1 & 2 Kings – Page 9

2 Kings 7:3-20 – Drama in Samaria (Part Two)

What an ending! Again, God came to the rescue of his people and used his prophet to let the people see. Did you wonder what ever happened to the lepers who had the privilege of seeing the results of God’s work? God had scared a whole army away so his people could be fed. Talk about making a statement!

These lepers feared something would happen to them if they kept this “secret” to themselves. Do you think that means they had the fear of the LORD? Yet their desperate hunger spoke louder than their faith or fear for they first feasted on the treasure they had found! Imagine the joy they felt! It would have been like Christmas morning as a kid!

2 Kings 6:24-7:2 – Drama in Samaria (Part One)

Read 2 Kings 6:24-7:2

Some time must have passed between our last reading and the events that are unfolding here. You’ll recall Elisha had made quite a statement with Aramean leadership, and they “stayed away from the land of Israel.” But those memories soon faded, and now we see Israel’s neighbor to the northeast coming to attack again (imagine present day Syria).

War is never a good thing, even worse when it causes a famine. I’m not a fan of what we read about happening to the two women and neither was the king! I can’t even imagine having the discussion much less acting on such a desperate solution. Clearly, these women had lost hope and were not relying on God.

2 Kings 6:8-23 – Whom Shall I Fear?

Read 2 Kings 6:8-23

We’ve noted before how God is working even when we can’t see him. Today’s reading has lots of references to sight and being able to see the truth. We may struggle with seeing God at work today. That doesn’t mean God stopped working but perhaps that we have a problem with our “spiritual eyesight.”

Just like Elisha’s servant let fear engulf him when he saw the enemy surrounding Elisha, we can feel paralyzed at times. The young servant’s faith was a little wobbly it appears, but Elisha soon reminded him to look closer. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Elisha asked God to help the young man see and immediately the man could see God’s heavenly army coming to the rescue. We’ve probably had an army like that fighting our battles too—we just couldn’t see.

2 Kings 6:1-7 – Unexpected Results

Read 2 Kings 6:1-7

What do we have here in today’s reading? There must be something we shouldn’t miss in this simple story! Certainly, God used Elisha in more exciting ways than this, right? It’s a good reminder to us that God works in the little details, too.

Have you ever borrowed something from someone and then ruined it or lost it before you could return it? Remember the dread in having to confess they would never see their treasure again? In Elisha’s day, ax heads were likely made of iron, a highly treasured precious metal. This tool would have been very valuable to its owner not only because of its cost but its usefulness.

2 Kings 5:20-27 – Beware of Greed

Read 2 Kings 5:20-27

smiley face with dollar signs in the eyes and a smile of greed

We can’t hide from God any more than Gehazi hid from Elisha. Sadly, greed can infiltrate even our best intentions. We may not even recognize it as “greed,” but it’s one of the ways the evil one tries to take control of us.

Gehazi may have believed he was only making sure his master got what was due him. Why then was deception necessary? Any time we have to “lie” to get something, that something isn’t worth having.