IT CAN ALWAYS GET WORSE (2 Kings 14)

God was fully aware of the trouble in Israel, its bitterly hard times. No one was exempt, whether slave or citizen, and no hope of help anywhere was in sight. But God wasn’t yet ready to blot out the name of Israel from history, so he used Jeroboam son of Jehoash to save them. (2 Kings 26-27, MSG)

When I first lost my daughter to suicide, I felt like nothing could be worse. And so I began a game of thinking of situations which could be worse . . .

She disappeared and we never knew what happened

She was murdered and the murderer was never caught

Those two situations struck me as even worse ways to lose my daughter.

Of course, that kind of thinking didn't alter my pain and grief. 

That's the way this verse about the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel strikes me. The writer describes the current situation as "bitterly hard times." The disaster spared no strata of society, from the lowest slave to the wealthiest landowner. Even worse, they had no hope of things getting better. 

If they followed my line of thinking, as bad as things were, the only thing that could be worse would be total defeat and rule by another country. 

Yes, things can always be worse. 

What I find oddly comforting is the thought that even if this abismal situation, when the Israelites saw no hope, God showed them mercy. Instead of allowing the "even worse" to happen, he used a wicked king (Jeroboam II wasn't any better than Jeroboam I) to deliver them.

I take great comfort in the knowledge God will not blot out my name from the Book of Life. I belong to him today, tomorrow, and always. That even in my current circumstances, God measures the amount of grief I bear and surrounds me with hedges of protection. 

Interesting that this blog post should come up on the day before Mother's Day. My son will probably spend the day with his wife and her mother. I have come to accept it. But Mother's Day has become a holiday I would rather ignore. I've lost my mother and my daughter, our three-stranded cord that worshipped and celebrated together. Without them, I feel naked. 

Even on mother's Day--God fences me inside His green pasture and gives me cool water for my soul. 

MONEY PART 2: Jehoida's Achilles' heel

Today's chapters deal with the ugly, gory, ending to Ahab's family. 70 sons (?!), his relatives aligned with Judah's royalty, everyone aligned with them in any fashion--all massacred. It makes me uncomfortable, but I admire Jehu for removing Baal worship from Israel.

The passage with the hopeful story of the priest Jehoida's courage and saving the young Joash and Joash's return to worship of Israel's true God. I have often thought that Joash was only "good," however, until Jehoida died.

Today I noticed something I hadn't seen before. The priest I so admired, Jehoida, had feet of clay after all. (well, we all do. And the Bible never holds back in showing people's faults.)

Joash decided to repair the temple. He handed responsibility for handling the finances, from the offerings at the temple, over to the priests.

23 years into his reign, the temple was still in ruins. And he took control of the money back from the priests.

The priests--Jehoida is specifically  mentioned. A statement that no more money would be spent on unnecessary things like silver candle snuffers suggests how the money had been spent instead.

Oh, Jehoida. You hit such a home run for God by protecting David's line and destroying Ahab's and restoring temple worship. And then, you failed over how best to spend the money. He didn't have to intend to rob the treasury. He probably bought things of quality, things that would honor God in their use.

At worst, his crime was lining his own pockets. At best, he didn't see the big picture in terms of temple repair.

Perhaps the priests as a group should have sought a man who was a good accountant at heart.

Joash was a good leader; he recognized the problem and corrected it.

The most obvious application? Find the right person for the right job. Admit your weaknesses and seek help.

LOCKED, LATCHED, OR OPEN--DOORS (2 Kings 6-7)

The words that jumped out at me today struck me by their poetic extravagance. I'm not sure where I'll go with this, but we'll find out together.

Israel was in the middle of a 7 year famine (and still rebelling against God, but no surprise there). Unlike the dramatic showdown at Mt. Carmel between Elijah and Baal's prophets, Elisha casually walks up to the palace one day. The king was talking to Elisha at the end of chapter 6: "This trouble is directly from God! I'm fed up with God."

So perhaps chapter 7 is part of the same confrontation, or perhaps not. But one thing is clear: there was no love lost between the king and the prophet.

It does feel like poetic justice that Elisha's response to the king (I hate God!) was to announce, "The famine is over. Tomorrow one handful of meal or two handfuls of grain will cost a shekel."

The king's advisor scorned him. (any more than Ahab believed the drought was over when Elijah announced it.)  Here is the phrase that caught my attention: "You expect us to believe that? Trapdoors opening in the sky and food falling out?"

Maybe he should have studied Israel's history better. Because God did exactly that during the Wilderness Wanderings, providing quail until everyone was sick of meat. And manna showed up each morning like dew.

I'm arrested by the visual imagery of his complaint. A trapdoor in the sky and food falling out.  Can you picture it? The closest I can come to imagining it makes me laugh.

Do I need to point out that Elisha's prophecy came true?

Look at the juxtaposition of the two chapters. The king says, "I hate God!"

God responds--not with a dire warning, but with compassion and concern and love. "I'm stopping the famine."

The king's advisor, like the second thief crucified with Christ, made fun of God doing the impossible.  The king himself? He at least enjoyed telling tall tales of Elisha the prophet. Alas, he didn't repent, but he gave God's spokesperson a grudging respect.

Today I have been greatly discouraged. A door that  hoped would open wide for my writing instead only opened a crack. I have been mourning/ranging/crying about it all day.

Perhaps that's why I need this message tonight. When God moves, things can happen instantaneously. If God so chooses, the trapdoor that now remains latched although cracked, can swing wide open. Tomorrow.

If it does - praise God.

If it doesn't - still praise God. And realize that God is causing that the famine with that publisher for His own reasons.

MONEY MANAGEMENT (2 Kings 4)

I would rather not touch today's topic. Not because it's too difficult; but because it's an area I have struggled with.

DEBT

Tucked into the middle of all kinds of miracles that proved Elisha had a double portion of Elijah's spirit we find the story of the widow of one of the guild of the prophets.

Debt Indenture

Ah, but this prophet had a bad habit. He died broke, in debt, unprepared. The debt was so great that the debtor was going to claim her two sons as slaves.

This might not have been so bad for the boys, providing the slave owner followed the law. They would be released after six years. They couldn't be mistreated. They would have worked, but they would have been provided for.

But the poor woman--and her sons--faced with losing both husband father, mother and home, all in a matter of days.  My heart goes out to her. A tragedy beyond comprehension.

All because the father didn't manage his financial affairs properly.  Ouch. Neither have I.

Looking at the father's debt, Elisha's final words to the widow take on new meaning:

Sell the oil. Make good on your debts. Live, both you and your sons, on what is left. (2 Kings 4:7, MSG)

Collect your resources. Pay your debts first. Then come up with a plan on how to live on the remainder of the money. Unstated is the implication: don't get into debt again.

I can't change the past. But I can try to learn to live on what is left.

I have several measure struggle areas. Money is one of them. We all have have areas like that.

And I suspect that money management is a problem area for a lot more people than me.

Provide for my family after my death--first of all--financially. 

The same principle applies in other areas as well. Think on it. What can you do to better prepare your family for your death or illness?

Let's do it before it's too late.

WHEN BALDNESS IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH

Okay. I confess that I almost skipped this difficult passage. I would much rather have discussed Elijah's ascension into heaven without benefit of death. But I have promised to look at the hard places . . .  and so I shall.

It only takes a single verse to turn my world on its head. Let's start with the previous verse, to set the stage.  From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they said. "Get out of here, baldy!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. (2 Kings 2:23-24, NIV)

This account bothers me on a number of levels.

As an American, I take free of speech seriously. The old, "I don't agree with you but I will defend to the death your right to say it. I guess freedom of speech didn't exist in ancient Israel--at least not where God's honor and that of his prophets were concerned.

Also, we live in a culture which takes the rights of children seriously, as we should. Government steps in an removes children from their homes when they believe the children are being abused. Death is never, never will be, a punishment for any crimes committed by children.

The age of the boys is unclear. The Message describes them as "little kids." KJV calls them "little children." I don't think we're talking about teenage hoodlums who could be considered adults in some countries.

Of course, the boys' behavior offends me as well. Forty-two of them--let me say that again. FORTY-TWO hit on a single man. I assume Elisha was past the prime of life, since he was bald (one commentator said that might have other implications, because most men kept their heads covered.).
So, 42 kids were a small army that, apart from divine intervention, could probably kill Elisha.

And making fun of his baldness. Kids are unbelievably cruel, always have been apparently. I can just imagine a bunch of 9-10 year olds boys thinking this was the height of humor.  But still . . . in our society, we would expect Elisha to ignore the taunts.

This feels the most like an example set by God at the beginning of a new act in the human drama.

The Bible has several of these uncomfortable encounters:

• Two of Aaron's sons were killed for offering strange fire right after the tabernacle was dedicated. 
• A man died for touching the ark of the Covenant at the beginning of David's reign (the kingdom period)
• Here, 42 boys died for taunting Elisha--towards the beginning of the period of the prophets.
• In the New Testament, Annanias and Sapphira both die for lying about the money they held back--at the beginning of the church.

Does that feel like a pattern to you? Each time, God wanted to earmark the change as sacred, holy. He took extreme measures to set apart the movement. 

Except for the man touching the ark, the people killed had chosen to sin. In the case of the boys, given a mob mentality, I wonder if they would have stoned Elisha. They did tell him to "go away" (some translations say, "go up," perhaps telling him to follow Elijah to heaven.)

So, these weren't innocent bystanders God chose to zap.

