2 Kings 2:15-25 English Standard Version Elisha Succeeds Elijah 15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 And they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the LORD has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” 17 But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him. 18 And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?” 19 Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” 20 He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the LORD, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22 So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke. 23 He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. 25 From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria. After Elijah was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire and Elisha crossed back over the Jordan River, he was greeted by the people that saw that the same Spirit that rested on Elijah now rested on Elisha. However, the 50 prophets that had been watching from a distance and didn't get to experience the conversation with either the Spirit of the LORD or with Elijah thought that Elijah had maybe just been "spirited away" to another place where the Spirit of the LORD needed to send him. They did not understand that Elijah had gone to heaven and that he was not coming back. In fact, they wanted to form a search party to go looking for him (which is silly if the Spirit of the LORD did take him away to another place, then it would be at that place where he was needed, and they should go looking for him trying to bring him back).
Elisha told them to stand down. No search party was to be sent, but they kept speaking this foolishness until he was embarrassed and probably just wanted to get rid of them that he told them to go if that's all they could think about doing. They were better away from Elisha in this case as they were nothing but a distraction at this point and since they would not listen to wisdom or authority, it mattered not whether they would stay or go. The LORD would have to deal with these fifty prophets that would not listen to the voice of the LORD speaking through the prophet He had chosen to deliver His message to them. When they came back to him, he basically said to them, "I tried to tell you," or "I told you so." Hopefully after this incident they would be more inclined to heed his voice as they would have heeded the voice of Elijah. The men of the city of Jericho then come to Elisha with a problem--their water supply has been contaminated by something so that it is killing all the vegetation. He told them to bring him a new bowl filled with salt and they did so. Elisha then took the bowl of salt to the source of the spring that gave water to the city, and threw the salt in it and declared that the LORD promised that the water had been healed and that death and miscarriage would no longer come from this spring of water. Elisha then went to Bethel (notice he's retracing the footsteps that Elijah took to get to the Jordan River before he crossed over and was taken up into heaven). Here, Elisha was met with opposition by a group of small boys who were already aware of what had happened to Elijah, were happy that Elijah was gone, and they wanted Elisha to "go up" just like Elijah did, for even at this young age they did not want any prophet of the LORD to be around them. They also mocked Elisha for being bald (we're not sure why he had no hair, but the fact that they were hurling insults at him is more important than the insults themselves). The continued to repeat these insults and Elisha finally prayed for the LORD to deal with them (he cursed them in the name of the LORD). I am not sure the Elisha meant for the LORD to deal with them in the way that He did, but the LORD's answer came suddenly, swiftly and in the case, immediately. A she-bear came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the "boys" (I would say it probably would be fair to call this group a gang by today's standards), and that was the end of their thinking that they could harass Elisha From here, Elisha retraced Elijah's steps all the way back to Mount Carmel and then he returned to the capital city of Samaria. The scene will shift a bit next time as the nation will be back at war, but this time the war will not be against Syria, but against a neighbor we haven't heard from in a long time--Moab. The last time you probably remember hearing of Moab was in the book of Ruth when Naomi and her family went to Moab during the famine in Israel and Ruth the Moabite came back with Naomi to serve and obey the LORD saying "Your people will be my people and your God my God." Ruth would be come the father of Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of King David. However, if we remember historically, Moab is one of the "cousins" of Israel in that they are descended from the daughters of Lot who had relations with their father during their escape from Sodom and Gomorrah after their husbands refused to leave the city with them. All this is backdrop and important history for us to remember as Moab did not let Israel pass through as they were going to the Promised Land, but the LORD said it was not right for Israel to judge them yet for they were still family. Moab has now served its purpose in the plan of redemption since Ruth came back to Israel and married Boaz, so we'll see if the LORD uses Moab to judge Israel or if the LORD uses Israel to judge Moab when we look at chapter 3 next time. 2 Kings 2:1-14 English Standard Version Elijah Taken to Heaven 2 Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.” 4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. 5 The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.” 6 Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 7 Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” 10 And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” 11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13 And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over. The passage today doesn't hide what is about to happen, someone wrote it after the fact and told readers what was about to happen at the very beginning of the chapter--the LORD is about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. I'm sure that would get everyone's attention who was reading it or hearing it for the first time! We have known for a while now that the LORD had a plan of succession for Elijah to pass on his mantle of leadership (we'll see from this passage where we get that phrase) to Elisha. Elijah knows that these events are going to take place, and he knows it will be hard for Elisha to see him leave, so he tries to tell Elisha that what he needs to do next, he must do alone and that where he is going, Elisha cannot follow him. I think Elisha understands exactly what Elijah is saying (maybe simply thinking that the LORD has told Elijah that Elijah needs to go somewhere to die like the LORD did with Moses), and Elisha refuses to let his friend and mentor be alone in these final moments.
