[Linux4christians] Saturday - 2 Kings 8

Fri Feb 18 20:46:32 EST 2011

    Saturday

      2 Kings 8

Elisha Again Helps the Shunammite Woman

8:1 Now Elisha advised the woman whose son he had brought back to life, 
"You and your family should go and live somewhere else for a while, for 
the Lord has decreed that a famine will overtake the land for seven 
years." 8:2 So the woman did as the prophet said. She and her family 
went and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 8:3 After 
seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went 
to ask the king to give her back her house and field. 8:4 Now the king 
was talking to Gehazi, the prophet's servant, and said, "Tell me all the 
great things which Elisha has done." 8:5 While Gehazi was telling the 
king how Elisha had brought the dead back to life, the woman whose son 
he had brought back to life came to ask the king for her house and 
field. Gehazi said, "My master, O king, this is the very woman and this 
is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!" 8:6 The king asked the 
woman about it, and she gave him the details. The king assigned a eunuch 
to take care of her request and ordered him, "Give her back everything 
she owns, as well as the amount of crops her field produced from the day 
she left the land until now."

Elisha Meets with Hazael

8:7 Elisha traveled to Damascus while King Ben Hadad of Syria was sick. 
The king was told, "The prophet has come here." 8:8 So the king told 
Hazael, "Take a gift and go visit the prophet. Request from him an 
oracle from the Lord. Ask him, 'Will I recover from this sickness?'" 8:9 
So Hazael went to visit Elisha. He took along a gift, as well as forty 
camel loads of all the fine things of Damascus. When he arrived, he 
stood before him and said, "Your son, King Ben Hadad of Syria, has sent 
me to you with this question, 'Will I recover from this sickness?'" 8:10 
Elisha said to him, "Go and tell him, 'You will surely recover,' but the 
Lord has revealed to me that he will surely die." 8:11 Elisha just 
stared at him until Hazael became uncomfortable. Then the prophet 
started crying. 8:12 Hazael asked, "Why are you crying, my master?" He 
replied, "Because I know the trouble you will cause the Israelites. You 
will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, 
smash their children to bits, and rip open their pregnant women." 8:13 
Hazael said, "How could your servant, who is as insignificant as a dog, 
accomplish this great military victory?" Elisha answered, "The Lord has 
revealed to me that you will be the king of Syria." 8:14 He left Elisha 
and went to his master. Ben Hadad asked him, "What did Elisha tell you?" 
Hazael replied, "He told me you would surely recover." 8:15 The next day 
Hazael took a piece of cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over Ben 
Hadad's face until he died. Then Hazael replaced him as king.

Jehoram's Reign over Judah

8:16 In the fifth year of the reign of Israel's King Joram, son of Ahab, 
Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram became king over Judah. 8:17 He was thirty-two 
years old when he became king and he reigned for eight years in 
Jerusalem. 8:18 He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, 
just as Ahab's dynasty had done, for he married Ahab's daughter. He did 
evil in the sight of the Lord. 8:19 But the Lord was unwilling to 
destroy Judah. He preserved Judah for the sake of his servant David to 
whom he had promised a perpetual dynasty.

8:20 During his reign Edom freed themselves from Judah's control and set 
up their own king. 8:21 Joram crossed over to Zair with all his 
chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and 
defeated him and his chariot officers. The Israelite army retreated to 
their homeland. 8:22 So Edom has remained free from Judah's control to 
this very day. At that same time Libnah also rebelled.

8:23 The rest of the events of Joram's reign, including a record of his 
accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the 
Kings of Judah. 8:24 Joram passed away and was buried with his ancestors 
in the city of David. His son Ahaziah replaced him as king.

Ahaziah Takes the Throne of Judah

8:25 In the twelfth year of the reign of Israel's King Joram, son of 
Ahab, Jehoram's son Ahaziah became king over Judah. 8:26 Ahaziah was 
twenty-two years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in 
Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter of King Omri of 
Israel. 8:27 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab's dynasty and did evil 
in the sight of the Lord, like Ahab's dynasty, for he was related to 
Ahab's family.

8:28 He joined Ahab's son Joram in a battle against King Hazael of Syria 
at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram. 8:29 King Joram 
returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the 
Syrians in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. King 
Ahaziah son of Jehoram of Judah went down to visit Joram son of Ahab in 
Jezreel, for he was ill.

      Prayer

Lord, Your knowledge is perfect, and though You know the evil men plan 
in their hearts, Your perfecting timing sometimes means that You respond 
or not as is right. May I never question Your perfect knowledge and 
wisdom even when I do not like or understand what is happening.

      Commentary

Elisha warned the Shunammite woman to take her son to another region as 
a famine was coming. She went to the land of the Philistines and when 
she returned she petitioned the king for the return of her property. 
Elisha's assistant, Gehazi, was just-then telling the king of Elisha's 
expressions of God's power -- including the story of bringing the 
Shunammite woman's son back to life -- so the king inquired then hearing 
her story returned her property and all that her property had produced 
while she was gone.

Elisha traveled to Damascus, in Syria, when the king was ill. The king 
requested an oracle from a prophet and his assistant found Elisha. 
Hazael learned that the king would survive the illness but would still die.

Elisha stared at Hazael then cried as the Lord God revealed to him the 
horrors he would visit upon the Israeli people, Hazael didn't understand 
until Elisha told him he would be come king.Hazael gave the king the 
news of his recovery then smothered him to death in his sick bed and 
took over as king of Syria.

Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram became king over Judah but he married Ahab's 
daughter and did evil like Ahab and the other kings of Judah. The 
Edomites rebelled and when Joram, king of Israel, went to challenge them 
he was overwhelmingly defeated.

Jehoram's son Ahaziah became king of Judah but was a descendant of Ahab 
and sinned against God. He joined Joram in attacking King Hazael of 
Syria but things went badly and Joram was injured, so Jehoram went to 
see him in Jezreel.

      Interaction

        Consider

The Lord God continued to use Elisha to bless the faithfulness of the 
Shunammite widow and her son.

        Discuss

Why would the kings have attacked Syria without first consulting Elisha?

        Reflect

That Elisha, through God, knew what Hazael would do he was not empowered 
by God to stop him as the people of Israel and Judah were constantly 
rebellious.

        Share

When have you experienced or observed the Lord God returning to bless 
again someone whom He had previously blessed in a profound way.

      Faith in Action

        Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place where you have set-off on a 
course of action without pausing to consult and patiently wait on God's 
leadership.

        Action:

Today I will stop what I am doing and consult the Lord God via prayer 
and searching His Word.

I will also ask a fellow believer to pray in-agreement that I recognize 
the leadership of the Lord for my life.

        Be Specific ______________________________________________________

             Sunday's text will be:  2 Kings 9

-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
Defend free speech or lose your freedom.
I don't google I SEARCH! http://ixquick.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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