I Kings 16:34. Here, the prophecy of Joshua 6:26 is fulfilled. What does the prophecy mean, and how is it fulfilled?
Joshua had never said that Jericho would not be rebuilt, only that the person who built it would suffer great loss. What God has destroyed should remain destroyed.
Here was Hiel, 500 years later, thinking the prophecy had worn out, or simply defying God outright, putting back together what God in His power had torn apart. Bad decision.
We are not sure exactly how it happened, but in the beginning of his building project, his oldest son Abiram died. At the end, when he was setting up the gate, still undeterred by fear of the Lord’s Word, he watched his youngest son Segub also perished.
A striking demonstration of the truthfulness of the words that come forth from the mouths of God’s men.
I Kings 17:13. Was it proper for Elijah to ask a dying woman to minister to his food needs first?
This was the man of God, no doubt hearing from the Voice of God. It would not be appropriate for me to ask you to serve me first in such a situation, at least as a general rule. But God desires to bless this woman and can only do it when her faith is exercised. Showing her trust in God via His prophet, God sustained her through this dark time.
Faith, working through love, can produce many miracles. What if God would give us grace to give, not out of our abundance, but out of our extreme need?
I Kings 19:17. Elisha is to put to death those who escape the sword of Jehu, the ambitious king of Israel? When did this take place?
All three men, Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha, are to be involved in the judgment of unfaithful Israelites. The former two used the swords of men, and their actions are documented. What did Elisha do along these lines? With the physical sword, nothing. But with the sword of his mouth, which contained the very word of God, much. Forty-two children of idolatrous Israelites were slain when they insulted this prophet. And his mouth predicted a famine that would last for seven years. Multitudes died during this time. The ministry of the true Prophet of God is a serious one indeed.
I Kings 19:20. What is the difference between Elijah’s request to Elisha, and the request of a certain disciple who wanted to follow Jesus? Note the difference in the answers of Elijah and Jesus.
In this passage, Elisha only wanted to say goodbye. In the New Testament story, the would-be disciple wanted to wait for the death of his parents, attend the funeral, and then follow Jesus. Jesus refused such an offer, exposing the man as fraudulent in his profession. Putting off the Son of God for a later time will never work.
Elijah seemed not to be worried about Elisha’s farewell to his parents. He comments that he, Elijah, had not done anything in this matter. It was the call of God to which Elisha was responding.
I Kings 20:30. How could one wall kill 27,000 persons?
Imagine a city wall, as in some translations. Imagine a huge group of soldiers either huddled there, or gathered compactly to defend the city, or standing on the wall and falling under the sheer force of the weight of 27,000 men. Or was it a Heaven-sent earthquake that felled the wall where Syrian soldiers, convinced that our God was a God of the mountains only, received a lesson that has reverberated through the ages: God is everywhere and can and will do anything He pleases.
I Kings 20:32. Why would Ahab consider Ben-Hadad to be his “brother” after all his attempts to hurt Israel?
A true ecumenist was Ahab. We can forget all the atrocities, all the falseness, all the attempts to destroy us. Let’s love one another as brothers.
Recipients of this sort of acceptance truly benefit from it. The givers of such foolishness will pay dearly with their lives or their very souls.
It is not Christian to call someone “brother” who is not a true child of God by re-birth. It is one-world-ism. The new world order. Peace at any price. The ecumenical movement at its foolish best.
Ahab was tired of the fight. So down with war. Jesus tells us that He did not come to bring peace to the Earth. Not yet. He divides homes and churches and communities. The war is on. Laying down swords now is a fatal practice.
I Kings 22:7. Where is Elijah at this time? He is still alive at the beginning of II Kings…
Elijah enters the story several chapters earlier and does not exit the Earth until early II Kings. So he is living. One cannot help but feel that if he had been in the neighborhood at the time, this story would be about him. But he is evidently back in his native Gilead, and the story revolves around one Micaiah instead. Rare indeed are those who speak truth to the governments of their day, but they can be found.
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