Another factor: Perhaps Americans don't hold children accountable enough. Centuries before Elisha, Solomon had said "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right." (Proverbs 20:11) 

Ezekiel points out that a child doesn't die for his father's sin--or a father for his son's. So, these children chose to sin all on their own. Their environment didn't help. They lived in Bethel, idolatry central in the northern kingdom, where the golden calves were worshipped. 

If I see these boys as a biblical version of  Lord of the Flies, I find it easier to accept.

If I attribute it to God setting apart Elisha and the prophets who came after him as holy, I find it easier to accept.

But it still makes me uneasy. 

SECOND CHANCE KING (1 Kings 21)

I occasionally ask myself, would Judas Iscariot have been forgiven if he had asked? He wasn't the only one who denied Jesus that night; but Peter repented and received forgiveness.

Today, I am asking myself a similar question about King Ahab, comparing him to King David.

Of course, Ahab made no pretense of worshipping Jehovah. Back in chapter 17, he's descibed as the "new champion of evil."  He came into his kingdom with the idolatry already established at the golden calves. His father led a military coup. And then his wife . . . Jezebel was a strong-willed women, introducing Baal worship to all of Israel, bringing in hundreds of priests and prophets, and manipulating Ahab to do anything she wanted.

But like David, Ahab did one thing so heinous, that God sent a specific warning.

David committed adultery and killed a man.

Ahab lusted after a vineyard, had its owner killed (well, Jezebel arranged it)--and then took the vineyard.

We already know the rest of David's story. He repented, the baby died, and trouble brewed in David's family for the rest of his life. Even so, God established David's kingdom forever.

God's judgment is gruesomely descriptive, from dogs lapping up Ahab's blood and eating Jezebel and making mincemeat of their descendants.

After the prophet finished announcing Ahab's doom, the writer repeated Ahab's record of evil, underscoring just how bad he was.

But . . . he repented. Much like the people of Nineveh during Jonah's time. The awful, evil, idolatrous king repented. He fasted. He slept in burlap pajamas (ouch!) and wore burlap clothes. He crept around.

God took note; the prophesied disaster happened to his son and not to Ahab. No kingship to his descendants, however.

Let me get this right. David slept with Uriah's wife, got her pregnant and had him killed. He's promised an everlasting dynasty.

Ahab longed for Naboth's vineyard. His wife took care of the obstacle, and all Ahab did was to take advantage of her actions. He's promised a normal death, but his descendants will be hunted to extinction.

Why the difference?

Perhaps as simple as we have to live with the consequences of our actions. Ahab's repentance gained his forgiveness, but didn't earn him a reward.

Perhaps Ahab was sorry his sin was uncovered more than he was sorry for the sin. He cared about the consequences of his sins, but not about his relationship with God. That is only speculation on my part, but one that is in character.

(David, of course, said, "Against you I have sinned. Create in me a new heart.")

It is because of Your mercies that I am not consumed.

Of course, God did give Ahab a better ending than he deserved. He died in battle, a hero's death. Jehovah is a merciful and compassionate God.

God wants, longs, for us to repent. He delights in nothing more than forgiving us and reconciling us to Himself.

And that is worth the price of repentance.

THE REST OF THE STORY (1 Kings 19)

So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” I Kings 19:15, 16, 19-21

Six verses in the Bible transform the lives of two men. Before these verses, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal and won a mighty victory for God. He then heard threats on his life from Jezebel and ran. Angels ministered to him along the way. God met him at Horeb, the mountain of God and spoke to him in a still, small voice. Scores of sermons have used this passage for messages dealing with depression, listening for God’s voice, and not burning out while in God’s service. But what happened next?

God delivered specific instructions to Elijah: anoint a new king of Syria and Israel and anoint Elisha prophet in his place. Elijah found Elisha plowing with a yoke of oxen on a large farming operation evidenced by the twelve yoke of oxen. Elijah stopped, tossed his mantle on Elijah and walked away. 

We read that Elisha ran after him, knowing what that gesture meant.

Matthew Henry’s commentary says “Elijah did but cast his mantle upon him. (v. 19), in token of friendship, that he would take him under his care and tuition as he did under his mantle, and to be one with him in the same clothes, or in token of his being clothed with the spirit of Elijah”

Scripture reveals that Elisha took a moment to count the cost, said goodbye to his family and made sure they were taken care of before joining Elijah.

God will often call us when we least expect it to join Him in ministry, whether to teach Sunday school, volunteer for a charitable organization, or even open our home to a foster child. As demonstrated by Elisha, it’s okay to ask questions, count the cost, and make sure our family is provided for as we make a decision. We need to open to God’s will and way even when it interrupts our schedule. A whispered “yes” can transform your life in ways you’ve never thought possible.

Father God, help me to always be open to your call. Give me the courage to say “yes.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.