My wife and I ran into some familiar faces the other day at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a family that is faced with a serious problem, one of the members of the family was in an accident and is in the hospital. It was a very serious accident as he in comma right now. I told them we have been praying for his recovery and for the family and one of the guys told me that they have so much hope in God in this situation. I just listened and was blown away at his faith in God. He knew God was allowing this for a reason as thousands of people in the United States have been praying for his cousin, Mark and this has been a testimony to others to know who Jesus Christ is. I would like to encourage you to pray for Mark Lamberth as well and to know that there is hope in dark times. To see more go to: Pray for the Lamberths.

We come to the last chapter of 2nd Kings. With our reading of chapter 24 to now we just see a gloomy cloud over Judah. We know what is going to happen, we see the end of this land and everything that David established and what Solomon built. It almost seems like a sad movie, which leaves you depressed. The truth is that we need to not stop with this but God has a future and a plan (Jeremiah 29:11) for Israel. He does not let them just become exiled into Babylon forever. There is hope and we will see it unfold in front of us as we continue to read through the Bible.

It is all Over

After a few years of surrounding Jerusalem we see that the Babylonians made a breach in the wall. Once this happened the king and his men fled and they were captured. King Zedekiah watched as his sons were killed in front of him and then his eyes were plucked out so that would be the last thing he saw. Man, that is grouse.

The Babylonians was a group of people who were from Babylon, which is now modern day Iraq. They were the world’s superpower at that time. Nebuchadnezzar was probably the greatest leader of Babylon as well as the last great ruler as we will see in the future readings of the Bible, especially in Daniel. He not only was a great military leader who would conquer the nations around Babylon but would also build and develop Babylon into a historical nation. Babylon is known for its hanging gardens, which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Herodotus, the Greek historian who visited the city in 460 B.C. said, “It surpasses in splendor any city of the known world (From: Holman Bible Dictionary pg. 143). 

Now this great nation has made siege against Jerusalem. The king has been taken captive as well as many of the leaders of Judah (this would include, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah). King Neb. would keep the poor of Judah to keep in the land and take care of it. Everyone else would be taken to Babylon where they would be forced to eat, sleep, and walk in a new culture, a new city, a place foreign with foreign gods. 

Hope for the line of David-

In the last 4 verses of chapter 25 we see that there is something changing for Judah. Jehoiachin was released from prison. Remember Jehoiachin was 18 when he became king, he did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Babylonians came against the city and Jehoiachin surrendered himself and his family to king Nebuchadnezzar. We see that there is a new king, Evil-merodach and he has favor on Jehoiachin and now Jehoiachin will live the rest of his life free from prison and able to sit at the king’s table. 

At first I was a little mad because here was a guy who did evil in the sight of the Lord when he was king over Judah. He was taken captive and then freed and that is it. I wanted to know why he got off easy when he lead the people in sin, but then I was reminded that God had something greater and God is gracious as he has been so gracious on me, a wretched sinner. God was going to keep the lineage of David still going. All hope was not lost, the Jews would not be eliminated in the Babylonian culture. There were strong leaders such as Daniel who would stand up for God and proclaim him to a foreign nation. We see that God will let his people go back through the leading of Ezra and Nehemiah. There is hope that is even bigger than having Israel be re-established as a nation, and that is Jesus Christ would come to save the world of their sin. Jesus was prophesied to come from the line of David and it could not be cut off. God was showing grace to the whole world as he had a bigger plan at this moment with Jehoiachin. Thank you God for you never ending love.

Have you ever done something nice for your parents not because they asked and not because you wanted anything out of it, but just because. There is sometimes a spark in us that will motivate us to do something for our parents because it is just out of obedience. That is called being a good child. You are not doing it so you can go to your friends house, you are not doing it because they have been on your case for a few days now, trying to force you to get it done. You did, because you need to do it and that is it. 

In this chapter we will see a truly amazing reform or change for Jerusalem. King Josiah not only did what was good in the eyes of the Lord but he did it knowing that it would not change the outcome for Judah. He did it because it is what God demands.

Josiah- None were like him.

