Year 1, Day 365: 2 Kings 2

Elijah’s Departure

What a great chapter of the Bible!  We hear first of the story of Elijah and Elisha and the journey to Elijah’s departure.  This is one of two stories in the Bible about people who go to heaven without having to die first.  This is interesting because even Christ died before ascending, although His death was significant for a whole different set of circumstance than any of our deaths could accomplish.  The other man was Enoch, see Genesis 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5.

If we ask ourselves why Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven this way we shall become confused.  Certainly they were human and certainly they were sinful.  The Bible is clear on this.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)  So they were not perfect.  So did God treat them preferentially?  Perhaps, but who are we to judge God’s grace?  Can God not be gracious upon those that He desires to be gracious without incurring our jealousy and envy?  (See Matthew 20:1-16, especially verse 15) 

If we try to rationalize what Elijah and Enoch did to result in them not having to die we will likely end up in a spiritual place that is not healthy.  We will either end up thinking that Enoch and Elijah did not sin (which is wrong), that they were not held accountable for their sin (which is also wrong), or that God is unjust because He shows partiality to them and forces the rest of us to go through death (which is also spiritually wrong for us to think).  The simple truth is that we should not force human logic upon God’s outpouring of grace in this manner.

Don’t let yourself fall into that quandary.  God is gracious to Elijah here, and it is likely that only God knows why He bestowed His grace in this manner.  Some things are simply beyond our ability to fully understand and realize.

Remembering Elijah’s Patience even among Sin

But there is something neat about this passage with respect to Elijah’s past and his sinfulness.  Remember when Elijah was out in the desert and he pleaded for God to just let him die?  (See 1 Kings 19:4)  How cool is it that because God did not heed Elijah’s request that Elijah got to be taken up into heaven in a whirlwind?  In fact, Elijah had pleaded to die – although didn’t go about bringing it upon himself – and as it turns out death is the one thing Elijah will not get to face!

God blesses us in such unusual ways if we are simply willing to be patient for Him to work.  If Elijah had gotten his way based on his limited perspective, he would never have had the experience that God had planned for him to have all along.  This story is a call for us to be patient and to allow God to do what God has planned to do.

As I wrote that last paragraph I am reminded of an oft-quoted passage that I had never connected with the story of Elijah.  But I think it fits.  Isaiah 40:13 says that “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  (ESV)  Isn’t it cool that although Elijah desires to die, he is willing to not take matters into his own hand?  He cannot deny that he wants to die, but he chooses to wait for the Lord to pick the time of the end of his life.  As a result, Elijah gets a lift from the coolest ride in the universe!  In 1 Kings 19 we saw that Elijah quite literally had his strength renewed; in this chapter we quite literally see Elijah mount up as though having wings like an eagle.  That’s pretty cool if you ask me.

Double Portion

I’ve always wondered about Elisha’s request for the double portion.  Is this a sign of greed?  Is Elisha asking to be twice the prophet that Elijah was?  Actually, no.  The request for a double portion is an acknowledgment of family.  The fact that Elisha asks Elijah for a double portion of his spirit tells us that Elisha considers himself spiritual family to Elijah.

Deuteronomy 21:17 tells us that the right of the firstborn is to receive a double portion of the inheritance.  So when Elisha asks Elijah for a double portion of his spirit, he’s not saying it at all in terms of greed.  Rather, Elisha is making a spiritual comment about being Elijah’s spiritual first-born.  Elisha has followed Elijah and been discipled by him more than anyone else.

Elisha

With Elijah gone, Elisha picks up Elijah’s mantle and begins his ministry.  I think it is also neat to observe the first thing Elisha does.  It is one thing to witness God’s faith as Elijah parts the waters through God’s power.  It is another thing to go out on that spiritual limb and trust that you can be the vessel God uses – especially with witnesses watching from afar!  Elisha is not caught up in mourning his loss of Elijah.  Elisha grabs the mantle and knows his place.  God has called him to literally grab the mantle that Elisha left behind and go!

Sons of Jerisho

In sharp contrast to this, we have the lack of faith in the sons of the prophet of Jericho.  They saw Elisha part the waters with Elijah’s mantle, but they did not believe Elijah was really gone.  Perhaps they could not imagine a time without the great prophet.  Perhaps it was wishful thinking on their behalf that Elijah was not really gone.  But it illustrates a good point.  Because of their “wishful thinking” they miss the boat on what God is doing.  We might be able to frame the actions of the sons of the prophets in the best possible light, but the reality is that even if their intentions were good they still missed the boat.  Good intentions are nothing when compared to simply looking for God and giving up our expectations for God.  We should be focused on what God is doing in our midst, not what we think want God to be doing in our midst.

Old Bald-Head

As for the story at the end of the chapter about the 42 deaths at the paws of the she-bears, it is a neat story symbolically.*  Remember that Bethel is one of the places where an alternate temple was erected so that the people of Israel didn’t have to go to Jerusalem to worship as the Lord directed them to do.  Bethel is a symbol of pagan religion leading people away from the true God.  It is a symbol of blatant disobedience against God’s ways.  Here we have the boys – young men, really – of this disobedient city coming out and mocking God and God’s servant. 

Why do they say “old bald-head?”  There could be a couple of reasons.  First, Elisha could have genuinely been bald.  However, my guess is that it is again a symbolic insult.  Lepers would shave their head as a sign of their leprosy.  Of course, we know that the leper was the lowest form of social outcast.  This could very well mean that the young men are telling Elisha that he is a social outcast and unwanted in Bethel.  Which, given that it was a place for pagan worship to occur, makes an awful lot of sense.

Symbolically, this story is about the generational sin being taught and passed down in Bethel.  The children are being taught to mock God.  That is why this story is so neat on a symbolic level.  This is a story about the sinfulness of the people, about generational sin, about the desires of young people to learn behaviors from the adults around them, and about God’s disapproval of all of it.

Parents, teachers, mentors, congregational leaders, and other interested adults: take heed.  Children will learn our sins.  They will learn the behaviors that we do apart from God’s ways.  And one day they will stand before God and be held accountable just as we will.  Let’s do them all a favor and take this seriously.  We need to be shining examples of the faith for the sake of our children.  The world is a rough enough place to grow up as it is, they don’t need our help in learning how to sin!