We see Elijah trying to prepare Elisha for what is coming by asking if he knows that today is the day that Elisha's master, that is Elijah himself, will be taken away from Elisha? Elisha replies that he does in fact know, and encourages Elijah to keep quiet about it (as not everyone in Israel needs to know about it). So Elijah leads Elisha on this journey from Gilgal (close to where he would be taken up to heaven) to Bethel, then on to Jericho, and then finally across the Jordan River. Through all this, Elisha refused to leave Elijah. Though fifty other prophets watched from a distance, Elisha was the only one that would walk the path with Elijah so that he would not spend his final moments on earth alone. To get across the River, Elijah struck the water with his cloak and the waters of the Jordan River parted for them so that they could cross on dry ground, just like the Israelites had crossed over the Red Sea when coming out of Egypt and the Israelites had crossed over the Jordan River on dry ground when going into the Promised Land. After they had crossed over and it was just Elijah and Elisha, Elijah tells Elisha to make any final requests that he has before Elijah is taken away from him. Elisha has only one request because he knows the task ahead of him is so great--a double-portion of the Spirit that was within Elijah so that he could be even more emboldened and empowered to do the hard work that the LORD was calling him to do. We can take this literally in some sense that Elisha would do exactly twice as many miracles as Elijah did, but I don't think that was Elisha's intent in the task. Elisha had seen how hard it was for the two of them to do the work when working together and now with Elijah gone it would be like he would need to be doing the work of two people and would need all the strength and equipping and empowerment that had belonged to both of them because the work wasn't going to get any easier now that Elijah was going away (in many ways it would be getting harder). The LORD hears Elisha's request and will grant it to give him a double-blessing in the way that we see a firstborn son receive a double-portion to that of the other heirs. As Elijah is taken away in the whirlwind, he will drop his cloak (or mantle) so that Elisha can pick it up and wear it as well as a sign to Elisha and everyone else that the same Spirit and empowerment that rested on Elijah now rests on Elisha along with the empowerment that Elisha already had when he was anointed by Elijah. Is this something all of us should be looking for and asking for? Is this passage instructive in the doctrine of a double-blessing of the Spirit that we need to be asking for? I really don't think that's the purpose here so much as to show us that the LORD is faithful to equip and prepare and empower those he has called for the work that He has prepared for them to do, but He does so in such a way where it is clear that He is the one doing so through His Spirit so that He gets all the glory. If we need more empowerment and the ability to work signs and wonders to accompany the message that He has given us, then He will do that. If we need boldness to go before governors and kings and take the gospel to the whole known world like He called the Apostle Paul to do, then He will do that, and if we need empowerment to be the one to come alongside others in the ministry to help them even though we do so from the shadows and don't do anything to get ourselves highly recognized like John Mark did when he helped pen Peter's story in the gospel of Mark, and he accompanied Paul, Barnabas and Peter on several missionary journeys (probably making him one of the most important "support staff" in taking the gospel to the nations), then He will empower us to do that. Whatever we need, He can give to us, and whatever we ask for (in accordance with His will), He can provide that and even more--remember the oil that kept pouring out of the jar for the widow that took care of Elijah--it didn't run out until every vessel she had collected was full, but if she had collected even more vessels to fill, then there would have been even more oil available because God has an unlimited amount of resources that can be tapped into, but we should tap into them in order to work with Him in accomplishing His stated goal and purpose of redemption, taking the gospel to the whole world, changing those He has redeemed into the image of Christ through discipleship, and preparing those whom He has saved (and those who are not saved) for His imminent return. Back to today's passage. Elijah was taken up in chariot of fire and as we already mentioned, his cloak or mantle was left behind for Elisha to pick up. Before putting on Elijah's cloak, Elisha tore his own clothes as a sign of grief and mourning, for he was very sad about his friend and coworker being taken away from