Week 88, Day 4: Valley of water
Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 3:1-27
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
I have always liked this chapter. We see another time where Jehoshaphat has pledged himself to be one with the king of Israel in battle. They go to fight against Moah by journeying through the wilderness seven days. Can you imagine what kind of supplies you would have to take along to try to sustain an army of men for 7 days? When they run out of water the king of Judah wants to inquire of God. God tells them that were it not for the king of Judah He would not listen to the king of Israel. God does not listen to the prayers of wicked men. Also, the deliverance that God would send would come even though they didn’t see any indications of it beforehand. They would not see any wind or rain, and yet the water would come. This makes me think about how when we call out to God to help us, we do not always see or know how God is working to help us but we can have confidence that God hears the prayers of those who are righteous and will aid them.
Question: Why did God have great wrath against Israel because the king of Moab sacrficied his son?
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Week 88, Day 3: Elijah taken to Heaven
Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 2:1-25
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
Elisha had been appointed as Elijah’s replacement for a while now, but he has not been mentioned for some time now. I’m not sure if Elijah’s attempts to get Elisha to remain behind were a test to see how dedicated Elisha would be. They went to Bethel, Jericho, and then the Jordan. Why did it take going to all of these places before Elijah was taken up? This just seems like an intriguing line of events.
One of Elisha’s first actions as God’s prophet is to teach some young lads a lesson in manners. Remember that children who did not show repect and honor to their parents were to be stoned. Also in Lev 19:32-33 the people were instructed to honor the aged and alos to not do wrong to the stranger in their land. Here is a group of youngsters who come across some man whom they do not appear to know. They begin to taunt him and ridicule him for being bald. The punishment might seem harsh at first but when you consider what kind of spirit these young people were displaying, they needed to be punished.
Question: What does it mean that Elisha received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit?
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Week 88, Day 2: 50 by 50
Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 1:1-18
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
This chapter demonstrate how it is wise to watch your words, especially if you were speaking to a man of God. Elijah had been sent to tell Ahaziah that he would die. The king sends 50 men and their captain to bring Elijah to him. 51 men to bring in one sounds like a no brainer. Of course they’ll succeed. But Elijah has fire sent from heaven to burn them up, why? It appears to be because of how they spoke to Elijah. They demanded that he come down and would have tried to force him to come. God demonstrated here that he has power over man’s desires Not until a captain came along who implored and pleaded with Elijah to come did he come.
This account makes me think about when the officers and soldiers were sent to arrest Jesus. Jesus could have easily dispelled the crowd, whether by fire or other force. But he submitted Himself to being crucified in order to fulfill God’s plan of salvation.
Question: Why is such an account as this one good for us to be able to read? Do you think this account has any comparison to what happened to Ananias & Sapphira or to Uzzah?
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Week 88, Day 1: Keeping Bad Company
Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 22:1-53
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
We have a very troubling report of the king of Judah in the final chapter of 1 Kings. Jehoshaphat was a man who did good for the most part in his rule over Judah. But we find him here going up to king Ahab. Why was Jehoshaphat hanging out with Ahab, the most wicked king over Israel? Not only did Jehoshaphat spend time with Ahab but his response when Ahab asked if he would go into battle with him is very disturbing. He said, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” To pledge yourself so fully and to dedicate yourself so wholly to helping a man so wicked is appalling. I think that we see similar kind of behavior today by some Christians. They befriend the ungodly, the worldly. They justify this behavior by claiming they’ll have such a good influence on them, and not the other way around. In the end they are enticed to commit sin and to leave their first love. I do not understand why so many will not believe the scriptures when it says bad company corrupts good morals.
Question: Why do you think Micaiah did not tell Ahab the word of the Lord outright when first asked?
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Week 87, Day 5: A Kingly Fit
Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 21:1-29
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
We get a good glimpse of the kind of man Ahab was in this chapter. When he didn’t get what he wanted, Naboth’s vineyard, he appears to throw a fit. He goes to his bed, turned away his face and refused to eat. This is a grown man throwing a fit. He acts sullen simply because he didn’t get what he wanted. This picture of Ahab makes me wonder if part of the reason he was so evil and disobedient to God was because he was a spoiled brat as a child.
We are also shown that Ahab was willing to put on sackcloth and mourn when the word of God came against him. Such an odd picture of a man. He “sold himself” to do evil and yet still cared that the word from God was bad. I wonder if Ahab would have reacted this way if the message had been anything less than complete destruction.
Question: If Ahab was truly remorseful about his actions, what should he have done?
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Week 87, Day 4: Let him boast
Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 20:1-43
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
There is a very interesting discourse and interaction between king Ahab and king Ben-hadad of Aram. King Ahab has been put into a bind by the huge army of the Arameans. Ahab gives into the demands of king Ben-hadad at first but then Ben-hadad asks for too much (he was willing to give up his wives and kids but wouldn’t give up the things in his house that were desireable). God delivers this huge army to an army of little more than 7,000 men. I like what taunt Ahab said to Ben-hadad just before the battle. “Let not him who girds on his armor boast like him who takes it off.” A very concise and yet so direct to the point. God delivers the Arameans a second time. It doesn’t matter what size our foe, if God is for us no one can stand against us.
