365 Reflections

The times we live seem to require extra good news. Thankfully, 2 Kings 7 has some for us. At the beginning of the chapter, with certain death imminent due to the Syrian siege on Israel, four lepers are faced with certain death. They are the weakest members of Israel and outcasts from normal society. The king has been weakened and turned against Elisha. Elisha has promised food but no one believes him. The question becomes, how will the Word of the Lord prove true once again? The answer comes from a simple equation made by four lepers who have NOTHING to lose. 2 Kings 7:3–4 (ESV) Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” You have to

I've been blogging through the Bible for a long time. I'm constantly amazed at ONE thing. God keeps being gracious in ways that astound me. The king of Israel is in a heap of trouble in 2 Kings 6. His nation is in a dire famine, people are engaged in cannibalism, and dove's dung is now a popular food item. He's in this mess because he is one of a long line of immoral kings in the Northern kingdom who desperately seeks the approval of the nations around them instead of trusting the Lord implicitly. He's in this mess because instead of leading the world into the light, he's followed the pagan nations into the darkness. He's a lot of like us. This is the transition from 2 Kings 6 to 7 is so amazing. What does the Lord do as the king's messenger comes to seek the life of the prophet whose been keeping the nation from certain destruction? 2 Kings 6:32–7:1 (ESV) Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispa

You may not like the answer to the question "Why we blame God" in this post. I believe one of the reasons is found in 2 Kings 6. Elisha has been acting as a supernatural double-agent for the king of Israel for some time. He has led the army of Syria right into the hand of the King of Israel. When the King sees his enemies delivered to him, there's exchange recorded in the narrative. 2 Kings 6:21–23 (ESV) As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” 22 He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” 23 So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel. Please note the descripti

Sometimes it can feel like you're outnumbered as you walk with the Lord. The world is not ambivalent about our faith. There is both open and latent hostility toward Christianity in every place and in every age. We must learn to accept the sinful heart of man is naturally turned against God and those who stand for Him and with Him will bear much of that animosity. Such is the case for Elisha's servant in 2 Kings 6. For some time, Elisha has been giving the king of Syria's secret plans to the king of Israel to help Israel avoid her enemies. Elisha does this through the power of the Lord's spirit. Eventually, the king of Syria turns his attention away from the king of Israel and on to Elisha to root out his problem. He comes to Dothan and surrounds Elisha and his servant. The next picture is one we can relate to... 2 Kings 6:15–16 (ESV) When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around

2 Kings 6:1–3 (ESV) Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.” 3 Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” This is wonderful news for the narrative of the books of 1 & 2 Kings. We should remember that at the time Elijah began his ministry, the prophets were hiding in caves and being fed secretly lest Jezebel destroyed them. Now the school of prophetic ministry in Israel is booming and they need to increase the size of their gathering. Elisha has been largely instrumental in growing the ministry. His works have been impressive and his bravery unparalleled. I know Elijah gets a lot of attention and he should as a trailblazer in a time of rampant apostasy but Elisha's contribution is far greater in measure. Those that follow gre

2 Kings 5:26 (ESV) But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? These are the words Elisha speaks to Gehazi after he returns from trying to make money on the ministry Elisha provided to Naaman in healing him from his leprosy. Gehazi secretly runs off to Naaman, invests a story about visiting guests and takes clothing and money for himself which he then tries to hide from Elisha.  He should have known by now you cannot hide anything from Elisha.   Gehazi has been faithful to Elisha in so many other respects. Why now does he suddenly see an opportunity to enrich himself through the ministry? I think it's because there's a weakness in all of us that when we are presented with an opportunity to indulge, we will. For Gehazi, it was monetary gain. Perhaps he realized the golden opportunity before him in

Naaman's leprosy is cleansed because he listened to the voices of God's servants every step of the way. Listening to them was his ultimate test of faith as he was a notable man and the conquering leader of the Syrian armies. Having been cleansed his outlook on his own standing has radically changed. 2 Kings 5:15 (ESV) Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant .” Notice that Naaman now calls himself Elisha's servant. This is the transformation God wants from us when we are healed from the plague of sin. We are ready to serve the Lord because we know the Lord works through serving people. There's more to Naaman's transformation. He wants to bless Elisha with gifts but Elisha will not accept them. This will contrast with Gehazi's greed later on but notice the turnabout in the conv

Once again in the books of Kings we have a subtle lesson in the text giving us the real message of the narrative. The 5th chapter opens with Kings, conquering Generals, and the prophet of Israel. We are invited to see the life of a Syrian commander stuck in a desperate situation. 2 Kings 5:1 (ESV) Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. The first thing we should note is this narrative focuses on a foreign general who has been responsible for victories against other nations, most likely one of them is Israel. Yet, for all his glory and fame he had an incurable disease - leprosy which serves this passage as an analogy for sin.  Though we should conquer the world and win accolades of the crowds, we all have a condition that will undermine all we accomplish and eventually finish us, that spiritual disease of sin which

2 Kings 4:38 (ESV) And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” Famines were common in the ancient agricultural age. The Israelites were promised times of hardship and famines if they disobeyed the terms of the Covenant. Now there's debate as to whether or not these famines were miraculously caused as a supernatural judgment or the natural results of lifestyles in God's people filled with sexual immorality, greed, excessive indulgence, and rampant injustice. I believe it can be both although I'm of the opinion that more often than not, the sinful ways of a nation naturally contribute to its own self-destruction. What is the common theme throughout the books of 1 and 2 Kings when times of hardship come? That God through His prophets protects, preserves and provides for those that serve him regard