Questions God Asks?

Day 26
1 Kings 16:21 - 2 Kings 4:37

We have a God that pursues! And He also asks questions, ones that are meant to probe the depth of our hearts. The type of questions that invite a response. We have already passed over some of them.

In Gen 3:9, Adam and Eve sin and hide in the garden. God calls out to them and asks "Where are you?"

In Gen 3:11, the Lord asks Adam "Who told you that you were naked?"

In Gen 3:13 God asks Eve ( and Cain in Gen 4:10) "What have you done?"

In Gen 4:9, Cain kills his brother Abel and God asks Cain "Where is your brother?"

In our text today, God asks Elijah after he had fled to Mt. Horeb. "What are you doing here?"

Our merciful God asks the same questions of you and me today.

When He first pursues you and later when we fail to spend time with Him,
He asks "Where are you?"

When we listen to the counsel of the ungodly and to the lies of Satan,
He asks "Who told you?"

When we fall into sin and disobey His commands,
He asks "What have you done?"

When we neglect to love others and forget to share the gospel to a dying world,
He asks "Where is you brother?"

When we have become discouraged or fearful, when we have lost our way and forgot our mission, when we have gone down the wrong path,
He asks "What are you doing here?"

The important questions God asks are for our benefit, they are to draw us closer in our relationship with Him. They are an invitation to talk to One and Only God.

When we get to Luke 9:20, we will find a question Jesus asks not only of Peter, but everyone. "Who do you say that I am." And the only response that saves is the same as Peter's. "The Christ of God."

There is one more question God asks. It is found in Exodus 14:11, the Lord asks Moses "How long will they refuse to believe in Me." It shows the longsuffering of God, that He still waits for some to believe. But one day God's patience will be done.

So listen for God's questions, and be prepared with some answers.

Solomon's Important Question?

DAY 25
1 Kings 7:38 - 16:20

1 Kings 8:27
"But will God really dwell on earth?"

It's one of the most important questions of all time. Now that Solomon has built the temple, will God dwell on earth with man? A yearning for a time back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day. It's asked in many different ways, but it usually comes down to:

Will God be a part of our lives?

The question is just as relevant today. There are millions of people searching for relevance and significance. Is there a God? Does He even care about me? The Tabernacle and Temple were the ways that were instituted for a holy God to make His presence known to man. It was the means by which sinful man could still approach his Creater and Sustainer. It was a foreshadow of when God would take on human flesh and dwell with man in person.

John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

And His life was lived as an example to all His creation. It showed man how to love God and to love others. At the end of His life, He became the substitutionary atonement for our sins. He became the means by which sinful man could gain the remission of sins and have access to God. At His death, burial, and resurrection, He promised never to leave us alone by providing the Holy Spirit to guide us in our relationship with God, the Father.

Matt. 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

Yes! God dwells on this earth! But instead of dwelling in a physical structure, He dwells in the heart of every believer. And God's restoration of man continues. For now, the Holy Spirit has fellowship with your spirit, and walks with you in the garden of earth. It too is a foreshadow of what will come; when there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Then we will see Him face to face!

I am glad the answer to Solomon's question is Yes!

External Links: Plans of Solomon's Temple
http://www3.telus.net/public/kstam/en/temple/study/temple.htm?study=on

3D Project of Solomon's Temple
http://www3.telus.net/public/kstam/en/models/models.htm

Timeline for the Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah
http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/xian/bible/timeline.html