Chapter 5
v1 "By him the Lord had given victory to Aram." This is an enemy of Israel and Judah, and yet God had given victory to them? We need to remember that victory is from the Lord, and sometimes He gives it to our enemies for His greater purpose.
v2 Have you met people through your hardship and defeat that you would never have known otherwise? God set those connections up, and it's your job to use your position in life to His glory. This little girl could have plotted against her master, or she could have rejoiced in his suffering. After all, they took her away from her family, from everything and everyone she knew. Why should she help him? But she was a servant of the Lord, and her actions would bring a lost soul to the Living God.
v7 The king was not thee right guy to go to.
v11 Sometimes we have a preconceived idea of how God will work in our lives.
v14 Total healing through unexpected, humbling, even confusing methods. I don't understand God, but I trust Him.
v20 Gehazi gets greedy. It must have been difficult to be the right hand man to someone like Elisha. Gehazi had probably struggled with jealousy and temptation before this moment, but when Elisha refuses payment from this wealthy soldier--this wealthy enemy soldier--it's just too much to bear.
But this is a lesson to all that stealing from someone who would never even notice is still stealing. Gehazi was probably very well cared for by Elisha, but he wanted more. He wanted buying power of his own. He wanted some snappy new clothes. But even if Elisha had not found him out immediately, it would not have been long. What would Elisha have said when Gehazi walked out of his room in that new outfit? What was he going to buy with that silver that Elisha wasn't going to notice? Gehazi's greed blinded him to the consequences and additional problems it would cause. He paid for it with his health (v27), and his children and grandchildren would also pay for his disobedience.
Chapter 6
v1-7 God created the laws of physics, but he is not bound by them. Remember this and don't let your prayers be bound by them, either! If God can make an axe-head float for this guy, imagine the possibilities (or impossibilities!) for your own life.
v12 Elisha was the James Bond of his time. He had the powers of high-tech spy equipment.
v17 Elisha's servant's eyes were opened to the presence of the spiritual warriors surrounding them. How wonderful and terrifying. I wonder if Elisha could see them all the time. I wonder how my life would change if I kept "sight" of them all the time.
v18-23 Elisha redirects them to Samaria. He spares their lives, and they never cause trouble again.
v24-33 As I read this section of II Kings, I planned to skip it completely in this study. The events of this section are too horrible to think about. I wanted to just skip over it and not think about it again. In fact, I didn't even make any notes in my journal about it. But as I've been typing up this section, the Lord has put a little something on my heart about it. So lets start at the beginning.
Aram has crowded in on Israel so that there is no food to be had. They are selling a donkey's head for a fortune, and even bird poop is getting a high price. (Are they eating it? That seems to be the inidication.)
Anyway, the king, the son of the evil king Ahab, is walking along the wall, surveying his kingdom, when a woman cries out to him from below. She has done something unspeakable in her desperation, and she is crying out to the king for help. But he can't help her. He replies with sarcasm and despair. He is completely helpless.
The thing the Lord put on my heart is this. This king had no foundation. When times were good, he was building alters to false gods and worshipping through temple prostitutes. But when things turned bad, those pagan idols couldn't help him. He didn't know the true God, and his first reaction was to blame Him. He was completely helpless when times got tough. I don't want to be helpless. I want to build my foundation in the Lord when times are good so that when things turn around (and they WILL!!), I'm not blindsided by it. I'll read, and rejoice, and memorize Scripture now, so that I'll have this to lean on when the tide changes. We have no idea how our world may change in the coming weeks, months, or years. But when the worst happens, I want to cling to God, not blame Him.
Next time: II Kings 7-8
