In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, - 2 Chronicles 13:1

Today's Scripture Reading (December 31, 2022): 2 Chronicles 13

Do you know what happened on October 12, 1582? My mother's birthday is October 12, which is just a random piece of information, but she wasn't born in 1582. The answer to what happened on October 12, 1582, throughout our entire planet is nothing. No one was born, no one died, no wars were fought, no scientific advancements were made, and nobody even woke up in the morning or went to bed at night on that day in 1582. In fact, October 12, 1582, was near the end of the most boring ten days in history. Why? Because the days from October 5 to 14, 1582, don't actually exist. People went to bed on Thursday, October 4, 1582, and woke up on Friday, October 15, 1582. In an effort to correct the shift that had happened in our calendar, we moved from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar. The problem was that when measured against solar events, there had been some significant drift. The shortest day of the year was no longer December 21; now, it was December 11. And unless something were done, that date would continue to drift until our seasons were all messed up. So they did two things. First, they changed the way that we counted leap years. Instead of celebrating a leap year every four years, they eliminated three leap years every four hundred years. So, according to the new rule, any year divisible by 100 is not a leap year unless it is also divisible by 400. So, according to that rule, the year 2000 was a leap year, but the years 2100, 2200, and 2300 won't be. The second thing they did was make the jump from Thursday, October 4, 1582, to Friday, October 15, 1582. The days in between simply don't exist; they never happened.

We made another, maybe less significant, change more recently when we moved from the notation AD (Anno Domini) to CE (Common Era or what we in the church sometimes call the Christian Era). Nothing changed with respect to the dates on our calendars, although I still have friends who request AD whenever I give a date using the CE notation because they say the new notation confuses them. But nothing more than a change in notation took place; the dates stayed the same.

Chronicles focuses on the reigns of the Judean Kings. The only mention of the Kings of Israel in the north is to give us some idea of the era in which they ruled. So, the author of Chronicles tells us that the reign of Abijah began eighteen years into the reign of Jeroboam in the north. Dates were not coordinated in any way. Usually, they were just counted from some national event. The Bible often dates the reigns of the Kings in the South according to the reigns of the Kings in the north. And for the Kings in the north, the reverse is usually true, and they are dated by the reigns of the Kings of the South. So even though they were often adversaries, the two Kingdoms remained intimately tied together.

Tonight, we turn the calendar page one more time. It is hard to believe that 2022 has already come to an end, and tomorrow we begin another year. Welcome to 2023. May you be blessed by the events in store for you in the coming year (and may none of your days be missing).

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 14

Then Asa rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of his father David. And Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king. – 1 Kings 15:24

Today's Scripture Reading (December 30, 2022): 1 Kings 15

Retirement is a hard decision. I struggle with the concept of when that day should come. Of course, that partially depends on several issues like health, your ability to do whatever you are retiring from, financial considerations, and how much you enjoy whatever you are doing. But possibly the one issue toward which we don't direct enough attention is "what will you do after you retire?" What is next? It is not just athletes retiring in their late thirties or early forties who must make that decision. (Hockey's Gordie Howe played until the age of fifty-two, but he was a sports exception.) But we all must decide what comes next. I have several writing tasks I desperately want to give more attention to that I just don't seem to have time to work on as long as I am doing all that I am doing now. I also have some fun projects on which I want to work. But I don't want just to fade away.

But more than anything, I hope that I finish well. Maybe it is just recognizing that life doesn't end at retirement. As long as we are well enough to make a difference, we need to make that difference, even if we have retired from our jobs. And we have some great examples to follow. Queen Elizabeth was a remarkable example of someone who finished well. The British Queen made a difference during her reign. Even her critics often seem to point to things that happened before her reign or point to things that have happened since her death, like the Netflix Harry and Megan documentary and Harry's upcoming book, "Spare," that have damaged her legacy. And I have to admit that I think such criticisms are unfair.

