His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

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His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

2 Chronicles 5–7; Psalm 136

October 13, 2024 • 2 Chronicles 5, 2 Chronicles 6, 2 Chronicles 7, Psalm 136

SOLOMON’S prayer of dedication for the Temple includes a phrase we read often in the Psalms, “steadfast love,” which is sometimes translated “mercy,” “favor,” “loyalty,” or “lovingkindness.”

The Hebrew word chesed doesn’t have an exact English equivalent, but it appears 245 times in the Old Testament which means it’s important. 26 of those uses occur in our reading of Psalm 136, which reminded the Israelites—and us—that God’s live is for eternity.

Our question of the week: What is the difference between Israel and Judah?

The Prayer of Solomon

October 6, 2024 • 1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 4

SOLOMON’S PRAYER of dedication is a wonderful petition to God, asking Him to listen to the prayers of His people. Solomon notes that repentance, turning from sin, is important, and that “there is no one who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46), a concept we see again in the New Testament (1 John 1:8). Our question of the week: What is Behemoth?

Indictment of the Watchers

September 29, 2024

THE SIN OF THE WATCHERS is framed by the Book of 1 Enoch as a violation of the natural order. Chapter 2 through chapter 5 verse 3 (3:7 in the SEV) detail all of the ways creation follows a pattern established by God. Then the author turns to the rebellious angels, charging them with faithlessness, rebellion, and speaking “proud and hard words” (or “slanderously grave and harsh words”) against God. Their sin, in other words, is not just disobedience; it’s unnatural! It’s clear in chapter 6 that the rebellious Watchers knew that commingling with human women was wrong; their leader, Shemihazah, admitted it in so many words, afraid that he alone would be held accountable for “this great sin.” His colleagues agreed to swear by a mutual oath to proceed. This event was remembered for millennia. Sometime around the beginning of the Christian era, a 6,000-pound limestone stela was left inside a temple on the summit of Mount Hermon, where this oath was sworn (1 Enoch 6:6 [3:5, SEV]), commemorating the event. Dr. Doug Hamp published the first new information derived from the Watcher Stone in more than a century in his book Corrupting the Image II. Here’s the link to https://www.derekpgilbert.com/2022/01/10/the-second-coming-of-saturn-part-18-the-mount-hermon-inscription/ that cites Doug’s new translation. The question is whether the Watchers came to Earth specifically to commit this sin or, as Justin Martyr wrote in his Second Apology (c. 161 AD), they were appointed to watch over humanity by God and decided to transgress after they got here. And, as L. A. Marzulli suggested in a 2022 episode of our program The Bible’s Greatest Mysteries, were they talked into this sin by Satan, who wanted Shemihazah—a powerful rival—out of the way? Next time (October 27, 2024), we’ll discuss the consequences of the transgression of the Watchers. Here is a link to the https://pidradio.com/tag/dr-michael-heiser/page/4/ about Gnosticism and The Da Vinci Code. Here’s the link to the https://youtu.be/5xgdybd_gdm?si=hbxn_60ix_n6ntlx about Satan, Shemihazah, and “the angelic suicide mission” to overthrow God (link opens YouTube video).

Solomon's Palace and the Temple Furnishings

September 22, 2024 • 1 Kings 7

SOLOMON SPENT more time building his palace than he did constructing the Temple of Yahweh. This week, we read the details of the home Solomon built for himself, the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its size suggests it was used for multiple things, but the fact remains that it was under construction for thirteen years while the Temple was finished in seven. For further reading, here’s a good article on Solomon’s house: https://bit.ly/solomons-house We also discuss the craftsman, Hiram of Tyre, who is not to be confused with King Hiram, who supplied building material and workers for the Temple. Conflating the two is behind the story of Hiram Abiff, a key character in the rituals of Scottish Rite Freemasonry. Derek wrote a paper on how Hiram Abiff is a blind, or a symbol, for the true object of veneration in the highest degrees of the Scottish Rite, Nimrod. Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/nimrod-freemasons