Day 187 Bible Readings for July 7 - 2 Kings 13: 18-19 (ESV)

2 Kings 12-13, 2 Kings 14: 1-22, Acts 25: 1-22, Psalm 103, 13-22

2 Kings 13: 18-19 (ESV)

“And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”

Verses 18 through 19 from 2 Kings 13 teaches us a lesson in how to act when God gives us a task to do. King Joash of Israel came to see the prophet Elisha, who told him that the arrows of the bow represent his victory over the Syrians. Joash seemed to not have faith or believe in the prophecy of Elisha, and he only used three arrows. If Joash had shot more arrows, Israel would have had more victories over the Syrians and ended the conflict with them. But Joash’s lack of faith of Elisha’s prophecy guaranteed that the conflict with the Syrians would continue.

The lesson here is that if God invites us to do something by faith, we must fulfill the request with as much enthusiasm as we can knowing that God will fulfill all of prayers. If we only half-heartedly fulfill God’s request to us, then we will miss out on the full blessings of God.

Day 186 Bible Readings – Psalm 103: 1 (ESV)

2 Kings 10 & 11, Acts 24, Psalm 103: 1-12

Psalm 103: 1 (ESV)

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!”

When I started reading Psalm 103 I immediately starting singing the song “10,000 reasons” by Matt Redman. When I researched the song, I found out that Redman said that inspiration of the song came from verse 1 for Psalm 103. Redman wrote the song for another singer, and it was covered by many artists. In 2013, the song won a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song, and other Grammy for Best Gospel/Contemporary Music performance when Matt Redman included the song on his album.

10,000 reasons is one of my favorite Christian songs. Here is Matt Redman’s version – Enjoy!

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.