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February 6 - 2 Kings 4 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Thursday.
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  That is the 6th of February. Don't know about you, but
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  growing up I always found February the hardest month to
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  spell because it just made no sense because nobody actually
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  says February. Or maybe you do and if you do,
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  well that is very correct if you well done.
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  But here we are on Thursday working our way through this
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  book of Second Kings and we have seen the power of Elijah
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  transfer through to Elijah and get a bit of a 2X power up.
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  And now we're going to see Elijah come into his own as
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  God's prophet. So why don't you join with me as
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  we continue in the story hearing what God will do for His people
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  through His prophet Elijah as we read together Second Kings
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  chapter 4. One day, the widow of a member
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  of the group of prophets came to Elijah and cried out.
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  My husband, who served you is dead, and you know how he feared
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  the Lord. But now a creditor has come,
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  threatening to take my two sons as slaves.
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  What can I do to help you? Elijah asked.
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  Tell me, what do you have in the house?
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  Nothing at all except a flask of olive oil, she replied.
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  And Elisha said, Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your
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  friends and neighbours. Then go into your house with
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  your sons and shut the door behind you.
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  Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one
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  aside when it is filled. So she did as she was told.
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  Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after
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  another. Soon every container was full to
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  the brim. Bring me another jar, she said
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  to one of her sons. There aren't any more, he told
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  her. And then the olive oil stopped
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  flowing. When she told the man of God
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  what had happened, he said to her, Now sell the olive oil and
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  pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on whatever is
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  left over. One day Elisha went to the town
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  of Shunham. A wealthy woman lived there and
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  she urged him to come to her home for a meal.
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  After that, whenever he passed that way, he would stop there
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  for something to eat. She said to her husband, I am
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  sure this man who stops in from time to time is a holy man of
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  God. Let's build a small room for him
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  on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair and a
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  lamp. Then he will have a place to
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  stay whenever he comes by. One day Elisha returned to
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  Shunam and when he went up to this upper room to rest, he said
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  to his servant Gehazi, Tell the woman from Shunam.
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  I want to speak to her when she appeared, Elisha said to Gehazi,
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  Tell her, We appreciate the kind concern you have shown us.
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  What can we do for you? Can we put in a good word for
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  you to the king or to the commander of the army?
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  No, she replied, My family takes good care of me.
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  Later, Elisha asked Gehazi what can we do for her?
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  Gehazi replied She doesn't have a son and her husband is an old
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  man. Call her back again, Elisha told
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  him. When the woman returned.
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  Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway.
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  Next year at this time, you will be holding a son in your arms.
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  No, my Lord, she cried. O man of God, don't deceive me
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  and get my hopes up like that. But sure enough, the woman soon
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  became pregnant, and at that time, the following year, she
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  had a son. Just as Elisha had said, One day
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  when a child was older, he went out to help his father who was
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  working with the harvesters. Suddenly he cried out.
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  My head hurts, my head hurts, His father said to one of the
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  servants carry him home to his mother.
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  So the servant took him home and his mother held him on her lap.
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  But around noontime he died. She carried him up and laid him
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  on the bed of the man of God and shut the door and left him
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  there. She sent a message to her
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  husband. Send one of the servants and a
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  donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right
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  back. Why go to day?
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  He asked. It is neither a new moon
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  festival nor a Sabbath. But she said, it will be all
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  right. So she saddled the donkey and
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  said to the servant, Hurry, don't slow down unless I tell
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  you to. As she approached the man of God
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  at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance.
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  He said to Gehazi, look, the woman from Shurnham is coming,
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  run out to meet her and ask her, is everything all right with
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  you, your husband and your child?
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  Yes, the woman told Gehazi everything is fine.
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  But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to
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  the ground before him and caught hold of his feet.
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  Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said leave
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  her alone. She is deeply troubled but the
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  Lord has not told me what it is. Then she said, did I ask you for
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  a son, my Lord? And didn't I say don't deceive
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  me and get my hopes up? Then Elisha said to Gehazi, get
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  ready to travel, take my staff and go.
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  Don't talk to anyone along the way.
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  Go quickly and lay the staff on the child's face.
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  But the boy's mother said, As surely as the Lord lives and you
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  yourself live, I won't go home unless you go with me.
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  So Elisha returned with her. Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid
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  the staff on the child's face. But nothing happened.
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  There was no sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and
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  told him the child is still dead.
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  When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on
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  the prophet's bed. He went in alone and shut the
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  door behind him and prayed to the Lord.
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  Then he lay down on the child's body, placing his mouth on the
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  child's mouth, his eyes on the child's eyes, and his hands on
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  the child's hands. And as he stretched out on him,
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  the child's body began to grow warm again.
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  Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and
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  then stretched himself out again on the child.
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  This time the boy sneezed 7 times and opened his eyes.
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  Then Elisha summoned Ghazi. Call the child's mother, he
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  said. And when she came in, Elisha
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  said, Here, take your son. She fell at his feet and bowed
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  before him, overwhelmed with gratitude.
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  Then she took her son in her arms and carried him downstairs.
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  Elisha now returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the
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  land. One day, as the group of
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  prophets was seated before him, he said to his servant, put a
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  large pot on the fire and make some Stew for the rest of the
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  group. One of the young men went out
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  into the field to gather herbs, and came back with a pocketful
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  of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them
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  into the pot without realising they were poisonous.
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  Some of the Stew was served to the men, but after they had
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  eaten a bite or two, they cried out, Man of God, there's poison
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  in this Stew, so they would not eat it.
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  Elisha said bring me some flour. Then he threw it in the pot and
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  said, now it's all right, go ahead and eat, and then it did
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  not harm them. One day a man from Bal Shalasha
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  brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and 20 loaves of
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  barley bread made from the first grain of the harvest.
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  Elisha said, give it to the people so they can eat.
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  What? His servant exclaimed, Feed 100
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  people with only this. But Elisha repeated, give it to
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  the people so they can eat, for this is what the Lord says.
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  Everyone will eat, and there will even be some leftover.
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  And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all
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  and some leftover, just as the Lord had promised.
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  Our Lord, what a wonderful reminder this chapter is about
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  your incredible provision for us that everything in this world is
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  your creation and You have authority over it.
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  Lord, as we find ourselves thinking in terms of human
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  constraints. Lord, I just pray that you blow
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  open our mind for the possibilities of what You are
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  capable of, so that when we pray, we can pray with faith and
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  with assuredness that You are indeed mighty above all else,
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  and that Your creation bows to You and your authority.
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  So we just lift you up and we place you in your rightful place
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  on that throne above all else, as God of all, as King of all,
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  and we worship your holy and mighty name.
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  Oh, you are wonderful, our God, and we thank you and we praise
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  you all in the name of your Son Jesus, Amen.