July 2023
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 41
K I n g s .. The Divided Kingdoms
Ministry of Elisha 1
Elisha requested his mentor Elijah, (2 Kings 2:9) that he receive a double portion of his spirit. Today we ‘reflect’ on Elisha’s miraculous ministry as we recognise in him, a boldness to speak, to act, and to prophecy, as he was directed by the LORD.
First, we are told of a widow of one of the prophets (location not specified) in desperate circumstances, with a creditor about to take her sons, until the next year of Jubilee (as prescribed in Torah), in payment for her debt, We know the story well. The only thing of any value she possessed was ‘a jar of olive oil’. The LORD multiplied that oil, so it could be sold to pay the debt and provide a living for the widow and her sons into the future. It also, simultaneously, raised Elisha’s profile in the eyes of the people.
Elisha evidently travelled the country in his ministry, and often passed through the town of Shunem north of Mt. Gilboa, near the Jezreel Valley. He was accompanied by his servant Gehazi. A lady of the town recognised that Elisha was a servant of God, and gratuitously provided a simple lodging for him in their home. Elisha was anxious to repay the lady for her kindness. Gehazi discovered that the lady was married to an elderly man and was childless. Thinking that it would be a blessing to the lady to have a son, Elisha prophesied that a son would be born to her within the year. And he was. Some years later, the little boy, whilst in a field watching the harvest, was afflicted with a serious sickness, and died. The distraught Shunemite lady knew where Elisha would be, and travelled without delay to Mount Carmel to see him. I find it interesting that Elisha could see great distress in the lady as she approached and then seemed puzzled that “The LORD has hidden it from me, and has not told me”. The whole story is in ch 4: 8 - 37. Please read it.
I enter the realms of speculation as I continue with the ‘reflection’ on this event, as I seek to find a lesson in this miracle of God. The little boy’s birth was prophesied by Elisha, but there does not appear to be “God involvement” leading up to that prophecy. However, God honoured Elisha in the birth of that “gift child” to the Shunemite lady. There’s no obviously unusual circumstance surrounding the death of that little boy. He became sick and he died. Must have happened many times before and since. The child had unexpectedly come into the lady’s life, and we can only guess that she was overjoyed by that, but now the child was dead. In her overwhelming grief, she chastised Elisha because the contentment she knew before the child came, she was unable to envisage ever again, now that the child was dead. Distraught is the word that comes to mind. Elisha shared her grief. He despatched Gehazi to Shunem with instructions to lay his staff on the face of the child, expecting that God would use that connection to raise the child to life again. It didn’t. What happened next provides a lesson for us. When God is involved, the healing occurred. Some may dispute this, but I have only found three occasions in the Scriptures where the words "prayed for” are used in the process of healing. This is one of them. In other healing miracles, and there are many of them, it is the ‘gift of healing’ which is exercised. (Just as Yeshua commanded his disciples in Matthew 10:8) In any event, when he and the dead lad were in that closed room, Elisha prayed. In fact, he did what Elijah had done years earlier (1 Kings 17:17-24), and then he was able to present the living child to his grieving mother.
Elisha went from there to Gilgal, east of the Jordan River. There was famine in the land. The prophets (we’ve come across them several times in this place) had little to eat, so Elisha ordered that some stew be made from herbs and ‘wild mushrooms’. It turned out to be a poisonous brew ! But the LORD turned Elisha’s faith into a sumptuous feast.
The story of Namaan, commander of the army of Syria, is very well known. His healing from leprosy was almost missed because of his pride. But the story has a ‘sting in its tail’. In anticipation of Namaan’s healing, the king of Syria had generously included substantial payment. When Namaan’s hand was healed of the leprosy, Elisha steadfastly refused to take it. Neither Elisha nor Almighty God could be ‘bought’ with money. That extends today to the greatest gift ever given to mankind. It IS a gift, it CANNOT be bought .. and that is the gift of salvation. Elisha’s servant Gehazi did not understand this, and ended up with the very curse that Namaan was healed of .. leprosy. There is a lesson here too. In our day there are people, very prominent and well known people, who seek to enrich themselves by ‘peddling’ the free gift which God offers. They are people who contemptuously ignore the warnings of God, and one which has been quoted in these ‘reflections’ many times. (Heb 10:31)
Elisha, gained great acclaim among the people as a “man of God”. He once made an iron axehead float because it had been borrowed by one of his followers. Elisha gained the confidence of the king of Israel by miraculously revealing to him the plans of his enemy the king of Syria. And there are many other accounts of the way God used Elisha to draw people to himself, which are recorded in the passage of scripture on which we ‘reflect’ today.
