along with a message for the commander.

The communiqué is a plan to ensure Uriah’s death. 

The plan succeeds. David marries Bathsheba, but their baby dies.

From a moral perspective, this is the lowest point in David’s life. He commits adultery and murder. Yet David repents to restore his relationship with God.

A third element of David’s life, however, stands out as even more noteworthy. When Samuel confronts King Saul for his disobedience, Samuel confirms that Saul’s kingdom will end, and another will replace him.

Samuel says that God has sought a man after his own heart and appointed him to rule the people. This man is David.

Much later, Paul confirms this fact when speaking to the people in Pisidian Antioch, stating that God said, “I’ve found David, a man after my own heart. He’ll do everything I want him to do.”

Twice, the Bible refers to David as a man after God’s own heart. This may be the highest honor anyone could ever receive.

Are we a person after God’s own heart? What might we do to move closer to this outcome?

[Read David’s story in 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 24. Discover more in Acts 13:22.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Jonathan (3)

Jonathan

Jonathan is the son of King Saul and next in line to the throne. Though Saul’s plan is for Jonathan to succeed him, Jonathan sees God’s perspective instead. The heir apparent realizes that David is to be the next king and not him. Jonathan accepts this.

Though there could be animosity between Jonathan and David, the pair enjoy a close relationship, with Jonathan pledging his support for David’s future rule.

Another demonstration of Jonathan’s character and faith in God comes at a time when Israel’s army is outmatched and in despair. Only Saul and Jonathan have swords, while the rest of the army have makeshift weapons.

Jonathan and his armor-bearer sneak away from camp and boldly attack a Philistine outpost. Though Jonathan isn’t confident in a victory, he knows God can bring it about. 

With only one sword, Jonathan and his young armor-bearer kill twenty Philistines. God sends a panic throughout the enemy camp, and they scatter. The Israelite army pursues them and wins a great battle against a more powerful foe.

Through God, one person can make a difference.

Are we willing to accept God’s plan for our future when it opposes our families’ or friends’ expectations? Are we a person God can use to make a difference? 

[Read Jonathan’s story in 1 Samuel 13–14, 18–20, and 23. Discover more in 1 Samuel 31:2.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Samuel (1)

Samuel

Some time later, we encounter Samuel. Those who grew up hearing Bible stories may remember the account of young Samuel. He is the son of Elkanah and Hannah.

His mother takes him to live at the temple and help Eli, the priest. Each year she visits him and gives him a little robe to wear. You may even recall a picture of the bright-eyed Samuel smiling as his mother gives him his new outfit.

This idyllic scene ignores the fact that Hannah commits Samuel to a lifetime of service before he is born; he has no say in the matter. This also requires him to leave his home to live with a stranger, a man who wasn’t a good father to his own sons.

How distraught young Samuel must have been over being separated from his mother and having his entire future planned for him.

Yet Samuel excels in this environment. As a young boy he can hear the voice of God, something few others can do in that day.

Though Eli is a priest, Samuel lacks the bloodline (a descendant of Aaron) to succeed him as priest. When Eli dies, however, Samuel replaces him as the leader of all Israel. The Bible also calls Samuel a prophet (a seer).

Up to this time, Israel did not have a king. God served as their king. And he used a series of judges to rescue his wayward people from their enemies and return their focus to him each time they fell away.

When Samuel grows older, he appoints his sons to take over for him. But they are corrupt, just like the sons of his mentor. Samuel must’ve learned his parenting skills from the inept Eli.

The elders go to Samuel and ask him to appoint a king to rule over the nation. This distresses Samuel, but the Almighty tells him it’s okay. The people aren’t rejecting Samuel’s leadership; they’re rejecting God’s.

Although reluctant, Samuel anoints Saul to be Israel’s first king, as directed by the Lord. When Saul later falters, God tells Samuel to anoint David to replace Saul. 

How do we react when we end up in a situation we didn’t choose? Whether our position is grand or humble, do we serve God to the best of our abilities, like Samuel?

[Read Samuel’s story in 1 Samuel 1–25. Discover more in Hebrews 11:32–34.]

Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.