In order for us to understand everything that is going on we need to have read ch. 22 and it may help to read 2nd Chronicles 34 and 35. We see that Josiah became king at age 8 and by the time he was 16 he started reforming the nation. This is what he did: 1- Removed the idols out of the temple. 2- Got rid of the idol priests. 3- Grounded up the image of Asherah (Asherah was the mother of Baal, installed by Ahabs wife Jezebel). 4-God rid of the male prostitutes. 5- God rid of the high places of false worship. 6- God rid of the place of child sacrifice (Remember: Ahaz; 2nd Kings 16 and Manasseh; 2nd Kings 20, did this) 7- Got rid of the places that worshiped the sun, moon, and stars. 8- Smashed the royal altars. 9- Eliminated Solomon’s mistake. 10- Pulled down Jereboam’s Bethel worship center. 11- Cleaned up even the northern cities. 

He did all this for the nation to bring them back on track and he even reinstated the remembrance of Passover. In verse 22 we see that Passover had not been kept from the days of judges until the time of Josiah. David did not even celebrate passover, but here we see Passover coming back on the scene. 

Because of all that Josiah did out of faithfulness, we read what the Bible has labeled him as, “Before  him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him (vs. 25).

Why Did Josiah Do it?

We read in verse 26 and 27 that God was still going to destroy Judah even though Josiah and the people all changed. We would think, “What is the point of trying because it won’t change the outcome?” Why play in a soccer game still when you are down 12 to 1? Why did he do this still? Josiah was not a fool, he knew that God was still going to judge the land. In 22:15-7, they were warned that God was still going to bring on disaster for Judah. Josiah did it because he knew he needed too. He knew that it was the way he could be obedient to God. That is why he was considered great and faithful before the eyes of God. He did not have the motivation of trying to persuade God from his decision, but that it is what God Demands from him. 

I was just thinking if I was in Josiah’s shoes and I knew I could not change the outcome would I try so hard. Would I just keep to myself or would I still strive to serve the Lord? Sometimes in this life we have the thought, “I will serve the Lord because I have eternal life through Jesus Christ.” This is not a bad thought but that should not be our motivation. We should serve the Lord because that means we are being obedient. We are saved by God’s grace not by our us being obedient. I need to stop and check my heart to make sure I do not have a hidden agenda. Just like David asked God, “Search me, O God, and know my heart!” I know my heart is not always pretty but I am thankful for the conviction of the Holy Spirit to get me right on track.

I mentioned before that my wife and I like to watch movies. Have you ever seen a movie with a sad ending and then you watch it later. Part of you does not want to watch it because you know how the movie ends and you do not want to be sad. Sometimes that is like me when I read through 2nd Kings. I am reading and right now it may be somewhat good but you know how 2nd Kings ends and what will happen to Jerusalem. We need to look at it in a bigger picture, this is one detail to the over all theme, which is God’s plan in saving mankind. 

In this chapter we see King Hezekiah healed of his sickness and the beginning of the end for Jerusalem. Read 2nd Chronicles 32 to see more details to the life of Hezekiah. 

A sick king prays

This was a flashback to Hezekiah’s life, 15 years before he died. He became sick. Isaiah the prophet came to see him and brought some news. The news was not good. He told the king that he would die. Talk about bearing bad news. Isaiah only spoke what God wanted him to speak. As Hezekiah heard this, he wept and prayed to the Lord. He asked God to heal him and God heard his request. 

Isaiah was obedient as God spoke to him after he left and he turned around to tell the king that God heard his prayer and is going to heal him. He will give Hezekiah 15 more years of life. What would you do if you knew you only had 15 years to live? How would you live them? What would you do? The Bible tells us that we do not know what tomorrow will bring (James 4:14). We are told that we need to make the most of this life for the Kingdom of God (Ephesians 5:16). We know life is just a vapor (James 4:14 NKJV). We need to know that are days are held in the hands of God and while we have breath in our lungs, we need to share who God is with those around us. 

When you start thinking about your life and how much time you spent doing this or that it can be somewhat depressing. I know if I play a video game for more than 30 minutes I can be all bummed that I just spent this much time doing that when there is so much else that needs to be done. How much time do we spend watching t.v., movies, talking on the phone, surfing the internet, talking about Jesus Christ to someone? Think about it

The Beginning of the End (12-20)

We see that King Hezekiah is healed and he is welcomed by some visitors of the North East. They come from Babylon. If you know what is going to happen we see that this is just the beginning of the end. These men supposedly came on order from the king to see how king Hezekiah is doing since he was sick. The king decided to show off the kingdom. He showed all of the treasures that were in the storehouses and the greatness of Jerusalem. Hezekiah was being prideful with showing his greatness. Isaiah returns to the scene by asking what did you show these men and he said, “Everything.” He was wondering what was wrong with me showing off this wonderful city?

Then Isaiah bears bad news again. He said, “The days are coming when Babylon will come and take everything out of your house and even your sons will be taken captive to Babylon. We see how self-centered Hezekiah was when he responded with, “The word of the Lord is good.” The reason he said that was because it was will not happen during the days of his life. Instead of being saddened of what will happen to his country and to his people, all he cared about was his life and time. Even this king who was like David had a some issues of sin too.

It is chapters like these that I love reading because they encourage me in areas I need encouraging. I am convicted on my lack of faith and how I can ask God for my needs because he will meet my needs.

We continue with our story of Hezekiah, king of Judah and the Assyrian threat that arises.

Hezekiah Reacts to the Threat of the Assyrians

When Hezekiah heard the report of Assyria and how they defied who he was and who God was, he tore his clothes and put ash on his head as it was custom for mourning, repentance, and remorse. The good thing is that Hezekiah knew where to go in this time of distress. He went to Isaiah, the prophet, for help. Isaiah tells Hezekiah not to worry but that God will have the Assyrians leave the same way they came. I am sure this brought some comfort to Hezekiah but when comfort comes the enemy is ready to disrupt that comfort.

Another Threat from the Enemy (8-13)

Again the messenger of the Assyrians came to bring news that they better listen and be obedient to them. He mocked them by saying they were foolish to trust that their God would deliver them. He said, “Look at these other nations, their god did not deliver them, what makes you so special?” The one thing that is different is that Israel’s God, the TRUE God is the real deal, not a statue or idol. He is active and we will see how he deals with threats.

Hezekiah Goes to the Lord (14-19)

Instead of Hezekiah going to Isaiah we see him going straight to the Lord in the Temple. He brings the letter of the threat and lays it out before the Lord. He humbly asks God to act so that the Assyrians would know that he is God. 

We need to know that Hezekiah was more concerned about the name of God being dragged through the mud than his own life. This reminds me of David and Goliath (1st Samuel 17). Goliath was making fun of Israel and of God; David would not stand for the name calling of God. He was ready to kill the giant because of his lack of respect to the TRUE God.

God Answers (20-37)

This time Isaiah comes to the king and he brings the word of the Lord. God will not stand for this and Hezekiah and Israel will see God’s hand in the removal of Assyria from their land. We do see that God sent an angel to deal with the Assyrians and 185,000 were killed. The king woke up to the site of thousands dead and he probably was a little freaked out by this so he fled the scene and wanted to go home. The sad thing is, this king who thought he was bigger and better than god, was killed by his own sons. 

He received his end and we see that a man who thought he was better than God really was more a tool for God to show his power and glory to the nations.

Lessons from Hezekiah

While reading I could not help but reread Hezekiah’s prayer to God a couple of times. There are some things we need to follow by his example.

First, He went to God with his problem. 

Literally he took the letter and laid it before God and said, “Here is the problem.” So many times people do not even do this. Are you quick to go to your friends and family with your problems before going to God the creator of the universe with them? I like that he literally took the threats and said, “Here they are, take care of it” God knows everything and yet he wants us to go to him with our problems. Philippians 4:6 tells us to let loose our problems before God. When need to start going to the Great solver of our problems first before going to someone who may make them worse.

Second, He was humble

In reading the prayer you can just sense the humility that this man had when approaching God. We know we are able to have confidence in asking our requests but that does not mean we need to distort humility before God. I was convicted of this just by reading. Am I humble before God? Or, do I act like God owes me something when I pray? Do I think just because I am Jon, God needs to make my life better? Be humble before our Awesome God. Humility is something that Paul challenges us to put on everyday (Colossians 3:12)

Third, He Prayed for God’s Name to Be Known

Most of our prayers probably are more self-centered. It is not wrong to pray for your own needs. If you are sick or some problem, God wants us to ask him for help. But, have you ever prayed just for God to be known? Hezekiah’s life as well as the whole nation was at risk, but he just prayed for God’s Name and glory to be seen. I know this is something where I need to direct my prayers more; that God would just be known as the TRUE God, the God that is shown in the Bible and not what man makes up.

