Living Water Community Church

We began to explore the section where Elijah is introduced to us. He just suddenly appears on the scene. In the same way that Melchizedek foreshadows the priestly ministry of Jesus Elijah foreshadows the prophetic ministry of Jesus. He suddenly comes on the scene. He calls the people to repentance and does miraculous works. He ascends into heaven at the end of his ministry. We learn from the book of James that Elijah’s prayers were basis on which the rain was withheld from the land. Elijah prayed in accordance with God’s stated judgement on those who were part of Israel who turned their back on Him. We saw this in Deuteronomy 11. Elijah went to Ahab and informed him this judgement of drought was a supernatural event brought about by God. Then after giving the message he followed the word of the Lord and lived by the brook Cherith which is east of the Jordan. During his time there the Lord had ravens bring him food and he drank from the brook. This judgement by famine is happening after many years of Israel be

We examined the passage dealing with the two kings of Israel in the northern kingdom which followed Jeroboam. Jeroboam’s son Nadab only reigned for 2 years and then Baasha assassinated him while he was attacking the Philistines. Baasha then went on to totally wipe out all the descendants of Jeroboam fulfilling the prophecy given by God. This prophecy had been because Jeroboam turned the people away from God leading them into idolatry. Baasha became king and continued to lead the people into idolatry. Jehu the prophet prophesied against the house of Baasha because he had continued to lead the people astray and also because he had destroyed the house of Jeroboam. What we explored in this passage is how God’s prophecy against Jeroboam had been fulfilled by Baasha but at the same time Baasha was judged for the wickedness of what he did to the house of Jeroboam. There is a tension here as God is actively  bringing judgement on sinful men even using sinful men to carry it out, but at the same time not giving sinful

We will be dealing with a variety of questions related to heaven as we take one last journey into what scripture says about it. Because of this there is no single key passage but a variety of passages which touch on issues related to God’s revealed view on things. We will begin by exploring the question, “Will animals be in eternity?” Then move on to other questions. Will Life Become Boring in heaven? Will there be Craftsmanship and Technology in heaven? All of these things should be a means of prompting us in the here and now to think about God in eternity. 

We explored the opening section of 1 Kings 15. In the first 24 verses there is a remarkable comparison between the two kings which followed Rehoboam as rulers over Judah. Abijam Rehoboam’s son followed his father. He reigned for 3 years and continued to plunge the people into idolatry. Asa his son followed him as ruler and he reigned for 41 years and is recorded by the writer as having a heart which was wholly true to God. The reason this comparison is so important is how it points the readers to a need to be true to God from the heart. Here Asa is clearly one of the kings of Israel who drew people back to God and was blessed with a long reign. By contrast Abijam’s reign was remarkably short and he drew people away from God. When we look at these kings as recorded in Chronicles we see how Abijam appears to depend on God when going to battle against Jeroboam and Asa appears to stop depending on God as much as he became older. This does not negate the way they are laid out for us in 1 Kings. The writer of kings

We worked our way through the summary of Rehoboam’s reign in Judah. The section begins and end with the mention of Rehoboam’s mother and the fact that she was an Ammonite. The Moabites and Ammonites were descended from Lot and they did not help Israel when they came up out of the land of Egypt. To the contrary Balak the king of the Ammonites paid Balaam to try to curse them. Because of these things Israel was to maintain a separation from them. But Solomon married a woman from this tribe. Not only that but this marriage happened before he became king so this was not a marriage alliance this was Solomon being disobedient. This disobedient marriage produced Rehoboam and gave Naamah an Ammonite undue influence on the king. Rehoboam led Judah into more sin then all their fathers had committed. Because of this God began to bring judgement on Judah. Shishak the king of Egypt came up and took away all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the kings house. There was also ongoing war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam

We looked at the final recorded event of Jeroboam’s reign. Abijah his son becomes sick. Jeroboam sends his wife in disguise to Ahijah the prophet who had declared he would become king of Israel. When Jeroboam faces a real trial he doesn’t turn to the false gods he had set up but to the true prophet of the true God. But the fact he sends his wife disguised with a common offering of bread, cakes and honey, tells us he was trying to hide from God. He felt guilt but he was not repentant. Ahijah even though he is blind sees right through the deception. He gives Jeroboam’s wife the kind of news she did not want to hear. All the descendants of Jeroboam’s family who could lay claim to the throne will die and be eaten by dogs or birds. Only the son who is sick will die and be buried and mourned because he alone was pleasing to God. The fact that he was pleasing to God indicates he had faith in God. Because to please God you must have faith in Him. Ahijah also prophecies that God is going to scatter Israel to lands bey

The results of speaking boldly for Christ, even at the peril of ones' life, can bring about an abundant harvest if the Holy Spirit brings remarkable change to bear. Even before rulers and authorities it is important to look to Christ, not to man, for the way in which we should walk. We got to see some of the sweet fellowship of the early church here.

