Saturday, October 25, 2008

Wrapping up 2 Kings

Looking back at 2 Kings there was one description of each king that was black and white. Either the king did things that were pleasing to the Lord or they did not. I think this description says more about the heart of the particular king. Either he wanted to please God, or he didn't care. Because I don't see any way that a human could do everything pleasing to God!

In the last couple of chapters Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has invaded the land. He takes the king at the time (Jehoiachin) prisoner. Nebu installs the kings uncle (also a young man- 21) as king in his stead. This is a bit puzzling, because why wouldn't Nebu himself be king? But say he couldn't or wouldn't- at least he gets to pick who gets on the throne. So, Nebu must have liked and trusted this new king. But after 9 years this new king rebelled against Nebu as well. This resulted in all of Judah being taken into captivity. Sometimes when you rebel against opression, things get worse!

Eventually, Evil-Merodach becomes king of Bablylon and takes a shine to the prisoner king Jehoiachin. So 2 Kings 25 ends with this picture:
29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king's table.

That's like a picture of what God does for us- he takes us out of our prison baggage and seats us at His table with Him. If we are willing to accept Him.

Help us to know when to fight the oppression.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

A picture of a community

2 Kings 17 gives a picture of Israel that sounds a lot like the world today. As I read it, I thought- how little things change, really. The bold part of the scripture below, I thought was interestingly written:
15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do.

Do you follow something of worth or something worthless? What you follow determines your worth.

Then some dudes came and overran Israel and took over Samaria. But they kept getting eaten by lions, so they went and retrieved one of the Israeli priests to teach them how to worship the God of the Place. But that didn't really work out. Why? Maybe because the only reason they wanted to worship this God is so they wouldn't get eaten by lions. Which isn't a terrible reason. Butter than not worshiping Him at all. But it was on a very surface level. And God ultimately wants to go deeper, to go right to your heart.

Lord help us to let go of worthless things and let your worth fill us from the center of our being.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Fixing your hair does not cover evil

In 2 Kings 9 Jehu has been annointed king and killed Joram, the son of Ahab and Jezebel. Jehu arrives at Jezreel, where Jezebel is. I am not sure what Jezebel knew- if she knew that Jehu had killed Joram or not, but she does know that Jehu is arriving. So she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out of a window (v.30). I guess she thought if she looked pretty, things would go better for her. But no amount of makeup and no amount of hair brushing can cover evil. God looks at our inside, not the outside.
O God please help us to see that the surface of our physical form is not who we really are. Help us to focus on keeping the inside good, on doing good and on loving you.

Not the way you expected

The theme of the stories of Elisha in 2 Kings seem to be that God does things in not the way that we humans would expect.
- at the start of 2 Kings 6 a metal axe head (assumed heavy metal) is made to float
- in 2 Kings 6 the Arameans who come to kill Elisha are struck with a sort of blindness that allows Elisha to guide them into Samaria where the king of Israel was. And instead of killing them, he gives them a meal. This also stops the Aram bandits raids on Israel
- in 2 Kings 7 the seige against Samaria is broken as 4 lepers go towards the opposing camp and the people who are seiging think is it another army. This story is one of my favorites in the Bible because it is such a great picture to me. You've got these 4 guys who are sick and starving. They are pretty desperate. They realize if they stay where they are, they will die. They have to move. So they decide to try surrendering to the opposing army. Their intent is not to scare away the opposing army, but to ask for mercy. So they head out and as they walk, God transforms the situation. Sometimes we just have to walk.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Expectations

Too often God does not move as we expect him to. Namaan (commander of an army) in 2 Kings was a leper who wanted to be healed and went to Elisha, the prophet in Israel:
2 Kings 5:9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

11 But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.

The man of God didn't behave as he expected. Maybe he was used to grand ceremonies and wanted something like that for his healing. But wasn't he missing the point here? The point was the healing, not the method. God doesn't need drama to heal your life, He just needs obedience. When Namaan saw the truth of this and went and washed 7 times in obedience, he was healed.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Idolatry

I started 2 Kings today and it starts with Ahaziah falling down and wanting to know if he is going to get better. So he sends some dudes out to consult Baal-Zebub and God sends Elijah to tell A. that he will die because he sent to ask B-Z instead of God. Now you or I probably wouldn't go running to ask B-Z any questions, but there are so many things in this life that act as a B-Z. When we want to know something significant do we go to God first? When we want to do something significant do we go to God first? Are there things that come first in our lives ahead of God?
Thank you God, for being jealous after our hearts. Even though it might feel demanding and though you are taking things we want away from us, you know and want what is best for us. Help us to listen to your heart for us.

Friday, October 3, 2008

listening

1 Kings 22 is such a good picture of how we often listen that it cracks me up. The king wants to know if he should go to war. So he decides to ask the prophets.

6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?"
"Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."

7 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?"

8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah."


Jehoshaphat seems to be a good sort of dude and he seems to recognize that the 400 prophets are not prophets of the Lord. Now, how he knew that I don't know. Maybe intuition?
Anyway then the king of Israel (Ahab) says that there is one but he hates him because he never prophesies anything good for Ahab. Interesting how he blames the prophet and does not take the blame himself. He does not recognize or repent of his sin. It is like he is hardened to it. But he does seem to recognize the Micaiah is a true prophet of the Lord.

So they decide to go get Micaiah:

13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably."

14 But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me."

15 When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?"
"Attack and be victorious," he answered, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand."

16 The king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD ?"

17 Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.' "

18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?"


So, they go get M. and the messenger counsels him to say good things to the king. He says he won't, but then he does. So he prophesied the good that Ahab said he wouldn't and then Ahab doesn't believe him! So Ahab is being a bit complex here- he wants him to say good things, but then doesn't believe him when he does. Then when M. does tell the truth, Ahab doesn't like it. It's pretty much lose-lose for M. and Abah sounds like he's deceiving himself pretty much!

How often do we do that? Only listen to what we want to hear. And when we hear bad things, and KNOW it's God, we blame someone else.