October 20 / II Kings 8-9

II Kings 8-9

Dear RTB’ers, 

A long reading today, but mostly just narrative if you can keep the kings and their reigns straight – a particular problem when kings in both the Northern and Southern Kingdom have the same name, Joram/Jehoram. Our STS note helps clarify that. Elisha serves only as a messenger today — to the Shunamite woman; to Aram’s King Ben-hadad (by way of Gehazi); in predicting Hazael’s kingship; and in sending one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu as king of Israel. We won’t see Elisha again until his death in II Kings 18.

One particularly sad item today — And he [Jehoram, king of Judah] walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. (v. 8:18) The king of Judah following in the ways of Ahab, king of Israel… Sad. But he was married to Ahab’s daughter, so it’s not surprising.

Ahaziah, king of Judah went to war along with Joram, king of Israel. Sound familiar? A few chapters back we had Jehoshaphat, king of Judah going to battle along with Ahab, king of Israel (I Kings 22), and with a similar outcome — the death of the king of Israel. This time, though, we also see the death of the king of Judah, both slain by Jehu, who also sees to Jezebel’s death. Although his is a bloody legacy, he is simply carrying out God’s will, as prophesied by Elijah. We’ll see more of Jehu tomorrow.

Blessings!

See also: May 30 (2023) / II Kings 8:16-10:36.

October 19 / II Kings 6:8-7:20

II Kings 6:8-7:20

Dear RTB’ers,

Two items of interest to me today… First, Elisha prayed that his servant could see the heavenly army that had surrounded the city and it was done. (II Kings 6:17). Then he prayed for blindness for the enemy’s eyes and that also happened. (II Kings 6:18) Consecutive verses – vision to see a heavenly army and blindness against an earthly army. Intriguing.

Second, “Why sit we here?” That’s how I always recall the second incident in today’s reading, especially II Kings 7:3b, They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die?” That verse is then overstated in the next verse. I’ve referred to this verse many times in the past when Carol and I (or me with another group) were trying to decide on a course of action. Just sitting and discussing wasn’t getting us anywhere, so let’s do something! Why sit we here?? Maybe that’s a word from the Lord to some of you who may be delaying a decision or action, if you are uncertain of the ideal plan. Just maybe…?

Blessings!

See also: May 29 (2023) / II Kings 5-8:15.

October 18 / II Kings 5:1-6:7

II Kings 5:1-6:7 

Dear RTB’ers, 

So, Naaman… What a story! Many of you know that I often like to “put myself into the story”. So readers, who would you be? The Israeli servant girl? Naaman (or his wife)? Elisha? Gehazi? I’m sure that none of us chose Gehazi; mostly, I think we like to set aside any greedy impulses that we have buried, unfortunately, not too deeply in our hearts! And I’m sure very few of us would presume to be Elisha – too high a calling for most of us. And the servant girl… Yes, we would like to be able to proclaim our God whenever the occasions arise; she sets a good example. Taking on Naaman (or his wife)… No one wants to be a leper (or have to live with one!). Maybe I’ll just be a bystander…?

But I’ve left out one other character who intrigues me – the Aramean king. In his reign and his region he is all-powerful and he presumes that other kings in other regions are similar. So if a servant girl says that there is “magical” power in another land, then send enough gold and silver to buy the healing for his trusted army leader. Done. Off you go! Then Naaman returns – cleansed! Exactly what the king expected – or at least, what he paid for! But then he hears Naaman’s story of how he was healed. Now what? Naaman tells us in II Kings 5:18 that the king regularly goes to the temple to bow down to his god, Rimmon. Does the king sense that Naaman is hesitant to bow down to Rimmon, as he has in the past? I would hope that this all-powerful Aramean king would seriously consider this new god, the God of Israel, that Naaman’s story of this God’s healing power would affect him – as I hope it would affect the rest of us as we ponder it today.

Blessings!