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*As neat as the story is symbolically, it also really fits with what I said yesterday about Elijah.  Yesterday Elijah was seen as the vehicle for the death of 102 people.  Here we see Elisha as the vehicle for the death of 42 young men.  We see here again that the work of the prophet is quite controversial indeed.

Year 1, Day 364: 2 Kings 1

Where Is Your God?

“Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Ba’al-zebub?”  That is such an incredibly famous quote.  But it caused me to ponder today.

Is it because we lack faith in God that we spend so much time trying to gain wisdom from television programs and textbooks?  Is it because there is no God dwelling among us that we seldom gather in Christian community and instead choose to have fellowship with our televisions, game consoles, and internet?  Is it because there is no God in our public preaching that the world instead listens to televangelists, motivational speakers, and “feel-good” psychology-theologians?

We as human beings are constantly seeking.  But where is it that we are looking for the fulfillment of our quest?  This is precisely the issue that God has with Ahaziah – his quest to gain the wisdom of other nations demonstrates his utter lack of faith in God. 

It is not much different with us.  When we pursue the world – especially those among us who profess to be Christian, what is the message that we send to God?  If we really believe God is the creator and sustainer of life, would we spend so much time pursuing other things?  If we really believe God is all we need, would we spend so much time letting our hearts lust after the stuff of this world?

The Captain and His Fifty Men

Moving on, I was challenged on many levels today by the portion of the story where the captains come before Elijah and fire consumes them.  But before we get there, let’s look at the first party that the king sends out.  I was amazed at the story when Elijah came and spoke to the first group that the king sent out who then returned to the king.  The king had to ask them what the man that they met looked like.  Then the king had to tell them who Elijah was!

That should tell us something of the state of the northern kingdom.  The people didn’t even know who Elijah was!  How do the people miss Elijah, who through the power of God does incredible signs and wonders that display God’s power?

Okay, let’s return to the armed contingents that the king sent out to bring Elijah to him.  This story shows the utter contempt that the people had for the bearers of God’s wisdom.  How is it that it took three tries for someone to come and show a little humbleness?

I guess this isn’t a new problem to our modern culture.  Here is Elijah, a man of God who has already shown that God’s power is active within him.  Don’t forget the story about the priests of Ba’al and the fire from heaven.  One would assume that he should be approached with some caution and reverence. 

But this is not the case.  The captains of the guard come with men as if to arrest him.  They are convinced in their power and the power of the king.  Elijah has nothing to do with them and they die.

Only the third captain shows respect for Elijah and his relationship with God.  This goes to show us how we should view those in our lives in whom God is present.  No, it doesn’t mean that God will immediately consume us with fire if we do not respect His presence within others.  But we should still learn to respect those through whom God has chosen to work.

Reloading This Story

Now let’s take this same story and spin it on its head.  Elijah is the vehicle through which 102 people die in this story.  (2 captains, each with a complement of 50 guards) How many of us would have looked highly upon Elijah if we heard what he did in this story?  My guess is that most of us wouldn’t want to get too close to him.  We wouldn’t want him to be our pastor.  We would probably reject Elijah because he is a murderer of people!  Again, don’t forget the story about the altars and the priests of Ba’al where several more hundred people died!  Elijah is a pretty scary guy when you think about it.

This makes me think along several lines:

• The prophets of God weren’t often all that likeable.
• The prophets of God often did things that would not have gained them the favor of the people.
• Human beings have a tendency to judge our company by what we think is right and wrong and not by what God has judged righteous.
• Human beings often reject those whom God has put into their life.

I don’t know that there is a tremendous amount of wisdom there, but I think it is worthwhile contemplating how we would have reacted to Elijah had we been a fly on the wall during these meetings.  Would we have had the ability to commend Elijah’s faith or would we have gotten upset at the death of the 102?  Would we have wanted to get close to Elijah?  Remember, from the perspective of Judaism Elijah is thought of as the greatest prophet who ever lived.  How many of us can honestly say that we are in a spiritual position of accepting who Elijah is and the level of commitment he had for the Lord in terms of rejecting the ways of the Lord?

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Year 1, Day 363: 1 Kings 22

Ahab

Today we meet an interesting character, the prophet Micaiah.  He is one of my “favorite people in the Bible that you’ve probably never heard about.”  His great claim to fame is that Ahab hates him because he never prophesies anything good about Ahab.  Pay attention to those words, because they speak volumes about the people whose focus is the world:

• Ahab doesn’t want truth. 
• Ahab doesn’t want accuracy. 
• Ahab wants good things to be said about him. 
• Ahab wants people to talk well of him whether it is true of false.

There should be a huge neon warning sign going off in your head as you read this story.  If someone always said bad things regarding your life and they keep coming true, don’t you think you would listen to the person and go to them and figure out why your life keeps having these dark moments?  It would be one thing if someone slanders you with untruth and their words never come true.  But Micaiah is a prophet of the Lord!  The things that Micaiah speaks that he received from the Lord are all true.  You would think that Ahab would get the hint, come to Micaiah, and figure out why his life is the way that it is.

But this isn’t the case.  Ahab would rather continue living his life the way he desires.  Ahab doesn’t want truth and accuracy; he actually wants the truth and accuracy to shut up and go away!  So it is with people who have a worldly perspective in life. 

Person after person turns a deaf ear to those who proclaim God’s Word in our midst.  This world is full of pain, bitterness, and disappointment; yet rather than seeking truth in God’s Word, people turn away from God and continue to live in the world.  They seek the fleeting and temporary joy, which ultimately results in bitterness, rather than seeking the joy from God which can sustain our life.

What worse about Ahab is that this shows that he had multiple avenues to God.  We already know that Ahab and Elijah knew each other and Ahab refused to listen.  Now we find out that Ahab refused to listen to Micaiah, too.  God often tries to reach us multiple ways.  We don’t usually get one shot with God.  We often get chance after chance after chance with God.

