The Second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5), 6 June 2010
The Readings for The Second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5) I Kings 17:17-24 Psalm 30 Galatians 1:11-24 Saint Luke 7:11-17 Elijah is met in the desert by an angel BACKGROUND What does one do when all the promises seem to be forgotten, when institutions fail, and when people are removed from their homeland? This is the problem that the editors of I and II Kings dealt with. They wished to explain the destruction of the temple and the military success of the Babylonians in a way that would not negate their faith in the God of Israel. What we are given here is a history of the United Kingdom (under David and Solomon) and then a history of the kings of Judah. Similar material is found in I and II Chronicles, but the Kings material is earlier and more reliable. Kings is written from a royalist/prophetic point of view, while Chronicles is written