Tag Archives: 1 Kings 8

Prescience

December 5, 2022 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near…”
1 Kings 8:46 (NIV)

Prescience noun (Prē-sh[ē]en[t]s): foreknowledge of events
a. Divine omniscience
b. Human anticipation of the course of events

A few years ago I was gifted the book The Fourth Turning. It was written in 1997. In it, the authors William Strauss and Neil Howe document what they suggest to be a generational pattern in history. In general, they submit that human generations have a “seasonal” pattern and historical human events follow that seasonal pattern just as things die each winter and spring back to life in the spring. Writing over twenty years ago, and based on the generational pattern they’d identified, they correctly predicted that around the year 2020 there would be a catastrophic, global event. They even suggested a pandemic fit the bill as a potential catastrophe. Fascinating.

Their book was eerily prescient.

In today’s chapter, King Solomon calls the entire nation and all the leaders of the twelve tribes to dedicate the Temple he’d built in Jerusalem. On his knees before the altar, Solomon prays a rather long prayer of dedication. In the midst of that prayer, he prays for a future generation of his people who sin against God and are taken captive into the land of their enemies.

It was a prescient utterance.

Approximately 400 years after the events of today’s chapter, Solomon’s people will be warned again and again by the prophets to turn their hearts back to God. When they refuse, the city of Jerusalem and the very Temple Solomon is dedicating will be destroyed by the Babylonians. Solomon’s people will be taken captive and carried off into exile. Next to the Exodus out of Egypt, it is the defining event of the Hebrew people. The entire story is foreshadowed in detail within Solomon’s prayer.

Another 400 years after the final exiles return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple, Jesus and His disciples find themselves leaving the Temple just days before Jesus would be crucified. Jesus tells His followers that every stone of the Temple would be thrown down and destroyed. In 70 A.D., just 40 years (or one generation) after He made this statement, the Romans did exactly that.

Jesus’ statement was prescient.

Along my spiritual journey as a disciple of Jesus, I have come to believe what I once heard U2’s Bono utter in an interview: “I think things are already written.” He belongs to a long line of people who made the same observation using different words. Looking back on my own life journey, I see certain events and relationships that I have no doubt were meant to be. Even if I didn’t have the prescience to see them on the road ahead of me, it is obviously clear in 20-20 hindsight.

As a person of faith, this gives me both comfort and hope as I enter each day, each week on this life journey. I am uncertain of what this day holds. I am uncertain what this week holds. I am, however, certain of who holds both this day and this week. Things are already written. There is a Great Story being told by the Author of Life. My role is to surrender, to follow, and to keep pressing on.

Lace ’em up.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

No Travel Necessary

October 8, 2014 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.”
1 Kings 8:41-43 (NIV)

In 2003 I had the opportunity to be among the “foreigners” that Solomon prayed for in today’s chapter. I was able to stand and pray at the site of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. There is nothing there now but the unearthed stone remnants which are now known as the “Western Wall” or the “Wailing Wall” because of the crowds who ceaselessly gather there to pray.

It was a special event for me simply because of the historical meaning of the site. I must admit, however, that I didn’t find the experience of praying at the Wall to have any special potency or spiritual power. In fact, I struggle with the belief that a geographical location makes any kind of difference to prayer. Jesus went away to a mountainside to pray regularly, but it had nothing to do with the mountain being somehow a spiritual place. His drawing away was more about getting away from the crowds, the demands of followers, and the stress that comes with working with people. He happened to enjoy going to the nearby mountain, but the same thing could have been accomplished by going to the woods or getting out in a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.

Our place at the lake is very similar. I always feel spiritual peace when I’m at the lake. It’s a great place to relax, to pray, to meditate, and to think. There is nothing sacred in the dirt or water there. It is more about the fact that there is no television signal and only spotty internet service if you have a cellular modem. You’re away from the grind. It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. The stress and anxiety of every day life melt away. The quality of my prayers and meditation at the lake rise because I don’t have work piled on my desk, don’t have my home phone ringing off the hook, and don’t have people demanding my time, energy and resources. There is space to reflect, to mull things over, and to have conversation with both God and others.

Jesus taught that with the pouring out of Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the presence of God would reside in the hearts of believers. We are God’s temple, and we take Him with us wherever we go. Pilgrimages to special places can be meaningful, educational, inspirational and spiritually beneficial, but they are certainly not necessary. I don’t need to write my prayers down and slip them into the Western Wall to be heard. With God’s indwelling Holy Spirit, my prayers are heard wherever I am at any given moment.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 1 Kings 8

January 14, 2010 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

May he keep us centered and devoted to him, following the life path he has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors. 1 Kings 8:58 (MSG)

My wife and I recently bought some furniture from IKEA. Shopping there is an experience. You walk through the expansive showroom to find the furniture pieces you want and write down the numbers for each piece on a list. You wind your way down to the warehouse where you go through an find all of the pieces to the pieces you chose. We ended up with four things we bought which translated into about 12-15 boxes of pieces we had to fit in our car.

When we returned home to assemble the pieces, I was surprised to find that the instructions had no words. There wasn't a section with written instructions in five different languages. Instead, there were numbered drawings that illustrated how to assemble the furniture. Simple. I like that.

Being a person not given to detailed instructions, I like when directions are given simply and clearly. Perhaps that's why I so appreciated the simple life directive in today's chapter. In one small verse I have a roadmap for the journey: