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Sep 18, 2023 06:00am

The Bible Recap: Days 183-189

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(The following are reflections from the writer’s personal journey through The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble – a Bible reading plan to read the Bible chronologically in one year. To learn more about The Bible Recap, visit thebiblerecap.com. Find more posts from this series at lifeword.org/thebiblerecap.)

Day 183: Read 2 Kings Chapters 1-4

Let me tell you: these stories in 2 Kings today are among my favorite!

Ahaziah’s fall and injury reminded me that me that when my health is grave, you had better believe I am calling out to God for His healing, His mercy, and His grace. Upon hearing that he would die, Ahaziah didn’t. There was no repentance, no heart change. (Hadn’t he heard that God was a merciful God, full of compassion?)

How cool is it that God took His man, Elijah, up in a chariot of fire? Elijah, who wanted to die earlier, finished his purpose on earth and never experienced death. He had prepared Elisha to take over and got a ride to heaven that we have never seen! To me, he was rewarded for his perseverance and faith.

Elisha is now God’s prophet and has a double portion of Elijah’s spirit—he is devastated with Elijah’s exit but begins doing miracles! (One of them I always chuckle at—the kids who called him “baldy” got mauled by 2 bears! I had no idea that when they were telling him to “go up” it meant to die! That was eye opening! That shows me that God doesn’t take disrespect to His people—He defends His people, even in creative ways!)

I am always amazed at God’s kindness to people who don’t call out to Him until they are desperate, like Joram and Jehoshaphat (doesn’t Jehoshaphat know better by now?!). But, you know what? We can be the same way in our lives, too. It’s just a good reminder to seek God in all that we do…before we do it.

But what I love about this story is the supernatural provision and intervention by God—always in creative ways! (The sun hitting the water making it look like blood?! Brilliant!)

And, can I tell you how much I love the stories about how God, through Elisha, provided oil for the widow of the prophet and saved her kids from slavery? God is especially tender-hearted to widows. But, what activated this miracle was not Elisha—it was her faith in gathering those containers.

And let’s just land in the Shunammite woman’s hospitality. She saw a need with God’s man and provided shelter and food for him. (Again, God provides!) Because of this, she is given a child (we are made to think perhaps she had always wanted one when she says, “Do not lie to me”—kind of like, “Don’t get my hopes up!”) At this point, her husband is old and it felt impossible to her…and yet, God shows her He is the God of impossible by giving her a baby!

And, when her child is older and gets a terrible headache and dies, she refuses to accept his fate. She immediately goes to Elisha, telling people in her house that “everything is fine.” To me, that is faith! Crazy faith! She doesn’t say anything about her boy’s death—but goes to Elisha for a miracle! And you know what, that is exactly what she got—a miracle.

And we aren’t done yet with miracles! Elisha saves fellow prophets from a deadly stew by making it safe to eat. And, he feeds 100 men with 20 loaves of bread.

I agree with Tara-Leigh—God is so creative in His miracles! And, He provides for His people! I loved today’s reminders that we are never too far gone for His grace, mercy, compassion, and provision. He is the God of miracles!

Yes, Lord! Give us fresh reminders in our lives to look to you first, seek you daily, and depend upon your intervention and provision! Give us fresh eyes to see you amid our daily lives.

Day 184: Read 2 Kings Chapters 5-8

My Takeaways:

I loved reading about Elijah, but I also love reading about our guy, Elisha too! And God does much through him in these readings:

Through Elisha, God heals a foreigner, Naamen, of leprosy (one of my fav stories!)…I love how God didn’t just minister to His own people—He was always making Himself know to other nations in creative ways. All because of a young slave girl from Israel’s testimony. Young people can make a difference for the Lord!

Elisha helps a fellow prophet out with a lost ax head—he makes it float to the surface! God takes care of His own people here!

God, through Elisha, saves Israel in the most creative way when the king of Aram comes to invade by striking this army with blindness…and not only that, Elisha leads those blinded men to Samaria—right in the midst of the Israelites’ territory! This would be a perfect time to slaughter them! And yet, Elisha does something Jesus would preach about: be kind to your enemies. They feed those people sent to destroy them. What a testimony these people would tell upon going home to Aram! These people would go home talking about their temporary blindness and unexpected kindness from God’s people. Wow. Once again, we see the mercy and grace and creativity of God.

Elisha, like Elijah, pronounced a drought, causing a famine on Israel—then, the king of Aram laid seige to Samaria. Now, wait, is this the same king again? If so, he is a slow learner. And again, if so, would Naamen have been there too? Again, God defends His people by creating the sounds of army approaching, sending the Arameans scrambling to leave—wow! Another creative intervention! Again, another miracle, another testimony of God’s power!

God, through Elisha, takes care of the Shunammite widow by sending her away during the famine…and upon the ending of the famine (7 years later), she comes back and wants her estate back. As she goes to the king, something very interesting happens: Gehazi is there talking to the king telling him about how Elisha raised up this widow’s son! Talk about God’s sovereign timing—as she walks in, Gehazi points her out. As a result, her story gains credibility and she gains favor from the king, getting her estate back!

And sadly, after Jehoshaphat dies, his son takes over but lived like evil king Ahab, for he married Ahab’s daughter. Didn’t we see this trend with Solomon and our series on these kings, where wives/mothers had heavy influence on their men? Ladies, our influence in our families is huge.

Friends, God showed up in all sorts of creative ways, creating testimony of His power and might and love and restoration and provision. And you know what? In a time of idle worship and famine, the people were hungry for something real…and God provided His presence in various manifestations. God met His people where they needed it most, just like what He did for Elijah, in a gentle whisper, on Mount Horeb.

Day 185: Read 1 Kings Chapters 9-11

My Takeaways:

Today was a bloody, bloody day.

And though we don’t have those amazing readings of God’s miracles and provision like we have the past two days, we are reading about God’s sovereign will. And that will dealt with removing evil kings and their families. I loved it when Tara-Leigh said, “Even when God is not in the foreground, He’s always in the background.”

At first when I was reading, I was so impressed by Jehu’s will to follow the Lord’s instructions—he was passionate, right? It seemed he was a godly man, who obeyed the Lord with all his heart…and then, when he was finally in charge and had destroyed all of Ahab’s line, there was this verse:

“Yet, Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the Lord God of Israel with all of his heart.”

Sigh. Here we go again. He left two golden calves for people to worship. But, I saw God’s grace here—He still blesses him for obeying his instructions regarding Ahab, keeping 4 generations of kings on the throne. God was so good here! Even though Jehu’s heart wasn’t fully God’s, God blessed him for his obedience.

Tara-Leigh said it best: “The hardest enemies to defeat, are the idols in our own hearts.”

Wow. How true is that? I feel this is the theme of all the kings we have read about and will read about.

And on the flip side, we have the faithful priest Jehoiada who crowns King Joash, after 7 years of hiding him! Good times are ahead, right?

God’s will isn’t always pretty, especially when evil people are involved.

Day 186: Read 2 Kings Chapters 12-13 & 2 Chronicles Chapter 24

My Takeaways:

Here’s my summary for today: A bunch of guys with names beginning with J rule…and they are all pretty much evil.

I thought Joash had so much potential with Johoiada mentoring him, but when he dies, he not only turns away from God, he kills his mentor’s son! You guys, he rebuilt the Lord’s temple…so, for a time at least, it appears as if he sought God (he even got onto the priests when they didn’t repair the temple when he told them to). What happened?!

Instead of seeking God, he sought counsel from local princes….eventually, he is wounded in war and his servants conspire to kill him for the murder of his priest’s son.

What a weird turn of events for Joash. Joash reminds us that if our heart is not actively seeking God, it can can be easily led astray by seeking others.

Also, Elisha died (I so loved reading about him!). God answered his prayers of getting a double potion of Elijah’s spirit in his life. And, when people tossed a dead person’s body in with Elisha, he comes back to life! Wowza!

Day 187: Read 2 Kings Chapter 14 & 2 Chronicles Chapter 25

My Takeaways:

Well, here we go again, friends! Another cycle of Judahite kings not fully committed to the Lord.

Amaziah starts off following God’s commands (by not killing the families of his father’s conspirators). But, he hired a bunch of soldiers from Israel to help him fight Edom but when a prophet came to him and rebuked him, he listened! He sent them home. And, he had a great victory! Great affirmation of obeying God, right?!