him, even though he knew that he was with the LORD and in a place far better than if he had remained on earth. Elisha was now "stuck" on the Gilead side of the Jordan River needing to get back across to the Canaan side to do the work that the LORD had called him too. He rolled up Elijah's cloak and struck the water just like Elijah did and called on the LORD to be with him just as He had been with Elijah and the LORD parted the waters for Elisha just like He had done for Elijah as a sign to Him that He had heard him and granted his request. Then Elisha crossed over and prepared to do the (hard) work that the LORD had called him to, and to now do it without the help and support of his mentor Elijah. There would not really be time for him to grieve either--this time that Elijah and Elisha had alone was pretty much the extent of the memorial service. When Moses was taken away from Israel around the same geographical location, the nation stood still and mourned for a month, but the nation will not stop and mourn for the loss of Elijah (though they should have). In fact, the wicked people of Israel are likely celebrating his departure thinking they are finally rid of him and his restraining influence and hoping that it has no become easier for them to sin (not so, because the LORD has prepared the three men--the new King of Israel, the King of Syria and Elisha that Prophet) to work together in the work He has put before them to call His people back to repentance and to put away their idols and turn back to the LORD. 2 Kings 1 English Standard Version Elijah Denounces Ahaziah 1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” 3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus says the LORD, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went. 5 The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” 6 And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the LORD, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” 7 He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” 8 They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.” 9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” 10 But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. 11 Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king's order, ‘Come down quickly!’” 12 But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. 13 Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. 14 Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” 15 Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king 16 and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” 17 So he died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. 18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? As much as Ahab was a wicked king, he was a strong military leader that the nations around Israel feared. After his death, the Moabites wanted to test Israel to see if Ahab's son Ahaziah was as formidable an opponent as Ahab was. However, Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper chamber and been injured so that he was not able to lead the army in battle, so he told his servants to inquire of Baal-zebub (Beelzebub in the New Testament--the very spirit that Jesus was accused of casting out demons by. You may know this demon by another name, "The Lord of the Flies.") to inquire if he would recover from this "sickness" (maybe this is better translated "injury" or maybe there was some secondary infection or sickness that happened after the initial fall). This demon was the "god" of the Philistine town of Ekron.
The LORD, being displeased that Ahaziah sought to inquire of foreign gods sent Elijah the Tishbite (the same Elijah we've been reading about in 1 Kings) to the messengers of King Ahaziah to tell them, "Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus says the LORD, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die." The messengers returned much sooner than expected, for the Philistine territory is far away from Samaria to the south of Judah and when asked why they had returned so quickly, the messengers replied, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the LORD, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” Of course, this was not the news that Ahaziah wanted to hear--typically kings thought that if they paid enough money to the prophets of these false gods, they could pay for their blessing. The king is upset and wants to get a description of the prophet so that he can search for him (likely to try to do him harm or kill him since he is angered by the words of the prophecy). The description of Elijah by the messengers matches almost identically with the description of John the Baptist from the New Testament, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist," and they remembered that he had given them his name, "Elijah the Tishbite." It is almost certain the Ahaziah recognized this name because his father Ahab and his mother Jezebel so hated Elijah and blamed him for many of the things that the LORD brought upon them as a result of their wickedness and idolatry. Then the king sent a captain from his army and the fifty men of his battalion that were assigned to him to go and arrest Elijah the Tishbite. It seems they had no trouble finding him, and when they found him they said, "O man of the God, the king orders, 'Come down.'" Elijah knew what was happening and that this an show of force by the king to say that he was in charge and God was not, so there is another experience much like the one on Mount Carmel (and other places in the Bible) where there is a test to prove that Elijah is the prophet of the LORD and speaks the LORD's own words. Elijah said that this would be the sign that he was truly the prophet of the LORD and that his message he spoke was true--fire would come out of heaven and consume this company of fifty soldiers, just like how the fire had come down out of heaven at Mount Carmel and consumed the sacrifice, wood, the altar and had licked up the water that covering the sacrifice and was in the trench around the altar. The captain and his fifty men were consumed by the fire, but somehow word got back to Ahaziah what happened. You would think that would been enough for Ahaziah to cry "Mercy," but he sent another captain with another fifty soldiers with the same message, and to no one's surprise the LORD did the same thing to the second company of fifty and their captain as had happened to the first (well, maybe Ahaziah was surprised, but I'm not sure anyone else was). Ahaziah is some special kind of stupid (probably both thick headed and hard-hearted like Pharaoh) because he sends a third group of fifty expecting different results, but it was the captain of these fifty men that acted different that saved his life and the lives of his men. He did not come to Elijah with the king's message that the king ordered Elijah to come down off the mountain and come with them. No, he knew if he did the same thing as before, he would be met with the same results. Instead, he immediately bows down in humility and worship and cries out for mercy that his life and the lives of his men might be saved. Then the angel of the LORD (for those that have forgotten, I believe this is the name used for the second person of the Trinity in the Old Testament before His incarnation when He received the name Jesus) spoke to Elijah and told Elijah to go down to this captain and to not be afraid of him. Elijah then went with them to the king and boldly proclaimed the prophecy the LORD had given him to the king's face in exactly the same way that he had delivered it to the messengers the king had sent to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” Ahaziah's death came shortly after Elijah's message was delivered as we saw last time that Ahaziah only reigned in Israel for two years, and apparently he spent most of his reign sick in bed from this incident. Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, then also ruled over Israel starting in the second year of his reign in Judah, for Ahaziah died without a son. However, this is not the happy ending of reunification that we are hoping for because Israel will establish more bad kings like Ahab to be kings over them before the time of the kings is finished. It was just good that the southern kingdom of Judah was willing to step in for a time and provide leadership and protection when their brothers to the north were "like sheep without a shepherd." 1 Kings 22:51-53 English Standard Version Ahaziah Reigns in Israel 51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. 52 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 53 He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done. This is the end of the book of 1st Kings. Next time, we'll start looking at the book of 2nd Kings. They together make "The Book of the Kings." The last king we'll look at in 1 Kings is Ahaziah, the son of Ahab. He began to reign in Israel (the Northern Kingdom) in the capital city of Samaria in seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. His reign was short-lived (remember that the house of Ahab had been cursed by the LORD so that all his male relatives would be cut off and no one from his line would ever rule again, and his family would be disinherited from the Promised Land). Ahaziah followed in his father's and mother's footsteps and in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat (the first king of Israel who led the northern ten tribes into idolatry and rebellion). He served and worshiped the pagan god known as Baal, which provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger (for He is a jealous God). This anger that the LORD felt towards Ahaziah was the same kind of anger that the LORD had towards King Ahab.
