Second Kings 7-8

God’s message to me: Be careful who you associate yourself with. Even if you are strong enough to continue doing what is right your example and the influence of bad people on your associates and family could be detrimental. Jehoshaphat was a good king following God but his son married Ahab’s daughter and his son and grandson both followed Ahab’s ways when they were king.

Promises: Our God is a God of the Impossible. The waste and garbage was fetching premium prices and the Israelites had resorted to cannibalism in the city of Samaria. Famine in the land coupled with a siege they had no power to break made the people hopeless. The king had ordered the execution of Elisha but Elisha predicted fine foods would be selling for bargain basement prices within 24 hours. The guard sent to get him didn’t believe such a thing could happen unless the gates of heaven opened and food rained from the sky.

That night God sent the sound of chariots and marching into the enemy camp so that they believed Israel had hired mercenaries against them. They Syrians ran away leaving all they had brought in an intact camp. The animals, the food, the weapons, clothes and supplies were left to the Israelites and the sudden influx of so much caused the price of food to drop to prices normally unheard of in times of plenty.

Commands: Do not forsake God and do not serve false Gods. Jehoshaphat had been an obedient servant of God but made himself to close to Ahab. His son married Ahab’s daughter and, when he became king, he followed Ahab’s sinful ways so that he only reigned 8 years. It was in this time that Edom and Libnah revolted against Judah’s authority.

His son was just as bad and ruled only one year. Wounded in battle while fighting alongside the Samarians, he went to Jezreel to recover.

Timeless principles: God does not seek the suffering of His servants. Like the warnings given to others in the past God sent word through Elisha that there would be famine in the land. Elisha gave the message to the woman whose son had been raised from the dead so that she could escape the famine and live elsewhere for those seven years. You will remember that Joseph was set up to protect his family and all of Egypt from a famine and that others had also been told to go to safe places when famine was coming.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Be careful of my associations and how they influence those around me.

more to learn for in-depth study: We are developing a bit of a time line here. Ahaziah reigned until about 105 years after Solomon. Solomon and David each ruled 40 years and Solomon began work on the temple around 3148 years after creation. That means Ahaziah would have ended his reign around 3191 to 3193 years after creation. The times of the kings are slightly less precise with information we have now because we haven’t seen a specific point in Solomon’s reign that he began work on the temple. We just know it happened early. In any case we can get a rough idea of the times of each rule by comparing the time in office and the point at which the person took the throne compared to the other kingdom. It’s roughly accurate and will become more accurate as further books will give more precision to the times.

tomorrow: Second Kings 9-11

Exodus chapters 16-18

God’s message to me: I don’t need to see the solution to know that it is there. What looked like frost on the ground turned out to be the bread of God. What looked like solid rock became the spring the watered a nation. An impassable sea became a safe path for His people and a death trap for their oppressors.

Promises: “I will provide your needs”, God says. “I will give you your daily bread.”

In an age where we are so dependent on having much and when we are always frightened for the future it is often difficult to remember this principle. The Lord’s prayer says, “Give us this day our daily bread”. God taught us to pray this way so that we would learn to trust him as the Israelites had to learn. He can provide for us enough to last for years without work, or he can provide for us each day as we need. For those that place their faith in him it is a matter of walking before you run. Until we learn to trust Him for our daily needs, we have no right to expect Him to trust us with more.

Commands: Obey God’s command. When God first said “I will see if they will follow my law” He hadn’t written one yet. He simply referred to His commands. He commanded they gather manna and quail for that days need and not keep any overnight. Some of them disobeyed. Later He commanded they take 2 days portion on the sixth day and not go out to gather on the Sabbath. Some of them disobeyed that command as well. It didn’t take long for God to see who was and wasn’t following his command/law. They showed themselves in the first week.

Timeless principles: People tend to depend on what they understand and give no faith to what they don’t. God brought horrible judgments on Egypt but they didn’t trust Him to defeat the Egyptian army. God sent them from Egypt with piles of treasure in clothing, supplies, gold and silver and other precious commodities but they didn’t trust him to provide food. God gave them manna, which covered the earth like frost each morning and sent quail into the camp for them to cook at night but they didn’t trust him for water.

DON’T TRY TO HELP GOD! When God says He will provide that is all you need to know. It will be there. You don’t need to help Him. You couldn’t help Him if you tried. Helping Him is an act of pride and mistrust. Well meaning pastors teach “pray as if it all depended on God and work as thought it all depended on you”. These pastors are WRONG! and there is no scripture to back their words. Scripture teaches the opposite.

God gives us the ability to do things and when He does He expects us to do them. When we lack the ability to deal with a problem that is God’s signal that He is teaching us trust. The key to ending stress: If you can handle the problem do so. If it’s not your problem forget it, you can pray for the person whose problem it is. If it is your problem and you can’t fix it or handle it, give it to God and trust Him to deal with it. Pray over it and move on. Christ asked, “which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit(18in) to his height?” A silly question to be sure, but the point is made. Worrying accomplishes nothing.

more to learn for in-depth study:

Fun Fact: The Children of Israel were to gather 1 Omer of manna each day. That’s a little more than the size of a 2 liter Pepsi bottle. 1 Omer to feed 1 person for 1 day along with the quail that were sent at evening. For those who don’t know, a quail is a small game bird that, when cooked, is like a small flavorful chicken. 1 Quail will make a decent supper for a person.

God inspired Jethro, Moses’ father in law, to propose the first appeals court process. Think of it this way:
The rulers over tens - small claims court
The rulers over fifties - Court of Common Pleas
Rulers over hundreds - Court of Appeals
Rulers over thousands - Federal Appeals court
Moses - US Supreme Court

Names of God: Jehovah Jirah - The Lord Provides (Genesis 22:14) Jehovah Nissi - The Lord is My Banner (Exodus 17:15)