I guess not…because while he had a major victory, a couple of things happened:

—Those Israelites soldiers rebel and cause much damage and loss of life in Judah. (I wonder did King Amaziah worship these gods after he found out that the Israelites soldiers killed 3,000 of his people and looted cities on their way home? I wondered if he was mad at God after he listened to Him? Just a thought.)

—Amaziah, after listening to the prophet and experiencing a major victory from God, bows down to the gods of Edom! Like, huh?!

You guys, that one blows me away!

All I can say is that this is stubborn pride and a direct rebellion to God…and it doesn’t end well for Amaziah—he listened to more non-godly counsel and picked a fight with Israel’s king resulting in his death.

I thought it was insightful when 2 Chronicles 25:27-28 said this: “From the time Amaziah turned from following the Lord, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish, and they put him to death there.”

Leaders are held to a higher standard, especially leaders of God’s people…and God promised King Asa: “If you seek me with all of your heart, you will find me. But if you abandon me, I will abandon you.”

What a frightening thought of losing God’s presence in our lives! But, Amaziah wasn’t scared. He did things his way. He listened to others. He rebelled against a God who had helped him.

That’s what pride does to all of us, friends. It lies to us telling us we deserve more, we need more, that doing things God’s way doesn’t work.

Pride is a liar.

My God Shot: pride holds us back from experiencing God in our lives.

Day 188: Read Jonah Chapters 1-4

My Takeaways:

If I’m being honest, I am a lot like Jonah.

I question God.
I question God’s justice.
I wonder what in the world He is doing in a particular situation.
I want Him to punish evil.
I don’t want to go out of my way to warn people not worthy of His grace.
I want to serve God, yet I don’t want to get out of of my comfort zone.
I hesitate obeying God when it doesn’t make sense.
I can run when the going gets tough.
I can go through the motions of looking sorry, and yet not fully surrender my heart.
And, I can get crabby when I feel He didn’t handle a situation like I want Him to.

Oh, friends, there’s so much of me in Jonah. Perhaps you, too?

But, you know what? This isn’t Jonah’s story. It’s God’s story.

It’s a story of how good our God is.

How much He desires to save the lost . . . and yes, even the wicked.

How He sends His people to be the light to those in the dark.

How He sees the bigger picture while we can fixate on a moment.

How much He values obedience, immediate obedience.

How compassionate He is.

How forgiving He is.

How merciful He is.

How kind He is.

We’re sinners, too, friends. Our sin may look different than Jonah’s or the Ninevites, but our sin still separates us from a loving God. Our sin still sent Christ to the cross. Our sin still can impact others.

And yet, our God chases us down in the storms of life, pursuing us. He never gives up on us, ladies. He’ll use every element of nature and every life situation to point back to Him.

That’s how much He loves us and desires us to trust Him with our lives.

It’s all about the heart. It always has been.

Day 189: Read 2 Kings Chapter 15 & 2 Chronicles Chapter 26

My Takeaways:

We blew through 5 kings in Israel today, and focused on one king I really thought had hope to end well. He didn’t.

What did I learn about God today?

I learned that when we seek Him, He can help us do so much in our lives! With Uzziah, he won wars, had fame in battle, grew powerful, built towers in Jerusalem, owned cattle, built towers in the desert, dug wells, loved soil and had farmers and vineyards. He created weaponry for wars!

He was wonderfully helped by God until he became strong and grew arrogant and it led to his own destruction.

He left “Team We” and went over to “Team Me.” He stopped needing God. “Team Me” takes more people away from God because it’s all about us.

God blessed him richly and those blessings turned his heart away from God.

I wonder if God says “no” (or “not yet”) to some of our prayers because He knows that blessing will eventually take our eyes off of Him and onto ourselves?

What did I learn today? God loves it when we seek Him! He loves to help us. God wants to bless us. He desires to empower us to make a difference.

And I saw how God hates pride. And while we have seen how God sometimes waits to punish in His sovereign will, He didn’t today. Judgment came fast and powerfully for Uzziah when he tried to do what only the priests were called to do: offer incense on the altar.

He lived the rest of his life diseased. Great beginning, bad ending. Oh friends, I want to end well! May we never stop needing God! May we never stop being in His Word learning from others’ mistakes. May we always seek Him and look to Him as the Captain of “Team We.”