I am a man of God, a preacher, a missionary. It is said of me that I risked my life for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, as I was a leader among the brothers. I helped Peter write his letter to the churches of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, the very area where I preached with Paul on his second missionary journey. When Paul wrote to the churches of Thessalonica and of Corinth he mentioned me as having preached there. Peter wrote that I was a “faithful brother.” When the Thessalonians chased Paul from Berea, Timothy and I stayed behind to encourage them. I am a member of Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship. In prison I prayed, sang hymns, and converted the jailer and his family. Who am I?

I am the king of Judah who reigned from 910–869 B.C. My father’s name was Abijah, my grandfather‘s name was Rehoboam, and my great-grandfather’s name was Solomon.

I was a mighty military commander. When my grandfather, Rehoboam went out to fight, all be could muster was 180,000 soldiers. But I mustered 300,000 from Judah and equipped them with large shields and spears (the infantry), and 280,000 men from Benjamin with small shields and bows (the artillery). But when I was faced with Zerah the Cushite who had an army of thousand thousands with 300 panzers—excuse me, chariots, I placed my trust not in the strength of my army, but in the Lord, who crushed my opponent.

Because of this physical victory over the Cushites, I won a spiritual victory against the devil. I removed the idols, rebuilt the altar of the LORD, offered innumerable sacrifices, and renewed the Covenant. Unlike, as in the modern era of Liberation and toleration, “All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.” The Israelites sought God. I “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as (my great, great, grand)father, David had done.” I even deposed my grandmother Maacah as queen mother because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. My “heart was fully committed to the LORD all my life.”

However, all good things come to an end. After 36 years of peace, only once interrupted by Zerah the Cushite in the fifteenth year of my reign, Baasha, King of Israel, came against me. I built a cistern to supply Jerusalem with fresh water. (In the time of Jeremiah it became a grave and was completely filled with corpses.) I did not trust in the LORD, and Hanani the Seer chastised me. Like a true Oriental, I placed the bearer of bad news in prison. Then, three years later I suffered from a severe foot disease and still I did not seek help from the LORD. Two years later I died and was buried in the city of my father, David. Who am I?

1 Peter 5:12; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:19. 2 Chron. 14, 15.

Cdr. Palmer lives at 453 Warley St., Portsmouth, RI 02871