Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 8:22-30.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 8:22-30 (NIV)
22  Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven
23  and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below–you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.

On verses 22-30:  Here we see King Solomon leading the entire assembly of Israelites in prayer at the dedication service for the newly constructed temple.  This was Solomon’s most glorious moment where he steps into his role not only as a ruler but as a spiritual leader and priest for the people he is leading. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 8:1-11.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 8:1-5 (NIV) 
1 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 
2 All the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. 
3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, 

On verses 1-5:  Here King Solomon holds a dedication service for the newly completed temple. He decides to hold it “at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month” (v2).  Why is that significant?  It’s because this festival was the Israelites’ Feast of Booths, a festival which annually celebrates the end of the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilderness and how God had brought them to their own land.  King Solomon strategically thought, “The Feast of Booths would be a perfect time to dedicate the temple, since all the Israelites will be gathering anyway and their hearts will be expecting celebration and renewal.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 6:1-38.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 6:1-10 (NIV)
1  In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD.
2  The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.
3  The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple.

On verses 1-10:  In verses 1 through 10 Solomon gets busy building the temple. Interestingly, according to verse 7, Solomon went to great lengths to make sure that the sound of construction tools could be not heard at the temple site.  He did this by moulding, shaping and dressing all the building blocks for the temple off-site. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 4:20-34.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 4:20-34 (NIV)
20  The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.
21  And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

On verses 20-34:  Previously in 1 Kings 3:4-15, Solomon asked the Lord for a wise and discerning heart so that he could govern the nation of Israel for God’s glory.  In response to Solomon’s request, God promised that He would not only give Solomon a wise and discerning heart, but also unparalleled riches and honour “so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings” (v13).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 3:16-28.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 3:16-28 (NIV)
16  Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
17  One of them said, “My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me.
18  The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

On verses 16-28:  As proof that God had answered Solomon’s prayer for a wise and discerning heart, here we see Solomon displaying superior wisdom in dealing with a difficult situation where two prostitutes argue over who is the true mother of a newborn baby boy.  Since neither side would budge, Solomon asks for a sword and orders that the child be cut in two.  One of the women cannot bear to see the baby boy cut in two and asks the king to give the baby to the other woman.