By Susan Merrill & Heather Rubio
The Bible. It’s been the #1 book sold since the day it was written, but have you read it? And if you read it, did you understand it? In the Bible Book Club podcast, we read every word of the Bible
... more
4.7
290290 ratings
The podcast currently has 190 episodes available.
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
In 1 Kings 9, the nation is still gathered for the dedication of the temple which Solomon planned to coincide with the Feast of Tabernacles, which was one of the annual feasts commanded by God in Numbers. It was a celebration to commemorate the 40 years Israel wandered in the wilderness. Solomon starts with a sacrifice…
Thank you for being a part of the club for Season 11.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
In 1 Kings 8 with the Temple complete, Solomon is ready to dedicate it. With trepidation and solemnity, the Israelites gather with one question on their mind. We have built it, will He come?
Thank you for being a part of the club for Season 11.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
In 1 Kings 5–6, Solomon began his building plan for the temple. He contracted with Hiram king of Tyre for all the building supplies. Then he organized over 187,000 laborers. In the 480th year, after the Israelite’s release from Egypt, they began building. It took 7 and ½ years to complete. The temple was twice the size of the Tabernacle, 30 feet wide and 90 feet long. But the scale was the same. The Holy Place was twice the size of the Most Holy Place with the interior covered in gold. Now that the temple is up, Solomon moves on to...
Thank you for being a part of the club for Season 11.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
In 1 Kings 5, we reference back to 2 Samuel 7:12 when God promised:
12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
The time has come for Solomon to build. This was a historic occasion for the Israelites for several reasons. First and foremost, the temple was built to house the Ark. The Ark was the seat of God’s presence. It was also the place of atonement for their sins. Atonement was crucial for their relationship with God.
The Canaanites, Egyptians, etc. all had temples for their God. The Ark had been housed in a tent called the Tabernacle from the time they left Egypt to well after they wandered in the wilderness. At this time, the ark is housed in a tent that David pitched for it in 2 Samuel 6:17. The ark needed a permanent home. It needed a temple.
The Temple would be the focal point for Israel’s worship and religious life. And the temple would give Israel a national identity.
Thank you for being a part of the club for Season 11.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
Starting with 1 Kings 3, the focus of the next 9 chapters will be Solomon’s reign. David reigned through war. Solomon reigned in peace. David was called to battle for the land. Solomon was called to build on the land. David had a heart for the Lord. Solomon had wisdom from the Lord. Both are examples to us of how God transforms our desires into a story for His glory.
The focus of this episode is Solomon’s wisdom. How and where does one attain wisdom? First, you have to ask for it.
Thank you for being a part of the club for Season 11.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
In 1 Kings 2, David encourages Solomon to do 3 things as a leader:
David is reiterating all he had been taught as an Israelite.
Thank you for being a part of the club for Season 11.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
Recap of Where We Are + How Kings Fits into the Bible:
The Bible is a collection of small stories that together tell a much larger story.
How does 1 and 2 Kings fit into the Bible?
Thank you for being a part of the club.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
If only the books of Samuel ended there, after David’s final words. It’s a great place to end, but he didn’t. There is more in 2 Samuel 23 and 24, and it is anti-climatic for the books of Samuel. However, it is an intriguing link to the future of Christ and our redemption. Recall that the author is writing the final chapters in a chiasm which is a literary structure where themes mirror each other in an inverted pattern. The focus is on the center of the chiasm. We have discussed the first 4 steps of the chiasm: Saul causes a famine, David’s Mighty Warriors, David’s final song, and David’s final words.
In 2 Samuel 23, we will discuss the remaining:David’s Mighty Warriors, and David causes a plague. These two mirror the first two. There will be more detail on the Mighty Warriors. Then we will end with David causing a plague which is a comparison to Saul causing a famine.
Thank you for being a part of the club.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
In 2 Samuel 22, we are going to read David’s song and final words. Recall that 1 and 2 Samuel were really one long book. 1 Samuel begins with Hannah’s song, and 2 Samuel ends with David’s song. The two songs are bookends to the story of Samuel, Saul, and David. Hannah’s song celebrates what God has done, how he reverses situations, and looks forward to what He will do in the future. David’s song celebrates what God has done and how he powerfully saved him, looking back on the past. The point is that the two songs creatively bookend the whole story, Hannah’s looks forward with a prophecy of an anointed king and David’s looks back on the fulfillment of this prophecy.
The author uses the songs in another creative way. There is another song in the beginning of 2 Samuel which place is right in the middle of the other 2 songs. It is David’s song of lament for the death of Saul and Jonathan. If we string all three songs together: Hannah’s Song begins as a series of reversals.
Then Hannah ends with a prophecy:
2:10 “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
Hannah sings of a king to come, for there was no king at that time. Recall, the book of Judges ended with...
Judges 21:25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Everyone sinned because there was no king. Hannah has caught a vision of a time when God will reverse the situation, an anointed king will overcome the evil. Then we read David’s song of lament for Saul 2 Samuel 1. David sang about how the mighty have fallen...meaning Saul. A king had come but he was not the king God had wanted. Saul was wicked and God humbled him and he and his descendants died. In the 3rd song, David sings of the reverse. David was faithful, and God exalted him, and his descendants will live and reign forever. The point is that what Hannah foresaw was fulfilled.
Thank you for being a part of the club.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
We love feedback, but can't reply without your email address. Message us your thoughts and contact info!
In 2 Samuel 20, we pick up in the middle of the new rebellion led by Sheba, the Benjaminite. David has a new commander, Amasa, who is the former commander of Absalom and tried to kill David. When David appointed Amasa as his commander, back in Chapter 19, we were never given any insight into how Joab felt about being replaced. Was Joab totally fired or just demoted and ordered to report to Amasa? How did Joab react, did he walk off in his usual temper and quit? And was David confident in this decision or had he decided rashly?
Yes, Joab had disobeyed David and killed Abner and Absalom. Abner, out of jealousy. Definitely wrong. But should David have trusted Abner? Regarding Absalom, perhaps Joab had good reasons for killing him. First, according to the law, Absalom should have been killed for rebellion. Second, he had betrayed Joab, who was the one who talked David into acknowledging him. So Joab had a personal vengeance. And third, Joab knew that had Absalom lived, David would have gone soft on him and Absalom probably would have planned another rebellion.
Back to David’s decision to replace Joab. Despite the wrong that Joab had done by killing these two men, he had done a lot well. As leader of the army, he had an outstanding record. And his loyalty to David and Israel was admirable. We don’t know how Joab felt about this demotion, and we can’t say whether it was fair of David without more detail. Whatever the case, Joab is not the kind of leader who sits quietly in the background. His commitment to David and Israel is too strong. And in this episode, Joab will find a way to take center stage.
Thank you for being a part of the club.
Show Notes
Contact Bible Book Club
Like, comment, or message us through Bible Book Club's Instagram
Like or comment on Susan's Facebook or Instagram
Leave us an Apple review
Contact us through our website form
Thanks for listening and happy podcasting!
The podcast currently has 190 episodes available.
777 Listeners
4,796 Listeners
1,927 Listeners
1,107 Listeners
33,221 Listeners
2,954 Listeners
1,091 Listeners
6,304 Listeners
2,708 Listeners
2,627 Listeners
664 Listeners
138 Listeners
1,644 Listeners
3,294 Listeners
47 Listeners