October 17 / II Kings 4:8-44

II Kings 4:8-44

Today’s reading presents a few miracles at the hands of Elisha. Together with II Kings 4:1-7 and subsequent chapters, these stories all serve to establish Elisha as a man of God (II Kings 4:9,16,21,22,25,27,40,42), a genuine prophet of the LORD. So it behooves us to pay attention to what Elisha says and does and how the LORD works through him. We can also learn from those with whom he interacts. Today we have an unnamed woman living in (or near) the town of Shunem.

This Shunammite woman recognizes Elisha as a man of God and regularly cares for his needs when he is in the neighborhood. (II Kings 4:8-10) In response to all her kindness Elisha seeks to bless her. Although she dares not hope for children, Elisha prophesies the birth of a son in a fashion reminiscent of the LORD’s promise to Sarah and Abraham. (II Kings 4:11-17; Genesis 18:9-15) But after some years the boy dies. (II Kings 4:18-20) And how does the woman respond?

She said, “All is well.”

II Kings 4:23b

Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’” And she answered, “All is well.”

II Kings 4:26

Although her son lies dead, the Shunammite woman twice says, “All is well.” That is a tremendous statement of faith! We should note that she is not in any way in denial of the reality of her son’s death, nor is she immune from grief and questioning. Her actions make that clear, as she promptly goes to find Elisha, traveling with all haste. (II Kings 4:22-25) And when Elisha meets her, it is clear to him that she is in bitter distress. (II Kings 4:27) So I do not think that her saying, “All is well” should be taken as any kind of firm expectation that her son would come back to life. That is just not an expected outcome, even with a man of God like Elisha at hand. (Just last week we saw Mary and Martha, well acquainted with Jesus Himself, not at all expecting Lazarus to rise again right then!) Instead, “All is well” displays a confidence in the goodness of God, regardless of the circumstances of the moment. With the death of her boy, rather than turning away from God in anger, disappointment, and bitterness, the Shunammite woman runs (quite literally) toward God and clings to Him in the person of Elisha. (II Kings 4:30)

May we likewise trust in the overwhelming love and goodness and faithfulness of God.

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing;
God only is changeless.
Patience gains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing.
God alone suffices.

Saint Teresa of Ávila

All is well.

October 16 / II Kings 3:1-4:7

II Kings 3:1-4:7

Dear RTB’ers,

The author of II Kings does not have much good to say about the kings in the Northern Kingdom, but today we read a couple of positives. First, [Jehoram] … did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. (v. 2:3) So Jehoram did not follow Ahab and Jezebel in this one action – not putting away the pillar of Baal – but for the author, that’s a positive! Second, the author seems to have no difficulty with Jehoshaphat aligning with Jehoram in battle against Moab and marching Israel’s army through Judah. [Clarification: Moab was located directly east of the Dead Sea, south of the Transjordan tribes. Rather than confronting Moab on its northern front, the area (probably) most heavily fortified, Jehoram and Jehoshaphat decided to go south through Judah and south of the Dead Sea and attack Moab at its less heavily defended southern border.] So, today’s reading is one set of positives for the kings of the Northern Kingdom.

We saw yesterday the beginning of the Lord working through Elisha. That continues today, with water flowing into the desert from an unexpected source and oil flowing into and filling many bowls, all filled from one small container. We will continue to see the Lord working through Elisha in the next few chapters.

Blessings.

October 15 / II Kings 1-2

II Kings 1-2

Dear RTB’ers,

Leaving John’s gospel, returning to Kings. Ahab is gone and his son, Ahaziah succeeds him. Again, the pattern in the Northern Kingdom, “like father, like son”. Ahaziah follows false gods the same as Ahab had. And he gets the same results that his father had gotten – it would be the prophet, Elijah who would speak to his condition, not the prophets of the false god, Baal. Ahaziah thought that he could use his royal power to force Elijah to change his prediction, but to no avail. In fact, the Lord speaks directly to Ahaziah, through Elijah: So he [Elijah] arose and went down with him to the king 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.’” (vv. 1:15b-16)

Then, finally, in today’s second chapter we see the end of Elijah’s time on earth. We have seen the Lord’s work (Mt. Carmel) and words (that “still small voice”) abounding with Elijah, but he now passes his ministry on to Elisha. And we will now see many more of the Lord’s words and works through Elisha. We are introduced to two today – the blessing of the purification of the waters at Jericho and the cursing (in the name of the LORD, v. 2:24b) of the lads who were taunting him. It seems as if the Lord is indeed honoring Elisha’s request for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit!

