Day 185 Bible Readings – 2 Kings 9: 35-37 (ESV)

2 Kings 8: 16-29, 2 Kings 9, Acts 23: 12-35, Psalm 102: 18-28

2 Kings 9: 35-37 (ESV)

“But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. When they came back and told him, he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.’”

Verses 35 through 37 from 2 Kings 9 shows another prophecy of Elisha coming true with amazing accuracy. Queen Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab, who ruled the kingdom of Israel. Jezebel persuaded Ahab to start worshipping Baal and killed most of the prophets of God. Elisha prophesied that the Lord wanted to avenge that Jezebel for killing his servants and prophets, and that Jehu would strike down the house of Ahab and how Jezebel would die. Jehu did as Elisha predicted and called for the execution of Jezebel. Jezebel died when she was thrown out of the window by the eunuchs and she was trampled by horses. When Jehu later told his servants to bury Jezebel, they found very little of her.

It may take some time for people who do bad things to get their justice, but God remembers all that we do and will serve justice on those people who especially kill his servants and prophets. We need to remember this story when we wonder why bad people don’t get punished right away. God will bad people but in his own way, on his plan, and on his time.

Day 184 Bible Readings for July 4 – 2 Kings 7: 1-2 (ESV)

2 Kings 6: 24-33, 2 Kings 7, 2 Kings 8: 1-15, Acts 22: 23-30, Acts 23: 1-11, Psalm 102: 12-17

“But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

Verses 1 and 2 from 2 Kings 7 is a prophecy from the prophet Elisha. I love the fulfillment of Elisha’s prophecy because it shows you cannot predict how God will fulfill his word or a prophecy. God scared away the Syrian army, and the four lepers who decided they would go to the Syrian army camp to spare their lived, found the camp empty. The lepers decided to share the good news with the king’s household. The Syrian army left their food and the king’s messenger who had gone to Elisha was trampled by the people and died, as Elish had prophesied.

 This story from Elisha shows that when we pray to God for something, we need to let go of any expectations we have on how God might fulfill our prayers. God will fulfill our prayers, but in God’s way and according to his plan and not necessarily the way in which we expect or want it to be fulfilled.

Day 183 Bible Readings for July 3 – 2 Kings 4: 42-44 (ESV)

2 Kings 4:38-44, 2 Kings 5, 2 Kings 6: 1-23, Acts 21: 27-40, Acts 22: 1-22, Psalm 102: 1-11

2 Kings 4: 42-44 (ESV)

“A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’” So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.”

Verses 42 through 44 from 2 Kings 4 shows a miracle that Elisha performed that was a foreshadowing of Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000. Elisha asked his servant to give the food that was brought to him to 100 men. The servant did not think the food would feed that many men, so he complained to Elisha. Elisha didn’t budge and told his servant to feed the men. And to the servant’s surprise the men ate as much as they wanted, and at the end there was still food  left.

Elisha’s miracle isn’t as astonishing as Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5000, but Elisha did astonish his own servant who didn’t think the food would feed 100 men. It makes me wonder if the disciples of Jesus and those in the crowd who knew the Old Testament, thought of Elisha’s miracle of food multiplication as they ate from the never-ending supply of food from five fish and two loaves.

Day 182 Bible Readings for July 2 – 2 Kings 4: 32-37 (ESV)

2 Kings 3, 2 Kings 4: 1-37, Acts 21: 1-26, Psalm 101

2 Kings 4: 32-37 (ESV)

“When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.”  She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.”

Verses 32 through 37 show the second resurrection in the Old Testament. I love how Elisha prayed and resurrected the child of the Shumanite woman who was feeding him. This resurrection shows how much the prophet Elisha was with God because he could perform miracles like this one.

The Shumanite woman had prayed for a son and Elisha asked God to give the woman a son, and she bore a son the following year. When the child fell it, the woman again went to Elisha to see if he could cure the child because of her faith in him, but the child died and Elisha had to perform the miracle himself. The faith of the woman was rewarded and her child was healed by Elisha. We need to all pray for faith like this Shumanite woman.

Day 181 Bible Readings - Acts 20: 22-24 (ESV)

2 Kings 1-2, Acts 20, Psalm 100

Acts 20: 22-24 (ESV)

“And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

Verses 22 through 24 from Acts 20 made me tear up. The Holy Spirit let Paul know that he would be imprisoned, but he still decided to go because he wanted to finish his ministry to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. What Paul did not know was that even in imprisonment, he would be able to minister to the churches he started and that in the future Christians around the world would be reading his letters to his churches.

Paul had to have absolute trust in God that whatever happened to him, it was all a part of God’s plan and that his life would be serve God’s purpose. These verses made me appreciate Paul even more because 1) he had an ongoing relationship with the Holy Spirit, and 2) whatever fears Paul had he put them aside because he was so determined to finish the task that Jesus gave him.

Day 180 Bible Readings for June 30 – Acts 19: 14-15 (ESV)

 1 Kings 22, Acts 19: 14-41, Psalm 99

Acts 19: 14-15 (ESV)

“Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”

Verses 14 through 15 from Acts 19 shows us another supernatural story from the Bible. The sons of the Jewish high priests, who were exorcists, decided to copy Paul and invoked the name of Jesus while doing their work of removing evil spirits. But they weren’t true believers of Jesus, and the evil spirit knew it and called them on it. I’m sure they were shocked as I was shocked reading these verses. One of the Bible commentaries I read said that the evil spirits always know who their enemies, and these sons of Sceva were not known by them because they really did not believe in Jesus.

I was talking to a church friend, and she told me that she knew that were many people in our congregation who are regular church goers, but who aren’t saved and don’t really believe in Jesus. I find this shocking and odd. Why even go to church unless you believe in Jesus Christ? These people are in essence like the sons of Sceva, invoking the names of Jesus but not really believing in him. My church friend told me we need to always pray for the people around us in church to be saved, in case they aren’t true believers of Christ. Luckily for them, God is not like the evil spirit. God is patient with us and will wait until we want to be saved, and he will rejoice like the father with the prodigal son that his son has been saved.