Another great example of finishing well is the life of former American President Jimmy Carter after his time in the White House. Regardless of where you might stand regarding his one-term presidency or politics, Carter has been one of the best examples of what a former President can accomplish to change the world after his time in the Oval Office had ended. He has worked hard to try to finish well.

 Like all of the Kings who reigned before him and those who would come afterward, Asa had an expiry date. The day eventually comes for all of us when we will "rest with our ancestors." The day comes when we all have to step off the stage because our time in this spotlight has ended. And at that moment, those close to us will evaluate our legacy and decide whether we have finished well.

Asa died, but unfortunately, a reign that started well did not end that way. Ultimately, he trusted more in his material possessions than in his God. As a result, Asa's legacy was tarnished, not because of how he lived but because of how his life ended. May we learn from his example and finish differently.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 13

You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me. – 1 Kings 14:9

Today's Scripture Reading (December 29, 2022): 1 Kings 14

Who was the evilest character in history? In some ways, such a pursuit seems to be an impossible task; after all, there comes a point when evil is simply evil. Is there a major difference between someone like Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), whose beliefs and policies caused the deaths of six million Jews during the Holocaust and is responsible for another seventy million who died in his war, and Albert Fish (1870-1936) who preyed on children and the mentally ill during his murder spree during the 1920s? After Fish's execution, his lawyer, James Dempsey, made it known that Fish had written down a final statement. The reporters wanted a copy of the message, but Dempsey refused, saying, "I will never show it to anyone. It was the most filthy string of obscenities that I have ever read." I realize that Hitler killed more, but that was more of a function of power, not of the amount of evil in his life. If Albert Fish had possessed the capacity and stature of the leader of Germany, things might have been different, but definitely not for the better.

But then again, where would you put someone like Vlad the Impaler (1428-1476)? Vlad loved to impale his enemies. And he would do it while they were still alive. He liked to impale them from the bottom up so that the spike emerged through the mouth, but he would also impale them through the stomach, sometimes putting many victims on a single stake. Rumor has it that Vlad once had 20,000 people impaled on the same day.

There are others, but sometimes evil is just evil. Sometimes, I wonder what exactly God is talking about in this verse. Was Jeroboam worse than literally everyone who had ever lived? Was Jeroboam worse than any of the Pharaohs who had reigned in Egypt? Was he worse than any of the boogeymen that walked the streets of the ancient cities or more evil than Cain, who committed the first recorded murder? And did any of this really matter because sometimes evil is just evil?

Or was this just a comparison of the Kings of Israel? Up until this moment, the nation had crowned five people King; Saul, David, Solomon, and then in the divided kingdom, Rehoboam and Jeroboam. It's a short list, but God only approved of one of the five, David. Saul was a horrible King and a bad man, while Solomon was a good King but a terrible man. Rehoboam was easily led down the wrong paths. Maybe we can sympathize with him because he just didn't seem all that smart. But God says that Jeroboam was the worst of them all because he had made his people bow down before fictional gods and turned his back on the God of Israel. And now, he would bear the penalty for his failure.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 15

Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. - 2 Chronicles 12:2

Today's Scripture Reading (December 28, 2022): 2 Chronicles 12

During the early days of World War II, several governments existed in exile, often setting up their governments in far-flung places such as Australia, London, or even Washington, D.C. Their lands might have been occupied, but these governments never gave up hope that they would regain control of their homelands. Free France, headquartered in London, might be one of the best-known of these nations, but Free France was only the tip of the Iceberg.

One of the less-remembered governments in exile was that of the Belgian government. King Leopold III tried to keep Belgium neutral in the war, but that proved futile. Germany invaded Belgium in May of 1940, and King Leopold, believing that his country did not have the strength to resist, opened up the gates of the nation to the Germans, surrendering the nation to their control. It was a move that earned him hostility from the Belgian people. The government fled Belgium to set up a government in exile in Bordeaux in the South Western part of France. And when France fell, the Belgian government moved to London. As for King Leopold III, he stayed in Belgium as a guest of the Germans. After the war, Leopold was an unwelcome presence in the nation he once ruled and was seen as a Nazi sympathizer. And when he finally returned to Belgium in 1950, his presence almost caused a civil war.

