Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / February 13 - 2 Kings 8

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February 13 - 2 Kings 8 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Thursday.
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  It is the 13th of February. So glad to have your company as
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  this week. Well it's not too far till we
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  wrap up another week. I don't know how your weeks are
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  going but oh Gee, this is a big week.
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  These are big weeks, I should say, in our place, with new
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  schools and children moving out to go to university in different
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  places. And what else is well, I'm not
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  even home this week. Oh yeah, I am in the nation's
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  capital, being sent there doing some more army training.
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  Yes, yes, I've been yelled at by corporals.
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  I've learnt how to behave like an officer and now I am covering
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  the minutia, the insurance and outs, the details of what it
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  means to be a chaplain in our defence forces.
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  So this is a very good week, a very good fortnight for me as
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  I'll be learning new things and answering all these questions
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  that have been kind of floating around my service over the last
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  year and a bit. But that's what's going on for
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  me. I wonder how you are going.
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  I'm sure your life is full of just as many challenges, just as
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  many exciting things, just as many tricky things.
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  Because Friends, Life is full and varied and that is why I am
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  so grateful that you still, in the midst of the complexity of
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  your days, choose to pause and with me spend some time in God's
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  Word. Good for you friend.
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  I hope that this really does bless you with great dividends
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  as you OfferUp this time in worship.
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  And so that is what we are going to continue to do today as we
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  hear more about the people around Elisha.
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  And then we're going to go back to seeing what those kings are
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  getting up to in the north and in the South as we read together
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  Second Kings chapter 8, Elisha had told the woman whose son he
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  had brought back to life. Take your family and move to
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  some other place. For the Lord has called for a
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  famine on Israel that will last for seven years.
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  So the woman did as the man of God instructed.
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  She took her family and settled in the land of the Philistines
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  for seven years. After the famine ended, she
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  returned from the land of the Philistines, and she went to see
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  the king about getting back her house and land.
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  As she came in, the king was talking with Jahazi, the servant
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  of the man of God. The king had just said Tell me
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  some stories about the great things Elisha has done and
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  Gehazi was telling the king about the time Elisha had
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  brought a boy back to life. At that very moment, the mother
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  of the boy walked in to make her appeal to the king about her
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  house and land. Look my Lord, the king.
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  Gehazi exclaimed. Here is the woman now and this
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  is her son, the very one Elisha brought back to life.
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  Is this true? The king asked her and she told
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  him the story, so he directed one of his officials to see that
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  everything she had lost was restored to her, including the
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  value of any crops that had been harvested during her absence.
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  Elisha went to Damascus, the capital of Aram, where King Ben
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  Haddad lay sick. When someone told the king that
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  the man of God had come, the king said to Hazael, take a gift
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  to the man of God and tell him to ask the Lord, will I recover
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  from this illness. So Hazael loaded down 40 camels
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  with the finest products of Damascus as a gift for Elisha.
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  He went to him and said, Your servant Ben Haddad, the king of
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  Aram has sent me to ask will I recover from this illness?
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  And Elisha replied, go and tell him, you will surely recover.
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  But actually, the Lord has shown me that he will surely die.
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  Elisha stared at Hazael with a fixed gaze, until Hazael became
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  uneasy. Then the man of God started
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  weeping. What's the matter, my Lord?
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  Hazael asked him. Elisha replied.
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  I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel.
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  It will burn their fortified cities, kill their young men
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  with the sword, dash their little children to the ground,
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  and RIP open their pregnant women.
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  Hazael responded, How could a nobody like me ever accomplish
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  such great things? Elisha answered, The Lord has
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  shown me that you are going to be the king of Aram.
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  When Hazael left Elisha and went back, the king asked him what
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  did Elisha tell you? And Hazael replied, He told me
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  that you will surely recover. But the next day Hazael took a
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  blanket, soaked it in water, and held it over the King's face
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  until he died. Then Hazael became the next king
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  of Aram. Jehoram, son of King Jehoshaphat
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  of Judah, began to rule over Judah in the fifth year of the
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  reign of Joram, son of Ahab, king of Israel.
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  Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned in
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  Jerusalem eight years. But Jehoram followed the example
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  of the kings of Israel, and was as wicked as King Ahab, for he
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  had married 1 of Ahab's daughters.
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  So Jehoram did what was evil in the Lord's sight.
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  But the Lord did not want to destroy Judah, for He had
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  promised his servant David that his descendants would continue
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  to rule, shining like a lamp forever.
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  During Jehoram's reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah
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  and crowned their own king. So Jehoram went with all his
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  Chariots to attack the town of Zaya.
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  The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he
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  went out at night and attacked them under the cover of
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  darkness. But Jehoram's army deserted him
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  and fled to their homes. So Edom has been independent
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  from Judah to this day. The town of Libna also revolted
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  about the same time. The rest of the events in
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  Jehoram's reign and everything he did are recorded in the book
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  of the History of the Kings of Judah.
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  When Jehoram died, he was buried with his ancestors in the city
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  of David. Then his son Ahaziah became the
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  next king. Aiziah, son of Jehoram, began to
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  rule over Judah in the 12th year of the reign of Joram, son of
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  Ahab, king of Israel. Ahaziah was 22 years old when he
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  became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year.
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  His mother was Atalia, a granddaughter of King Omri of
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  Israel. Aaziah followed the evil example
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  of King Ahab's family. He did what was evil in the
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  Lord's sight, just as Ahab's family had done, for he was
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  related by marriage to the family of Ahab.
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  Ahaziah joined Joram, son of Ahab, in his war against King
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  Hazael of Aram at Ramoth, Gilead.
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  When the Aramaeans wounded King Joram in the battle, he returned
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  to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had received at
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  Ramoth. Because Joram was wounded, King,
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  a Isaiah of Judah went to Jezreel to visit him.
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  Our Lord, as we read this chapter, there's so much going
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  on. People returning to their homes
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  and having their goods return to them.
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  Terrible, terrible visions of the future.
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  Kings taking on allegiances and nations continuing down their
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  paths. Lord, our lives are full and
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  busy and our world continues to go round and round.
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  Lord, in the midst of all of the stuff that goes on in life,
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  Lord, I pray that you would continue to draw us back to you
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  as the world invites us to worship at the throne of
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  busyness and productivity and success.
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  Lord, I pray that Your throne would sit above that and that we
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  would, just as we are at the moment stopping from the
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  business of the day, just come to you to be in your presence
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  and to be aware of your goodness and your love, Your mercy and
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  your righteousness. Because you are God of all and
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  you are our God and we are Your people.
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  May that always play front and centre in the games of our
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  lives. And when we fail to do that, we
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  thank you for Jesus and for the forgiveness that He has won for
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  us. You are our wonderful, loving
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  Father and we love you. And we recommit ourselves to you
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  this day. Amen.