The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 146: The Universal Church (2023)

Episode Date: May 26, 2023

Fr. Mike reveals Solomon's plan of leadership, and how he is aiming to unite the people. He also foreshadows the importance of the temple as a place where Israel can go to worship God as one people. Today's readings are 1 Kings 4, 2 Chronicles 6, and Psalm 65. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 146, and we are reading from 1 Kings chapter 4, from 2 Chronicles chapter 6, and we are praying Psalm 65 today. As always, the Bible translation that I am using is the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible

from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. And if you'd like to subscribe, you can subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe, then you'd be subscribed. As I said, today is day 146. We're reading 1 Kings chapter four, 2 Chronicles chapter six, and Psalm 65. The first book of Kings chapter four, Solomon's high officials. King Solomon was king over all Israel, and these were his high officials. Azariah, the son of Zadok, was the priest. Elahoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries. Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was recorder.

Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was in command of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were priests. Azariah, the son of Nathan, was over the officers. Zebud, the son of Nathan, was priest and king's friend. Ahishar was in charge of the palace, and Adoniram, the son of Abda was priest and king's friend. Ahishar was in charge of the palace, and Adoniram, the son of Abda, was in charge of the forced labor. Solomon had 12 officers over all Israel who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year.

These were their names. Ben-Hur in the hill country of Ephraim, Ben-Dekar in Makaz, Sha'al-Bim, Bet-Shemesh, and Elan-Beth-Hanan. Ben-Hes in the hill country of Ephraim, Ben-Dekar in Makaz, Sha'al-Bim, Bet-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan. Ben-Hesed in Araboth, to him belonged Soko and all the land of Hefer. Ben-Abinadab in Al-Nafath-Dor, he had Tefath, the daughter of Solomon, as his wife. Ba'ana, the son of Ahilud, in Tanakh.

Megiddo and all Bet-Shan, which is beside Zerathon, below Jezreel. And from Bet-Shan to Ebel-Mechola, as far as the other side of Jachmim. Ben-Gamer in Ramoth-Gilead, he had the villages of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argab, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars. Ahinadab, the son of Edo, in Mahanaim. Ahimaaz, in Naphtali. He had taken Basamath, the daughter of Solomon, as his wife. Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and Baaloth. Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Ezekar. Shemiyai, the son of Elah, in Benjamin. Geber, the son of Uriah, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan. And there was one officer in the land of Judah. Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. Solomon ruled over all the

kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. Solomon's provision for one day was 30 cores of fine flour and 60 cores of meal, 10 fat oxen and 20 pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep besides deer, gazelles, robux, and fatted fowl. For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tifsa to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates, and he had peace on all sides round about him. And Judah and Israel dwelt in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. Solomon also had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And those officers

supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month, they let nothing be lacking. Barley also, and straw for the horses, and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his charge. Fame of Solomon's Wisdom And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and largeness of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Athon the Ezraite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda the sons of Mahol. And his fame was in all the nations

round about. He also uttered three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts and of birds and of reptiles and of fish. And men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon and from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. The second book of Chronicles chapter six, dedication of the temple. Then Solomon said, the Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever. Then the king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. And he said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build the house, that my name might be there. And I chose no man as prince over my people Israel. But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there. And I chose no man as prince over my people Israel. But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name may be there. And I have chosen David to be over my people Israel. Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to David my father, whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name. Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise, which he made for. I have

risen in the place of David, my father, and sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised. And I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the sons of Israel. Solomon's Prayer of Dedication Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands. Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had it set in the court, and he stood upon it. Then he knelt upon his knees in the presence of all the assembly

of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven, and said, O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing mercy to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, who have kept with your servant David, my father, what you declared to him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. Now, therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep with your servant David, my father, what you have promised him, saying, there shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel. If only your sons take heed to the way to walk walk in my law as you have walked before me. Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed,

which you have spoken to your servant David. But will God dwell indeed with man on earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house which I have built. Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you, that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name,

that you may listen to the prayer which your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel. When they pray toward this place, yes, hear from heaven your dwelling place. And when you hear, forgive. If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty

by bringing his conduct upon his own head and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, when they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and make supplication to you in this house, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers. When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel.