Ask the LORD to bless you as you read of the blessings which Elisha was able to bring to the people as he faithfully followed the LORD’s command. And what was his ‘secret’? He was faithful AND obedient.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 40
K I n g s .. The Divided Kingdoms
Elijah is rewarded 1
“Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to enquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?”. What an interesting question to begin our ‘reflection’ today. And, as a timely lesson, it offers us a chance to check our own reaction when faced with important issues of life. To whom, or to what, do we turn for guidance when we are troubled, or uncertain? King Ahaziah of Israel had an accident, so he wanted to know if he would recover. It is indeed an interesting story (ch.1) in which God powerfully demonstrated His own authority in the person of Elijah, albeit resulting in the death of over one hundred men who had been sent by the king Ahaziah to summon Elijah to appear before him. It also ended with the king not recovering from his injuries. So he died, and Jehoram became the ninth king of Israel in his place. It seems strange, but factual, that at the same time that Jehoram became king of Israel (replacing Ahaziah), another Jehoram ascended to the throne of Judah, replacing his father Jehoshaphat, a good king who ‘fell short’ by entering into an alliance with Ahaziah of Israel. It is also the case that the Jehoram of Judah had been closely trained for the position by Jehoshaphat in anticipation of trouble with other sons after his days. So it was that both northern and southern kingdoms were ruled by men of the same name, and both were described in the scriptures as ‘bad kings’ because they led their people in the ways of idolatrous worship.
Elijah had received foreknowledge, from God, that he was about to leave this earth. Because we have the privilege of historical knowledge, and know the story, it amazes me that there are still many things about Elijah which we do not really know, and much has been studied and speculated by experts up until this very day. We know where he lived, but we do not know where or when he was born (or even if he was naturally born !). We know what he did, and where he ministered. And we know that he was fiercely opposed to idolatrous worship of the Baal’s. We also know is that he received a great reward from God at the end of his ministry, the like of which was only given to one other before him. Both he and Enoch are exceptions to the truth of Hebrews 9:27. From all that, there are some who postulate that Elijah was an earthly embodiment of an angel of God sent here for a specific task. And finally, the very last verses of the Hebrew Scriptures in our Bible today prophesy that Elijah will return to this earth “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5,6) It certainly strikes me as significant that that is precisely the mission Elijah was assigned by God in relation to the northern kingdom of Israel, whose hearts had turned to the idolatrous worship of ‘other gods’, which their forefathers had covenanted to not do. A final observation, still very much alive today, but unknown to an overwhelming majority of christian believers. At Passover each year, every Jewish family seder includes a special cup of wine on their table, set there in faithful expectation of the appearance of the prophet Elijah who will announce the coming of the Messiah. And a tradition is that after the drinking of the third cup of wine, the cup of salvation, a child is sent to open the front door of the house to welcome Elijah, should he appear.
Elisha had become a constant companion, and assistant, to Elijah. However, having been forewarned about his imminent departure from this earth, Elijah sought to distance himself from Elisha, who would have none of it ! So it was that Elijah asked Elisha “What may I do for you, before. I am taken away from you?” It seems that Elisha was prepared for that question because he immediately answered “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me”. It was not in Elijah’s power to grant such a thing, but in faith Elijah said the if Elisha witnessed his departure from him, it might, or might not be given to him. Suddenly, as they were talking, “a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven, And Elisha saw it …”. Elisha picked up the mantle which had fallen from Elijah and returned to the River Jordan, for they were on the eastern side of it. “Then he took the mantle of Elijah … and struck the water with it (as he had seen Elijah do) and said ‘Where is the God of Elijah?’. And when he had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.” Thus it was, that Elisha, and all the prophets, knew that ‘the spirit of Elijah now rested on Elisha”.
