Author: Dave Dishman (Page 349 of 459)

When my wife and I named our children, we thought long and hard about each name, and held long discussions over our options. Do we choose a popular name, or a name from an older generation? Should we name this child after a family member? A close friend? A famous person from history? Will a cute name for a child serve them later as an adult?

We considered names found in the Bible. As Christians, it felt important to reflect our faith through names for our children. Not every believer feels this way, but that stood out to us. All to say, we spent a lot of time on the names for each of our children. Every parent I know does the same.

Which is why the name Baal jumped out when I read the genealogy in 1 Chronicles 5 (see verse 5). I usually skim through the lists of names in the Bible (the begats – those dusty passages filled with odd names no one chooses for a child anymore).

I paused when I realized Baal was a local deity. Reaiah (the list names him as the father) and his wife choose to name their firstborn son after a god they were forbidden to worship.

These parents lived in peace and prosperity, enjoying milk and honey poured out from the Lord’s hand. Then they went and named their child after the devil.

The generation that followed reaped the harvest for such blatant disregard for the Lord; They were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of the king of Assyria…who took them into exile (I Chronicles 5:25-26).

The naming of children reveals a great deal about a society. Here it shows Israel’s collapse, evidenced by no longer honoring the Lord, but rather naming their precious children after a cancerous distortion.

Sobering thoughts from a dusty list of old names.

1 Chronicles 5 in week eighteen in reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Ben Wicks

So warned Paul to members of a string of churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). I’m amazed Paul preached any sermon at all to these folks. For only a short time before…

Paul and Barnabus rode a bucking bronco of ministry through Lystra. Initially, Paul healed a man crippled from birth. This launched the crowd into hysteria, believing gods walked in their midst. Deciding Barnabus was Zeus and Paul was Hermes, the priest of the temple fetched bulls to sacrifice in their honor.

Paul and Barnabus rushed forward in dismay. They urged the crowd to understand who was human (Paul, Barnabus and everyone else), and who was God (the living one who made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, etc.).

Disappointed, the crowd swayed toward the arguments of a group of Jewish opponents of the Christian faith. Super upset that these guys weren’t really gods, but only healing crippled people, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, leaving him for dead.

Somehow Paul survived and went back into town. Gutsy move.

Later Paul preached his sermon to those new believers – we must suffer many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

Like Paul and Barnabus, I suffer hardships as I walk through trials and challenges in my life and my faith. That said, I’ve never faced a crowd throwing rocks at my head.

For that matter, I hope I don’t ever face a crowd who thinks I’m a god – I’m afraid I’d give in and go with the flow…

Acts 12 in week eighteen of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Sacha T’Sas

Michal, the first wife of David and a daughter of King Saul, lived a complicated life, especially during the time her father repeatedly tried to kill her husband. In one close call, Michal helped David escape his assassins by lowering him down through a window, then covered for him as he escaped.

David wrote Psalm 59 in response to the incident. Notice his description of the men who pursued him, They return at evening, snarling like dogs and prowl about the city. They wander about for food and howl if not satisfied. These men killed without remorse. Michal placed herself between wolves and husband.

David wrote after his escape, You, Lord, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. With no where to run, including his own home, The Lord remained David’s only hiding place.

David prayed the Lord would bring these evil men low, not just for his deliverance, but also that it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. No way would I have been thinking about the ends of the earth at that moment, except to escape there. But that’s how a man after God’s own heart prayed during this crisis.

David and Michal’s marriage faded. Poor Michal, torn between powerful men. But in this situation, she acted with calmness and bravery to save her husband, the future king of her nation.

1 Samuel 19 & Psalm 59 in week eighteen of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by TOGHRUL ISMAYILOV

After Peter miraculously walked out of prison, led by an angel, he headed over to a prayer meeting. He planned to show up as an answer to the fervent prayers going up on his behalf.

When Peter knocked at the gate, a young girl named Rhoda came to answer. She recognized Peter’s voice, but got so excited she left him there without opening the door and ran back inside to tell everyone!

No one believed her when she announced Peter stood at the gate. Everyone knew Herod locked Peter deep in his dungeon, from which no one escaped, and few emerged alive. Their friend and fellow disciple, James, died a few days before, martyred at the orders of Herod. Fear surged through the house and infused their prayers.

But Peter kept knocking, so they checked out this apparition at the gate. In an instant, everyone believed Rhoda, and finally the gate opened for Peter.

One of the things I love about reading through the Bible are the specific names of people mentioned. Luke considered Rhoda, a servant girl, important enough to include alongside Peter and James and Herod the king. Luke likely knew Rhoda, and obviously valued her role in this story.

I find these small asides deeply encouraging. It reminds me that everyone is important enough to have our name mentioned, that the Lord knows all of us intimately, even to the hairs on our heads.

You and I are known and valued by the Lord. Rhoda, the enthusiastic gatekeeper, announces that good news. Will I believe her?

Acts 12 in week seventeen of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Ronit Shaked