Jeroboam was an official in King Solomon's government responsible for managing the Northern workforce in many of Solomon's building projects. And in this position, he was a first-hand witness to the discontent of the Northern tribes that marked Solomon's time on the throne. Jeroboam began to explore how he could become the King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It didn't take long for Solomon to become aware of a possible rebellion brewing within his ranks and Jeroboam's connection with the rebels. And so, Jeroboam ran to Egypt and enjoyed the hospitality of Shishak, the King of Egypt, usually identified as the Pharaoh Shoshenq.

Jeroboam would stay in Egypt for the rest of Solomon's life, only daring to return to Israel after the death of King Solomon. He had no appetite to take on Solomon in a civil war. But his son, Rehoboam, was a different matter. Now the nation was ripe for a civil war. While in Egypt, Jeroboam essentially set up a government in exile. He made friends and allies that would support him when the time came to fight in Israel.

In the fifth year of the reign of Rehoboam, Shishak attacked from the south, and with him he brought other friends that Jeroboam had made during his period of exile. We really don't know whether they were attacking because of the relationship that Jeroboam had built with them during his time of exile, or just picking on a nation at a moment of weakness, but we do know that Rehoboam had been successfully isolated, and this was a war that Judah's King wasn't going to win. Rehoboam seemed to understand well what was happening, and he reinforced the cities on the southern and western borders of the nation. Still, the Book of Kings argues that because of Rehoboam's unfaithfulness, that action was not enough to save the country.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 14

Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defense in Judah. – 2 Chronicles 11:5

Today's Scripture Reading (December 27, 2022): 2 Chronicles 11

Mao Zedong was a power in China. As with most people of extreme power, there is little agreement on what Mao's legacy should be. He was someone of incredible political intellect; he was a brilliant military strategist, poet, and national visionary. He improved the lives of women in China during his time leading the nation, as well as being praised for driving imperialism out of the country. But tens of millions of Chinese citizens died as a direct result of his policies. They were starved, persecuted, and were killed working in prison work camps, as well as being executed. Mao was a great man but also a great villain of China. Some seem to believe that the good outweighs the bad, but those unjustly accused and executed might have a different response.

Mao Zedong ruled with an iron fist, but late in his life, he was also very sick. He had suffered heart attacks, likely worsened by his constant chain smoking. There were rumors that he was suffering from Parkinson's disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. As a result, the end of Mao's life is shrouded in mystery. His last public appearance and the last photograph of Zedong was on May 27, 1976. After that, Mao Zedong disappeared. All through the summer of 1976, the world wondered. There were rumors that he had died, but they were just rumors, nothing that could be confirmed. The logic for the mystery of Mao's life or death was that if China's leader had died, China had a reason to fear that this could be when her enemies would take advantage of the moment and come after China.

Mao Zedong had another heart attack on September 5, 1976; this time, the heart attack left him without the power to move. He died shortly after midnight four days later, although China delayed announcing his death for another sixteen hours. They had likely been already planning what to do when the moment of the leader's death came, and the nation needed to be ready to quell any threats coming from both inside and outside of the country.

Rehoboam has lost control of his father's nation. The northern tribes separated from Judah and Benjamin, and now Rehoboam leads just the two southern tribes. And he and his advisors decide that they need to fortify some of the towns of Judah. The author of Chronicles lists fifteen towns that required fortification. It might be natural for Rehoboam to be suspicious of the Jeroboam and the northern tribes, scared that they might come to try to take control over all of Israel. But the list of towns that Rehoboam decides to fortify tells us a different story. All of the cities Rehoboam decides to reinforce are at the nation's southern and western borders. And that doesn't make sense if Rehoboam feared an attack from Jeroboam and the northern tribes. The towns that Rehoboam fortifies only make sense if he feared an attack from Egypt. Rehoboam was afraid that maybe this was the time that Egypt would take advantage of Judah's weakness and add her to the satellite nations over which Egypt already ruled.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 12

"Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you." – 2 Chronicles 10:4

 Today's Scripture Reading (December 26, 2022): 2 Chronicles 10

American humorist Sam Levenson once said, "it's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it." Ah, but that is easier said than done, which is probably why it takes a wise man to follow Levinson's sage advice. We seem to believe that we have a right to speak whatever is on our minds, but the better part of wisdom has always been our ability to remain silent and hold our tongue.