And you teach them the good way in which they should walk and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance. If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by any man or by all your people, Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hand toward this house, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart, you know, according to all his ways for you, you only know the hearts of the children of men, that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in

the land which you gave to our fathers. Likewise, when a foreigner who is not of your people Israel comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, hear from heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name. If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for

your name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause. If they sin against you, for there is no man who does not sin. And you are angry with them and give them to an enemy so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near. Yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive and repent and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have acted perversely and wickedly. If they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name. Then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications,

and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you. Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to a prayer of this place. And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness. O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one. Remember your merciful love for David, your goodness. O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one. Remember your merciful love for David, your servant. Psalm 65, Thanksgiving for Earth's Bounty, to the Choir Master, a Psalm of David, a song. Praise is due to you, O God in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed in Jerusalem.

O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come on account of sins. When our transgressions prevail over us, you forgive them. Blessed is he whom you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple. By dread deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation, who are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who by your strength have established the mountains, being girded with might, who still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at earth's farthest bounds are afraid at your signs. You make the outgoings of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

You visit the earth and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty. The tracks of your chariot overflow with richness. The pastures of the wilderness drip. The hills gird themselves with joy. The meadows clothe themselves with flocks.

The valleys deck themselves with grain. They shout and sing together for joy. Father in heaven, yes, all creation, all of creation praises your name. All of creation gives you glory. The Father, the fact that we can look around at this world that you have made with all of its danger, with all of its distress, but with all of its power and with all of its distress, but with all of its power and beauty and even mere existence. It all gives praise to you. It all gives you glory. It all points back to you, the creator of this incredible creation. And so we give you thanks, just like the psalmist,

just like David wrote this Psalm 65. We give you thanks. Thanks for earth's bounty. Not only is this earth beautiful, this earth provides for us. And so, God, we give you thanks. And we actually also ask you to give us wisdom, like you gave wisdom to Solomon, to be able to know how to live in this world, how to live in this earth, how to not only give thanks to you for creation, but also how to use this creation in a way that honors you, that honors the gift, and that helps our neighbor. Not just our neighbor that exists, but our neighbor in the future. Lord God, you've made all creation for us, for our ancestors, and also for our descendants. And so help us, give us wisdom to be able to know how to

live in this world so we can pass it on to the next generation. But we give you thanks in all things, Lord God, we give you thanks. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Okay, so here we go. Solomon, really smart guy. Obviously, clearly one of the wisest men ever. That's what scripture says, and that's what it seems to be is the case here in 1 Kings 4. One of the things that I just think is, it's striking, and it's worth noting.

What we have is, here are all the people that Solomon brings around him because Solomon, while he's the king, he is delegating his authority. He's delegating his leadership to the people around him. And this is just, isn't that one of the things that great leaders do? The great men and great women among us who lead well are ones who get other people equipped and get other people to lead well. Here's what Jesus did, right? Here's Jesus who goes out himself and preaches. He goes out himself and heals and goes out himself and does incredible signs and wonders. But then what does he do? He gathers people around him, these disciples,

and even these 12 apostles, and he delegates them to go in his name and do what he had been doing. So here is Solomon. And what Solomon does is he gathers these 12 men and they become leaders of 12 regions in the land of Israel. Now, this is an interesting thing. I just just blew my mind when I considered it is you would think one would think that, OK, Solomon, he's going to have the provisions coming from 12 different places, one each month of the year, 12 different locations, one for each month of the year. That's smart because you don't tax one particular place more than another.

You kind of roam around here, around the place of Israel, the land of Israel. You wouldn't think that you would just go by tribe, by the locality of each tribe. But Solomon doesn't do that. He actually dedicates or distinguishes the sources of the provisions for the nation of Israel, for the kingdom now of Israel, not according to tribal lands, but according to geography. And he does this in a way that kind of transcends the tribalism that could still exist amongst the kingdom of Israel. That while everyone recognizes, yes, we are the people of God, they also would say, but I'm the tribe of Benjamin, or I'm the tribe

of Manasseh. And where these goods go to feed the king and feed the land of the whole people don't just come from each individual tribe. They come from different regions in those tribes. And I think that's just, that's something worth noting, even if it's just a trivia fact, but I think it's worth noting for something deeper. And that is that sometimes we can see ourselves as being part of a greater church, right? We can see ourselves as part of like the global church, the universal church, the Catholic church, but also sometimes we can get really, really parochial. We can kind of get territorial and we can say, well, yeah, but actually I go to St. Martin's, but I'm never going to go over to St. Luke's, that kind of a situation. And sometimes I know for up here in

Northern Minnesota, a lot of times what we have to do is we have to say, okay, there are some churches that have to get closed because of changing demographic or changing realities. And some people can say, no, I'm going to cling to this place. I'm not going to go anywhere else. Like, wait, wait, wait, wait. You belong to a, yes, you belong to your parish. You belong to this local church, but also we belong to the universal church as well. And I can go to St. Luke's or I can go to St. Mark's.

It's going to be the same mass. It's going to be the same worship of God. And Solomon is doing something like that. He's uniting the people subtly, right? He's not declaring to them or decreeing to them that you have to see yourselves as being part of this nation of Israel, this kingdom of Israel. He's just allowing them to do that because each region, not defined by a tribe, but defined by region, is contributing to the needs of the nation, which is, I think, remarkable.

Speaking of the needs of the nation, I don't know if you noticed how much goods, how many provisions were dedicated each day to the household of King Solomon. It is relatively, I don't know if the word is impressive. It's pretty impressive because what's it say? It says Solomon's provision for one day with 30 cores of fine flour, 60 cores of meal. So what's that? One core equals about 55 gallons. So 30 cores of fine flour.

So 30 times 54 gallons of fine flour, 60 cores of meal, 10 fatted oxen, 20 oxen from the pastures, 100 sheep, deer, gazelles, roebucks, fatted owl, and the list goes on. I think there's something about that that you realize Solomon is feeding a lot of people in the city of Jerusalem. That note that there's a lot of people in Jerusalem in Solomon's household who are being taken care of, that being noted. Let's look at 2 Chronicles chapter 6 because this is a remarkable prayer of King Solomon, but it's also a remarkable, I don't want to say shift, but it is a really big, big shift. In the past, worship of God happened a number of different places. It happened in Shiloh. It happened, you know, they would offer sacrifices where wherever there was a great moment,

wherever there was God had revealed himself, they build an altar and often offer a sacrifice there. That's been the pattern up until this point. In this point though, in 2 Chronicles chapter 6, what happens? This is Solomon saying, okay, up until this moment, there was no one place where God was worshiped. Up until this moment, there was no one king who led the people of Israel. But now that has all changed. And now, since we built the temple here in Jerusalem, this is the place of worship. And he's establishing so clearly that Jerusalem is the city of worship and the temple is the location of worship. And so from now on, all sacrifices, all worship is going to happen in the temple in Jerusalem. And this is a big, big deal. Now, yes, in the past, they would journey to Jerusalem for worship and journey to Jerusalem for prayers and whatnot. But at this point, this is the soul,

the exclusive place where you would offer worship. It's only going to be in the temple of the Lord, at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem. And this is a pretty big deal. And so how does Solomon emphasize this? Well, remember, this is in 2 Chronicles. So this is looking back even after exile. And he says, okay, whenever you're an individual sinner and you need to hear your sins forgiven, go to the temple. If you're a group of people, if it's the people of Israel that's turned away from God and we're all sinners, then we will all go to the temple.

Even if you go into battle, before you go into battle, go to the temple, turn to the temple. Even if you go into battle, before you go into battle, go to the temple, turn to the temple. And even it says, if you're ever taken captive, whether you're in your exiled, whether close or far away, just turn your hands, turn your face towards the temple in Jerusalem and there pray to God and hear God is going to hear you. And so he is making, he is reminding the people, the scribe here is reminding the people that Solomon had declared that Jerusalem is the center and the temple is the center of worship for them. And so it's just, it's really important for us just to note this because that's what's going to be a really big deal.

We're going to get to all the kings, the kingdom is going to get divided in a couple days from now, spoiler alert. But what's going to happen for the people is they have to be united. And one of the things that's going to unite them, even when they're scattered, even when they're in exile is going to be not just the city of Jerusalem, not just the land there, but it's going to be worship in the temple. That is going to be the thing that gives them their identity for centuries and centuries and centuries. So just keep an eye out for that. Oh gosh, you guys, this has been,

Dave 146, kind of a big deal. Here we are. First Kings 4, Second Chronicles 6, that Psalm 65, giving thanks to God for his creation. We give God thanks and I give God thanks for you. Thank you for this community that continues to pray the Bible. I know so many of you have told me that

you don't just listen, but you're sitting at your table or you're sitting somewhere where you can actually hear the words in your ears and see the words with your eyes, write down some of those key thoughts or those key notes. You can underline them and just capture the way God is speaking personally to you each day. And that's just such a gift. We also know that we're part of this community and we need each other. So we're praying for each other. Please pray for me. I am praying for you. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow.

God bless.