Have you ever seen someone who was just doing great things. Not only were they doing good to people and life was going good but this person was just an awesome Christian leader. They followed after the Lord, they were not afraid of saying that and then all of sudden dark times come around. Hope seems to fade. People are not so sure of this good leader anymore.

In this chapter we see this new king of Judah rising up as another type of David but yet the big giants of the North were about to make his life miserable. 

Hezekiah- Another David

We read that Hezekiah began to reign when he was 25 and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. This is something we see most of the kings of Judah doing but there is something different about this one. In verse 4 we read that he did remove all the high places. I had to re-read that, he was the one that not only did what was right as a person but made true reform happen for the nation. No more idol worship was his saying and he even crushed the bronze serpent that Moses used to heal the people (Numbers 21:4-9) because the people were worshiping that too. “Enough is enough!” he said. 

This king also did not need to worry about the big giant army of the Assyrians. He broke his ties with them. He trusted in the Lord as his deliverer and not any human. We see that the previous kings would make alliances with other surrounding nations like the Assyrians or Syrians because they needed help from the big guy. 

Assyria and goodbye Israel (The Northern Kingdom)

We get another look at what happened to the Northern kingdom, Israel. The Assyrians besieged Samaria for 3 years and then destroyed it. They took the captive Israelites back to Assyria. This was going to happen because of the life that Israel was living. OUt of all their kings and over 150 years, they never followed after God. It would seem that the split was not against the Judaen king but against God himself because the kings never turned to follow him. Even when God sent two might prophets, Elijah and Elisha, the kings never realized their pride and turned to God. 

We see though in verse 13 something that does not seem right. The Assyrians now are turning to take of Judah. They already have been attacking some fortified cities and all that is left is Jerusalem. When reading you can think, “How can this happen, Hezekiah is a good man who loves God?” How come God is allowing this to happen?  All of a sudden we read that the Assyrian messenger starts to mock the king and God about being delivered. He then shouts for all the people of Jerusalem to hear how the Assyrians will make their lives miserable but if they make peace, life will be good.

God Shows Himself in His Timing  

We do not know yet what is going to happen but we will see in the future what God is going to do. We see though that God wants his children to have faith in him. Sometimes we think of faith as a magical force that will protect us from harm but we know that this is not true when we read the Bible. Joseph had faith in God but he was still sold into slavery and went to prison for being falsely accused. We read in the New Testament about the disciple all being persecuted as the preached Jesus Christ. They were beaten and then killed but they had faith through it all. 

God allows tribulation so our faith can be tested (James 1:2). Jesus even said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).” It is would seem that God should have just kept the Assyrians from ever coming into Judah’s territory but he wanted to show the people who He is. He wanted to show them that he is capable of taking care of a giant army. He is going to show Jerusalem that you can put your trust in him and not in man. God will show himself in time but there will be a little suffering for growth to take place. Next time those trials come trust the Lord. He will show himself in his timing.

My wife and I recently went to the movies. We love going to the movies, it is a fun thing for us to do. There are certain movies in which you may already know the plot and you figure out how it is going to end. My wife is really good at it, almost too good. She will lean over and whisper, “Jon, this is how it will end.” I sometimes laugh and sometimes say, “Don’t ruin it for me.” She is good about reading the plots and knowing how the movie is going to end.

In last few chapters of 2nd Kings we have somewhat of a knowledge of what the future holds for both kingdoms. Israel so far has not had a king that did right in the eyes of the Lord. The closest one was, Jehu (2nd Kings 10) and that was because he got rid of Ahab’s descendants. Judah on the other hand has had some kings that have done good in the eyes of the Lord except, Jehoram (2nd Kings 8:16-24), and now King Ahaz. Because of the evil the kings are leading the people in we see that God will bring upon the enemies of Israel (Deuteronomy 5:33). We know the plot and it does not look good for Israel or Judah.

Ahaz-Why?

It starts the same like all the other kings, either they walked in the ways of the Lord or did evil. Ahaz did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. The only thing is he was a king of Judah, these guys always walked in the ways of the Lord, right? No, and he followed after the ways of the northern kingdom, Israel. We read in verse 3 how bad he was. He burned his own son at the altar as a sacrifice to some false god. Yikes! He was off his wagon. 

A result of his false worship and leading the nation down a wrong road, God sent the Syrian army as well as the Israeli army against him. Instead of him going to God for help; like Isaiah the prophet told him to do (Isaiah 7:7-11), he went to the Assyrians for help. He told the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser, he would be his servant and gave him a nice bribe in the process. 

