​On Wednesday nights throughout the next nine months, we will be walking our way through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, learning the story of salvation, especially how everything points to and is fulfilled by Jesus.

​The major theological problem posed by the period of the divided monarchy is how, if a people so richly endowed by God with every means of grace cannot bring themselves to be faithful to him, then what hope does anyone have of doing so? The prophets attempt to tackle this thorny problem against the backdrop of the destruction of the kingdom, and what that means for God’s promises to Abraham and David moving forward. What they reveal by their ministry is not only a turnabout in Israel’s fortunes, but in those of the entire human race.

Key Text(s): Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36:16-37:28
Office Texts: Psalms 102 and 103; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Hebrews 8

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After the reign of David, things begin to look bad for the people of God. Solomon’s reign begins with fanfare and triumph, as he completes the Temple in Jerusalem, replacing the Tabernacle as the central sanctuary of Israel. But he is influenced by his foreign wife to worship idols, and the northern tribes are torn from his heir by God as a result, forming the kingdom of Israel. But God keeps the Davidic line in the southern kingdom based in Jerusalem, called Judah. Generations of apostasy, idolatry, and injustice, despite intense prophetic warnings, culminate in the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 bc by the Assyrians and the fall of the Southern Kingdom under the Davidic kings and the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple in 586 bc by the Babylonians. The story of Israel’s history under the monarchy is a case study in the stubbornness and pervasiveness of sin.

Key Text(s): 2 Kings 17:1-23; and 2 Chronicles 36
Office Texts: Psalms 80, 2 Kings 17:1-23; Acts 7:30-53

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Having established a king after his own heart among his people, God makes a grand promise to David that will form the basis of the story of salvation moving forward. He makes a covenant with David to secure his throne and a natural heir forever. This person will build God’s “house” and God will never take back his love from him, whom he will adopt into the divine household as a “son.” This promise is invoked for the continuation of David’s dynasty despite the idolatries of his heirs and, after its destruction, for its future and eternal restoration.
 
Key Text(s): 1 Samuel 7
Office Texts: Psalms 89, 1 Samuel 7:1-17, Luke 1:26-38

We turn now to a crucial watershed in the story of salvation: the development of the monarchy in Israel, wherein the line of the promised “seed” is made even more precise and the role of the coming one becomes more clear. Birthed in the context of Israel’s difficult early history in the Holy Land, in which she consistently whores after the local gods and becomes subject to violence, God provides a telling lesson in how leadership is to work among his people by first raising up an unfaithful king (fulfilling the people’s request for a “king like the nations have”) and then raising up a king who is loyal to himself. By these means, he sets up to restoration of God’s own rule over all people.

Key Text(s): 1 Samuel 8-10, 15-17
Office Texts: Psalms 23 and 45:1-9, 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Matthew 3:13-17

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Christmas time is a season of glad tidings and celebration. So it is with a heavy heart that I bring you unhappy tidings this season. One of our own, William “Bill” George James, Sr. fell asleep and went to be with the Lord early Saturday morning after a long fight against kidney disease. He leaves behind a lovely wife of 65 years, Harriet James, and several children and grandchildren, among them our own Joanna Wiseley. Bill was a member of Holy Trinity Parish for over 17 years, though ailing health has prevented him from joining us most Sundays of late. It has been my pleasure to get to know him over several home visits since my arrival at Holy Trinity a year and a half ago, and to root for Michigan football with him.
 
A Burial Service with Holy Communion will be held for him at Holy Trinity this coming Thursday, January 4, 2018, at 1:00 pm. Everyone in attendance will be welcome to join in the procession to Oak Grove Cemetery in Hillsdale for the Committal liturgy immediately after.
 
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be offered in Bill’s name to Holy Trinity Parish.
 
Please keep Harriet, Scott and Joanna, and all their family in your prayers over the coming days and weeks. And please set aside part of your Thursday to mourn with them.
 
“‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ saith the Lord; ‘he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.’”