The prophets persuaded Elisha that they should search for the body of Elijah in case the whirlwind had deposited his body somewhere, so they could bury him. His body was not found. Then the LORD blessed Elisha with miraculous power to turn ‘a spring of bad water into good water.’ Then he journeyed on through Judah to Bethel and on to Samaria. At this time, due to the ‘co-regency’ of Jehoshaphat and Jehoram in Judah, there may be confusion about the alliance between Judah and Israel and the king of Moab (who seemingly reneged on his promises) when Elisha was called upon to make a prophecy regarding that conflict. Elisha famously advised that the valley be filled with ditches, miraculously the ditches filled with water, and when viewed from the east at dawn the next day, caused the king of Moab to see what he perceived to be pools of blood of his enemies. The end of that was the defeat of the Moabites and further enhancement of the status of Elisha as the one chosen by God to take His message to the people of Israel.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 39
K I n g s .. the divided Kingdom
Elijah ministry continues 1
“And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all (450) prophets (of Baal) with the sword”. The domineering Jezebel was not pleased! She sent a message to Elijah threatening his life. It may surprise some to know that in spite of his confidence in God, Elijah took this threat very seriously and ‘ran for his life’ to Beersheba, in Judea (about 200 Km south of Mt Carmel). He then journeyed for a further day south into the Negev desert. While he slept, an angel woke him twice, miraculously providing food and water each time. He survived on the strength of that food for a further 40 days as he journeyed to a safe haven in a cave on Mt. Horeb, in the Sinai desert (about 600 Km south of Mt Carmel). As he rested there, exhausted, the LORD questioned him, (Elijah, thought he was the only one left who truely worshipped the LORD). He was told to go out onto the mountain and there the LORD spoke to him in that "still, small voice”, telling him to return to the north, with instructions about who he should meet and what he should do.
Three tasks lay before him. 1. He was to anoint Hazael king of Syria. 2. He was to anoint Jehu king of Israel (bear in mind that Ahab was still in power, and very much in control). 3. He was to anoint Elisha as prophet to eventually replace himself. It is probably true that Elijah, that faithful servant of the LORD, would have little knowledge of WHY he was given these tasks, but each one had a place in God’s plan to bring about the destruction of Baal worship by the Israelites. A destruction which was begun by Elijah on Mt Carmel. Interestingly, Elisha was the first one Elijah met, he was plowing a field at the time. A farmer. Elijah threw his coat onto Elisha as he was plowing, and from that moment Elisha took up the role as Elijah’s assistant. Only God Almighty could orchestrate such an encounter. This illustrates an important lesson for those willing to learn. When God speaks, and He does in various ways to those He has called to Himself, be diligent and obedient to that call. If one is unsure, do not proceed until God confirms, maybe through a trusted friend and believer, or directly through His word, the task you believe He has assigned to you. Elijah was given a ‘long apprenticeship’ in trusting the call of God.
The first task the LORD assigned to Elijah, anointing Hazael as king of Syria (2 Kings 8:13) would be accomplished much later, by Elisha when he had replaced Elijah as the LORD’s messenger. In the same manner, the task of anointing Jehu king of Israel (2 Kings 9:3) was also left for Elisha to perform.
There is are some important observations to be made here. As we continue with this ‘reflection’ some might think that God changed His mind about the tasks assigned to Elijah. However, we must remember that God’s timing is never wrong, but it does not always accord with man’s timing. Also, as we will discover later, when God spectacularly took Elijah from this earth, a double portion of the spirit with which God had anointed Elijah, was passed on to his assistant, Elisha. But it required faithful obedience on Elijah’s part to bring it all to fruition.
We have noted that king Ahab of Israel, aided and abetted by his domineering wife Jezebal, had encouraged the people into gross idolatry. At the same time, due to Israel’s proximity to Syria, there was much animosity between them. King Ben-Hadad raided Israel, but was captured. Instead of taking his life Ahab chose to make a peace treaty with Ben-Hadad, For that compromise, God sent a man to Ahab to prophecy that he would lose his life in place of the Syrian. But that would come later. Ahab resumed his treachery, strongly led by his wife Jezebel, when he coveted, and took possession of the land of his neighbour Naboth. It was at this point that Elijah again confronted Ahab with the words “You have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold I will bring calamity on you.” This brought about a temporary period of change in Ahab, which in turn caused the LORD to delay His judgement on him. Then followed three years of peace between Israel and Syria.
During this time of peace, Ahab’s thoughts turned to recovery of the Levitical city of Ramoth in Gilead, that had been part of Israel, on the east of the Jordan River. He sought the help of king Jehoshaphat of Judah. Jehoshaphat agreed to assist him, subject to going the approval of the LORD via His prophet. The prophets of the north immediately concurred that the land would be returned in battle. Jehoshaphat was unconvinced, and a prophet of the LORD, Micaiah by name, was called. Now Ahab didn’t regard him very highly because “he would not prophecy good things about me, but evil.” In the event, Micaiah at first, sarcastically, went along with the false prophets, knowing that the LORD had allowed a lying spirit to enter the false prophets as they spoke of a resounding victory for Ahab. Then Micaiah spoke up and exposed the fact that a lying spirit had entered these false prophets, and far from victory, they would be defeated. Thus it was that Ahab was killed in that battle, and Ahaziah, his son reigned in his place, and he too “did evil in the sight of the LORD”.
Jehoshaphat continued, like his father Asa before him, leading the people of Judah righteously for a further 5 or so years after Ahab died. “Never-the-less the high places were not taken away, for the people (continued to) offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places”.
Then he died and his son Jehoram reigned in his place.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 38
K i n g s .. the divided Kingdom
Elijah sent by God 1
Asa was king in Judah, doing good things to return the nation to righteous living and honouring God. At the same time he was faced with a number of leadership changes which took place in Israel (northern kingdom). At no time was there harmony between these divided kingdoms. In a relatively short period of time, when Asa was king in Judah, Israel was led by eight different kings. Typical of the comment about these kings of Israel is that made about Omri, the seventh king. “Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all who were before him”. It is worthy of comment that it is NOT what is “right in our own eyes” that matters. Moses chastised the Israelites for that in Deuteronomy 12:8. And in the days of the Judges, when there was no king, we are told the same thing about the lifestyle of the Israelites (Judges 17:6 and 21:25). The lesson here is that God has laid down His standard for living righteously. And it is against that standard that we will all one day be judged (Hebrews 9:27 ‘the first’ and Rev 20:12 ‘the second’ and final death). And what I read in my Bible says that the people on whom we are ‘reflecting’ today will face judgement by a righteous God in the same way as those of us living today. Selah.
After Omri, his son Ahab became king for the next 21 years. I speculate of course, but it seems to me that when Ahab took leadership of Israel, God said “enough”. Ahab was a bad, bad, man. “Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who went before him”. His father, Omri, held the previous record, but Ahab exceeded him in leading the people into idolatry and unrighteousness. Just as king Solomon, and later king Abijah of Judah had done, Ahab too married a Phoenician princess. Her name was Jezebel. Of the Sidonians of Phoenecia it is written “In character they were careless, idolatrous, superstitious, wicked and unpenitent.” It is also true that Jezebel was a dominant, if not domineering, woman. It is from this trait that we have the depiction of a “Jezebel spirit”, applied today as an unflattering description of some women. But it was the combination of Ahab and Jezebel that caused God to bring the prophet Elijah from his home in Gilead, east of the Jordan River, in what is today the southern end of the Golan Heights, to the Brook Cherith, where the LORD cared for him miraculously during a long drought in that land. See map for location details of the area of our ‘reflection’. This was obviously a time of training for Elijah for the onerous task the LORD had for him to accomplish regarding the unpenitent, cruel, idolatrous king Ahab and his domineering wife Jezebel. Elijah was placed in a situation in which he was totally dependant on the LORD for his survival. It is very difficult to think of a modern day parallel situation, but perhaps the cruelty of the holocaust might provide some, where God used human agency rather than birds to keep people alive.
The LORD then directed Elijah to go the town of Zarephath, in northern Phoenicia. The story is well known. Again, with miraculous power, the Lord preserved Elijah, as well as a poor widow and her son, during the balance of the debilitating drought in that land. Not only that, but the LORD also demonstrated His mighty power by showing Elijah that whenever he called upon the LORD, He listened to him, and granted the desire of his heart. In the case in point, restoring the life of the widow’s son. Elijah was now ready to face his biggest challenge. In the third year of the drought, God arranged for Elijah to meet with Obadiah, a faithful servant of God who worked in the household of Ahab. “Go tell your master that ‘Elijah is here’.” was Elijah’s command. Poor Obadiah was terrified for his life at the prospect. However, the message was conveyed to Ahab and he met with Elijah that very same day.
Ahab charged Elijah with ‘troublemaking’. Elijah’s unambiguous response was direct. “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your fathers house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals.” Then Elijah boldly directed Ahab to gather the people and the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel. The events which followed are described in detail (ch 18:20-40). Please read it and be amazed at the confidence and boldness of the challenge that Elijah placed before the people that day. He preceded that challenge with a demand, which the people judged to be fair. “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” Then Elijah told the people that a simple test was to be applied. Two altars of sacrifice were to be built, and each side would call on their God to consume that sacrifice with fire. The true God would so do. So all the people answered and said “It is well spoken”. Most people who ever attended a Sunday school would be familiar with the details and the result. BUT, there is an important lesson here for us today.
We live in times, almost 3,000 years later, when we are faced with an almost identical challenge. “How long will you falter between two opinions?”. Our Bible has been faithfully preserved with demonstrations of God’s awesome power and might, as demonstrated in our ‘reflection’. He has consistently maintained the covenant He made with the Israelites. Gentiles are welcomed to participate (Romans 11). 2,000 years ago, He sent our Saviour Yeshua. He posed a simple question to His followers. “Who do YOU say that I am? (Matt 16:15). What is your answer? There is no ‘sitting on the fence’ option.
Shabbat Shalom
RS.
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