That's where we leave the story. We thought we had a glimmer of hope for a moment when Ahab repented towards the end of his life (though he didn't fully repent). There was a chance that his son would see the foolishness' of his father's ways and would choose to follow the LORD, but, alas, he followed in his father's footsteps. Therefore the judgment that was proclaimed on the house of Ahab came just as the LORD had promised, starting with Ahab and Jezebel and then their son Ahaziah shortly after. By this point, you would think Israel would have seen a pattern and would have tried to change something to have a different outcome since they are changing kings pretty quickly here. However, they just harden their hearts more and more and double-down on their rebellion so that at some point "soon" the longsuffering of the LORD will reach its limit, and He will be forced to judge His own people of Israel (and Judah is not that far behind them). 1 Kings 22:41-50 English Standard Version Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah 41 Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD. Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 44 Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel. 45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 46 And from the land he exterminated the remnant of the male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa. 47 There was no king in Edom; a deputy was king. 48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. 49 Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships,” but Jehoshaphat was not willing. 50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. We're nearly done with the book of 1 Kings, but before we finish, we need to talk about the new king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, and the new king of Israel, Ahab's son, who took the throne after Ahab's death--we'll talk about him next time. Asa was king over Judah for nearly half of this book, since around the time that Elijah started his ministry in Israel. Many kings of Israel came and went, but Asa was given a long time on the throne because he, "Did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done." (15:11). Would this be passed onto his son Jehoshaphat who would rule after him, or will Jehoshaphat disappoint us in much the same way that Solomon did after David?
Jehoshaphat began to reign in Judah during the fourth year of king Ahab, so he's been king for quite some time now, but we haven't stopped to talk about him because the author of the book of 1 Kings wanted to finish the arc of the story of King Ahab first since it was central to the story of the ministry of Elijah the prophet. Only recently did Jehoshaphat enter the picture in the war with the Syrians as an ally of Israel and we now need to have some introduction to who he was. He was thirty-five years old when he ascended to the throne, and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem (making him 60 when he died). Like the other kings, the name of his mother is given to prove his mother and father are given to be sure that his claim to the throne was legitimate. Then we hear the good news that we were hoping for. He walked in the ways of his father Asa all his days (remember that Asa had walked in the steps of David). The texts adds that he never failed to do what was right in the sight of the LORD without ever turning aside from it. However, just like his father, he failed to remove the high places where the people went to worship their false gods, so although he removed the idols, the people still went to these places to sacrifice and worship. The other blot on his record is something we know about already--he made peace with the king of Israel, Ahab. .This is all that the author of the book of 1 Kings really wants us to know about the life and reign of King Jehoshaphat. The author tells us that if we want to know more, we should turn over to the book of Chronicles and look for more details there. The author adds one more item to the "plus" column for King Jehoshaphat though in that he killed all the male cult prostitutes left that King Asa had not been able to completely kill. Before we move onto the king of Israel and wrap up the book of 1 Kings, the author of the book of 1 Kings takes a look over at the neighboring country of Edom (from the descendants of Esau) and lets us know that at this time, they had no king. Jehoshaphat tried to be like Solomon and gather wealth from other parts of the earth and bring it back to Jerusalem, but the ships wrecked and could not be sent out to bring gold back to him. The king of Israel (who we'll talk about tomorrow) wanted this effort to go get gold from Ophir to be a joint venture--mostly likely they were greedy, and they also probably would have used this gold to make idols. Jehoshaphat was unwilling to take them aboard the ships and make any economic treaties with them. It seems the only treaty he made with them was regarding war that he would come to their defense if their land was invaded and attacked because he understood that it was still ancestral land that the LORD gave to the northern ten tribes--even if they treated their inheritance with contempt. Eventually, Jehoshaphat dies and was buried among the kings in the city of David (probably referring to Jerusalem, not Bethlehem), and his son Jehoram ruled in his place. We will have to look to the book of 2 Kings and the book of Chronicles for any additional information about the kings of Judah. The book of 2 Kings will cover all the remaining kings of Judah and Israel until their respective exiles, and it will also tell us much of the ministry of the prophet Elisha--remember that Elijah was recently commanded to anoint him to be a prophet in his place, so we know something is going to happen that is going to bring Elijah's ministry to an end as well. Before that though, we do have one more king to talk about, so we'll talk about King Ahaziah, son of King Ahab, king of Israel, next time. It is true that the Bible contains all that we need for life and godliness, but it is not biblical to take a cessationists viewpoint that some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit no longer exist because the Bible has been translated into our language. How does that help the rest of the world who doesn't have the Bible yet in their language? The gift of tongues was always a gift in the Bible used in evangelism for cross-cultural ministry when the Lord sent his apostles (the "sent" ones) to places that spoke other languages and the apostles didn't need years of language school because the Holy Spirit either allowed the apostles to miraculously speak to the people in their native tongue or for the people to hear the apostles preaching the gospel to them in their native tongue.
