365 Reflections

The narrative grows stranger as 2 Kings rolls on. The king of Syria is sick and he sends his commander to Elisha to ask if he will recover. The exchange between Elisha and Hazael is unique. 2 Kings 8:9–11 (ESV) So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels’ loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’ ” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. Why the doublespeak here from Elisha? Go tell the king he will recover but the Lord has shown me he will die? Strange. Why would the prophet feel it right to mislead someone? The truth is he is not misleading at all. The prophet Elisha knows what is in Hazael's thoughts. He knows this commander c...

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 h...

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 w...

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...

2 Kings 4:8–10 (ESV) One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. 9 And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.” The woman at Shunem shows incredible hospitality to the prophet in a time when prophets were not in high regard. Elisha is so moved he feels the need to bless her to in some way repay her. 2 Kings 4:13–14 (ESV) And he said to (Gehazi), “Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’ ” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.” 14 And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answer...

2 Kings 4 is a series of miracles Elisha performs for those in the service of the Lord. One after another, those who follow the Lord despite the nationalized paganism of Israel are saved and secured by the power of God active in the prophet's ministry. The first story is the salvation of a widowed mother in debt and about to starve. 2 Kings 4:1 (ESV) Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” Consider the facts of this woman's case. She is widowed. Her husband who served and feared the Lord died too soon. On top of this, she's in debt and her sons are about to be enslaved. Perhaps his service to the Lord in a faithless nation cost him dearly and now his sudden death lays heavy on his family. Perhaps he was wreckless with money or perhaps he was one of those staving prophets hidden by Obadiah in E...

The Church is an intergenerational movement built on the leading fathers and mothers investing in and believing in the sons and daughters of successive leaders. Yet one of the great obstacles of many future leaders is their own lack of confidence once the torch has been passed. It's very hard to start in ministry. You go in a moment from being brothers and sisters with the flock of God to being their shepherd and spiritual parent. This hurdle keeps many great leaders from reaching their potential. Yet Elisha wonderfully exhibits the pathway forward by taking the mantle from Elijah and using his God-given authority to serve the needs of those Elijah left in his care. First, after the departure of Elijah, Elisha takes the cloak that fell from Elijah and performs a repeat of Elijah's last miracle: 2 Kings 2:13–14 (ESV) And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fal...

If you're going to follow Christ, you have to get used to being outnumbered, undermanned and overmatched in the physical realm. Why do I say this? Because it's all I see in the Biblical narrative for those God saves and uses in the plan of redemption. 1 Kings 20:1 (ESV) Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together. Thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and closed in on Samaria and fought against it. Once again, God's people are outmanned. Syria musters not just an army but a coalition of 32 other kings to come up against the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This happens right after the Elijah revival at Mount Carmel. While Elijah is licking his wounds at Mount Hebron, the nation is facing an overwhelming army.  We must remember that Ben-hadad is attacking Israel because of an alliance made with him by the Southern Kingdom king of Judah, Asa! (See 1 Kings 15:19). That is, God's people have used God's enemies to at...