Saturday - II Kings 9 - A Wild Driver & A Painted Woman

Elisha sent a young prophet to anoint a man named Jehu to become the next king over Israel and to instruct Jehu to execute the whole family of Omri - more specifically, of his son, Ahab (I Kings 16:28). And, wow, did Jehu ever take his job seriously! He went to find the kings of Israel and Judah first (Joram the son and Ahaziah the son-in-law, of Ahab). This is where we find that Jehu could have been a wild west cowboy or a modern-day racecar driver. As he approached Jezreel where the royal family was, the watchmen described his approach thusly, "the driving is like the driving of Jehu... for He drives furiously" (II Kings 9:20). Interesting!

Before that day was over, he had shot Jehoram in back (II Kings 9:24) and had chased Ahaziah to his death too. But, he wasn't done. The main target was the old witch, Queen Jezebel (II Kings 9:22). Here we find our painted woman (II Kings 9:30). Jezebel knew that Jehu was coming, so, she got ready for it. She painted her face, fixed her hair and watched for him through the window. There is no telling what she thought would happen, but I'm guessing she didn't anticipate the kind of demise which was her destiny. At Jehu's command, some of the "men" who were with Jezebel literally threw her out the window and to her death.

Friday - II Kings 8 - God Governs

Frankly, it's difficult to pick out any clear thematic continuity in this chapter. The role of Elisha is obvious. The downfall of Benhadad in Syria, and the need for a downfall of the royal family of Ahab in Israel is also rather apparent.  Yet, perhaps most significant of all is the way that God was governing even in a time when hardly any of the main characters in the narrative were interested in God's plan.

Of course, there was one character who was in tune with God: Elisha. II Kings 8:1-6 reveals that God was more than willing to vouch for Elisha's prophetic validity.  Not that he required or demanded such validation. II Kings 8:7-15 shows how much respect that even the gentiles had for Elisha in his day. Benhadad inquired from Elisha concerning his future health.  And, when Hazael (Benhadad's replacement) came to Elisha personally, he treated the prophet with great reverence.

Now, at this juncture in the history of the Hebrews, both Israel and Judah were patterning their ways after their wicked mentor, Ahab. There were 2 different men, both named Joram (or Jehoram), who ruled in the North and in the South. And, in fact, Jehoram king of Judah had married Ahab's daughter and had thereby forged a familial league with Israel. When he died, then Jehoram of Judah was replaced by his son Ahaziah. It didn't matter much though... other than a change of names. They were both evil kings.

Thursday - II Kings 7 - Windows in Heaven

The king of Israel thought that Elisha was the source of his problems, when Elisha was the messenger who had good news for Samaria. The city where donkey brains and dove dung was expensive one day was going to enjoy fine flour on the cheap the very next day.

Here is how it happened. Samaria, the capitol city of the northern kingdom of Israel, had been under siege by Syrians for a long enough period that the populous inside the city was literally starving to death. But, God had a miraculous deliverance prepared for them.  Despite the wayward ways of Israel, God was mercifully watching out for them. II Kings 7:6 & 7 says that God caused the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots, horses and infantry. The sound was obviously so intense and persuasive that they fled for their lives without taking anything with them. In fact they even dropped many of the things they had happened to have on them when they departed from the camp in fear... things like clothes and canteens (II Kings 7:15).

So, a few Jewish lepers... outcasts... went to the Syrian camp hoping to either receive mercy and food or to be killed. To them, either option was better than starving to death.  However, what they found was more food and supplies than they could have ever collected or used. So, they shared the news with rest of the city.

One of the king’s closest court companions basically mocked Elisha cynically, "Elisha, if God made windows in heaven and poured out food on us, even then we wouldn't have the abundance of food that you are describing" (see Malachi 3:10).  Not only did Elisha's prophecy  about the food come true, but Elisha added another word condemning the unbelieving aristocrat... which also proved true.  Because of his unbelief, the unnamed lord of Samaria was trampled to death without even getting a chance to fill his hungry belly with the dainties which flowed in freely from the spoilage of the Syrians.

Tuesday - II Kings 6 - 4 More Miracles

In this chapter we find the record of 4 more of Elisha's miracles.

 1.  An iron axe head floats in water.

 2.  Elisha shares military secrets with Israel.

 3.  Elisha and his servant are saved from the Syrians.

 4.  The hostile intentions of Jehoram are revealed.

What are we to learn from this amalgamation of brief stories?  Well, one thing is for sure... God's power in the life of His servant is not reserved only for big and earth shattering matters. The same God who rescued a nation through supernatural espionage, rescued a young prophet from the price of an axe head.   Likewise, twice God exerted His strength for the preservation of the life of Elisha when the kings of Syria and Israel (separately) had it in for him.

One more thing: our human heart is tempted to interrogate God as to why He would allow His people to be reduced to eating donkey brains, bird poop and human babies (II Kings 6:25, 28 & 29). But we would do well to expend our energies examining the human element of causation in such situations and leaving God's sovereign ways alone. The flaws are never to be found in Him; always in us. Explore God's thoughts and actions? Sure! ...as He reveals them to us, explore; but, always with reverence, fear and faith. Never delude self into imagining that we might be able to somehow improve God.

