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Elisha and Hazael - The Book of 2 Kings · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And Elisha said unto him, Go, say
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  Speaker 1: unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover, howbeit the Lord hath
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  Speaker 1: showed me that he shall surely die. 2 Kings 8.10
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  Speaker 1: As I meditate on 2 Kings 8.1-15, I will lean
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  Speaker 1: on you, Lord, for comfort and provision in moments of uncertainty.
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  Speaker 1: Give me inner guidance and information like Elisha, on what
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  Speaker 1: is to come. Thank you, God, for protecting all that
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  Speaker 1: is mine when the enemy seeks to steal and rob
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  Speaker 1: me of all that you've promised to me. Through every
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  Speaker 1: stage of my life, protect me from evil-minded people like
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  Speaker 1: Haziel who seek to harm me and put an end
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  Speaker 1: to the business, territory, industry, ministry, and mission you've entrusted
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  Speaker 1: me with, Lord. I declare that I will not be
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  Speaker 1: moved nor harmed because the army of the Lord is
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  Speaker 1: on my side. Move quickly, Lord, that no plan formed
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  Speaker 1: against me shall prosper. I am covered, protected, and anointed
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  Speaker 1: by your power and grace. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for praying with us today. Continue your time with
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  Speaker 1: God by listening to today's Bible story. Brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Elisha and Hazael In our last story, the land of
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  Speaker 2: Israel was perishing at the hand of the Syrians. The
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  Speaker 2: land was stripped of all its resources. Food, water, and
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  Speaker 2: life slowly left the city of Samaria. Women were forced
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  Speaker 2: to eat their own children, and all hope seemed lost. Then,
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  Speaker 2: as Elisha predicted, life was restored to the city after
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  Speaker 2: four lepers discovered the empty Syrian camp filled with flour, gold,
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  Speaker 2: and silver. Now we learn of a new famine scraping
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  Speaker 2: the land of Israel. A familiar family is once again
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  Speaker 2: saved by God, and an enemy of Israel perishes, all
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  Speaker 2: for an even more evil enemy to take his place.
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  Speaker 2: as inspired by the book of 2 Kings.
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  Speaker 3: This is Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
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  Speaker 3: in a Year podcast. In our previous episode, we heard
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  Speaker 3: about the severe famine in Samaria and how people turned
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  Speaker 3: to desperate acts to survive. We also heard how the
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  Speaker 3: king and many others blamed God for their troubles. But
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  Speaker 3: Elisha spoke God's promise to restore them, bringing abundant food
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  Speaker 3: into the city. And just as he promised, God rescued
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  Speaker 3: His people. He scattered the enemy, ending their attacks upon
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  Speaker 3: Samaria and brought food and riches from their camp into Israel.
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  Speaker 3: Today we learn about another famine that swept through Israel
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  Speaker 3: and how God once again rescued a family we've met before.
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  Speaker 3: We'll also hear the death of one of Israel's enemy
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  Speaker 3: and the new foe that rises up even worse than
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  Speaker 3: the last. So now let's listen to the Word of God.
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  Speaker 2: The people of Israel rejoiced in their newfound wealth after
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  Speaker 2: the deadly famine. Families were restored, livestock recovered, and the
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  Speaker 2: armies of Israel were beginning to find their strength once again. However,
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  Speaker 2: they still lived in a land that could shift its
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  Speaker 2: abundance in a matter of days. There was uncertainty about
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  Speaker 2: Israel's future. Rather than lean on the Lord for comfort
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  Speaker 2: and provision, the people of Israel clung to their own strength.
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  Speaker 2: They had no idea what heartache lurked around the corner
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  Speaker 2: for them. A warm wind blew in from deep in
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  Speaker 2: the east. Lush trees began to lose their leaves prematurely,
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  Speaker 2: and the birds were flying away in flocks. Elisha could
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  Speaker 2: see the signs. He knew what was about to take place.