Yeah, the Assyrians releaved the war against Judah and saved them for a time but what a price that was paid and I am not talking about the gold, silver, and bronze given.

Want to Copy the World (10–20)?

We read that Ahaz went to meet the Assyrian king at Damascus and when he was there he saw an altar and he liked the way it looked. The Assyrians worshiped an idol, Assur. Assur to the Assyrians was god over the universe. Ahaz liked what he saw and brought it back to Judah and not just Judah but in the temple area. He got rid of the bronze altar that Solomon had built and placed this new altar in its place. He was showing that this new altar and worship was more important than the worship of the TRUE GOD. 

How sad is this, but we see the same thing today but instead of worshiping an idol people worship themselves or other things not knowing that they are worshiping it. I have seen people that have gone to church a while and know who Jesus is and the truth that he brings but still see things in the world and follow after that thing and deny who Jesus is. They bring the world back with them and influence the church. Instead of helping the church grow in the kingdom of God they cause it to fade away and blend in with the world. Romans 12:1-2 says it best, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” We need to conformed to God and not to the things of the world. Do you find yourself compromising? Do you find yourself wishing that you could do this or that? I have been there before and that is why everyday I need to go and seek after Jesus as the one who set me free from the things of this world. Sin is pleasing for a time but the heartache soon follows. Just like eating a lot of junk food before you go to bed, it is fun until that stomach ache comes.

Sometimes I would receive a gift from my parents out of the blue. It was not my birthday or Christmas; in fact, I wasn’t really that good at some of those times. I know I did not deserve those gifts but my parents gave them because they loved me. 

In this chapter we are going to read about the kings of Israel, they were the sons of Jehu and because Jehu carried out the killing of the descendants of Ahab he was able to have a couple of generations in the throne.

Jehoahaz

The bummer we read is that this man did just like the kings that were before him, he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Because of his sin and the sin of the people God gave them into the hand of the Syrians. This may sound familiar because it is a continual thing of the Syrians dominating Israel at this time. When we read this all may sound familiar with all the kings of Israel, they did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord wrath was upon them, but verse 4 we see something that none of the previous kings did, he sought after the Lord. All the other kings before him went to their Baals and false gods. But Jehoahaz went to the true God. The more surprisingly part is that the Lord listened to this heathen. God was looking out for his people. 

This reminds me of the story of Judges. The cycle went, the people of Israel were oppressed by the surrounding nations and God heard their cry so he would send a deliverer to save them, a judge. When the judge would die the people would start the cycle again and forget the Lord.

God heard them and listened and he acted by delivering the people of Israel from the Syrians. He gave them a savior to deliver them. How cool is this, there have been different thoughts about who this savior was but what we need to focus on is that God desired that his children be freed. They did not deserve it and the king did not even deserve of thought by God, but God acted for he is gracious to his children. Even though God did do his part they still turned back to their evil ways. 

Goodbye old friend

The last few chapter of 2nd kings have been silent of Elisha. He did so many miracles of God through his life and all we see is that he never compromised his walk. He stood up against the different kings of Israel as well as the Assyrians. He was not afraid of man because he stood for the Lord. We read in verses 14 through 25 that he was going to die. 

The king of Israel, Jehoash (also spelled Joash), went to him and cried because he was going to die. The reason why Jehoash went to Elisha was not because he was sad this man of God was dying but because Israel was about to be defeated by the Syrians. Elisha had one last message to give and that was that Israel will be victorious over the Syrians but only three times due to the king and his lack of enthusiasm in God. Elisha died and was buried and we read that his last words came true as Israel defeated the Syrians 3 times.

We have a Savior

How fitting is it that we have read about God bringing a deliverer to a nation that did not deserve it and today is Christmas Eve. We are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ who is the Savior for mankind. We know that the angel who told Mary that she would be carrying the Savior because he will save us from our sins. 

The nation of Israel did not deserve being rescued from the Syrians because they did not care about God. They followed after false gods and did evil in the sight of the Lord. They abandoned the law and everything that God did for their forefathers, yet God still saved them. We have this gift that we do not deserve. We have fallen away from God because we are sinners. We know that Romans tells us that we all fall short and are not deserving of redemption (Romans 3:32). We know that because of sin we deserve death just like Israel deserved death for their disobedience from the true King, but the gift of God is which is free is the eternal life from the only Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). We have a Savior, are you going to be like Israel and be thankful for the deliverance of the enemy for a short time and then go back to your old ways or are you going to embrace the Savior and follow him? Turn from your old and follow the true King, Jesus Christ.