Monday - II Kings 5 - Expensive Garments

A gentile captain named Naaman was diagnosed with leprosy. It was an absolutely devastating physical disease in those days. Amazingly, there was a little Jewish girl in his house who felt compassion for this man. She expressed her wish that Naaman could go visit Elisha... believing that Elisha could heal him.

Perhaps it was Hazael of Syria who mistakenly sent Naaman to king Jehoram of Israel for healing. And, when the king of Israel reacted publically to what he considered to be an asinine proposal, Elisha volunteered his services.

When Naaman came to Elisha's house, Elisha didn't even come out to meet him. He sent him to the Jordan River to baptize himself 7 times.  This bothered Naaman.  Being a man of influence and power, he expected some kind of bombastic display. But, in the end, he set aside his pride and did wash in the Jordan to be healed.

When he returned to pay Elisha for his services, Elisha refused. However, Elisha's personal servant, Gehazi) was overcome with greed and coveted Naaman's wealth, particularly a couple of suits of clothing (II Kings 5:22 - 23). Gehazi's greed was strong enough that he lied to obtain a little wardrobe enhancement. But, while the healing of Naaman was free, the lust of Gehazi was not. He was cursed with the leprosy of Naaman because he had sought for a reward that wasn't rightfully his.  It was a high price to pay.

Saturday - II Kings 4 - Elisha, the Miracle Man

There are 5 different miracles recorded for us in this chapter.  Here is a list of them:

1.         Elisha helps a poor woman by multiplying her oil supply.

2.         Elisha helps a barren friend by granting to her a child.

3.         Elisha resurrects the aforementioned child from the dead.

4.         Elisha heals a pot of poison stew which had been polluted.

5.         Elisha multiplies a limited supply of bread.

Obviously, in every case, it wasn't really Elisha that did anything, it was God at work. Here is what I wonder about from these stories: don't you think Elisha must have deeply enjoyed the effects of his ministry?  When he told the poor widow woman to borrow many vessels to fill with oil from her one pot of oil, surely, he must have been smiling. When he told the barren woman (who had shown him charity) that she would no longer be childless, perhaps he chuckled at her response. When the boy who had been dead sneezed 7 times and opened his eyes, don't you think Elisha probably shook his head in awe? Did he eat of the miracle stew after it was healed or of the barley loves after they were cloned?

It's difficult for me to imagine all these things happening at the word of a crotchety old man wearing a hard frown and who had furrows on his brow. He was indeed holy and pious, but he was also a man of amazing spiritual power. And, let us not forget that the first 2 effects of the Spirit in the life of one of God's children are love and joy (Galatians 5:22). What a joy it must have been to be a special channel of God's blessings... as Elisha obviously was.

Friday - II Kings 3 - Elisha Blesses the Battle

In this chapter, we read about a war that was waged between Moab and a trilateral coalition comprised of Israel, Judah and Edom. Fortunately, Jehoshaphat was wise enough (again) to seek for a word from the Lord.  This time, that word came from Elisha.

Now, the 3 kings were in a desperate situation. Their 3 armies had no water. And, speaking of good fortune, or (to be more accurate with our words) speaking of God's blessings, the kings of Edom and Israel should have been very grateful that Jehoshaphat was with them, because Elisha made it very clear that if Jehoshaphat hadn't been there, he would in no way have been willing to help the other 2 kings.

Now, if you love finding fresh and unusual things in the Bible, you won't be disappointed in reading II Kings 3:15. Elisha asked for music to be played before he prophesied. The verse literally says that "when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him." That is, the music affected the movement of the Spirit.

How unexpected God's creative ways are. Case and point: the message for the kings was truly unusual. Elisha commanded them to fill the valley (where they were camped out) with ditches. God had 2 ideas for those ditches. First, He filled them with water so that all the soldiers and all the animals had something to drink. Second, God caused all the water to look like blood in the eyes of the Moabites as they looked down on the camp of their enemies. As such, the Moabites walked in calmly expecting to find the whole host dead. But, they were terribly surprised when the 3 nations arose immediately and fought against them viciously.

By the way, if you are wondering if the Moabites deserved that kind of harsh treatment, read in II Kings 3:26 & 27 how the king of Moab turned his eldest son into a human sacrifice... hoping to earn help from his god. Looks like they well deserved the defeat that God brought upon them, eh?

Incidentally, according to Elisha, all that God did for Israel, Judah and Edom on that day was a "light thing" for God to do. This seems a little odd. For God every job is a small job, right? Yet, if we take the Bible literally, we will find that when Joshua called for the sun to stand still, that miracle was described as a supreme superlative that had no precedent, nor was it ever repeated... but, comparatively, the defeat of Moab here was a SMALL matter. Not that it was particularly hard for God to stop the sun, nothing is too hard for Him (Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:17 & 27).