I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 13-14.

    The overarching theme in today’s passage is that the kings of Israel did what was wicked in God’s sight. It does not give us a clear understanding of in what ways these kings were wicked except to tell us that they continued in the sins which Jeroboam had led Israel to commit. My reading of that is that these kings continued the worship at the two golden calves which Jeroboam had created. The passage does tell us that Jehoahaz prayed for God’s help when things got bad and that God answered his prayer despite his inability and/or unwillingness to get rid of the Asherah pole in Samaria, his capital. On the other hand, Amaziah, the king of Judah talked about here, is said to have done what was pleasing in God’s sight, but not as pleasing as David. Again, it is not clear what David did which was more pleasing to God than what Amaziah did. It does tell us that the high places were not removed and that the people worshiped at them. However, we know that some of those high places went back to before David. The passage does imply that the people worshiped gods other than God at them, so perhaps the difference is that under David those shrines were only, or at least primarily, used to worship God.
    All of this shows the importance of worshiping with other believers. As we worship God we need to make sure that our beliefs are not just a reflection of what we desire to be true. There is a true challenge involved in doing this. On the one hand, we need to worship with those who are worshiping God and not some facsimile thereof. As an example of this, consider the passage from a few days ago where Jehoshaphat asked Ahab to consult God before they went to war. Ahab summoned prophets of Baal. From what we know of Baal worship and the meaning of the very name “Baal”, most Baal worshipers consider Baal to be another name for God. Yet Jehoshaphat knew that this was not the case. On the other hand, we must make sure that we are not limiting ourselves to worshiping with those whose view of God is shaped by the same self-interests as ourselves.

    In the middle of this is the story of King Jehoash’s last visit with Elisha. During this visit Elisha instructed Jehoash to strike some arrows against the ground. Jehoash did so only three times. Elisha berated him for not doing so more times. There is a lesson here for us. When Elisha told Jehoash to strike the ground with the arrows, he did so in little more than a perfunctory manner. I can imagine him thinking after he hit the ground three times. “OK, I did that. Now what?” The lesson here is that when God gives us instructions, even instructions which seem inconsequential, we should carry them out enthusiastically. Think about the difference in attitude which would have been expressed by Jehoash striking the ground five or six times instead of the three which he did. Or suppose he had struck the ground until Elisha told him to stop?
    Both the things I discussed in the first part of today’s blog and in the previous paragraph are about serving God whole-heartedly. God had instructed the people of Israel to worship Him in the one place which He chose in the Promised Land, and only that place. At the time of this passage, that place was in Jerusalem. For various reasons and to varying degrees, the people of the Northern Kingdom and of the Southern Kingdom did not follow that command. This failure led them into other sins. Even when they did follow God’s commands, they did not do so enthusiastically. If we enthusiastically follow the commands from God which we know, He will bless us and teach us how to follow Him even better.