Hard question: is it okay not to like Solomon?
Returning to the docket teaser, a host explains he has just read 1 Kings and can no longer deify Solomon's wisdom: the man who asked for wisdom and built the temple also built high places, married hundreds of women ("this is not wisdom"), and built a house for Pharaoh's daughter alongside the house of the Lord. The hosts agree Solomon is "no good" as a role model while noting his temple dedication prayers were genuinely great, compare him to David ("a man after God's own heart" doesn't imply God endorsed every action), and observe that most Old Testament heroes — Noah, Jonah — have glaring failures the highlight reels skip (Solomon doesn't even show up in Hebrews 11). Takeaway: read the whole story, don't read the Bible too fast, and trust a God who works through rough people.
More on Old Testament
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Does God speak more now? Indwelling Spirit versus prophets
- Does God talk to people as much now as he did in the Old Testament or New Testament?
A host asks whether God talks to people as much now as in the Old and New Testaments. Ben's key distinction: the indwelling Holy Spirit means more people can have the experience…
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
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Ben's three questions: is he real, is he good, is he capricious?
- Is God even real?
- Is God good?
Ben frames three reasonable reactions to Old Testament violence: (1) maybe God isn't real; (2) maybe he isn't good; (3) maybe he's capricious.
From No. 540 · Justice is Mine
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Ask the pastor: why does Daniel keep his Hebrew name while Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego don't?
- Why does the narrative revert Daniel to his Hebrew name while Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego keep their Babylonian names?
Boova's question: Daniel is given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego receive Babylonian names too — but the narrative reverts Daniel to his Israelite name while the other three keep theirs throughout.
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Ask the pastor: Ezekiel 39:17 — God telling a prophet to speak to birds and beasts
- In Ezekiel 39:17, why would God tell a prophet to speak to birds and beasts, and is there precedent for God interacting with animals this way?
Boova was struck by Ezekiel 39:17, where Ezekiel is told to speak on God's behalf to the birds and beasts, inviting them to feast on God's defeated enemies.