We will look at the strange story of the prophet who announced the judgement of God on the house of Jeroboam and the coming cleansing of Israel by Josiah a future king of Israel. This prophet was supposed to give the message of God and the sign of God and leave Israel returning to Judah by a different path then he came. He was also instructed not to eat or drink anything until he returned to Judah. There was however another prophet who lived in the area who had sons or apprentices attending the sacrifice Jeroboam made and this prophet crashed. Their attendance indicates they were probably complicit in Jeroboam’s defection from the true God of Israel. This prophet seeks out the prophet of Judah and declares that an angel appeared to him and told him to have the prophet from Judah come to his home for a meal. The prophet from Judah listened to this false prophecy and during the meal God spoke through the false prophet declaring the impending death of the prophet of Judah for his disobedience. As the prophet jou

We examine more of the beginning of Jeroboam’s reign. It was a reign started and rooted in rebellion against God. He really set out to subvert the law which God had established for Israel. Jeroboam set up idols and commanded the people to worship them. He set up anyone who wanted to be priest except for the Levites. He established false feast days for the people to gather and worship the idols he had established. This of course angered God. The very God who had established the kingdom for Jeroboam. The total insanity of Jeroboam’s actions seems crazy when we consider how he came to be king. Yet this is the path he has headed for. We actually see him making an offering to a false god during a fake festival then a prophet from Judah shows up. This prophet declares the destruction of the worship of false gods in Bethel by a future king of Judah named Josiah. This is the very place the king is making offerings. So the prophet declares they will know this will surely happen because God will give a sign by the dest

We explored the beginning of Jeroboam’s reign in contrast to the beginning of Rehoboam’s. Rehoboam in Shechem witnessed the devastating breaking of the kingdom as 10 of the tribes rejected his rulership. He sent Adoram his task master to deal with them and they stoned him to death. Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem and began to call together and army to go fight against the rebellious tribes and restore the kingdom. God sent word through Shemaiah the prophet that this rebellion and split in Israel was from the Lord and they should not fight it. The king and all the people listened to Shemaiah and returned home. By contrast Jeroboam had been given the promise if he would follow God and trust Him like David did, God would establish his throne. Jeroboam immediately took unwise counsel and created 2 calves of gold placing one at the southern border and one at the northern boarder. He made temples on hight places and appointed priests from anyone except the Levites. Jeroboam in one quick series of events shows complete r

We worked through the first 15 verses of chapter 12. The crowning of Rehoboam and the start of his reign is recorded for us in this chapter. It is remarkably different from his father Solomon’s anointing as king. As a matter of fact there really does not appear to be any anointing going on for Rehoboam. The people had all gathered at Shechem to make him king. Jeroboam returns from Egypt and appears to represent most of the tribes as they come to Rehoboam to lay down some conditions. They ask for Rehoboam to make their work load lighter to receive their loyalty and support. Rehoboam asks the old men who advised his father what to do and they suggested he listen to the people. Rehoboam did not like that answer and so he asked young men he had grown up with what to do and they told him to basically show the people he is going to be even tougher on them then Solomon had been. Rehoboam chose to listen to the young men and display how tough he was going to be. We wrapped up with verse 15 where it explicitly states

We explored what our relationships will be like according to what we see in scripture. We explored how the scripture speaks against false beliefs about relationships in eternity even held by great spiritual giants of theology in history. In 1 Thessalonians Paul talked about looking forward to recognizing and interacting with those who have gone before us into eternity. The followers of Jesus all recognize him after the resurrection. While it appears Jesus could keep some from recognizing Him, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Mary Magdalene and the twelve clearly know Him when they see Him. God created us to love relationships and at His core God has always existed in relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit forming the Trinity. Since God is relational at a very fundamental level He has created us to love relationships. This is not something God will take away in heaven but rather something which will be deeper and richer because we now know and see God. We also explored the idea of children

We wrapped up chapter 11. It is such a sad chapter because in it we see the seeds planted which will lead to the division of the kingdom of Israel. The real driving force for this break up is found in how Solomon fostered and introduced idol worship in the land. Solomon lacked a real fear of God like David his father possessed. He embraced the false worship introduced by his many wives and this is ultimately the thing which brought about the judgement of God. He calls His people to be faithful to Him. When His people are not faithful He brings correction and judgement. God is always working to bring His people into faithful pursuit of Him. He is faithful even when we are not and He is always working to bring us what is best for us which is the gift of a relationship with Him. There is nothing in this world better for us then this. At the risk of sounding overly simplistic the truth of the matter is: every single problem which we have in this world finds its truest answer and solution in Jesus. • Are you sick?

We explored what is essentially the detailing of Solomon’s kingdom declining. It starts with his disobedience to God’s command to not multiply wives. This led to him being introduced to the many gods of these wives. Ultimately the text says Solomon loved these gods. This is a dramatic departure for the man who started out in Kings with the declaration that he loved God. In a nutshell this really highlights Solomon’s decline. He went from loving God to loving many other gods. Yet there is a very real warning for us in Solomon’s decline. If the wisest man who ever lived can move from loving God to loving many gods what hope do we have. • The hope we have is found in Jesus. • The hope we have is found in continuing to pursue Him. • The hope we have is in cultivating a passionate pursuit of Him in our hearts.

We explored a section which in one way foreshadows the kingdom of God and in another way is a warning to the people in exile of how the kingdom of Israel’s decline began. In the section we witness Solomon gaining a super-abundance of wealth. His wealth in his time would have made him by today’s standards a multi-billionaire. Given the lack of true capitalistic economies in Solomon’s day he would have no doubt been the richest man in the world. The wealth and abundance of the kingdom really foreshadows the greater and better kingdom of God which is coming. In God’s coming kingdom there will never be want. God will be supplying our needs in a sinless environment. It will be magnificent in every way. The problem in Solomon’s kingdom can be found in the fact that his was not a sinless environment. The massive build up of wealth would prove to be a corrupting influence on Solomon and all Israel. Silver was so abundant in Jerusalem it was said to be as common as stone. This would have driven the value of silver dow

The early Church was united and devoted to prayer. A united pursuit of God and a seeking after wisdom from God on the path forward after Jesus Ascension. A 50 day period takes place after the resurrection before we come to Pentecost. A brief overview of corporate prayer is a part of this study.

We explored the first 13 verses of chapter 10. In this section we have the record of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon. She came because of all she had heard. It was such astonishing reports she simply had to see it for herself. What she found was greater than what she had been told. The scale and scope of what she saw simply took her breath away. But even greater than what she saw was the fact she perceived this was from God. She encountered not just Solomon and his wisdom but she encountered the God who had granted Solomon wisdom. Jesus declared that the queen of the south the queen of Sheba will be at the judgement condemning those who do not believe. The only way she can be there in that capacity is because she saw and believed. We get to know God even better then the queen of Sheba did. We are called to be ambassadors of the kingdom of God in an even more explicit way then Solomon was.

We looked at God’s promise of blessing and also warning to Solomon of what would happen if he turned aside from following God. This happened when God appeared to Solomon a second time after the dedication of the temple. The warning even extended to his children. But there was also the promise of blessing if Solomon remained faithful and followed God like David his father did. God promised to extend the same blessing He had given David to establish his throne forever. The warning came with the promise of judgement on the nation of Israel and the temple building itself if the people go and serve and worship other gods. This was done to be a declaration of the importance of fidelity to God to all the surrounding nations. That the world would know they faced judgement because they abandoned God. This same type of warning extends to the church. We looked at how passages in James and Hebrews speak to the importance of being true to God and not playing a game of externalized religion. God is the same yesterday today

We worked through the end of chapter 8. In this section Solomon rises from the prayer of dedication and the passage tells us he blesses the people. It is really interesting that it states this is a blessing on the people because what Solomon does is bless God for giving rest to His people as He promised. Then Solomon blesses the people with God being with them and inclining their hearts to Him to keep His commandments, statutes and rules. He charges them to keep their hearts true to God. Basically if you consider the content of this blessing even though it is really directed at God and being true to Him then you have the best possible blessing Solomon could give to the people. He is blessing them with a pursuit of God and obedience to Him. There is quite literally nothing better we could wish for anyone in this life. The passage then turns from Solomon’s blessing to the sacrifices offered and the feast which they held. We noted the fact that one of the sacrifices was a peace offering. The peace offering was a

We worked through the end of chapter 8. In this section Solomon rises from the prayer of dedication and the passage tells us he blesses the people. It is really interesting that it states this is a blessing on the people because what Solomon does is bless God for giving rest to His people as He promised. Then Solomon blesses the people with God being with them and inclining their hearts to Him to keep His commandments, statutes and rules. He charges them to keep their hearts true to God. Basically if you consider the content of this blessing even though it is really directed at God and being true to Him then you have the best possible blessing Solomon could give to the people. He is blessing them with a pursuit of God and obedience to Him. There is quite literally nothing better we could wish for anyone in this life. The passage then turns from Solomon’s blessing to the sacrifices offered and the feast which they held. We noted the fact that one of the sacrifices was a peace offering. The peace offering was a