Micaiah vs. the Leaders of the World

Micaiah goes up before the king and mocks the false prophecy spoken by the false prophets who told Ahab and Jehosophat to go to war.  Micaiah tells Ahab what he wants to hear, but Ahab refuses to believe him.  This is proof of what I said earlier in this blog post.  Ahab knows the difference between God’s truth and the world’s lies.  He knows that when Micaiah speaks what he wants to hear that it isn’t from God.  This actually proves that Ahab knows difference; he just chooses to ignore God’s truth!

When Micaiah speaks the truth, Ahab has him imprisoned.  What was it I said yesterday?  No good deed goes unpunished.  Micaiah’s pay for following the Lord is imprisonment, bread, and water.  Yet better to be in prison following the Lord than to enjoy the luxury of the world that is gained from following the world. 

Christians, take heed.  If you proclaim your faith, expect persecution.  If you don’t want to face the persecution, don’t proclaim God’s truth.  But also be prepared.  If you don’t proclaim God’s truth, don’t expect God to look up you righteously in your time of judgment.

Ignoring God’s Truth

So Ahab and Jehoshaphat go out to battle and we see that Ahab continues to be despicable.  Ahab tells Jehoshaphat to take leadership and “wear the robes.”  Ahab knows that in a battle the enemy will focus on the leadership.  After all, strike the head and the body will crumble.  Ahab sets Jehoshaphat up so that the brunt of the pursuit will be against Jehosophat rather than himself.

The cool part of this chapter is that Ahab cannot fool God.  Ahab can ignore God, but he cannot fool God.  Nor can he escape God.

A random archer draws and arrow and procures the dying blow.  Ahab cannot deceive God, he cannot cheat God, and he cannot be victorious when God’s hand is finally against him.  God wins.  It is an important lesson to learn while we are still alive to learn it.  In the end, God wins.  God wins over humanity.  God wins over creation.  God wins over death.  God wins over evil.  God wins; we would do best to align ourselves with Him, submitting to His will and His power while we still can.

Jehoshaphat

We then hear the epitaph of Jehoshaphat, son of Asa.  Remember that Asa was a good king.  Jehoshaphat is said to walk in the ways of his father – although like his father he was not able to purge the Ba’al worship happening in the high places.  Yet he was a good king and walked in the ways of the Lord.  I think this is an important point.  We can be good and still not completely change the world around us.  Sometimes people just won’t listen.

This is a great time to go back to the beginning of 1 Kings 22 and also remember that it was Jehoshaphat who demanded to hear from Micaiah – a true prophet of God.  Jehoshaphat did well in searching out for God’s truth.  He was not perfect, but he trusted in God.

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Year 1, Day 362: 1 Kings 21

1 Kings 21 gives us the story of Naboth and his vineyard.  Even more importantly, this passage gives us the story of the fickleness of the human spirit and the deception of the human heart.  Let’s start with Naboth.

Naboth and His Death

Naboth dies having done nothing wrong.  He was tending the land that the Lord gave to him.  He was caring for his inheritance.  And apparently he was doing a good job of it, too!  Had he been tending the land poorly I doubt Ahab would have wanted it for himself.  So Naboth dies for simply being obedient to the Lord and for being a good steward.

Welcome to life, really.  Don’t we have a cliché in our English language that says “No good deed goes unpunished?”  So often it seems like the people who are simply doing what they should be doing are the ones who get abused by the people who break the laws of the land – or in this case, God’s law.  This doesn’t mean that we stop obeying the law.  Nor does it mean that we repay evil for evil.  It means that we go through life realizing the understanding that just because we are doing what we should be doing doesn’t mean that we will be free from trouble.  And we also need to firmly trust that God will sort it out in the end.  The job of repaying evil doesn’t fall upon our shoulders.

Ahab

Now let’s move on to Ahab.  Ahab is pretty pathetic in this story.  He can’t have what he wants, so he gets depressed about it.  He can’t have the object of his desire, so he lives like his life is over.  That is really pathetic.

Of course, I say that it is pathetic not so much in judgment of him but in judgment of myself.  How often am I the same as Ahab?  How often do I mope around when things don’t go my way?  How often do I reject my current appliance, computer, or phone simply because it isn’t the “newest and best” even though it works just fine?  How often am I not satisfied with the lavish blessings that God has given to me simply because the desire of my heart hasn’t been filled to my satisfaction?  Of course, the sad reality is that even if God did fill my desire to my current satisfaction, I’d still want more anyway. 

Really, this is all so pathetic.  Human beings and our fickle desires are just so pathetic.  It’s no wonder that happiness is so elusive in our culture.  When our hearts are so fickle that the absence of luxuries depresses us beyond what the joy of having our needs met can sustain – well – that’s pathetic.  It’s pitiable, weak, dismal, and feeble.

Jezebel

Finally we move onto the corruption of Jezebel.  This really should not surprise us.  It has been Jezebel who has been running Ahab’s kingdom from behind the scenes all along. It is Jezebel who set out to kill the prophets of God and establish the worship of Ba’al.  It is Jezebel who set out to kill Elijah after the slaughter of the priests of Ba’al.  It is Jezebel who now devises a plan to kill Naboth.

When a human being is fully given over to evil, there will be no point at which the means do not justify the ends.  A person who is devoted to pure evil will do anything that gets them what their heart desires.  Think about Hitler in Germany.  Think about Napolean in France.  Think about Nero in Rome.  Think about Mao Zedong (Mao Tse Tung) in China.  Think about Joseph Stalin in Russia.  Within Christianity, think about the Inquisition in Europe.  Or within American Christianity think about the Salem Witch Trials.  There is no place that is free from the influence of people who are bent on evil purposes and willing to use their power and influence to bring about their desired goals.

Jezebel is no different.  She sees her husband “suffering.”  With no respect for the law and no respect for God’s will, Jezebel has Naboth killed so that her husband can have the desire of his heart.  A man dies so that another man – the wealthiest man in the country, no doubt! – can possess a vineyard.  It is a sad truth about humanity.  But it is what happens when we let our fickle hearts pine over non-essentials and allow people to exert their power to unlawfully get us what we desire.

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Year 1, Day 361: 1 Kings 20

1 Kings 20 gives us a good picture of underserved mercy as well as the rejecting and compromising spirit of mankind.  Let me spin out the story in this chapter a little more concisely – because personally I had trouble following the story amidst all of the details in the chapter.

Retelling the Story

The king of Syria comes to Ahab and demands to loot the nation.  Ahab agrees.  The king then demands to loot Ahab’s personal residence and Ahab will have no part.  The king of Syria comes to meet Ahab in battle, but through an unnamed prophet God announces to Ahab that he will deliver Israel.  God delivers them, but the Syrians convince themselves that if they fought on the plains – where their gods are stronger – that they could beat the Israelites.  So they come again to battle and God delivers the Syrian king into the hands of Ahab.  However, Ahab comes to a compromise with the Syrian king and they agree to his release.

Grace

Now, clearly we can see the grace of God.  There was no reason for God to step in and save the northern kingdom – especially Ahab!  God steps in and saves them because of His grace – purely because of His grace.  Even in the Old Testament – a testament that we typically think of as legalism and sacrifice and “earning” the cleansing of our sinful nature – we are reminded that grace is still the primary operator.

Judgment

However, it is not only grace at work in this story.  With respect to the Israelites, it is solely grace.  But with respect to the Syrians the time of their judgment has come.  God uses the Israelites as his weapon of judgment against the Syrians.  Now, this doesn’t at all negate the grace of God.  God could have brought judgment upon the Syrians however He desired.  The fact that he chose this moment to accomplish His will and simultaneously spare the Israelites from the Syrians is still amazing grace.

But it does remind us that God has other agendas in the world.  God is not solely focused on the Hebrew people; He is the God of the whole world.  While most of our scriptures involve stories from the Hebrew people, God is watching over the rest of the world.  I think this is important for us to remember – or at least I need to remember it!  Too easily I allow myself to think of myself as the center of the world.  Too easily I allow myself to focus on what God desires to do through me.  But really I should be focused on what is God doing in the world, and how I play a part of what God is doing in the world.  I am not the center of the world; I am merely a player on the stage of God’s design.

Condition of the Human Heart

Having seen God’s grace and His omnipotence, we also get a chance to see the despicable, compromising, and corrupt nature of the human heart.  Ahab has just been the recipient of undeserved grace.  God came and saved him when he didn’t deserve it.  God says that he will deliver Syria into Ahab’s hand, and what does Ahab do with Syria once the king is delivered into his hand?  The king turns around and seeks for a compromise with the Syrian king so that Ahab can benefit.  Ahab has no desire to explain to the Syrian king why God is the most powerful and why God delivered Syria into the hands of the Hebrew people.  No, Ahab ungraciously takes God’s grace and turns it into his own advantage.  What God intended for the judgment of Syrians or even as a demonstration of His power so the Syrians could recognize His omnipotence, Ahab turns into an opportunity for personal profit.

How guilty of this dynamic am I?  Practically every moment of my life I am no better than Ahab.  How gracious has God been to me?  Look at all the things that God has delivered into my hands.  And what do I do with them?  I turn them into my advantage.  I don’t use them to promote God.  I don’t use them to tell other people why I rely totally upon God.  I take the gifts of God, use them to my advantage, and then discard them when they are no longer useful.  So much of my life is spent without acknowledging God’s grace to me.  In this respect, I am no different than Ahab.

I think of this fact especially in reference to my blog post yesterday.  We are supposed to be about making disciples.  Am I doing this?  Sure, I am.  I cannot deny that there are a handful of people in this world that I am actively in the process of discipling.  But could I be doing better?  Could I be doing more?  Could I be using more effectively the resources that God has offered to me?  Could I give more of my time to the discipleship of others?  Could I make it more the focus of my life?  The answer to all these questions is yes.  I could do better.  I should do better.  I should be more responsive to the grace that God has given me in this life.

Let’s ponder the lesson we have from Ahab today.  God is gracious when we do not deserve it.  We need to think more about turning God’s grace into God’s advantage rather than our own.

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Year 1, Day 360: 1 Kings 19

Picking Back Up from Yesterday

This is a phenomenal trio of stories that we have today.  But before I get ahead of myself, let’s pick up the unfinished business that I left.  How does the world react to a strong display of God’s presence?  We assume that they would see God and know the error of their ways.  But is that what actually happens in this story?

Ahab sees the action for himself.  Apparently he is confused and weak, because he immediately returns to Jezebel, his wife.  He doesn’t repent – he doesn’t have the strength of character to admit that he was wrong and turn to God!  No, he tucks his tail and runs for what he believes is safety.  He runs back to Jezebel, finds comfort in her arms – which also embrace other gods – and then together they resolve to destroy God’s prophets.  Of course, the masses go along with the flow and let Ahab and Jezebel try to hunt down Elijah.

Here’s the truth, folks.  Great displays of God’s power bring about great displays of human bravado.  People who are opposed to God aren’t often turned by God’s displays.  Their hearts are hardened and their resolve is bolstered.  Think about the Pharaoh in Egypt during the time of Exodus.  Think about Saul and his time of reign and all the opportunity that he had to repent when God acted.  Think about Ahab and Jezebel here.  Think about Herod at the time of Jesus’ birth.  Think of the Sanhedrin (and the crowds, even!) at the time of Jesus’ preaching and miracles.  Think of the vast majority of people who saw James, John, Peter, and even Paul perform miracles.  We think they should turn, repent, and see God’s power.  But typically the people do not.  Leaders and people who “have life figured out” rebel against strong displays of God’s power.  Bravado and strong posturing are what we get from the world, not repentance.

On the other hand, truly humble people – people who don’t really need God’s displays of power – are the ones who stop and worship God.  Think about Mary when Gabriel visited her.  Think about the shepherds when they are presented by the testimony of the angels.  Think about Abraham when he is visited by the angelic messengers.  Think about Daniel and the many displays he saw of God’s power.  The humble – the ones who know God’s power and already honor Him – those are the ones who respond to God in the way that we think all people should.  That is a really important lesson to learn today.

The next time you are facing strong-willed resistance in your faith and you are tempted to think that if God could just show Himself to the person/people resisting the faith, don’t be tempted to call out for a strong display of God.  That will typically only result in the further hardening of their hearts as the people dig in their heels and seek to prove themselves to be correct.  It’s just human nature to be that way.  Instead, pray for prophets to come among them and slowly preach grace, love, mercy, and God’s ways to them.  After all, that’s ultimately the example we see God use when He sent Christ to earth.

Elijah and the Cave

So I have spent most of my space on the residual question from yesterday and I am running out of space to talk about Elijah.  So I’ll make it quick.  I love Elijah because he is a character like David.  His character flaws come forth so readily that I can identify with him.  Elijah flees Jezebel, choosing to run, hide, and begs God to let him die rather than face Jezebel.  Forgive me for being honest and transparent, but that is so very much like me at times.  I think this is like most humans, actually.  When things get tough, we run so long and only when we have run long enough do we circle the wagons and prepare a proper defense.  But we run so often.  For most of us, “flight” is a stronger reaction than “fight.”

Of course, God still comes to Elijah and helps prepare him for the fight ahead.  He feeds him.  He directs him to a cave where God reveals that He is working where Elijah would not expect Him to be working: amidst the silence and not the power of the storm.  He teaches Elijah that He is present in all things.  Even when Elijah is running away and begging for his death God is still coming to him and inviting him into His work.  That’s how gracious God is.

Elijah and Elisha

Then God directs Elijah to go get help.  Do you know what the cure is for an ailing leader?  A disciple.  It’s that simple. 

Most spiritual leaders are “ailing” because they feel as though their work for God is fruitless.  They see no results from their efforts.  They feel like they preach, teach, and minister while the world goes on unchanged.  And yes, we know that’s a lie, but we believe it anyway. 

But when a person comes along that the leader can disciple, now the leader has focus.  He can see the changes happening.  He can be inspired by the growth of the other.  The best cure for an ailing leader is for that leader to pick up a disciple.  None of us can change the world.  But we can be a part of God’s change one person at a time.

Isn’t this what happens with the Apostle Paul?  Sure, Paul is a strong leader, teacher, and preacher.  But you always hear Paul talking about the brothers and sisters around him.  He talks about Timothy, Titus, Silas, Chloe, Priscilla, Aquilla, John Mark, Luke, Aristarchus, and Phoebe.  Paul had a small group around him that he was actively in the process of discipling.  That’s what kept him strong.  That’s what carried him through the spiritual valleys.  That’s what got him through the beatings.  These are the people whose story of change kept him hopeful in prison. 

So in Elijah’s moment of weakness, God sends him someone to disciple.  God is so good, and He knows just what the cure is.*

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*For the record, I don’t mean to leave Jesus off of this list.  Of course, it is for Christ that Paul ministers.  It is for Christ that Paul preaches.  I don’t mean to imply that Paul was doing it for the wrong reasons.  Certainly Paul was focused on Christ.  I hope that in attempting to assert the importance of disciples in Paul’s life I did not give the impression that Christ was any less important.  In fact, I would say that each of these relationships exalt Christ, because it was Christ who was the driving core of each of these relationships.

Year 1, Day 359: 1 Kings 18

Obadiah

Today we have a choice to make.  I find myself torn this morning as we read the passage on Obadiah the prophet.  On one hand I have tremendous respect for Obadiah.  Yet as I read one of my favorite commentaries I find a perspective completely contrary to my own perspective.  So, I am going out on my own today – going away from the thoughts of one of my closest theological friends.  But this is life sometimes, and of all the days to go out on a limb, the day where we celebrated the gift of Grace coming in the bodily form of Jesus Christ seems to be a good day to do so!

As I read the story of Obadiah, it is easy to see how Obadiah was a “compromiser.”  He was still working under King Ahab.  As we can see with the pursuit of grass for the animals, we can see that he is still taking orders from the king.  It is easy to come down in judgment against his choices.

However, we also see a person that God used in the place that He was in.  When Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord it was Obadiah who was there to save a good number of them!  When God wanted Elijah to come and confront Ahab, it was Obadiah that God used to get Elijah into Ahab’s presence.  I personally believe that Obadiah is not a compromiser; rather I believe that Obadiah is serving the Lord in a context that is very difficult.

I mean no personal slam against Elijah in what I am about to say.  Anyone can go away and hide.  Now, I mean this as no slam against Elijah because Elijah was doing what God told him to do.  So don’t take that comment as me comparing Obadiah to Elijah.  But look at what Obadiah does.  Obadiah finds a way to fear the Lord and remain in contact with the king in spite of Jezebel’s personal vendetta against the prophets of the Lord!  Obadiah could have easily hid himself, but he sticks his neck out on the chopping block so that he is in a position to be used when God should need him – and we see at least twice that God does use him!

However, anytime a spiritual person remains in contact with the enemy – in this case, Ahab - or even more generically “sinners” it is easy for the “spiritual elite” to judge the person who chooses to remain among the sinful.  It is easy to look at the one who remains in contact and speak of them as one who compromises their faith.  It is easy to say that their faith is not strong enough to abandon everything for the Lord.  But it may be those who stay in contact who have the stronger faith.  It may be them who have picked up the mantle of Christ and who are trusting God to continue to use them in the midst of sin and evil.

In the end, I do not mean to judge either position.  One can separate oneself from sin and evil in a holy way; one can separate oneself from sin and evil in a way that demonstrates cowardice and refusal to obey God.  One can dwell among sin and evil in a holy way; one can dwell among sin and evil in a way that leads to corruption.  My point is not to lift one position above the other.  Rather, my point here is to say that the important thing is to follow the Lord’s calling in this world and do what He asks.  Judge not others who are also pursuing the call of the Lord – as long as they are genuinely pursuing the Lord.  We see Elijah and Obadiah serving the Lord in opposite ways in this chapter and the prior chapter.  The important part is not their differences, but the fact that they are available and willing to be used by God.

Elijah and the Prophets of Ba’al

As we turn to look to one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament, let me pause and point out one of Elijah’s strongest character flaws.  Again, I don’t illustrate this in judgment against him.  We all have flaws.  But we can learn from Elijah’s flaws – especially those of us in spiritual leadership.  The flaw comes in verse 22 where Elijah says, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord.”  Elijah’s pride and confidence leads him to a poor place of spiritual discernment.  He sees himself as alone, when God has been working to save others just like him.  We’ll see this again much more clearly tomorrow.  So let’s hold onto this phrase and surge ahead.

Elijah had just met Obadiah and Obadiah had told him about the prophets that were saved.  God has just shown him that He is not alone, but he doesn’t see Obadiah as a “real” person of God.  His pride gets in the way. 

But the truth is, I suffer from the same flaw.  I think that’s why I needed to point it out today.  As I read this text the Holy Spirit was illustrating that I have a very similar fault.  I think it is a natural character flaw for leaders to have.  When we see people serving in a different capacity than ourselves we jump to the conclusion that they aren’t serving God when really they could be serving them in a context far more difficult than our own.

In spite of this flaw (which naturally comes out of confidence, of course), God uses Elijah to show His great power.  The priests of Ba’al cannot bring down fire because God was not willing.  But in spite of the water, God was willing to bring down fire upon His own altar.  God demonstrates to His people that He is powerful.  The prophets of Ba’al are seized and slaughtered.  It seems like quite a victory for God.

Even more, after this victory the Lord sends rain and Elijah speaks of it to Ahab.  Ahab sees the cloud coming and God’s prophecy through Elijah is proven true.  Not only has fire consumed a damp altar and God’s presence was proven to be real, but God also showed Himself true to His Word (prophecy, promise, etc).  This really sounds like it should be a victory for God among the people.

I’ll leave us there until tomorrow.  There we shall see the result of God demonstrating Himself in such a visible means.  Tomorrow we will discover how the world reacts to such a visible display of God’s presence.  For today, let’s simply bask in the glory that is God’s presence.  God revealed Himself to the people through Elijah’s sacrifice.  It is good to stop and acknowledge God when we see Him.

Speaking of which, God has come and dwelled among us, has He not?  Jesus was born.  Jesus Christ was born to die.  Jesus the Christ was born to save.  He will come again!  Yet I end up asking the same question as I just asked a paragraph prior in the end of my blog on 1 Kings 18.  How will the world respond to such a visible display of His presence?

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Year 1, Day 358: 1 Kings 17

Elijah’s In the House – and Then Out of it!

Today we open 1 Kings 17 with a disastrous story.  Imagine hearing Elijah make the pronouncement that it would not rain upon the earth unless he says for it to rain.  And then what is the next thing He does?  God tells him to go away! 

Imagine hearing that there will be no rain until Elijah speaks and the next thing he does is disappear.  Talk about making a point.  This would be no simple drought.  There would be no way to wear down Elijah’s patience and get him to try and be merciful.  He pronounces judgment, indicates the condition for the judgment to stop, and then promptly removes himself so that the condition cannot be met.

This is not a case of God or Elijah being mean.  This is not God or Elijah being uncaring.  This is essentially what every parent has done when telling a child to go to their room and think about what they’ve done.  You discipline the child and give them time to contemplate what has happened.  It is important that the Hebrew people figure out the consequences and weigh the consequences with their action.  This is an important part in understanding responsibility, accountability, and guilt.

This is also an important part of faith.  How are we as God’s people ever to appreciate the salvation that He provides unless we understand our own depravity?  Unless we know our own sinfulness, can we ever appreciate the gift of grace? 

This is why God puts the Israelites under a drought.  They need to understand the depravity of their actions, repent, and come back to him.  They need to experience a life of their own power – or lack thereof – so that they can come back grateful to God.  How long has man tried to make it rain under our own power and we simply cannot make it happen!

Unfortunately they are like a stubborn child who refuses to learn the lesson.  It will take more than a simple drought to convince these people to repent.  But it is a great place to start.

God’s Provision

Elijah then goes and is fed by ravens and got water out of a brook.  God provides, but God does it his own way.  Elijah has to humble himself and trust in God’s ravens.  Elijah has to realize that he will not be able to care for his own needs in the midst of a national drought.  Even the prophet has a lesson to learn. 

This should not be overlooked.  God’s servants and God’s prophets don’t know it all when they begin to follow God.  In fact, they don’t even know it all when their days have come to an end!  They will make mistakes and do their own share of learning along the way, too.  It is so easy to assume that God’s prophets have the story all figured out before God even asks them to go.  The truth is, God’s prophets have just as much to learn and understand as do the people to whom they are talking.

Elijah’s In the Widow’s House!

Elijah then moves on to the widow.  The first story that we have is the jar of flour and container of oil that don’t run out.  There are a plethora of lessons here.  Notice that the widow puts God’s agenda before her own.  She was planning on making a final meal and then dying with her son.  But she takes out of whatever meal she had planned and gives to Elijah first.  When she puts God’s agenda first, she is wide open to seeing His will.

God simply asks that we give Him what He has already given to us.  He doesn’t need us to be great; He needs us to be willing so that He can be great through us.  He doesn’t need us to be an expert; He needs us to be open to allow Him to be the expert through us.  He doesn’t need us to have a plan; He needs us to be willing to follow-through with the plan He already has put into motion.  He can do the miracle; we just need to be willing to be the vessel that He has called us to be.

Finally we have the story of the widow’s son.  Whereas the food from the ravens and the brook was Elijah’s time to learn, the death of widow’s son is her time to learn.  It is sad to see her react in a lack of faith as she does.  After all, does it really have to take the death of her son to know Elijah’s God is real?  How long have they been eating out of a jar of flour that won’t go empty!  However, I certainly cannot fault her or blame her for her expression here.  The death of one’s son is a great stress; people often react out of poorly thought emotion during such time.

We should understand the pattern presented here in this chapter now that we have worked our way through it.  Times of blessing often precede times of testing, just as the woman was blessed with flour prior to the death of her son.  We think of it the other way around.  Often, times of reward do follow times of trial: think of Job, Abraham, Joshua, etc.  However, it is just as often that times of trial follow times of blessing.  Sometimes the blessing is a test and our trial reveals whether we were prepared to pass or not: think of Solomon, who failed when given a blessing of wisdom as a test.  Sometimes the blessing is a deepening of our spirituality and the trial is simply answering God’s call: think about Paul who underwent a blessing on the road to Damascus but that set up for a lifetime of trial for the sake of Jesus.  Whatever the case, we should understand that blessing often precedes trial.

