Thursday - II Kings 2 - The Departure of Elijah

II Kings 2:1 postulates a strange reality. Elijah and others knew that it was his day to leave this world...  not by common death, but by means of a tornado!?!?!  Elijah tried several times to go off by himself, realizing evidently that he needed to be alone at his translation... or rapture, if you will.  However, Elisha would have nothing to do with that. In fact, it took intervention from God to separate Elisha from his great mentor. God used fiery horses and chariots to separate the 2 before he removed Elijah from our dimension.

The amazing story of Elijah bypassing the door of death is not the only spectacular event recorded in this chapter though. In fact, the chapter is packed with miracles. Both Elijah and Elisha parted the Jordan River... prior to Elijah being caught away and then following the event. Then, Elisha was blessed with Elijah's literal and spiritual mantle. Elisha cured the bitter waters of Jericho with a little salt. And, on a much stranger note, Elisha cursed 42 irreverent young people who were then immediately killed by two bears.

It was a time of an unusual manifestation of God's power and presence in Palestine. Perhaps this was because God was trying to call His wayward people back to Himself. Israel was getting stuck in a fairly deep rut with their wicked kings and wholesale idolatry. Surely our merciful God wanted to do much to give them reasons to return to Him. In both positive and negative ways, he gave them excuses... through Elijah and Elisha... to believe His words and to follow His ways. Sadly, it was largely to no avail.

This chapter ends with a very brief mention of where Elisha went first after it was confirmed that Elijah was gone for good (although Elisha himself already knew that fact). II Kings 2:25 says that Elisha took a trip to Mount Carmel. Carmel was where Elijah had called the nation to repentance and had shown the powerlessness of Baal. Perhaps Elisha went there to meditate, to get perspective, to prepare his self for the continuation of what he knew was a truly great ministry.

Saturday - II Kings 1 - A Mismatch

Ahaziah, Ahab's son, fell and injured himself. And, when he became deathly ill, he foolishly sent messengers to ask for a prognostication from Baalzebub - obviously, a false god. The king wanted to know if he was going to recover or not. And, he could have and would have recovered if he hadn't sought for an answer from the Devil. But, because he was walking down the same road that his father had taken, God sent Elijah to intercept Ahaziah's messengers. Elijah gave them an answer to their question... an answer with which they returned to their master. It wasn't the answer that he wanted, but it was the correct answer. Ahaziah was doomed.

Now, if he had humbled himself under the condemning prophecy of Elijah (like his father had done), then perhaps he could have still received some mercy.  But, instead, he stubbornly sent 51 military men to arrest Elijah. Big mistake! Perhaps Elijah looked like a harmless, albeit eccentric old man as they found him sitting on top of a hill with his long hair, leather girdle and lonely disposition. But no, he was anything but harmless. 102 barbequed soldiers later, a 3'd set of 51 of the kings finest came to the lone prophet with their leader bowed down low as he implored Elijah for mercy. And, while the captain did receive mercy, the king did not. Ahaziah died and was replaced by his brother, Jehoram (not the same Jehoram who was simultaneously coregent with Jehoshaphat in Judah - compare II Kings 1:17 & 3:1). 

Friday - I Kings 22 - The End of Ahab

Yet again Ahab went to fight against Syria. Whatever happened to the brotherhood which he had forged with Benhadad (I Kings 20:34 & 22:31)? Well, it had lasted for only 3 years (I Kings 22:1). Anyway, this time Ahab invited Judah to fight with him in a bilateral military effort. The king of Judah at this point was good king Jehoshaphat, son of good king Asa. But, even God's faithful children aren't perfect, and Jehoshaphat was no exception. As such, he made a league with wicked Ahab (I Kings 22:4).

Now, Jehoshaphat wisely asked his host (king Ahab) to seek for the Lord's guidance before they went to battle. I'm not sure why, because even when Jehoshaphat had God's word in this instance, he didn't change his plans. The ridiculous proceedings which ensued after Jehoshaphat's request indicate just how wicked Ahab still was (despite his recent lesson from the vineyard of Naboth). Ahab listened to his false prophets (all 400 of them) and specifically to one Zedekiah from among those false prophets.  These all told him what they knew he wanted to hear, that is, that he most surely would win.

However, upon the insistence of Jehoshaphat, they brought a true prophet of God, one Micaiah.  After at first complying with Ahab's wishes (evidently for emphasis - see I Kings 22:15), he revealed the truth about the destiny of Ahab.  He did this in 2 ways.   First, he told them that they should all just go home and forget the whole idea. And, when Ahab complained about that, he added a very revealing account of the scene in heaven which had led to the false prophecies of Ahab's ministers, and proceeded to condemn Ahab.

Thursday - I Kings 21 - Ahab Humble?

