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February 3 - 2 Kings 1 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is the second.
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  No, it's the third already of February.
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  It is Monday morning and I am so delighted that you have tapped
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  on play as today we begin our fifth year reading the Bible.
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  Oh, what an epic journey it has been.
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  Whether you have been here for one week or 4 * 52 weeks, you
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  are most welcome friends. So good to have your company.
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  And today we are going to kick off the next book in our
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  biblical narrative, which is the book of Second Kings.
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  Because really First Kings and 2nd Kings are the same story,
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  same authorship, same time, but broken up into two volumes.
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  And these are phenomenal volumes.
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  You know this. This concludes the story of the
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  nation of Israel as we see it in the the Old Testament.
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  It begins in Genesis and it goes through the formation of this
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  nation. They work so hard to secure the
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  land in Joshua and then organise the land in Judges and Samuel
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  and then the books of First Kings and 2nd Kings really shows
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  how this land gets lost. Why that happens?
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  And in the Book of Second Kings, we are going to see Elijah step
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  to the fore and he is going to become a miracle worker, this
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  amazing prophet, this kingmaker, and then we will see Israel
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  disintegrate and then Judah disintegrate.
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  This is this is the grand ending of this royal period for the
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  nation of Israel and Judah. So there will be lots of
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  intrigue and drama as we work our way through this, but all
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  through it we have got the Holy Spirit prompting us to let us
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  know what from this story can shape us today as we go about
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  our lives. What an amazing privilege we
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  have to read this, and what an amazing privilege I have to read
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  it. And the beauty of First Kings
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  and 2nd Kings is across the board.
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  All historians and theologians across every brand of theology
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  are consistent saying that the history as presented in these
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  books is bang on. So as we read through this, this
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  really is sharing this chapter by chapter what happened in the
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  history of the nation of Israel. So you ready?
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  Why don't we continue reading together as we begin the next
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  volume, Second Kings chapter 1. After King Ahab's death, the
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  land of Moab rebelled against Israel.
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  One day, Israel's new king Isaiah fell through the
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  latticework of an upper room at his palace in Samaria and was
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  seriously injured. So he sent messages to the
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  temple of Baal Zebab, the God of Ekron, to ask whether he would
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  recover. But the Angel of the Lord told
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  Elijah, who was in Tishbay, go and confront the messengers of
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  the king of Samaria and ask them, Is there no God in Israel?
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  Why are you going to Baal Zibab, the God of Ekron, to ask whether
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  the king will recover now? Therefore, this is what the Lord
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  says. You will never leave the bed you
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  were lying on. You will surely die.
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  So Elijah went to deliver the message.
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  When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them why have
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  you returned so soon? They replied.
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  A man came up to meet us and told us to go back to the king
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  and give him this message. This is what the Lord says.
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  Is there no God in Israel? Why are you sending men to Bal
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  Zebab, the God of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover?
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  Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the
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  bed you were lying on. You will surely die.
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  What sort of man was he? The king demanded.
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  What did he look like? They replied.
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  He was a hairy man and he wore a leather belt around his waist.
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  Elijah from Tishbay, the king exclaimed.
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  Then he sent an army captain with 50 soldiers to arrest him.
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  They found him sitting on top of a hill.
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  The captain said to him, Man of God, the king has commanded you
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  to come down with us. But Elijah replied to the
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  captain, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven
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  and destroy you and your 50 men. Then fire fell down from heaven
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  and kill them all. So the king sent another captain
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  with 50 men. The captain said to him, Man of
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  God, the king demands that you come down at once.
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  Elijah replied, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from
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  heaven and destroy you and your 50 men.
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  And again the fire of God fell from heaven and killed them all.
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  Once more the king sent 1/3 captain with 50 men.
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  But this time the captain went up the hill and fell to his
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  knees before Elijah. He pleaded with him, O man of
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  God, please spare my life and the lives of these your 50
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  servants. See how the fire from heaven
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  came down and destroyed the first two groups.
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  But now please spare my life. Then the Angel of the Lord said
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  to Elijah, Go down with him, and don't be afraid of him.
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  So Elijah got up and went with him to the king, And Elijah said
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  to the king, This is what the Lord says.
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  Why did you send messengers to Bal Zebab, the God of Ekron, to
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  ask whether you will recover? Is there no God in Israel to
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  answer your question? Therefore, because you have done
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  this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on.
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  You will surely die. So Ahaziah died, just as the
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  Lord had promised through Elijah.
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  Since Aiziah did not have a son to succeed him, his brother
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  Joram became the next king. This took place in the second
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  year of the reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of
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  Judah. The rest of the events of
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  Aiziah's reign and everything he did are recorded in the Book of
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  the History of the Kings of Israel.
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  Our Lord, what a faithful servant you have or had in
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  Elijah, that he would so consistently speak your word,
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  that without a shadow of a doubt, the king knew who it was
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  who had made that prophecy. Lord, may we too have that
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  reputation that we are your people, and that we speak your
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  truth. And Lord, sometimes that truth
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  is just full of grace and love and acceptance, but other times
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  that truth is something that people might not want to hear.
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  But Lord, I pray that you would give us your wisdom that we can
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  stand firm to what we know to be true in you.
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  For that we can always speak with grace and with love.
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  So Lord, as we go about doing the work of building your
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  Kingdom here, I pray that you give us your Spirit, give us
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  your wisdom so that our words truly can reflect you and your
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  heart, Your heart that yearns to restore and to make whole again.
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  And this is all possible through the gift that you've given us in
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  Jesus. So we thank you for Jesus, and
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  we pray all of this in His mighty saving name, Amen.