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  Speaker 2: With urgency, Elisha raced to Shunem to find the family
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  Speaker 2: he had once restored. Years ago, Elisha had restored the
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  Speaker 2: rich woman's son from the dead. He was close to
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  Speaker 2: the family and concerned for their safety. Arise, he ordered them.
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  Speaker 2: Sojourn wherever you can to escape. A great famine is
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  Speaker 2: going to pierce the land like a hot iron. The
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  Speaker 2: woman and her son trusted Elisha with their lives. They
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  Speaker 2: did not hesitate. They gathered whatever they could and departed
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  Speaker 2: to the land of the Philistines. For seven years they
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  Speaker 2: remained there. Meanwhile, a blighted wind blew continuously through Israel.
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  Speaker 2: Farms withered. Grain turned to dust. Rivers ran dangerously dry.
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  Speaker 2: The Lord allowed for a refining broom to be swept
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  Speaker 2: across Israel. Their self-reliance withered with the grass. After seven years,
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  Speaker 2: they looked towards the heavens, and the land began to
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  Speaker 2: be restored to its former glory. One day, the king
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  Speaker 2: was lounging in his throne room, listening to Gehazi tell
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  Speaker 2: stories of Elisha. Gehazi was Elisha's former servant, who was
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  Speaker 2: made a leper after stealing from Naaman. Although the king
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  Speaker 2: despised Elisha, he was fascinated by him. He respected him
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  Speaker 2: and his devotion to the Lord, so the king listened
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  Speaker 2: intently as Gehazi told story after story of Elisha's life
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  Speaker 2: with God. He spoke of many miracles, the greatest being
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  Speaker 2: when Elisha restored a Shunammite woman's son back to life.
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  Speaker 2: As the king was listening, the throne room doors opened.
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  Speaker 2: The king looked closely to see a woman and her
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  Speaker 2: son walking the halls to meet him. Gehazi gasped at
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  Speaker 2: the timing. My lord, he shouted, that is the woman
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  Speaker 2: I was speaking about. That is her son that was
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  Speaker 2: raised from the dead. The king stood to his feet.
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  Speaker 2: Even though he was ruler over Israel, he felt as
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  Speaker 2: though he was in the presence of true royalty. The
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  Speaker 2: woman told the king of her travels to the Philistines
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  Speaker 2: to escape the famine. When she returned, her possessions and
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  Speaker 2: land had been lost. The king did not hesitate. Restore
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  Speaker 2: all that was once hers, he ordered his governors. So
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  Speaker 2: the woman and her son were once again protected by
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  Speaker 2: the merciful hand of God. Meanwhile, Elisha was traveling to Damascus.
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  Speaker 2: His staff was keeping him upright. Years of famine had
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  Speaker 2: aged him quickly, but he maintained the quiet strength of
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  Speaker 2: a man with a purpose. Not so far away, Ben-Hadad,
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  Speaker 2: the king of Syria, laid sick in his bed. His
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  Speaker 2: body was failing him, and fear overwhelmed his soul. He
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  Speaker 2: had worked his whole life to build his kingdom, and
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  Speaker 2: now fate was knocking at his door to take it
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  Speaker 2: from him. When he heard that Elisha was close, his
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  Speaker 2: hope returned to him. He had heard of Elisha's connection
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  Speaker 2: to God, so he ordered his most trusted servant, Hazael,
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  Speaker 2: to go and find Elisha. Please, ask him if I
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  Speaker 2: shall recover from this sickness, he asked. Hazael obeyed, but
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  Speaker 2: not with joy or enthusiasm. Hazael had a deep longing
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  Speaker 2: in his heart for the throne, and the king's sickness
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  Speaker 2: was an advantage to him. Nevertheless, he found Elisha in Damascus. Father,
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  Speaker 2: he said to Elisha, the king of Syria wants to
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  Speaker 2: know if his health will ever return to him. Ah,
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  Speaker 2: he will most certainly recover. Elisha paused mid-sentence. He looked
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  Speaker 2: into Hazael's eyes. They revealed a deep well of anger
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  Speaker 2: and ambition. They were not the eyes of a loyal servant.
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  Speaker 2: They were the eyes of a conqueror. But the king
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  Speaker 2: will die anyways, won't he? Elisha said. Elisha fixed his
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  Speaker 2: gaze on Hazael for minutes, so long that Hazael grew uncomfortable.
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  Speaker 2: Sweat began to drip down the side of his temple.
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  Speaker 2: He watched the man of God gaze into his soul.
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  Speaker 2: Then a small tear slid down the side of Elisha's face.
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  Speaker 2: Why do you weep, Hazael said, trying to break the silence.
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  Speaker 2: Elisha placed his hands on Hazael's face. I weep because
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  Speaker 2: I have seen the evil that dwells within you. Your
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  Speaker 2: hand will be responsible for the deaths of many. You
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  Speaker 2: will set fire to Israel's fortresses. You will kill their
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  Speaker 2: young men. You will tear the wombs of pregnant women.
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  Speaker 2: Elisha's tone was sorrowful. He wept over the lost soul
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  Speaker 2: of Hazael. Hazael feigned offense. He mustered up false outrage
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  Speaker 2: and pushed the prophet back, saying, How could I do
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  Speaker 2: such things? I am a simple dog to the king
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  Speaker 2: with no power. Elisha shook his head. You know as
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  Speaker 2: well as I do you will be the next king
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  Speaker 2: of Syria. Hazael departed as Elisha spoke these words. He
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  Speaker 2: felt exposed. He felt vulnerable and angry. He went back
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  Speaker 2: to the king and delivered the good news of his recovery.
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  Speaker 2: The king rested easy, elated at the news. That night,
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  Speaker 2: the king laid in his bed in peace. He was
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  Speaker 2: no longer afraid of dying. He could even feel his
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  Speaker 2: body making a speedy recovery. Thinking only of good things,
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  Speaker 2: he slowly drifted asleep.
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  Speaker 1: The cool air.
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  Speaker 2: Drifted through his window. The moonlight shone brightly through the skylight.
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  Speaker 2: The king was fast asleep and could not see the
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  Speaker 2: slight shadow approaching him. There, in the dead of night,
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  Speaker 2: Hazael loomed over him with a wet cloth. He placed
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  Speaker 2: it over his king's face and smothered him until he
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  Speaker 2: drifted into nothingness. The king perished that night, and Hazael
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  Speaker 2: became king in his place.
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  Speaker 3: We begin today's passage with a joyful Israel enjoying the
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  Speaker 3: wealth and provisions God had sent them to end the
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  Speaker 3: famine and devastation of the land. They had done nothing
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  Speaker 3: to earn or deserve this great favor. It was God
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  Speaker 3: in His grace who had rescued and provided for them.
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  Speaker 3: But as we are all prone to do when the
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  Speaker 3: sun is shining and all is going well, the Israelites
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  Speaker 3: neglected to trust in God and rest in His provisions.
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  Speaker 3: Elisha knew this self-reliance was going to cost Israel dearly.
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  Speaker 3: The Lord's judgment for their forgetful hearts would once again
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  Speaker 3: bring famine to the land. Knowing what was coming, he
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  Speaker 3: went to the Shunammite woman, the same one who had
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  Speaker 3: provided a place of rest for Elisha and whose son
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  Speaker 3: Elisha had raised from the dead, and he told her
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  Speaker 3: of the impending seven years of famine that were about
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  Speaker 3: to sweep through the land. she took her son and
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  Speaker 3: traveled into Philistine territory to wait out the seven years.
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  Speaker 3: And sure enough, God removed his hand of blessing from Israel,
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  Speaker 3: and they were faced with the harsh fact that they
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  Speaker 3: could no more provide for their own needs than an
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  Speaker 3: infant can survive without its mother. At the end of
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  Speaker 3: the seven years, the woman returned with her son only
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  Speaker 3: to discover her land had been taken from her, so
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  Speaker 3: she went to see the king. When she arrived, Elisha's
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  Speaker 3: servant Gehiza, the man who had been stricken with leprosy
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  Speaker 3: after he deceived Naaman, was regaling the king with tales
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  Speaker 3: of what Elisha had done. This moment was divinely appointed.
