Ironworks

  And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now will the kingdom return to the house of David: this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.   1 Kings 12:26-28             Jeroboam took his football and went home; I wrote that last week.   This was what the 10 Northern tribes did: they turned away from the united kingdom under Rehoboam son of Solomon. Jeroboam’s revolt was prophesied in that The Lord had sent His word through the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite who told Jeroboam that he would be given ten tribes, for the Lord was taking them out of the hand of the son of Solomon (cf. 1 Kings 11:30-35). Howev

  And when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. 1 Kings 12:16               We all want favor, from our parents, our spouse, and our supervisors. Each of us enjoys being valued and appreciated. When there is no favor, value, or appreciation, we feel like we are outsiders. It makes us feel like we have no hope. This can teach us much about Godly leadership in the world, our homes, and the Lord’s church. In first Kings 12, we see the son of Solomon, Rehoboam, is now king of a united kingdom of the 12 tribes of Israel.              At the beginning of his reign, Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and made a request of their new king. Thy father made our yoke grievous: now, therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his he

    Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. 1 Kings 10: 9 "Your reputation precedes you." This is a common phrase when we meet someone for the first time. It is often said out of respect or to simply compliment a stranger.  When the Queen of Sheba came to visit King Solomon, she came due to what she had heard of his reputation. The word had traveled down from Israel in Ethiopia in Eastern Africa that Solomon was very wise. It was of such great interest that the Queen of Sheba just had to go and investigate this wise king. When this distant queen arrived and witnessed what she heard, she declared,  “ It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and thy wisdom” (cf. 1 Kings 10:6).  We can learn from the wisdom of King Solomon. The Queen recognized that there was something remarkable in Israel, and, when she arrive

    Have you ever wondered about why in the footnotes your Bible might say the oldest manuscripts and some other authorities omit verses 9 to the end?   The reliability of Mark 16:9-20 is supported by an abundance of evidence.   The alleged controversy comes from textual critics who elevate the two of the oldest manuscripts over others (Vaticanus and Sinaiticus). What the critics fail to mention is that three out of five of the oldest manuscripts include verses 9-20, and that is just the manuscripts in the original Koine Greek. There are many translations in other languages that include verses 9-20 including the Coptic, Egyptian, and Ethiopic amongst others. All of these predate the fourth century Vaticanus and Sinaiticus as they appeared slightly after the first century A.D. In addition, there is evidence that some church fathers, which include Irenaeus, quote Mark 16:9-20 which affirms that this passage was accepted Scripture in the early years of the church. The Vaticanus is not

  Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim 1:13 In recent years, there has been a great disruption caused by some over the term “pattern theology.” There have even been some, otherwise faithful brethren who have been caught up in an idea that we are under grace and not under law. To clarify, the Word affirms we are saved by grace through faith (cf. Eph. 2:8-9). However, that is not an excuse to live lawlessly. In fact, in the early days of the church, there were some men known as Antinomians (lit. against law) who advocated that Christians were free from moral law because of grace outlined in the Gospel. The Scripture teaches otherwise. The form, or pattern of sound words, indicates that there is a law. This is not the Mosaic Law of Commandments which was nailed to the cross. (cf. Col 2:14). We are now under the law of Christ (cf. Gal. 6:2): the perfect law of liberty (cf. Jam. 1:25). We must never use the exc