Elisha was really determined to be with Elijah on the day Elijah was to be taken up in a whirlwind. The word for whirlwind means a storm, a tempest, or hurricane. So whatever it was it was BIG. 

What is a chariot of fire and horses of fire? There are a couple of references containing those words. They are found in 2 Kings 6. Kind of a strange conveyance wasn’t it? But not as strange as the wheel intersecting a wheel in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10.

Since some youths were making fun of Elisha guess that means that he was bald?

The woman who, with her sons, gathered the jars…what was the significance of the number of jars gathered?

Can we make a connection today? How about if we go to the Lord completely open and empty will He fill us completely every time we go to Him that way?

Why did the Shunammite woman tell Gehazi that everything was all right? Her son had just died.

Not sure if we completely understand the significance of Elisha purifying the stew and making the axhead float, except that it was just to show that Elisha had the power to perform such a miracle. Or maybe that God cares about even seemingly insignificant things if they are important to us. Hmmm…

Follow the Leader – a game probably all of us have played as children. There are so many instances in Scripture concerning leaders and the people they lead. God calls into judgment the leaders for the sins of the people.

How about today? Are the spiritual leaders of today following the clear teachings set forth in Scripture? Do they even bother to study Scripture deeply enough to find out what those teachings are? Most people just follow the leaders and accept their teachings without really studying Scripture for themselves. 

When the army of the Moabites came to make war, Jehoshaphat didn’t rely on himself or even his advisers. He inquired of the Lord. And look what the Lord did for him.

2 Chr 20:17
You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.'"

Wow! They didn’t even have to fight the battle. They had faith in what the Lord promised them. And notice they began to worship, sing and praise God even before He began to work. They trusted Him. Do we trust Him to keep His promises to us?

1 Cor 16:13
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

Eph 6:11-13
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

As believers in Jesus Christ we need to stand firm in our faith. We need to be on our guard against Satan’s schemes. When we play the game Follow the Leader we need to be cautious about the leaders or teachers we follow. We need to study Scripture for ourselves led by the greatest teacher of them all...the Holy Spirit.

John 14:26
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Ahab and Jezebel, what a pair – especially Jezebel - such a well-known name. The name is often synonymous with ungodly activities. The church in Thyatira was admonished because they tolerated the spirit of Jezebel.
Rev 2:20
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

 

It's very clear what happens to those who continue in the spirit of Jezebel.
Rev 2:21-22
I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.

Elijah tells of the punishment of Ahab and Jezebel on page 713.  His prophecy came true in exact detail.  Check out pages 715 and 737 for the painful details. 

 

A perfect example of how God works is found in today’s reading. God uses His people to discipline other people. God also uses other people to discipline His people. God uses the host of heaven to bring about His plan.

IKing 22:19-22
Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' " 'By what means?' the LORD asked. " 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. " 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.'

While we may not understand His ways, we must remember is that God has the perfect plan. He is in control. He has the final word!

When reading the story of Elijah bringing the widow’s son back to life, our little grandson, Nicholas (4 years old at the time) said “Elijah prayed him well.”

Indeed he did!

What astounding events happened on Mount Carmel! And how sad are these words of the people in response to Elijah’s question, “How long will you waver between two opinions?” “But the people said nothing.”

They didn’t take a stand. How is it with us? Do we take a stand for the Lord in the midst of idol worship, in the midst of the ways of the world?

Elijah took a stand when the prophets of Baal were defeated. A lesson for us today would be that

Whatever God commands us to do,

He’ll provide what we need to carry it through.

After Elijah saw God’s vast power in the fire on Mount Carmel, he was afraid of Jezebel and ran away. Did he feel alone because he thought he was the only prophet of God left? Ever feel that way? Ever feel as if you are all alone taking a stand for the Lord? If so, learn this next lesson from Elijah.

Elijah waited in the cave for God to speak to him. He must have expected some grand and glorious manifestation (like what God had done on the mountain) but instead, God came to him in a gentle whisper. Among the things God told Elijah was that there were 7,000 people in reserve who had not succumbed to idol worship.

So if you think you’re all alone, take a lesson from Elijah – there are others out there who are also willing to take a stand.

Today’s reading speaks volumes about trusting in the Lord. Asa trusted the Lord (at least for a while).  "Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord". The kingdom was at peace.  Among the things that Asa did was to remove the foreign altars, high places, smashed the sacred stones, and cut down the Asherah poles.  These were pagan idols.  Are there any things in our lives or our churches that could be considered pagan? 

Often we are told in Scripture that the kings did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord and caused the nation to sin.  The people followed the example of their leader.  Leaders in our nation and leaders in our churches can lead the people astray. 

It was the Lord who struck down the Cushites. Asa and his army just chased them. As spoken through the prophet Azariah, “The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”

Why would anyone want to be forsaken by the Lord? Why not seek Him? Things are so much easier that way!

When Asa heard these words from the Lord, he took courage and began to remove all the detestable idols from the land again and he repaired the altar at the temple. However, he didn’t remove the high places in Israel.

Asa did well in the beginning but he sure took a tumble at the end. Instead of trusting in the Lord as had done earlier, he relied on his own human power and strength. As a result his nation was at war again. Even concerning his own physical health, Asa relied on his physicians alone instead of seeking help from the Lord. Can we learn any lessons from this?

Jehoshaphat ruled after his father Asa, but he did not remove the high places (sites of pagan rituals) and "the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their fathers".  

We can't set our hearts on seeking God until we remove our "high places".

2 Chr 16:9a
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

1 Pet 3:12a
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer,

Are our hearts fully committed to Him? If so He strengths us and listens to our prayers. What a great comfort!

2 Chr 12:14
He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD.

What a potent and applicable verse for us today! If we as Believers do not set our heart on seeking the Lord, we are inclined to do evil. How do we seek the Lord?  The word "seek" in both Greek and Hebrew means "to search out, to look for", etc. but it has a more detailed specific meaning "to crave", specifically in regards to worshiping God.  So, we are to crave Him to worship Him.  WOW!

Shemaiah explained to the leaders of Judah the reason for the invasion from Egypt was that it was discipline from God. They had to learn the difference between serving God and serving the world.
How about us as Believers, can’t we just learn the difference and not have to go through the discipline?  Life would be so much simpler that way.

2 Chr 13:18
The men of Israel were subdued on that occasion, and the men of Judah were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.
Very important to rely on the Lord and not our own strength! We fall miserably short!

I King 15:3
He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.

Abijah followed in the footsteps of Solomon who allowed his wives to entice him to turn his heart after other gods. (IKing 11:4)

What does it mean to have our hearts fully devoted to the Lord? What kind of witness would we be to unbelievers if our hearts were fully devoted to the Lord?  If we were craving Him to worship Him?  We might just stand out from the crowd.

IKing 12:8
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
This Scripture certainly expresses the importance of carefully selecting others for advice. Rehoboam and many others will suffer because of his decision.
While fellow believers can help us in daily living, it is the Word of God that never fails and should be relied on as our primary source. 

Rehoboam made some bad choices in seeking advice, but it was nothing compared to what his counterpart Jeroboam did in Israel. 

Oh there is so much to write about concerning the altars at Dan and Bethel. On our trip to Israel in 2005 we were able to see the place in Dan where the golden calves were placed. Interestingly right behind the high place of the altar two golden colored cows were grazing in the grass. Quite ironic wouldn’t you say? We even videotaped the occasion. 

Jeroboam appointed priests from all sorts of people. He instituted festivals according to God’s command but unfortunately he sacrificed to the calves he had made instead of to God. He in effect blasphemed the feast days that God established by having the people worship a golden calf. Then to add insult to injury he instituted his own festival, one not ordained by God.

What connections can we make to today’s church? How many "festivals" do we honor in our churches that have not been ordained by God? For more on this subject, go to the website at http://www.philandpatti.com/chronologicalchroniclesii then go to the writing titled Convenience.

 

Fascinating story about the man of God and the old prophet. The man of God had direct word from God. The old prophet claimed he had heard from God so the man of God discounted what God had said to him and listened to the old prophet. Lesson to be learned – don’t take someone else’s opinion of God’s Word over God’s Word.