Blessings.

See also:

October 14 / John 12:37-50

Dear RTB’ers,

In John’s first quote today, he is quoting Isaiah: LORD, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? (Isaiah 53:1) The rest of Isaiah 53 is worth reading. That chapter, together with Psalm 22 is very often quoted with respect to Jesus’ Crucifixion. But it was the earlier verses in Isaiah 53 that hearkened to me today. Here is the whole of the first three verses in that chapter:

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He grew up before Him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him,
and no beauty that we should desire Him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,
and as one from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

Isaiah 53:1-3

Clearly, in today’s reading, Jesus is despised by the chief priests and Pharisees, rejected by them, and they certainly esteemed Him not. But the question in my mind today was Jesus maturing, His growing-up. Isaiah foretells Him above as a root, a young plant. Surely, when He was first born He was much like any other human baby. And I suspect that Mary related to Him stories of His birth. At age 12 He was …in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at His understanding and His answers (Luke 2:46b-47), so He was clearly maturing in His relationship with His Father, and that would continue, up to and including when He began His public ministry, when it was “His time”.

So now we have today’s closing verses: For I have not spoken on My own authority, but the Father who sent Me has Himself given Me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. … What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told Me. (vv. 49-50) Presumably the Trinity had planned man’s salvation long before Jesus’ birth, but when Jesus came to Earth, I’m guessing that the fullness of this salvation plan was “forgotten” by Him, possibly “repressed” by the Father (as it were), and revealed to Jesus as He grew. Thus we have today’s final verses, the final words in Jesus’ public ministry, spoken directly by the Father through Jesus. That’s powerful!

Blessings.

See also:

October 13 / John 12:20-36

John 12:20-36

Dear RTB’ers,

Jesus speaking: “Now is My soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. (vv. 27-29a) If you were to ask me to relate those occasions when the Father spoke from Heaven to or about Jesus, I would suggest Jesus’ baptism and His transfiguration. The Father speaking on this occasion is not one that I would recall. But if Jesus’ words today constitute His “Gethsemane moment”, then the Father’s words would have been substantial encouragement to Him.

Again, Jesus speaking: If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; … If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. (v. 26) Just as the Father’s words above must have encouraged Jesus, so too, Jesus’ words here should encourage us in our own service to Him – to our church, to our fellow believers, and to the whole of His created world.

Blessings.

See also:

October 12 / John 11:45-12:19

John 11:45-12:19

Dear RTB’ers,

He [Caiaphas] did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. (vv. 11:52-53) I wonder if the apostle John fully knew what he was writing here. Certainly Jesus’ death would go beyond “the nation”, even to the ends of the earth and centuries beyond!

We celebrate Palm Sunday with greater festivity than most other Sundays or feast days, yet John covers this event in only eight verses. [Matthew covers Jesus’ triumphal entry in eleven verses, Mark in ten, and Luke in thirteen.] Then again, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, so our Palm Sunday celebration serves as an introduction to the week ahead.

Jesus speaking: For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me. (v. 12:8) Matthew records these same words in 26:11a. Mark, however, adds one phrase that the others leave out, For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have Me. (Mark 14:7) I like Mark’s addition. I wish today’s billionaires would take note of Jesus’ words from Mark.

Blessings.

See also:

October 11 / John 11:28-44

John 11:28-44

Dear RTB’ers,

Lazarus, part 2. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” (v. 39a) It’s a simple request by Jesus, yet He is met with opposition from the person who just a few verses earlier had proclaimed Him the Messiah: Martha … said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” (v. 39b) And from Jesus, a simple response, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? (v. 40)

It’s not me inside the tomb, but I wonder if there are things in my life that I’ve put under a seal and not let anyone see them – not even God! Like I can hide things from God? So if I’ve got something buried and He tells me to open up, would I resist with my excuses? Take away the stone. It’s a simple request…

Blessings.

See also: