An unfaithful nation and a faithful God
Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Joanna Moss:
What did I like about today’s passage?
After Solomon finishes building the temple, a truly colossal structure, he prays over the temple and the people of Israel. This prayer is quite long and takes up most of chapter 8 but one of the things that struck me about it is how Solomon prays for his people. Solomon’s prayer is almost prophetic as he describes their movement away from God, their capture into enemy hands and imprisonment in another country (8 v.46-53) – all of which would happen to Israel by the end of 2 Kings. He is brutally honest in his assessment of his people, ‘Everyone sins, so your people will also sin against you’, yet the truth in that statement, for the people of Israel and for us today, is undeniable.
But as Solomon describes this, he also pleads for and is expectant of God’s grace and mercy and compassion over Israel. He is confident of God’s promise to them, that they are His chosen people and that ultimately, God will restore and redeem them. It is in this prayer, as Solomon intercedes for his people and waits on the promises of God, that I see a glimpse of Jesus.
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
God’s willingness to forgive and redeem us when we turn back to Him which also demonstrates the extent of His faithfulness to us.
When I think of all the times I have turned away from God and decided to go my own way, I am astounded by God’s faithfulness to me when I am decidedly unfaithful to Him. We see this throughout God’s dealings with Israel too. There is of course a cost to this forgiveness, and we see that in the offerings given by Solomon after his prayer. 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep were sacrificed and that’s after an incalculable number were sacrificed earlier (8 v.5). That’s a lot of animals and a lot of blood, but even this is still far less than what would be given for our sins through Jesus.
What am I going to do differently as a result?
Just as Solomon was confident and expectant of God fulfilling his promises, I want to be expectant of God’s promises too. There is a song I found recently whose lyrics touch on this, referencing Ephesian 3:20 – that God is able to do abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. The gist of the following line says something like, ‘did you think I was playing when I said this?’ which stuck with me because I think I sometimes believe that God’s promises are too good to be true. But from the Bible, my own life and those around me, I know this isn’t true and so I think I need to work at this letting this become something I know in my heart and not just in my head.
Who am I going to share this with?
Every few months I meet with a group in Bath to pray over the students at both Bath Universities and the people from churches and Christian Unions who work with them. When we are next able to meet, I want to be able to share this with them and pray with expectation of God’s abundance.