Sometimes reading through 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles can be confusing. I know for me, I get confused with the names because a lot of them look somewhat similar and trying to pronounce them is a challenge. I sometimes need to stop and look back at previous chapters just to see who is king and where are they king over. Is this chapter talking about Israel or Judah or both? 

Reflect from chapter 10: In order for us to understand this chapter we need to read or know what chapter 10 was about. Jehu was king in Israel but wanted to wipe out the old royal family that was before him. That was Ahab and his sons. There were several descendants of Ahab and Jezebeel left and what makes this more complicated is that there was intermarriage between Israel and Judah so the family tree spread even further. 

Jehu was on a killing rampage and the house of Ahab was coming to an end. This was prophecy of the Lord which was spoken about 1st Kings 21:21. Death of the royal family was becoming a very big deal and now it is coming in the land of Judah.

Joash was saved

Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah was upset because her son, Ahaziah was killed. Because of that she wanted to kill any royal boy left alive. Some scholars think Athaliah might be a daughter of Jezebel which shows the apple does not fall too far from the tree. 

She wanted to kill the little baby Joash but his aunt, Jehosheba had other plans. She hid him from this evil woman for 6 years. God had another plan because he was going to save the lineage of David which is prophetic of Jesus family tree. Satan wanted to destroy this in hopes of the Savior Jesus being born but God had other plans. 

The Protector and Counselor:

Jehoiada was the high priest in Jerusalem and he knew that there needed to be change. He brought in the royal bodyguards to protect this seven year old king. They surrounded the palace as well as the temple to make sure this inauguration would not be stopped. Athaliah heard about this new king and she decided she may as well disrupt it. Jehoiada did not want to kill her in the temple so he told the bodyguards to take her outside. They obeyed and Jehoash will be able to reign in Jerusalem.

Change

In verse 17 we see that Jehoiada made a covenant between God and the people of Judah. This was a covenant of getting back to who really is in charge and that is God. In verse 18 we see that all the people went to the house of Baal and destroyed the altar and images. It was not the king but the people who realized they needed to be right before the Lord. So many people think that it takes a powerful man in a high position to make change. The change I am talking about is not political but spiritual. The only way we can have a change is if we realize that Jesus Christ is Lord and repent of our sins. We need forgiveness. The Lord Jesus already came into this earth and died on the cross and rose again for our sins. He did it and now we need to turn and believe. In verse 20 we see that once the person who caused the people to sin was removed from the equation there was peace and quiet in the land. We have distress when we are in sin. True peace and quiet comes from the Lord when we turn to him as our deliverer of sin. Have you asked to be delivered of your sin? Is there no peace and quiet in your heart because you have not given over all of your sin? What are you still holding onto? We need to kill the sin in our life and ask God to reveal the stuff we are hiding because it is holding us back in our relationship with him.

Learning to trust in God can be hard at some points in our life. We may think that we can not endure what the future has but God says, “You will.” We come again to the story of the Shunammite woman who showed kindness to the prophet of God, Elisha. They built him a house to stay in when he was in town. The woman was without a child and God gave her a child. That child one day became sick and died. God used Elisha to bring the child back to life. She has had her tough times as well as good times. In this chapter we see that Elisha warned her and her family that there was going to be a famine in the land and they may want to think about moving for a few years.  

The book of 2nd Kings can be a little confusing because it is not always in chronological order. The events in this chapter take place before chapter 5 but after chapter 4. 

Trust in God:

The Shunammite woman took the advice of Elisha and left town. She waited seven years for the famine to be over. When she returned she went to the king and asked for her house and property to be given back. We do not know if there was a struggle or if she had to protest a lot to get her stuff back but what we do see is the stuff that Elisha did was going to help her situation out. 

The king asked Elisha’s servant for him to tell him all about the stuff Elisha has done. This was a chance for the servant to brag about all the miracles of God. I am sure all the stuff that was recorded in chapter 4 was talked about as well as things that we do not know about. When Gehazi the servant was telling him about how he brought a woman’s son back to life, that woman and son came into the king’s court. THis was a “Why don’t you ask them” moment. They were able to first hand explain what God did through Elisha. Because of their testimony they were able to have their land and house back. Because of God working through a faithful man, they were able to trust in Him and receive their stuff.