Jesus never refused to heal anyone that came to Him for healing and He asked them, "What do you want me to do for you?" It was clear to some people that came to Him that they had a deeper need to be spiritually healed, but others only cared about Him on a surface level of wanting Him to heal their disease or infirmity, or cast out the demons that were living in them. These signs that accompanied the message were particularly important to the Jewish people as they were told to test a prophet by asking for signs and there is still a place for such gifts to accompany the gospel (not apart from the gospel) to point people to Christ. The same one who has the power to cause the lame to walk, the blind to see and the dead to be raised can be at work within us to heal our souls and make all things new. We know that the Lord still gives visions and dreams in parts of the world to people He is preparing to hear the gospel or sometimes to those who refuse to read His Word and this is the time when He can speak to them and they can't refuse to listen. No dream or vision should contradict what is already revealed in Scripture and we should not be looking for something "new" and "fresh," but instead is a tool that the Spirit uses to connect missionaries with those that they are being sent to (Like Paul's call to go to Macedonia). Words of prophecy (if we know what prophesy actually is) are encouraged in Scripture in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Prophecy is professing what the Lord has already spoken and speaking authoritatively saying "Thus says the LORD." Most of the time this means quoting Scripture. The gift of prophecy is not about fortune-telling. That is the demonic twisting of this gift. It is true that God sometimes reveals to a prophet what is going to happen in the future, but it is for the purpose of calling His people to repentance and for the sake of the gospel. Hopefully you see a theme here that all these spiritual gifts when used biblically are used to advance the gospel and to bring our attention to Jesus (not to ourselves and not even to the Spirit). Putting ourselves in a position where we teach that certain gifts of the Spirit no longer exist is hard to support biblically. The closest we're going to get there is 1 Corinthians 13:8-10, "8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away." Two schools of thought here is that the "perfect" has already come in the form of the canon of Scripture being closed (the viewpoint of the original poster) and that all these gifts that Paul lists in this passage have therefore ceased. However, there's a problem with that as we see that in the end times (after the canon of Scripture has been closed) we are told that "your young men will have visions and your old men will dream dreams" (Joel 2:28) and we see in the book of Revelation that the Lord sends two prophets to the people whose message is accompanied by signs and wonders. That creates some serious problems for the "just read your Bible" crowd. Another school of thought says that everything today is still the same as it was in the days of Jesus and the early Church and that we should be expecting to experience these "sign gifts" all the time and some even go the extreme of saying that this is the only way to validate that someone has really been saved. I feel like both of these viewpoints are ditches on the side of the road that we can slide into if we take one extreme or the other. As my friend Shawn said when I showed him what I was writing this article, I'm not a 0 or a 10, but somewhere between a 4 to a 7. Ideally, I'd try to take my lead from what the Bible does say--not what it doesn't say, and not what I want it to say, but what it actually says. That being said, I think that the Bible gives some good "guardrails" on this topic (which is the next major topic I'll discuss). I'd say the "perfect" that is coming is the New Heaven and the New Earth that we see at the end of the Book of Revelation. No one will need to be convicted of sin, so there will be no more need for prophecy. No one will need to be taught anything, because God will cause us to know everything we are to know. We will not need the gift of tongues because we will all be able to understand each other and there will be no one else to share the gospel with. However, we will love each God and each other completely and be loved by Him completely. Now to those "guardrails" we were talking about that help us understand how the Spirit uses these gifts both in the past and today.. If you have access to the Word of God, and you aren't reading and studying it, shame on you. It contains all that you need for life and godliness and has the very words of life. If you have access to the Word of God as a Christian and aren't speaking it, singing it and sharing it in every way possible with everyone around you (even those who are brothers and sisters in Christ), shame on you, because it should be at the center of everything we say and do. If you have access to the Word of God, say that you believe it and are living a life that contradicts your message, double shame on you--the Bible clearly says that such a person who lives in a way where they are clearly controlled by the flesh and not by the Spirit needs to examine themselves (and be judged by the Church through church discipline) to see if they are really saved, and the Spirit and Bride (the Church) say "Come" while there is still time to repent and believe. Read, study, and live in such a way that the Word of God is at work in you and through you, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to bring glory to Father and the Son for the gospel that they planed and carried out, and to make you look more and more like Jesus every day. If the Spirit chooses to do that with gifts of wisdom, discernment, prophecy, tongues, or healing, so be it. If the Spirit does that with gifts of administration, teaching, preaching, exhortation, mercy, giving, or any of the other gifts listed in Scripture, so be it. I know that the Spirit has equipped me with every gift necessary for the work that has been prepared for me in Christ Jesus and refuse to covet someone else's gift nor to be upset with the Lord for giving me a gift that I do not want. He is the giver of every good and perfect thing and if He gave it me, it's for me to use for the ministry that He has called me to. I hope this adds to the discussion from my blog post recently which touched on some of this. https://www.danielwestfall.com/.../saving-faith-leads-to.... Specifically, my friend William Rhebergen deserves a full and complete answer to my position here as this is conversation not easily had by text message. Last, but not least, remember to test the sprits as we are told to do in 1 John 4. Not every spirit that claims to be of God is of God and the demons have been empowered to do signs and wonders as well to trick and deceive those whose hearts have been hardened. We cannot assume just because we see or hear something miraculous that it is the work of the Spirit--that is why I tried to hammer the point home throughout this that the Sprit makes us focus on the Son and specifically on the gospel. If you see signs and wonders that point people to the person performing them, the sprit by which the signs are performed, to doctrine contrary to the Word of God, to material outside the Bible that one is claiming to be Scripture or equal to Scripture, or is professing a false gospel either by words or by lifestyle, then that miraculous sign should not be attributed to the work of the Spirit of God. That is a judgment that Bible commands us to make and says that sometimes our faith will be tested by God allowing those who claim to be genuine by have a false message to do these things to see if we'll evaluate their words and their lifestyle through the lens of Scripture. 1 Kings 22:29-40 English Standard Version Ahab Killed in Battle 29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. 31 Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” 32 And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is surely the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 34 But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 35 And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot. 36 And about sunset a cry went through the army, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!” 37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the LORD that he had spoken. 39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 40 So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. Ahab decided, probably because of the prophecies against him, that he would not go into battle wearing his royal robes, but would be disguised as a regular soldier, but the king of Judah would wear his royal robes so that people looking to attack the king might attack the king of Judah instead of the king of Israel. They both took their forces into battle against Syria. All of the 32 captains in charge of the chariots (for there were many chariots) were ordered to go after only the king, so the king of Judah became their target.
The LORD allowed the chariots to see that the king of Judah was not the king of Israel they were hunting, and they turned back and did not kill the king of Judah. However, a certain man (unnamed) drew his bow and shot it without aiming it towards the Israelite army and it "just so happened" (we know already there is no random chance with the LORD, for he makes the lot fall however He wills) rich between the plates of Ahab's breastplate (a perfect shot) so that he asked his chariot driver to turn around and carry him out of battle, for he was wounded. He was propped up in the chariot facing the Syrians until evening when he died. At sunset the command went out for every man to return to his own city and country--the war was cover because Syria's objective had been accomplished. They had no desire to take Israel, only to kill King Ahab. So Ahab died and was brought to Samaria and buried there. They washed his chariot which had been covered in his blood in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood just as the prophecy that LORD had spoken against him said would happen. We are then told that the rest of the deeds of King Ahab as well as information about his ivory palace he built and all the cities he built for himself can be found in the book of Chronicles. Then Ahab's son Ahaziah ruled in the place of his father (though not for long as we remember that the entire line of Ahab's family is going to be cut off, though the LORD did not do it during Ahab's lifetime since Ahab repented. Ahab would be the first in his family to die. The rest will follow soon after). |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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