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NOTA BENE:

I pray that everyone has a blessed Christmas Eve, and if you belong to a congregation that has a Christmas Eve service I pray that your service is a blessing to your life.  Let us not forget that tomorrow is the day we celebrate not just an infant babe in the manger – but God’s plan of salvation come in flesh to this world.  Jesus came, hallelujah!  He came to die for our sake.  Amen, amen.

Year 1, Day 357: 1 Kings 16

From Jeroboam to Ahaz

In 1 Kings 16 we get to move from Jereboam to Ahab with respect to Israel.  Ahab is a serious king – perhaps there is more written about Ahab’s reign than any other king of the northern kingdom of Israel.  Of course, it is during Ahab’s reign that we have all of the tremendous stories of Elijah – whom the Hebrew people consider the prophet par excellence.  But before we get to Ahab, let’s summarize what is happening.

In the southern kingdom (Judah) we have Asa reigning and as we spoke yesterday, doing a very good job at it.  He is slowly purging the land and trying to bring the people back to God, although we do know that it will be short-lived.  Things are slowly migrating back to a positive direction in Judah.

In the north (Israel), things are going the opposite.  We slip through nearly a half of a dozen kings.  We have idolatry.  We have political assassinations.  We have political coups.  These people are far from God and the Israelites are looking more like the world each and every day.  It is sad, but these are God’s people who are doing this to themselves.

Eventually, we end up with Ahab on the throne.  Jezebel – yes, we have that word in English because of this woman – is brought in to be Ahab’s wife.  Together they take God’s people and encourage the worship of idols and foreign gods.  Together they will willfully and willingly drag the Israelites away from God.

I think it is important to see this comparison because it is a pattern that we see all the time in life.  When one person begins to get their life in order, quite often the people around them go the opposite way.  I can’t tell you how many times I have see a spouse come to greater faith and almost immediately the other spouse begins a time of serious rebellion.  I can’t tell you how many times as a youth leader that I’ve seen one of my youth really start to branch out and grow closer to God and then before too long one or two different youth in the youth group start to seriously backslide.  How many times in a family does one child begin to pull it together and grow only to have a sibling begin to fall apart?  This pattern we see with respect to Judah and Israel happens all the time in real life!

The question that it raises for me is: why?  I think the answer is subconsciously religious.  In order to “get right with God” one must change one’s perspective, see themselves as a sinner, repent of their sin, and then begin to change how they structure their life.  It is hard work, but eventually the hard work begins to pay off.  At this point, the people around the person who has repented begin to notice changes.  Some people immediately rebel against the repentant changes out of spite.  Others might be encouraged to try to change themselves but get frustrated by how hard it is.  Whatever the reason, people often resent someone who actually manages to get their life back on track because it brings an illustration of how the rest of the people haven’t done so.  Rather than being inspired to do the same in our life, we tend to resent the other person “showing us up.”

I think this is the dynamic at work.  Asa begins to reform the southern kingdom and things start to look up.  The kings in the north don’t want to be shown up but they also don’t have the inner fortitude to do what it takes to come back to God humbly.  So they try to compete using their own ways and end up in things like political assassination and coups.  They end up falling away from God even farther and faster because they don’t have what it takes to do it the right way – God’s way.  The lesson learned in this is that we can’t shortcut the path to God.  We must come to God through humble contrition – repentance before change.

Provoking the Lord

I’ve spoken in very general terms about the decline listed in this chapter, and I’d like to spend the rest of my space talking about a single verse: “Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”  (ESV, 1 Kings 16:33)  Can you imagine having that as your epitaph?  Let this stand in sharp contrast to what was said yesterday about Asa!

It is with this sentence that we truly are prepared for the coming chapters.  God’s people have fallen into great sin.  God’s people have descended into horrific peril.  How does God respond?  He doesn’t force anything on them.  He sends them … wait for it … Elijah.  He gives them a prophet (well, several prophets, but Elijah is the one remembered).  It is in our greatest times of peril that God sends us prophets to lead us. 

The question is, do we heed their words and listen? 

Or do we ignore their words and run headlong into our sin? 

Rest assured.  The timing of Elijah’s coming combined with the “epitaph of Ahab” is no coincidence.  It is God at work.  The only thing that can bring a rebellious people back is the bold and fierce proclamation of God’s Word.

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Year 1, Day 356: 1 Kings 15

We have two tough lessons here in 1 Kings 15.  One lesson deals with how God’s people treat each other.  The second lesson deals with how God’s people understand the definition of the word “family.”  Let’s look at both of these issues in that order.

God’s People and Internal Conflict

First, as we go through the list of kings – often flipping between Israel and then Judah – we hear about war between the two nations.  At first blush, this makes sense.  After all, they were once a single country.  Because of the rivalries created under David and the taxation created under Solomon, the rest of the country split away from Judah.  So it makes sense that there would be some bad blood between them.  It makes sense that they should have an innate antagonism.

But if we quit thinking like the world for a second, this should make no sense to us at all.  These are God’s people.  These are the people to whom God gave the Law.  These are the people whose history proclaims the very real presence of God.  These are a holy and special people – chosen by God’s own hand.  What have they come to?  Civil War.

Civil war comes to these people because they do not stop and humble themselves in God’s presence.  They care more about themselves than God’s ways.  Their selfish pursuit of their own national agendas forces their perspective onto anything but God’s ways.  When they refuse to look at God’s ways, they cannot see the way to peace and life together.  They cannot see community.  They cannot see anything but the hatred that lies inside of themselves for the other.

Christians should really stop and pay attention here.  So many churches are kept from doing God’s will because they are too busy fighting inside of themselves.  So many churches are kept from doing good work in the community because they are too busy competing with the other churches around them.  When we fight amongst ourselves, when we celebrate a gain in membership because someone left their home church to come to “my” church over a personal dispute, when we feel the need to speak lowly about another denomination’s perspective on faith – then we are not working for Christ.  We are squabbling like children. 