I don't know if we can overemphasize the value of contrition in the eyes of God. Psalm 34:18 says, "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit." And, that obviously included Ahab. Even Ahab received mercy from God when he humbled himself in repentance. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Among his many faults, Ahab had a problem with covetousness. More simply, he coveted his neighbor's vineyard. Wanting it and being willing to buy it may have been harmless enough (I Kings 21:2), but when his neighbor Naboth refused to sell it, the wicked heart of Ahab was revealed. He couldn't take "no" for an answer. And, if Ahab's sinful heart was manifested, how much more was his evil wife's debauchery revealed?  She had Naboth killed so that Ahab could have the vineyard which he desired.

Now, while Ahab was walking through his newly acquired vineyard, God sent Elijah to preach a sermon of rebuke and condemnation to him. The most amazing thing here is the quick swing of Ahab's attitude from a smug and victorious villain calling Elijah his enemy to a remorseful penitent in sackcloth. Did it work? Yes, this man who had allowed his evil wife to instigate unprecedented sin in Israel was shown mercy from the Almighty.  Why?  Because of his sincere fear and repentance (I Kings 21:29).

Tuesday - I Kings 20 - Bad vs. Worse

Neither Israel nor Syria were led by God-fearing statesmen. However, Israel had experienced a recent revival under the zeal of Elijah. So, when a conflict between the 2 nations arose, although neither side behaved commendably, God chose to mightily stand for his people over their Gentile enemies.

As he was picking a fight with him, Benhadad (king of Syria) demanded far too much from Ahab. And, at first Ahab took a cowardly “diplomatic” route by agreeing to the severely unjust demands of Benhadad. But, when Benhadad immediately returned with even harsher demands, Ahab realized with incredulity what was going on, and he refused to comply (despite the fact that Benhadad had created quite a confederation of kings... 32 of them in all [I Kings 20:1] and was leading no small army).

Ahab’s message (in response to Benhadad's second threats) was a good one (1 Kings 20:11). We might say, "Don't count you chickens before they hatch." Ahab was right. Israel soundly defeated the Syrians.  However, the prophet came to Ahab again informing him that there would be yet another battle the next year.  And, The odds were not good in either conflict (I Kings 20:27). In this case God told Ahab that the whole reason behind His willingness to defend him and his people lay in the brazen unbelief and disrespect toward Jehovah that had oozed from Benhadad (I Kings 20:28).

Sadly, after Ahab had routed them a second time, he made a peace treaty with Benhadad and treated him like a friend and brother. This upset God so much that God sent word to Ahab informing him that because of that miscarriage of opportunity, Ahab would die in Benhadad's place (I Kings 20:42).

Monday - I Kings 19 - Elijah Anoints Elisha

Was Elijah just weary? Was he afraid, weak, misguided, disenchanted, discouraged, distracted or depressed? What would cause a great man of God (who was known for his boldness and power) to flee for his life, to so severely misjudge reality, and to wish for death for himself? Especially, why would he run so far on the heels of the incredible victory he had just experienced on Mount Carmel (James 5:17).

Put simply, Elijah felt alone, useless... like a failure. Was he a failure? Was he alone? Most certainly he was not! But, he saw things that way and it was enough to scare him far away from all of society. He literally withdrew like a recluse into a cave to the south, far from where he had been ministering.

But, even in his 6 week sabbatical, God took good care of him. He didn't kill him as was requested. He didn't allow the wicked queen of Israel to find him and kill him either.  He fed him angel food cake that was so nutritious that he didn't have to eat for the rest of his vacation. He revealed Himself to Elijah in a unique and spectacular way on Mount Horeb. And, after He had called him to some serious introspection (I Kings 19:9 & 13), He gave him some more assignments.

Saturday - I Kings 18 - A Matter of Opinion

We frequently downplay the importance of people's opinions. However, in some cases a person's opinion can be very significant indeed. In the case of Israel, Elijah wanted to know what the opinion of the nation was. Well, really… he wanted to convince them to ADOPT a specific opinion. He wanted them to reject Baal and receive Jehovah.

After over 3 years of drought and famine, God sent Elijah to confront Ahab. They met through the mediation of Ahab's personal house manager, Obadiah. Obadiah was a fellow believer... siding with Elijah, God and the prophets, even though he did work for Ahab. He had been a protector of godly men during a time of danger in the past.

Now, when Elijah met Ahab there was an exchange of blame. Ahab pointed a finger at Elijah; Elijah pointed right back at the king. The drought had certainly been called for by the prophet, but Ahab was the culprit. His idolatry was the cause of the plague. Now, the conflict between the royal family and the man of God was not over. It was only beginning. Elijah called for a great public competition between his God, Jehovah and Ahab's god, Baal. And, in the contest, he challenged the people concerning their religious "opinion" about God. He called for them to make up their mind (I Kings 18:21).

Most of us are familiar with the generalities of that fight. The test of deity was to be a miraculous raining of fire from the sky. God won.