Scholars seem divided on what these words of the people really mean. Most appear to believe that the complaint against the reign of Solomon was just a pretext for the rebellion that was to follow. And we have to admit, based on the biblical record, that there might have been a cause for the complaint. While Solomon is known for his wisdom, he was also a great builder. His buildings may have included the Temple, but Solomon also built a grand palace for himself, a palace for his wife, the Pharaoh's daughter, and the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, a huge building for which there seemed to be no real purpose. There are probably many more minor projects built by Solomon about which we know nothing. He made shields and drinking vessels made of gold, many again without any real use other than to showcase his wealth. None of this could have been accomplished without the labor of Solomon's subjects. And a project without a purpose always seems to be harder to complete.

While we remember Solomon for being wise, there is a lot of evidence that his wisdom often made little connection with his actions. Specifically, Solomon seemed to play fast and loose with the commands of God, his marriage to Pharaoh's daughter being a good case in point. So, it is not impossible to believe that there was a cause behind the charge Rehoboam had to deal with after his father's death.

On Rehoboam's part, wisdom might have demanded a slow approach in dealing with the people's complaints. An appropriate response might have been that together they could continue to build a prosperous nation, building on the foundation laid by David and built on by his father, Solomon. But if Rehoboam possessed any wisdom, we see little evidence of it. Instead, he and his advisors thought up a stupid response to the charge against Solomon, and then to make things worse, they actually said that response out loud.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 11

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" – Luke 1:34

Today's Scripture Reading (December 25, 2022): Luke 1

How often do you talk about someday? It is so easy and pervasive. Someday – when we get our life together – we will …  I have a lot of things on my "someday list." Someday I want to write a novel or maybe a book on worship or the church's relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. I have a great idea for a musical on which I want to work. And then there is the more mundane. Someday I am really going to give my garage a good cleaning or put away all the items that I moved out of my office recently. Someday.

And I add items to the list easily. When I discuss projects with the people I work with, often the projects get added to the someday pile. I mean – you don't expect that this is something that is going to happen now?

Maybe that is what makes this verse a little surprising. The angel comes to Mary with this great message; you will become pregnant and the child you will have will be the Messiah. And it might have been natural for Mary to add that little message to the someday pile. I mean, she knew that someday she would become pregnant. She was engaged to Joseph, and they had every intention of bringing up a family. And now the angel was saying that one of her children would be the Messiah – someday.

But Mary didn't hear the angel that way. She didn't hear someday; she heard now. And a pregnancy now was impossible because she was a virgin. But what Mary hears is exactly the message the angel intended to convey. Mary, this message is not about someday; it is about now.

Christmas always is. Christmas isn't about adding something to your someday list. Jesus stepped down from heaven into our now. He didn't come for your someday; his sacrifice was to impact who you are right now. He came to change this world for the better right now. Christmas was never intended to be a pie in the sky, someday thing. It is about now!

Welcome to Christmas, a day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. But we need to make sure that Christmas doesn't impact your someday. Let Christmas affect your now.

(Originally Published on December 24, 2009.)

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 10

There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. – Deuteronomy 32:50

Today's Scripture Reading (December 24, 2022): Deuteronomy 32

Bethlehem. Established 3400 years ago, the town once existed at the emotional heart of the nation. Situated just a few kilometers south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is the burial place of Rachel, the favorite wife of Jacob. Her tomb is located at the northern entrance of the city. Bethlehem is the birthplace of David, Israel's most celebrated king, and it is the birthplace of Jesus.