That being said, I do feel the need to say that we should be critical of false teaching.  But we should not be critical of teaching that is simply different but still theologically sound.  If a person believes something different but it is supported by God’s Word, we should make room for them.

Family Among God’s People

Second, let’s look at a particular definition of family that we see here in this passage.  It starts with an anomaly: King Asa of Judah is faithful to the ways of God.  Do you see what Asa did that found favor in the eyes of the Lord?  Asa dealt with cult prostitution, he removed the idols that the prior kings – his own fathers! –had established, and he not only removed his mother from power but also cut down her image.

Stop there for a moment.  Imagine what happened to Asa.  The home that he grew up in was no doubt corrupt.  His mother and father were interested in the cult religions of the Canaanites, Egyptians, and other nations.  Wherever it was that he learned about God, it certainly wasn’t at home!  So when Asa becomes king, he doesn’t even have the family support network when he goes about instituting the changes in a push to go back to God.  Imagine making all of this change – and not only doing it without your family support but doing it in the face of your family!

Asa deserves some pretty serious credit for what he does in this chapter.  I know the Bible does say the high places weren’t taken away – but I don’t hold it against Asa any more than the Bible does.  The Bible says that in spite of this he still followed the ways of the Lord and deserves the credit.

But what really jumped out at me was this bit about Asa doing it against the pattern of his family.  In fact, by removing his mother from power and tearing down her images he is essentially cutting himself out of the family.  Asa redefines family for himself based on something other than genealogy.  He defines family based on faithfulness to God.

I find this absolutely refreshing.  I understand the pain that this caused Asa and I respect him all the more for it.  I wonder what the Hebrew people could have been had more people had the faith to define family based on connection to God (like Asa) rather than genealogy?  For that matter, I wonder what the Christian church could become if we would be willing to do the same?

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Year 1, Day 355: 1 Kings 14

Jeroboam’s Depravity

1 Kings 14 starts us off in tragedy.  Jeroboam’s boy (probably a young adult by this time in Jeroboam’s reign) falls fatally ill.  Of course, Jeroboam is no doubt concerned about the status of his empire and whether or not his son will be able to rule the empire.  So Jeroboam turns to the prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah.

Now, let’s stop here and examine this story while laying out all the facts.  First, Jeroboam is the one who set up the temples in Dan and Bethel.  But when the chips are down, who is it that Jeroboam turns to?  He turns to a prophet of the Lord in Judah.  If nothing else, this makes Jeroboam a hypocrite.  It also shows the depravity of what he had done with the establishment of the northern temples in that he had intentionally cut off the access that his people had to the true God.  He obviously knew what he had done because when he really needed truth he himself turned to Judah!

There can be no wonder that God held him in such judgment.  God had stripped 10 tribes away from Rehoboam and given them to Jeroboam, who had no reason to expect them to come his way.  Jeroboam could have turned the people to the Lord.  He could have turned them to give glory to God.  But this is not what happened.  Jeroboam turned the people that God had given to him away from the Lord.  Indeed God had every right to hold him in judgment.

This story reminds me of the story in Mark 1:40-45 that we studied this morning in Bible Study.  In the story, Jesus cleanses a leper.  After making the leper whole again, Jesus asks simply that the leper follow the law.  What does the leper do?  He brags to just about everyone except those in the temple.  He had every reason to go and worship God and give God the glory, but that is the one thing that he does not do.  So often this is the case with us as Christians and followers of God.  We pray and pray for relief.  When it comes we jump up in celebration and completely abandon giving God the glory and coming into His presence to worship Him.  So often we fail to honor God and remember Him in the same way as we see in the leper from the Gospel of Mark as well as Jeroboam in this tragic story of the end of his life.

True Prophet

So Jeroboam does send his wife in disguise to the prophet in Judah.  I don’t want to make too much of this story, but it is neat to hear that a blind prophet of God was not fooled by some disguise!  When said that way, we really see the foolishness of the wisdom of this world.  Jeroboam has his wife get into a disguise to go fool some man who couldn’t see because of his age anyway!  Sigh.  We human beings can be so dense some times.

The neat part is that this poor blind man easily sniffs out the deception because the Lord is on his side.  Since his message comes from the Lord, he is not deceived.  The prophet gives the wife of Jeroboam the message that God has designed for her to hear.

The other neat part of this story is that it really shows just what the world thinks about God and God’s servants.  They think that a shallow surface level disguise is able to confuse God and his servants.  Furthermore, they must think that God is bound by His servants and not the other way around.  That is to say that Jeroboam must have thought if he could trick the prophet into giving a favorable prophecy that God would have to honor it.  But neither is true.  God takes the lead over the prophets, not the other way around.  God is not fooled, God delivers the message that God wants delivered.  You cannot fool God with some simple disguise; you cannot trick God’s prophets into forcing God’s hand.

Gone in a Flash

To end this chapter we have the tale of Rehoboam, who led the people of Judah away from the Lord.  It is significant to notice how the Lord used Egypt to bring judgment upon Rehoboam and the people.  All the work that Solomon toiled to bring for his glory was gone in a heartbeat.  The Egyptians plundered the house of the Lord and the house of the king.  All that Solomon struggled to achieve, all that he had managed to gain through his political maneuverings, all that the lust of his heart had brought into Judah was sent away with a simple act of the Lord’s hand. 

The Lord dismissed all the trappings that Solomon once thought were important.  God had told Solomon that it wasn’t the building or the furnishings that really mattered to Him.  God had told Solomon that there wasn’t anything that He was more concerned about that humble and submitted obedience to His ways.  God cares about the human heart, and as He demonstrates in this story He is ready and willing to cast aside the trappings of this world.  What are they to God?

God begins the long process of humbling His people.  He humbled Rehoboam as He tried to humble Jeroboam.  But it was not time for the people to listen.  Their fall into the ways of the world was not yet complete.  Oh, how pitiable are we who fall from grace, who receive God’s discipline, and who do not heed the opportunity to repent.

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