According to an article in Thursday's "Wall Street Journal," earlier this year on the day Muslims celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacifice his son on Mt. Moriah (a son they claim was Ishmael), 25,000 sheep in Brussels, Belgium, had their heads turned to Mecca and were sacrificially killed by having their throats slit so that they would die from the shedding of their blood. Many of the Muslims will be eating their sheep for lunch that same day. Although home slaughters are illegal in Belguim, Muslims now make up over 15% of the one million people in the city of Brussels.

In this passage, David takes up an offering for building of the temple. He uses the youth of Solomon, the greatness of the project, and his own example of giving as incentives for the people to give freely. The people respond and bring a generous offering for which David blesses the Lord before the entire congregation.

After the flood, God gave man a fresh start through Noah and his family. Man is to replenish the earth and make another go at it. God gave Noah foundational principles of good government and promised all creation that the earth would never again be destroyed by water. But tragically, by the end of the chapter, sin had already begun to corrupt the new world.

The prophet Haggai encourages the Israelites who have returned from Babylonian captivity as they build the temple