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 5-7.

All of the accounts about Elisha’s actions in today’s passage contain elements in common with urban legends and other stories which should be taken with a grain of salt.  Unlike the story in yesterday’s passage where Elisha accompanied the armies of Israel, Judah, and Edom as they went to attack Moab, these stories contain little information which would allow someone to connect them with events recorded elsewhere.  I am not saying that these stories do not relate actual events.  However, it is possible that along with details being lost over time that some details from other events were added here.

More importantly, these stories contain important lessons for us.  In the story of Naaman we learn that sometimes God calls us to do things which seem mundane and beneath us.  Sometimes God works in powerful ways through things which seem mundane, ordinary, and even sometimes beneath us.  In the story about the attempt by the king of Aram to capture Elisha we learn that even when the odds seem overwhelmingly stacked against us, if God is on our side our enemies are outnumbered and outmatched.  In the story about the siege of Samaria, we learn that even the impossible is possible for God…and if we lose faith in God we may see His power at work but not have the opportunity to enjoy it.  Finally, these stories tell us that even though the kings of the Northern Kingdom were mostly idolatrous and evil, many of the people continued to worship and serve God,  They tell us this by the fact that they were told and retold among the people.

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 3-4.

The story about the woman from Shunem provides several interesting lessons.  Elisha wanted to do something for her to thank her for the care she provided him, but she was content with her life as it was.  So, Elisha did some research and found something she would like: he had God give her a son.  The woman chastised Elisha for giving her such hope.  When a few years later her son took sick and died, she felt justified in her castigation.  She had been content with her life and would have preferred to continue in that contentment rather than risk the grief which was the possible companion to the joy of having a son.  This is a normal human reaction.  Many times we pass up opportunities for joy in order to avoid the risk of grief, failure, or some other form of suffering.

But there is more to it than that.  By providing the woman with the joy of a son, Elisha obligated himself to offsetting the risk of grief.  Elisha accepted this obligation.  When the boy became sick and died, he went to great lengths to restore the boy to his mother.  This lesson is an important one to keep in mind.  When we choose to do something good for others we need to measure our ability to follow through.

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 1-2.

When Ahab’s son, King Ahaziah was injured he sent to the god of Ekron to determine if he would recover rather than seek an answer from God.  Then after his messengers are intercepted by Elijah and sent back with word from God that he will not recover, he sends soldiers to arrest Elijah.  By sending to Ekron, King Ahaziah revealed that the Baal worship introduced into Israel by his father was not just a different way of worshiping God, but was instead the worship of a different god.  We see here that in times of stress what we truly believe is revealed.  Then we have the experiences of the three groups of soldiers sent to bring Elijah to the king.  The first two recognized that Elijah was a man of God, but nevertheless felt that the power delegated to them by the king gave them the authority to order him to come with them.  They believed that because they were following orders they could threaten the man of God, and use force, or even violence, to compel him to do as the king had commanded.  The leader of the last group recognized that he did not have the authority, nor the power, to compel a man of God to action unless God allowed him to do so.

Elijah is one of two people recorded in the Bible as having their lives on earth end without them dying.  In Genesis 5 we are told that Enoch walked faithfully with God, then he was no more because God took him.  This is as opposed to the other men mentioned in Genesis 5 of which the passage says “and then he died”.  This passage tells us that a chariot drawn by horses of fire separated Elijah from Elisha and Elijah was carried into heaven by a whirlwind.  Before that happened, Elisha had requested a double portion of Elijah’s spirit and to be Elijah’s successor.  I am not sure what the meaning of all of this is, but it is definitely significant that Elijah was one of two people of whom the Bible records their life on earth ending without recording that they died.