Gilbert House Fellowship

FOR ALL of Solomon’s vaunted wisdom, he failed in the thing that mattered most.  God had told the Israelites not to enter into marriage with foreigners. Not because of racism or any perceived superior bloodline, but because the nations around Israel followed other gods—fallen angels who’d rebelled against the Creator. Solomon disobeyed to the extreme—700 wives and 300 concubines, and they turned t...

THE NOTION that grief is better than rejoicing is counterintuitive, but the lesson is profound: Wisdom is gained through suffering.  On the surface, Ecclesiastes 7 seems terribly downbeat: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting” (v. 2); “Sorrow is better than laughter” (v. 3); “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning” (v. 4), and so on. The point...

CHASING WEALTH for its own sake does not bring happiness.  The chapters of Ecclesiastes we read today are unified by this verse:   Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep (Eccl. 5:12, ESV).

LIFE IS SHORT and then you die. That’s the surface-level interpretation of the opening chapters of the Book of Ecclesiastes.  The book is attributed to “the Preacher,” usually identified as King Solomon. However, some scholars believe the book was written or edited by a Jewish scholar after the return from Babylon in 539 BC and attributed to Solomon since the book is in the tradition of Solomon’s...

The author(s) of the Book of the Watchers (chapters 1–36 of 1 Enoch) saw the punishment of the rebellious Watchers resulting from the intercession of the four archangels.  In chapter 9, Michael, Sariel (or Uriel), Raphael, and Gabriel brought the complaints of humanity to God and accused Shemihazah, Asael (Azazel), and their colleagues of creating the monstrous Nephilim and teaching humanity forbi...

ACCEPTING CORRECTION and wise counsel can be difficult, but it can save us from a world of trouble.  The value of wisdom as opposed to following one’s unrestrained appetites is again a theme in this week’s proverbs. And, as always, we find verses that are especially timely right now: Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people. A ruler who lacks understanding is a c...

THE CONTRAST between God and kings, and between wisdom and folly, are a central theme of these proverbs of Solomon. While God’s glory is manifest through the mysteries of His creation, it is the duty of a ruler to know and understand to rightly govern. Likewise, wisdom is exhibited through prudent behavior, hard work, and self-restraint, while fools are “like a dog that returns to his vomit.”

YOU’D THINK an appearance by God Himself would be enough to keep even a king on the straight and narrow for the rest of his life. After completing the Temple, God revealed to Solomon the blessings and consequences for obeying His Law or turning aside to worship other gods—which, sadly, we will learn is exactly what Solomon did as an older man. We also discuss the significance of 1 Kings 9:3, where...

THE SINS of the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6:1–4 are listed in detail in chapters 6 through 8 of the Book of 1 Enoch.  Specifically, the rebellious Watchers “defile[d] themselves” by commingling with women and taught humanity things we weren’t supposed to know—the making of weapons, sorcery, beguilement, enticement, and venerating the sun, moon, and the host of heaven.  The monstrous offsp...

TRUSTING IN other people will usually disappoint. This week’s reading in Psalms is timely, giving that we’re less than three weeks away from electing a new president in the United States.   Americans, remember this verse:   Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. Ps. 146:3 (ESV)  “A son of man” in this context refers to a human, not to the New Testament “Son...

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 th...

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? 

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...

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 artic...

BECAUSE DAVID had been a man of war, the task of building the Temple in Jerusalem fell to his son, Solomon. This week, we read the accounts of the Temple’s construction, and how Hiram, king of Tyre, provided the timber and craftsmen for the work. We also note that account in 1 Kings records that Solomon built the Temple “for the Name of Yahweh.” We briefly discuss the meaning of “the Name,” which...

HUMILITY WHEN an adversary falters is one of the lessons in this week’s study of Proverbs. We continue with “sayings of the wise” before returning to more proverbs of Solomon. Themes to take away from this week’s study: Do not envy evildoers or rejoice when they’re punished; do not be lazy, because that path leads to poverty; do not curse your enemies, but bless them instead; and wisdom is to be v...

THE BOOK OF 1 ENOCH has become a source of controversy among Christians. Regardless of your view of the book, it’s undeniable that it was known to the apostles and the early church, who generally had a favorable view of it. On the one hand, 1 Enoch is not in the Bible. There are good reasons for that; there are internal contradictions and details that are contrary to scripture. We agree with the e...

WE CONCLUDE a section of the sayings of Solomon and move into a section of Proverbs attributed to wise men in general. This week, the focus is on the blessings that come from listening to instruction, raising our children to love one another and fear God, avoid gluttony, drunkenness and sloth, and not envying the possessions (or spouses) of others.

THE SPIRITS of the giants destroyed by the Flood were venerated by the Amorites who dominated the culture around ancient Israel. The Hebrew prophets and psalmists condemned the cult of the dead, but you have to know what you’re looking for to find those scriptures. We find one of them in Proverbs 21: The man that wandereth out of the way of wisdom shall abide in the congregation of the dead. (KJV)...

THE FIRST VERSE of Proverbs 20 expresses a truth we’ve all seen at least once: Drunkenness leads to bad behavior. But there’s more to it. In the Semitic world around ancient Israel, pagans practiced a ritual called marzeah, referenced in Amos 6:7, that was apparently intended to induce an altered state of consciousness to allow participants to communicate with the spirits of the dead—which were ac...

THE DANGER OF acting without thinking is a theme that runs through this week's study in the Book of Proverbs. The value of wisdom and prudence is emphasized throughout Proverbs, and the foolishness of pride or trusting in one’s wealth instead of God are repeated throughout these chapters. It may seem repetitious to hear the same concepts again and again, but given that so many of us have failed to...

WE WOULD save ourselves a lot of trouble if we were slower to anger, slower to speak, and a more worried about pleasing God than others. The theme of this week’s study, which echoes those since we began our dive into the Book of Proverbs, is that wisdom, patience, forgiveness, and willingness to accept advice and correction will go a long way towards making life happier and more fulfilling. And, o...

THE WISDOM of a gentle reply seems especially appropriate in this day of flame wars on social media. If there is a theme to Proverbs 15, it is that we do well to think before we speak (or post) and be open to correction. We also discuss a verse that, taken in context with other verses in the Old Testament, suggests a link between Abaddon and Tartarus: Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD; ho...

LEANING ON OUR OWN understanding is a recipe for disaster. We continue with the theme of the importance of wisdom and willingness to receive correction, summarized in this verse: There is a way that seems right to a man,  but its end is the way to death. (Prov. 14:12, ESV) We also discuss grief and its place in the human experience. Until Christ returns, pain will be a part of our journey. It’s a...

THE WISDOM of receiving instruction and correction is the theme of the proverbs in this week’s study. Warnings of the dire consequences of ignoring discipline, advice, and direction are repeated throughout these two chapters, with an emphasis on the need for parents to instruct their children—and for children to listen and follow the guidance of their fathers and mothers.