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  Speaker 3: For in 2 Kings 8.5, here is what we read.
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  Speaker 3: And while he was telling the king how Elisha had
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  Speaker 3: restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son
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  Speaker 3: he had restored to life appealed to the king for
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  Speaker 3: her house and her land. And Gehiza said, My lord,
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  Speaker 3: O king, Here is the woman and here is her
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  Speaker 3: son whom Elisha restored to life. This was not an
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  Speaker 3: accident or a coincidence, of course. It was God's timing,
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  Speaker 3: paving the way for his provision and protection. So the
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  Speaker 3: king sent her with an official promising to restore what
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  Speaker 3: she had lost. Once more, this woman and her son
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  Speaker 3: witnessed God's enduring faithfulness. And once more, we are reminded
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  Speaker 3: that God takes care of his own. When we lose things,
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  Speaker 3: God will restore them in his own time and in
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  Speaker 3: his own way, even more than what we had lost.
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  Speaker 3: Elisha then traveled to Damascus in Syria. Again, we see
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  Speaker 3: the Lord's timing at work. For as he arrived, the
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  Speaker 3: Syrian king, Ben-Hadad, was very ill. He heard Elisha was
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  Speaker 3: in town, and he went to speak to him, for
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  Speaker 3: even this foreign king knew that the Lord was with Elisha.
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  Speaker 3: So he sent his servant Ahaziel with camels loaded with
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  Speaker 3: gifts for Elisha and ask if he would recover. It
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  Speaker 3: seemed like an earnest question from a loyal servant. But
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  Speaker 3: Elisha knew Hazael was harboring other thoughts, thoughts of betrayal, murder,
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  Speaker 3: and seizing power. Elisha told Hazael to tell Ben-Hadad he'd recover.
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  Speaker 3: But then he said God had shown him, in fact,
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  Speaker 3: that the king would die. Elisha then fixed his gaze
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  Speaker 3: on Hazael until he was embarrassed. Elisha then began to weep,
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  Speaker 3: and Hazael asked why. He said it was because Ahaziel
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  Speaker 3: was going to do great evil to Israel, horrors exceeding
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  Speaker 3: those of Ben-Hadad. Ahaziel feigned innocence, denying that he had
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  Speaker 3: any such intentions or even the power to carry them out.
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  Speaker 3: He was just a servant. But when he returned to
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  Speaker 3: the palace, he gave the king the message just as
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  Speaker 3: Elisha had told him, saying the king would recover. Then
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  Speaker 3: that same night, he smothered the king in his sleep,
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  Speaker 3: fulfilling Elisha's words. Syria had a new king, Ahazael, and
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  Speaker 3: he would bring great sorrow to Israel. Dear God, we
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  Speaker 3: thank you for your word, inerrant and infallible, your eternal word.
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  Speaker 3: We thank you for these great stories of the Bible
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  Speaker 3: that inspire us and motivate us and challenge us and
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  Speaker 3: move our hearts to trust and obey you. Help us
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  Speaker 3: always to trust in you. And know that every good
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  Speaker 3: and perfect gift comes from above, your provision, your protection,
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  Speaker 3: and your peace. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for
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  Speaker 3: listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor
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  Speaker 3: Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Let me encourage you to
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  Speaker 3: download the Pray.com app and always make Bible reading and
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  Speaker 3: Bible study a priority in your life, along with prayer.
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  Speaker 3: If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you love.
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  Speaker 3: Let someone know Because by sharing this podcast, you can
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  Speaker 3: truly make a difference in someone's life. And if you
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  Speaker 3: want more resources from me, Jack Graham, as to how
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  Speaker 3: you can grow in your Christian life, then go to jackgraham.org.
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  Speaker 3: That's jackgraham.org. God bless you.