Philips Brooks visited the town of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve in 1865; at that time, the town was part of the Ottoman Empire. Depressed and on a leave of absence from his church, Brooks had come upon the town. That moment made such an impression on him that a few years later, when he was back in the United States, he used the memory of that Christmas Eve visit as he wrote the lyrics to the Christmas Carol we now know as "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

Brooks then asked his church organist, Lewis Radner, to put music to the words of the poem so that it could be sung for the 1868 Christmas service. He did, and years later, Radner admitted that neither he nor Brooks believed that the song would ever be sung past that 1868 service.

Once existing at the heart of Israel, Bethlehem now symbolizes the divided nature of the area. While Jerusalem exists on the border of Israel, Bethlehem is solidly within Palestinian-held territory, and to go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem involves crossing a border checkpoint.

Moses, the lawgiver of Israel, died before his people stepped into the land that had been promised to them. Moses had faithfully guided them to the edge of the land, but Moses never stepped into Canaan. Instead, his body was abandoned on the other side of the Jordan River.

But Moses's death contrasts with the birth of Jesus, who came to fulfill the law. Moses died on the outskirts of the nation, while Jesus was born in the nation's heartland. Moses gave his life so that Israel could inherit the Promised Land. Jesus would give his life so Israel could truly live in the land they had been given. While Moses taught of endless sacrifices that had to be made in the Tabernacle for Israel to live in peace with God, Jesus would become the perfect sacrifice and the one who would render the sacrifices of Moses irrelevant.

And while Deuteronomy 32 mourns the death of a great man, today we welcome God who steps down into our existence; the one who was born in Bethlehem and the one who came to forgive all of our sins.

(This post was originally published on December 25, 2018)

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 1

 

The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: 'Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'” (But he was lying to him.) – 1 Kings 13:18

Today's Scripture Reading (December 23, 2022): 1 Kings 13

I attended a Bible Study on the Book of Revelation many years ago. It was the first gathering for this study group, so we began with the book's opening chapter. And one of the first questions we were dealing with was who wrote the Book of Revelation. It is a question that Revelation seems to answer for itself. Revelation opens with this clear statement, 

 John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:4-5).

The common understanding is that Revelation was written by a man named John, as stated in the author’s introduction to the book. We may argue over whether the book was written by John the Apostle, or another man we have dubbed John the Evangelist, or maybe some other person named John. But there is little doubt among experts that the book was written by someone named John.

All of this made the remarks of one of the Bible study participants a little perplexing. She was an older lady, and she disagreed with all of the experts, maintaining that Revelation was not written by any John in the first century. I remember the group leader carefully honoring this woman’s belief as he gently prodded her with another question. Who do you think wrote Revelation? Her response was quick: “Revelation was written by the Apostle Paul.”

To be honest, I think the response surprised all of us. I am not sure I know of one New Testament expert who has ever suggested that Paul wrote the book. Not only is Paul not mentioned, but the letter doesn’t follow Paul’s well-established method of writing, and our best guess about the date that Revelation was written is over two decades after the death of the Apostle to the Gentiles. With everything that we know about the book, there are so many factors that scream at us that Paul could not have written this apocalyptic book. But then came another question and one more surprise for the Bible study to digest. The group leader asked, “How do you know that Paul wrote it?” Admittedly, the question could have been phrased better, but the answer was once again very quick. The woman said, “God told me?”

I hesitate to use the God card. I mean, what is the proper response when someone tells you that God has given them a direct revelation about something? There is no response that doesn’t say to whoever has used the God card, “You are crazy,” except to accept the statement for face value. I am not saying that God doesn’t speak directly to us; I just hesitate to tell anyone what God has told me. I have done it, but not too often. After all, if I am right and God has told me something, it is not news that I need to share with you; you will know when God gives you that information. And if I am wrong, it is not God’s fault. So, I need to take the blame on myself.