Question: Why did God concern Himself with Ahab and whether or not he had victory here?
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Week 87, Day 3: What Are You Doing Here?
Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-21
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah had just had a great victory over the false prophets supported by Ahab and Jezebel. However, he was being pursued by the servants of Jezebel, who were intent upon killing him. Elijah went from being at a high after his victory, to a great low as he hid, afraid for his life. Elijah seems to be challenged with with depression, determined to hide and die in the wilderness (1 Kings 19:4). But God had a different idea for Elijah. Twice in the chapter God seems to offer a mild rebuke to Elijah, prodding him into further action (1 Kings 19:9, 13).
By asking Elijah, “What are you doing here”, God reminded Elijah of his purpose. First, he was not doing what he should have been doing. God had a plan for Elijah, and Elijah needed to wake up, quit moping about his own perception of what was happening and be ready to fulfill God’s desire. Second, he had to come to realize that what he saw was not necessarily the truth of the situation. Elijah thought that he was the only faithful servant of God left, and yet God knew there were many more.
There is much that we can learn from Elijah’s circumstances. Sometimes we think that we are all alone when we are trying to serve God. But, like in Elijah’s day, there are always going to be many more (even if we don’t know of them). It should give us great confidence and comfort to know that there are others who are facing the same struggles and trials that we are facing.
We also should learn that God wants us to be busy in His work. It is not acceptable for us to be stagnant. Trying to hide from tribulation will cause us to be ineffective in working toward expanding the borders of the Lord’s kingdom, and will keep us from encouraging and edifying others around us. If we are simply sitting back, hoping that all tribulation will pass us by, we should hear the words of God echoing in our ears: “What are you doing here?”
There is always going to be opportunities for us to be busy in the kingdom of the Lord. If we find ourselves sitting still, we can be sure that we are forsaking our obligations. We need to find out what we should be working on, and get to it!
Question: What are you doing here?
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Week 87, Day 2: Rain Sent
Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 18:1-46
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
I had mentioned before about how it had become hard to find godly people in Israel during this time. This chapter tells us that the queen, Jezebel, had tried to destroy all the prophets of God in Israel, vs. 4. So there were those who feared the Lord even among such prevalent wickedness. Yet the majority of people were very wicked in Israel.
I think it is fascinating to see how Elijah goes from such a mighty victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel to what we will see in the next chapter of his flight. God demonstrated that He is the one true God on Mount Carmel. But what I want to emphasis right now is what happened after the prophets of Baal are killed. Elijah tells king Ahab that there will be rain. Elijah sits down with his head between his knees and tells his servant to go look out from the mountain. The servant sees nothing. They repeat this process seven times before the servant sees a small cloud way off in the distance. Why did it take seven times? These accounts are so interesting. Elijah was confident that God would send the rain. He didhn’t quit seeking and requesting the rain after the 4th time. For whatever reason God did not send the rain cloud until the 7th time. This makes me think of persistence in prayer. Remember the widow woman in Luke 18. When we are praying to God, have confidence in God and be persistent.
Question: What is so remarkable to you about the defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel?
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Week 87, Day 1: Elijah
Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 17:1-24
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
We are now introduced to a well known prophet sent to speak to king Ahab. Remember that Ahab did more evil than ANY king before him. Elijah was to pronounce a drought on the land and then was sent to hide near a certain brook. Something that is interesting to note is that the drought sent by God affected even Elijah. He was not immune to this drought. After a period of time the creek he had been drinking from dried up. He was then sent to a very odd place. He was sent to stay and eat with a poor widow. He comes to this widow as she is at the end of her food supply and is preparing to die of hunger after this one last meal. Elijah tells her the flour and oil will not run out until rain comes. This meager amount of food will be constantly replentished. But something odd happens at this time. Her son dies. Sometimes when I read these accounts I wonder what lessons God wants us to learn from these accounts. Why did this happen? It is very intersting to consider such questions.
Question: Why did it take three times of Elijah lying upon the child and calling upon the Lord before the child was revived? What lessons do you think we can gather from this regarding prayer?
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Week 86, Day 5: Bad to Worse
Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 16:1-34
Some thoughts from today’s reading…
Things in Israel go from bad to worse. Each time a new king is mentioned in Israel they are worse then the previous ruler. Omri “did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted more wickedly than all who were before him (v. 25)” Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him (v. 30). The Lord continues to send prophets to speak messages to the kings of Israel but these messages are usually pronouncements of judgment for all the evil they are committing against Him. Israel has now departed from serving God and it is now hard to find those who are still committed to serving God. This is a sad turn for the people who once were God’s favored people.
Question: Is ther any excuse that Israel could make for why they had turned to idols? So many today want to make excuses for why people went bad. What excuse is there in this situation?
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