DAY 157
Old Testament reading: 1 Chronicles 22-24
He didn’t build it, but he made sure someone did. Yesterday’s reading tells us how David committed the Lord’s many blessings to the building of the temple. Today’s reading gives us a measure of this treasure, specifically, “one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond measure” (22:14). At today’s (May 2015) market price of $1200/oz for gold (and it was $1800/oz just three years ago), this makes each talent (33kg) of gold worth about 1.4 million US dollars. Multiplied by 100,000 talents brings the figure to nearly 1.5 TRILLION dollars. The silver? Well, each talent at today’s market was worth about $20,500. So, multiplying by one million makes the value of the silver at 20.5 TRILLION dollars! This makes the statement concerning David – “He made abundant preparations before his death” (22:5) – quite the understatement! These preparations included gathering the other materials as well as giving Solomon the plans to build the temple. In the context of getting things ready for Solomon to build the temple, we should consider how we should live so as to help others continue building God’s temple (the church) after we are gone. One way is to remember the Lord’s work in our last will and testaments. Too many parents leave a lifetime to God’s blessings to children who are not faithful to the Lord. Surely God cannot be pleased with this! Consider helping some area of missions, an orphans’ home, set up a scholarship for some young man to attend a Christian university or school of preaching.
New Testament reading: Galatians 1-3
Who or what constitutes and apostle? In Galatians 1:19 we see Paul identify James the Lord’s brother as an apostle. Like the word “angel,” “apostle” has both specific and general New Testament usages. It is used in a general sense to denote “one sent” (John 13:16), and is even applied to Jesus (Heb 3:1). James the Lord’s brother (Gal 1:19), Barnabas (Acts 14:14), and Silvanus and Timothy (1 Thes 2:6, cf 1:1) were also designated as “apostles,” though not in the same sense as the Twelve and Paul, insofar as we do not see in them the authority, abilities, or “signs of an apostle” (cf 2 Cor 12:12).
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