An older prophet wants the man of God to come to his house for a meal. But the man of God has been told directly by God not to eat or drink on this mission. The prophet is insistent that the man of God comes with him, so he uses the God card. “I have heard from God, and he has told me that I am to feed you, so come to my house so that I can fulfill my oath to the Almighty.” The author of Kings is sure to tell us that the prophet was lying and God had not spoken to him. But the man of God was placed in an uncomfortable position. Did he rely on the information he possessed or listen to the prophet's words?

It is an uncomfortable position for all of us. I recently found myself in conflict over a moral issue, and the person talking to me asked if I had prayed about the subject. My response; I have been praying about this for the last fifty years, and here is the answer that I have received. In this case, my answer was not well received, and I needed to make a choice just like the man of God had to in Kings. And my choice was not what my friend wanted to hear. I have to rely on what I believe God is telling me, even if that becomes a barrier between the two of us. I owe God to react honestly, even in this situation, and if that doesn’t meet your expectations, I am sorry. But I hope that you will allow me to follow the light that I have, and that we can agree to disagree on this issue.

It is a hope that I pray holds for all of us because we need to be persistent in our walks as we journey through this life, holding the hand of our God.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 32

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. – 1 Kings 12:1

Today's Scripture Reading (December 22, 2022): 1 Kings 12

It is hard to believe that Christmas is almost here. In just a few days, we will celebrate the baby born in a manger among the animals, whose arrival was announced by angels and who was visited by lowly shepherds and foreign astrologers who had been watching for a message in the stars. But maybe the best verse that sums up that night in Bethlehem belongs to Jesus as he taught Nicodemus, a Jewish Pharisee, at night. It is also one of the most memorized verses in the Bible.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son (John 3:16-18).

We know several things about the incarnation, God becoming flesh and walking among us. First, it was expected. The prophets had been speaking in hushed voices about the coming Messiah for centuries. Israel was waiting for him to arrive, hoping that today might be the day. Second, the Messiah would be born of a woman. This was the earliest of the prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, and It comes from the third chapter of Genesis.

And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15).

The Messiah would leave his throne in heaven to step into the middle of our world and territory. He went from heaven, where it was safe, to be with us, where it was dangerous. This is the heart of our Christmas celebration: God loves us so much that he came to be with us regardless of that danger. This is Christmas.

Solomon died, and Rehoboam was the next expected King. And there are some parallels with the birth of Jesus. First, Rehoboam becoming King was expected. The author of the book of Kings says that all of Israel went to Shechem to make him King. This was the expected result that would happen as soon as Solomon died. Rehoboam was born of a woman. I know, kind of obvious. Every single life that exists on the planet can make the same claim. But what is unusual with Rehoboam is that he is the only son of Solomon of which we know a name. With a thousand wives and concubines, Solomon must have had other sons, but none of them are named. It seems that just as Jesus was the one and only son of God, it is as if Rehoboam was the one and only son of Solomon.

And finally, Rehoboam went to Shechem to become King. Shechem was a city that had a long and prosperous history. Abraham had worshipped there, Jacob built an altar, and after Israel finally returned from their exile in Egypt, they brought Joseph's bones with them and buried them at Shechem. Shechem was in the geographical center of the northern territory. Rehoboam left his home and the city built by his father and grandfather, Jerusalem, and stepped into enemy territory. Unfortunately for the nation's history, Rehoboam was not a wise King. Instead of unifying the country, his actions further divided Israel between north and south, and that was something that Jesus would come to undo.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 13

"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Everything is meaningless!" – Ecclesiastes 12:8

Today's Scripture Reading (December 21, 2022): Ecclesiastes 12

Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl spent some time reflecting on the concept of the meaning of life and the high cost of living a life without meaning. He wrote, "This striving to find a meaning in one's life is the primary motivational force in man" (Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning). I have often wondered what someone like Frankl found meaningful during his stay at various Nazi concentration camps. Or was this search for meaning paused during those moments of pure survival in the camps, and the meaning that the camps exerted on his life was only found in moments of retrospection after the danger had passed and the camps were a distant memory? But in the summation of his remembered experiences from the war, Frankl decided that meaning comes to us in three main ways. The first is in the doing of a deed. We find meaning in the things that we do. Maybe that is why so many of us find meaning in the jobs that we undertake during our lives. Frankl said that a second way of finding meaning in life is by experiencing a value; finding beauty through art or receiving love through a relationship brings meaning into our lives. The final way of finding meaning is through suffering, the very experiences that Frankl had experienced in the Nazi concentration camps. Even there, Frankl decided that he had discovered meaning in his life.

