Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it. – 2 Chronicles 8:3

Today's Scripture Reading (October 27, 2022): 2 Chronicles 8

The Skit Guys, trying to save Christian Drama one skit at a time, have a script where there is a conversation between a father and his younger son. In the skit, the son is trying to convince his Dad to let him go to a movie he wants to go to with his friends. And then, he tries to describe the film. It has some violence, but just a little violence. It is really not a problem because it is such a small amount. It has some nudity, but it is just a little nudity. And again, it isn't a problem because there isn't much nudity. Other than that, it was a good movie. (My sister and I just said that every movie in the theater that we wanted to see was a Disney movie, Like, Hey Mom, can we see the Texas Chainsaw Massacre? It's a Disney movie. Sometimes it even worked.)

Dad responds that his son can go to the movie, but before he leaves for the film, Dad has a surprise for his son. Dad has made some of his son's favorite brownies, and the son eagerly accepts his Dad's brownies and proceeds to start eating them. But Dad had changed the recipe just a little. The son carefully savors the taste trying to figure out what Dad's new ingredient is. He knows that there is something different about the brownies, but he can't quite put his finger on what the ingredient might be. Can his son guess the new ingredient?

Finally, Dad breaks the suspense. The secret ingredient in the brownies is … dog poo. The son reacts with horror, but Dad insists it is just a little, a hardly even noticeable amount of poo. Finally, the son realizes the point of Dad's little story and says, "I'm not going to the movie, am I?"

Just a little is one of the horrible temptations of life. There are so many things that we would never consider doing, but we are enticed to do just a little bit. We would never lie, but maybe once in a while, we might shade the truth. We would never kill someone, but when we are angry, we might tell a story about someone that should never have been related. But it's not a problem because it is just a little bit.

Solomon seems to believe that he was the one to build the Temple for God at least partially because he had not been the King of War that his father David had been.

"You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, 'Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name' (1 Kings 5:3-5).

Solomon had been a man of peace. The only war we know of was when he went to the town of Hamath-Zobah and captured it. We have no reason for the war, just that King Solomon won the conflict. It was just a little war, not much at all. But the battle seems to be a symptom of a King who was in conflict with himself and whose personality was changing. It was just a little war, but it disqualified Solomon from being the King of Peace that he took pride in being.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalms 127 & 128