Tag Archives: The book of Kings

Why we don’t believe in Miracles

Posted on November 16, 2017 by PaulVK
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Why I am still a Christian, even when 2 Kings 3 says God helped a petty tyrant continue to enslave Moab

Posted on November 3, 2017 by PaulVK

Bart Campolo’s De-conversion We’re in a cultural moment when many people are leaving an overt religious commitment either for a looser spirituality or non-theism entirely. A high profile example of this has been Bart Campolo, the son of a famous … Continue reading →

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Why we like, or don’t like a Bible story where God smites soldiers just following orders.

Posted on October 18, 2017 by PaulVK

2 Kings 1 is another in a series of stories that on one level thrills us but also bothers people.  Ahaziah falls through the lattice. He’s not a Calvinist, arising and saying “glad that’s over”. Instead he wants to know … Continue reading →

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Is this art? Is this goodness? Is this how God saves and rescues us as we de-construct the world?

Posted on October 12, 2017 by PaulVK

Art Prize When I was in Grand Rapids MI last week I caught the tail end of Art Prize, which is a pretty big deal. A number of civic minded philanthropists and business owners sponsor some significant cash prizes for … Continue reading →

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How Ahab is exposed to be a petty thief rather than a king by sparing a life, and how another is shown to be a king as he is executed with brigands.

Posted on September 29, 2017 by PaulVK

The Walking Dead (spoiler alert) Season 6 ended with meeting Negan. I have seldom seen a portrayal of evil as compelling as Negan. The situation is simple. Rick and the company of survivors we’ve been following are now vassals of … Continue reading →

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Elijah Slaughters the Priests of Baal

Posted on September 15, 2017 by PaulVK

I’m preaching this week on 1 Kings 18, that great passage of prophetic confrontation. It is paradigmatic of prophetic confrontation. Here we finally had binary “proof” that Yhwh is God and Baal was not and after the big showdown Elijah … Continue reading →

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Israelite Oracles vs. other ANE Oracles

Posted on September 12, 2017 by PaulVK

Notes: Israel indictment oracles are far more common than in ANE oracles. Israel oracles most often call for covenant faithfulness while ANE oracles most often call for ritual faithfulness Israel prophets are covenant enforcers while ANE prophets are ritual enforcers. … Continue reading →

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Introducing Elijah: The Power of God in a man who suffers from hunger and thirst

Posted on September 8, 2017 by PaulVK

Politics and Civilization Evolves in Biblical Storytelling We’ve been following the movement of God’s redemptive relationship with Israel through a series of men Judges/Priests: Moses through Samuel Kings: Saul, David, Solomon, Jereboam With the transition to kings the tension moved … Continue reading →

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What is so brilliant and important about God in the book of Kings continually demanding that the kings follow God’s precepts

Posted on September 3, 2017 by PaulVK

“Never confuse the specific sovereign with the principle of sovereignty itself. The person who has the power us subordinate to something else.”

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How to Corrupt the Golden Kingdom

Posted on August 26, 2017 by PaulVK

 Why is it that gold is the perpetual image our hearts long for? consider the fact that before we discovered it was such a good conducer there was really no practical use for the metal besides adornment, yet it was … Continue reading →

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