Qoheleth returns to the very place he started and declares once more that everything is meaningless. In fact, it is more than meaningless. After examining everything "under the sun," he decides that everything we experience is the pinnacle of meaninglessness. Qoheleth would have disagreed with Frankl and his search for meaning. There is no meaning in our actions because they don't change anything under the sun. Nothing that we do can make us ultimately different from anyone else. We will all suffer the same ultimate fate, and none of us will get to escape that fate. There is no meaning in the things we value because everything will, at some point in the future, dissolve into dust. There is not even any point in suffering; it just adds to the meaninglessness of our lives. As the end of Qoheleth's life draws near, he sees everything he possibly believed brought meaning as being worse than meaningless because the hope he once possessed had dissolved away.

The only experience that throughout Qoheleth's search for meaning he found meaningful was God. Eternity and the existence of an eternal God were the only things that could bring meaning to Qoheleth's reality, and by extension, to his alter ego, King Solomon. Without God, everything would remain meaningless, with no hope that we would find anything positive in our search for hope "under the sun."

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 12

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie. – Ecclesiastes 11:3b

Today's Scripture Reading (December 20, 2022): Ecclesiastes 11

In his book, "Love Wins," Rob Bell argues that hell will be empty at some point in the future. Part of his argument is that the day is coming when hell itself will be destroyed and thrown into the lake of fire. But another part of his argument is that God "wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4), and since God is omnipotent or all-powerful, God gets what he wants. His arguments have come under a lot of fire from various parts of the Christian Church who believe that hell is as everlasting as heaven. All of this, in some way, seems a little odd to me. Why do we react with such vehemence against people who believe something different from what we might believe? Why is it that we can't say to each other, I disagree with you, but I will defend your right to believe what you believe, and I am glad that you are in my life? Maybe that is too much to ask. I admit I am not sure that Rob is right, but I also am willing to acknowledge that I wish he were.

We often read our Bibles with a preordained idea of what it says. And we make sure that it doesn't contradict what it is that we already believe. We employ several what-ifs and other rhetorical methods to ensure our beliefs are not proven false, which makes it hard for true biblical discovery to happen.

I am part of the Baptist tradition. Part of our foundational belief is that baptism is an important rite of the believer. I have often explained to parents that we would prefer to dedicate their infants rather than baptize them. Baptism should be part of an adult believer's entrance into the Christian life. But when that idea was first suggested, it was met with hostility. Believers were murdered because of their beliefs. It is hard for us to imagine that such a foundational thing as adult baptism could cause such a stir, but people read their Bibles with their own interpretations firmly attached, and they just couldn't see it any other way.

Saint Jerome, reading his Bible in the last half of the fourth century, read this verse in Ecclesiastes and interpreted it to mean that the fallen tree was a person who had died. He also believed that when Qoheleth said that the tree lies where it falls, he was telling his readers that a person's eternal destiny is fixed at the moment of death. It is an interpretation with which Rob Bell would have struggled, but many theologians would agree with Jerome. This idea that the eternal fate of the human soul is fixed at the moment of death is a message that evangelists have preached for generations. Jerome might be right, but you must wear a certain set of theological glasses to find that message in this verse. In context with the rest of Ecclesiastes, it seems more likely that Qoheleth's point is that when this life is over, all that has gone on before is meaningless. The only thing that matters is an eternal God, and without him, nothing has any meaning; everything is nothing more than chasing after the wind.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 12