Do you trust in God? We can look at the life of this woman. She was wealthy, she was kind, compassionate, and hospitable. She saw that Elisha was a man of God and wanted to serve God by taking care of his prophet. She went from being childless to fruitful with a son. All of that was going to change. The son became sick and died. But, God was not done he had more to show her. The son was brought back to life and life continued. We do not know how long of time went from chapter 4 to this chapter. We could say, “Haven’t they been through enough?” Why do they have to leave their home and possessions, “Can’t God take care of them there?” The truth is, God had been taking care of them from the beginning. He was taking care of them from the time of having no son to having one, from losing him for a moment to leaving town. 

God was not going to leave them high and dry. God works out everything for good (Romans 8:28). God has a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). I truly trust God that he is working out everything for my wife and I. I truly trust God that even when the bad stuff happens, God is still in control. I truly trust that God will show himself to the world and people will see his glory and realize Jesus is the Savior of the world. Trust the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6). In you God do we put our trust (Psalm 7:1). We trust in the name of the Lord and not in the works of men (Psalm 20:7). We trust the promises of God (Proverbs 30:5).

I was reading a commentary on this section and the author, Dale Ralph Davis, who mentioned the cost of things during the Civil War. He writes, “March 1865, Richmond, Virginia. The signs in store windows told a story of war: Bacon, $20 a pound; live hens, $50 each; beef,$15 a pound; butter, $20 a pound.” Some of these prices may seem like modern day prices but this was over 100 years ago. The war ravaged the economy. 

In these two chapters we see how desperate Israel was because the Syrians besieged Samaria.

Desperate Times:

Because the Syrians were surrounding the Samaria, there was a famine in the land. The famine became so bad that the price of a donkey’s head eighty shekels and one-fourth of a quart of dove’s dung was sold for five shekels of silver. Fo us to understand how desperate this was for someone was that a man’s wage was 1 shekel per month. A donkey’s head definitely was something not kosher as well as good food but this just shows how desperate the Israelites in Samaria were. 

We read on that a woman stopped the king to express a problem. The problem was her and another family were so hungry that they made a plan to boil one son one day and the other son the next day. Her son was the first to be boiled and eaten and when it came to the next day the other woman hid her son in desperation because she did not want to eat it. The state that people were in were of desperation and wanting to survive from famine and war. 

The King and Elisha:

Once the king heard this he became sad and instead of turning to God because of the desperation, he turned against God and blamed Elisha for the outcome of the people. In desperate times we can always see people’s true hearts. They either run to God or blame him for their problems. The king of Israel desired for Elisha to be killed, thinking that his death would end the suffering. Elisha spoke God’s word to the man who was going to kill him with saying, “By this time tomorrow flour will be sold for a shekel.” People doubted that God could do such a thing, that would be impossible. 

God Can Deliver:

From verses 3 to 20 we read about how God dismantled a whole army without the use of men, soldiers, or warriors. We read that lepers who were desperate knew that either they stay there and die or go to the Syrians and die. They went to their dismay and found the Syrians gone, and they left in a hurry because they left behind everything. God not only had the Syrians leave but also leave behind the goods that Israel needed like food and clothing. 

It is interesting that God still delivered a group of people that had forsaken him. Israel worshiped other false gods and rebelled against the true God. Not only did they rebel but when hardship came because that was the result of their rebellion, instead of turning to God and asking for forgiveness, the start blaming and hating God more. Yet, despite all this, God still delivered them from their enemies hands. He made it so the economy could recover quickly, people would not be starving due to the famine. I am reminded of how God delivers me from sin even though I do not deserve it. Have you ever blamed God for a hardship? Have you ever thought he was the reason for the pain? It is an easy thing to do as to blame the creator for hardships but yet we don’t praise him for the blessings. We need to be faithful to God and know that he is sovereign (Isaiah 46:10). He is patient with us even though we do not deserve it (2nd Peter 3:9). Jesus died to save sinners, we went from enemies of God to children. He delivered us from the doorsteps of hell. He took the famine of sin in our life and the bondage of desperation and filled it with deliverance from sin and bondage. We were a desperate slave to sin and now are set free in the slavery of Christ.