June 23rd readings

~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
2 Kings 4:18-5:27 ~ Acts 15:1-35
Psalm 141:1-10 ~ Proverbs 17:23

Old Testament - Interesting readings in 2 Kings 4 about the Shumanite woman, her son and the prophet Elisha today!  You'll note that in verse 20 her son dies, and in verse 21 she places her son on Elisha's bed - in part so that no one will know that her son died.  As she gets to verse 22-24 she is saddling up on a donkey to go straight to Elisha without anyone in her family knowing her son had died!  Below is a painting by Rembrandt from 1640 titled "The Departure of the Shumanite Woman":

As the Shumanite woman nears Mount Carmel Gehazi, Elisha's servant, comes out to greet her and still she won't even tell him that her son has died!  She says, everything is fine.  She wants to deliver the news first and directly to Elisha!  I like this woman's focused faith.  She knew that Elisha delivered the Word that she would have a son in previous day's readings, and now that her son had died, I think she had faith that Elisha, being a prophet in relationship with God, would be able to revive her son.  Do you have a focused faith like this when it comes to your relationship with God and Jesus?  Do you always take your problems directly to the One who can truly revive you?  Below is an image of Elisha and the Shumanite woman by artist C.F. Vos:

Did anyone else notice that at the end of chapter 4 today Elisha busted out with a miracle that seemed to foreshadow Jesus' loaves and fishes miracles??  Very cool to consider the parallels between Jesus' feeding of the 5,000 and Elisha feeding 100 here in chapter 4 verses 42-44: "One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, "Give it to the group of prophets so they can eat." "What?" his servant exclaimed. "Feed one hundred people with only this?" But Elisha repeated, "Give it to the group of prophets so they can eat, for the LORD says there will be plenty for all. There will even be some left over!" And sure enough, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the LORD had promised." (That's JC below, not Elisha :)

In chapter 5 we get to the story of the healing of Naaman.  I found it very interesting that Naaman needed to humble himself and wash up in the waters of the lowly river Jordan!  Know anyone else that did some "washing up" in the river Jordan??  :)  Maybe all of us somehow need to humble ourselves and symbolically be washed up in the river Jordan to receive true healing?  Below is a portrait by artist Guy Rowe of the prophet Elisha with Naaman washing in the river Jordan:

Bible.org's commentary on today's Second Kings readings titled "The Shunammite's Son Resurrected" is at this link, "Death in the Pot" is at this link, "The Miracle of the Bread" is at this link, "The Healing of Namaan" is at this link, and "The Sin of Covetousness" is at this link.

New Testament - Peter's teaching at The Council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 verse 11 is one of the most important verses that all of us should really meditate upon and know and believe: "We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the special favor of the Lord Jesus." Do you believe Peter here?  Do you believe this to be true?  Does this simple message of this little button below ring true to you?

Bible.org's commentary on today's Acts readings titled "The Jerusalem Council: The Gospel Defined and Defended" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 141 is a beautiful prayer of David's - praying for deliverance from the wicked and their ways.  Verse 4 is powerful - "Don't let me lust for evil things; don't let me participate in acts of wickedness. Don't let me share in the delicacies of those who do evil." Is this a prayer you could incorporate into your prayer life?   What might be some examples of "delicacies of those who do evil"?  Will you pray to God to avoid these "delicacies" and "treasures" that will ultimately fail you?

Proverbs - Proverbs 17:23 today teaches us: "The wicked accept secret bribes to pervert justice." This should be a reminder to each of us to never accept bribes!  Bribes always pervert justice...

Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

Grace,
Mike

Comments

[Anka]

The Shunammite's attitude to her problem truly is inspiring....also Naaman's attitude to God is somewhat puzzling...he realises that there is just one God,that bowing to other gods is a sin...yet he makes excuses for bowing down to other gods being under the authority of a heathen king...this is a miracle that should've changed his life and the kings...but he chose to thank God for his trouble...and move on without God in His life....
Comparing Naaman's servant and Gehazi....She served with her heart,touched by her master's condition she adviced him seeking no reward for herself...Gehazi on the other hand served because he wanted recognition...and reward....
Elisha went around blessing and feeding people in times of famine...I think it's a call to men of God to leave the call to "sow into fertile ground"ie giving to the prophet to get a prophet's reward....instead to feed the sheep....
God bless you all

[Lindsey in AL]

I remember several years ago reading about Naaman in some class and learning that the Jordan river was FILTHY. Apparently there were several beautiful and clean rivers right where Naaman was. No one would ever bathe in the Jordan, especially someone of Naaman's status. Funny how God can push us out of our comfort zone in order to receive the forgiveness and cleanliness we need, isn't it?
As an aside, that Guy Rowe portrait is amazing! So detailed and real-looking and beautiful! Thank you for the work you do with this blog- it really is a blessing.

[Vance Brown]

I am still thinking and meditating on the devotional from yesterday, J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. The Rebellion of the Moabites (2 Kings 3:1-12).

~~~
It is an honor for me to regularly minister and to be part of a group called, “In His Image” which is a men’s accountability group dedicated to helping one another walking in purity of heart, mind, marriage, and life.

The past is the present. The call to live in true purity of spirit, mind, life, and marriage is God’s call to Himself. If we do not live in purity, then we will be worshiping a false god. Just like the Moabites and many of the Israelites at the time.

I particularly like these notes by J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. based on 2 Kings 3:

“In the passage before us, Jehoram was faced with the rebellion of the Moabites, one of the long-standing enemies of God’s people. It was Balak, king of Moab, who years before had sought the aid of the prophet Balaam in his attempt to get God to curse Israel.”

What is Baalism? This relates directly to the “Da Vinci Code”, as this book emphasizes a worldview that is consistent with Baalism. I found this most excellent information I wanted to share with you.
Source: http://www.leannepayne.org/home/index.php

“[Dan] Brown’s main purpose, precisely as Canon Dr. Michael Green writes in The Books the Church Suppressed: Fiction and Truth in The Da Vinci Code, is twofold:

1) to make the case for a revival of paganism, which embraces the “sacred feminine” and ... is very much the goddess Gaia concept of New Age thought….Such is the ideology of Monism, as much present in Brown’s book as it is in Eastern Hindu thought.

2) not only to advance the feminist principle of paganism, but to attack Christianity directly. In order to do this he has to undermine the authority of the New Testament records…making use of the Gnostic gospels.

In his comprehensive but wonderfully readable book, Dr. Green tells of debating Duncan Greenlees, a modern “real live Gnostic,” who stated on BBC Radio:

“Gnosticism is a system of direct experiential knowledge of God, the Soul of the Universe. In the early centuries of this era, among a growing Christianity, it took on the form of the Christian faith, while rejecting most of its specific beliefs. ITS WORDING IS THEREFORE LARGELY CHRISTIAN, WHILE ITS SPIRIT IS THAT OF THE LATEST PAGANISM OF THE WEST.”

NOTE THOSE FINAL WORDS: “ITS SPIRIT IS THAT OF THE LATEST PAGANISM OF THE WEST.” THAT IS A VERY ACCURATE ASSESSMENT. IT WAS THE SHREWDNESS OF THE EARLY FATHERS THAT SAW THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS THREAT, AND THAT IS WHY THEY ATTACKED GNOSTICISM SO ROBUSTLY.

Never since the early centuries of the Christian church has there been a greater attack on the holy Scriptures and the divinity of Christ as we in the West now see. Baal and Ashtoreth worship is now fully established, even in America.

NOW THAT GNOSTICISM AS NEW AGE PAGANISM IS SEEN FOR THE BLATANTLY PERVERTED AND SEXUALLY IDOLATROUS ENDS IT SERVES, SLEEPY CHRISTIANS WHOSE LAMPS HAVE RUN LOW ON OIL MUST BEGIN TO READ THE SCRIPTURES WITH NEW EYES.

CHRISTIANS MUST BE ENLIGHTENED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BY THEIR OWN PRICELESS CHRISTIAN HISTORIES AND DOCTRINES THAT THEY HAVE, IN THE WEST’S MATERIALISTIC CULTURE, SO WEAKLY DEFENDED AND LOST SIGHT OF.

Our freedoms as Christians, hard bought in the West, are swiftly being lost, and people are waking up to the fact that our nations are at stake in this battle. We hardly recognize the culture we are now living in, the tower of Babel loosed by the paganisms that have so wantonly been allowed to come in.

Dr. Green sounds the warning all Christians must hear in showing where the “sacred feminine” is leading. These are only a few excerpts from this valuable book, and it is with thanks to Monarch Books that special permission is given to quote them:

We get nearer to the essence of Brown’s position in the most graphic scene in the book. It is what Brown calls the hieros gamos, the “sacred marriage”, where masked men and women engage in a sexual orgy. His hero explains that this is not really about eroticism but rather a very ancient ceremony designed by the ancient Egyptians to promote fertility. It was here that the participants encountered the god. The man could achieve knowledge of the divine through orgasm, and the woman through the miracle of childbearing. He says, “The ability of the woman to produce life from her womb made her sacred. A god.”

Leanne Payne
~~~

MY NOTE: The clarity of truth as well as emotional, mental, and spiritual freedom of the Gospel FOR ALL CHRISTIANS IN ALL LANDS is precious.

All Christians everywhere have a stake in knowing and defending the Truth of the Gospel against the lies of Baalism and sexual immorality.

I end with this quote by J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. The Rebellion of the Moabites (2 Kings 3:1-12).

“Many today have a knowledge of God; they believe that He exists; they may even believe in His Son, but they just do not take Him at His word. Many play at their religious life. During the week, by their own viewpoint, priorities and language, they act as though God were not even involved. On Sunday they do their little ‘nod to God,’ but for the rest of the week it is business as usual.”

Vance

[John]

Mike,

It seems several of Elisha's signs and wonders foreshadowed what Christ did on a smaller scale.

Oil - Water into wine

Restoration of Life - Elijah and Elisha prayed and asked - Jesus commanded.

Feeding - as you said

Naaman - cleansing of leper - picture of salvation - great detail in the commentary from bible.org.

Biggest thing that struck me about Naaman was how he had to humble himself to go in the Jordan river.

"As long as Naaman was proud, he would never obey the Lord in humble belief or faith....Self conceit and the various ego trips of men are typical of the unregenerate heart and even of the carnal mind of the regenerate. It is so hard to realize just who we are, mere creatures, and to submit to God’s plan. We must let God be God!"
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=836

To me, because I went through this process - and it was difficult, becoming humble and willing to submit your will to God's is an INTEGRAL part to the salvation process. I think it is enveloped in the thought that you must come to God with a "right heart" - and HE KNOWS if it is right or not.

Without that humility and abandonment of pride, in my opinion all the praying in the world will not help you achieve salvation. Because that praying will end up being lip service and mean nothing if the Heart is not right.

I can easily see myself as Naaman sitting on his horse saying - "I have to do what???? Hey, I am here am I not??? I showed up, and I am willing to do a lot of things for salvation - get on my knees, pray, acknowledge, but you want what? Complete submission?? I..I..I.. don't know about that???

I am just ever so thankful that God made me aware that what I did initially was not good enough. It was not until I got off "my horse" - was finally broken and submissive that the process of salvation was completed (in my case).

[John]

Anka,

Not sure Naaman moved on without God in his life.

"Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant....

...for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD."

We just don't know. He proclaimed God, and said his sacrifices in future would be to God. But he wanted forgiveness if he got caught in a "state/official" ceremony. (Actually this is a good sign, as it shows a sensitivity and knowledge that it would be wrong to bow down to an idol.)

We don't know how God acted in his case. Maybe it was a needless worry in that after seeing Naaman cured and hearing the story - the king may have exempted Naaman from such ceremonies. The king cared enough to send him to Israel, needs his battle expertise - who knows what compromises for ceremonial functions the king would be inclined to favor.

Elisha's absence of a "yeah or nay" seems to indicate that he was willing to leave it in God's hands.

[commentary gave as an option, that Naaman may even have thrown some of the "earth from Israel" down on ground before kneeling in a ceremony.] - again, we just don't know.