Topic : 2 Kings

Beneficiary

Widowed, childless, and past 80 years of age, Bill Cruxton wanted his $500,000 fortune to make a difference in someone’s life. A 17-year-old waitress who had been kind to him seemed the perfect choice. So when Cruxton died on November 9, 1992 he left the bulk of his estate to Cara Wood, a high school senior who befriended him during the 13 months she worked part-time at a restaurant. Even after she quit her job, Cara kept in touch with Cruxton, running errands for him and helping him around the house. Because of his poor eyesight, she often helped

him read his mail and pay his bills.

Like Cara Wood, the widow in today’s story became the recipient of another’s wealth. But the riches she received came from the hand of God. The woman had known great heartache. She had lost her husband, who was of the men from the “company of the prophets.” Soon she would lose her sons as well, since they were about to become slaves. The Mosaic Law gave a creditor the right to claim the person and children of a debtor who was unable to pay. They were obliged to serve as the creditor’s hired workers until the year of Jubilee, when they were set free (Lev. 25:39-41).

It was not a happy prospect, and the prophet Elisha, who knew her husband’s devotion to the Lord, wanted to help this desperate widow. When he learned that she had nothing in her house but a small flask of oil, he told her to collect from her neighbors as many empty jars as she could—leaving the number of jars, and the size of her faith, up to her. The woman was to shut herself and her sons inside the house and pour from her flask until all of the jars were full. Nobody else was to see or know about the miracle. Nobody needed to know about it, or Elisha would surely have been swamped with “business offers.”

The woman did as Elisha instructed, and had enough oil to pay her debts and live off the rest. God’s prophets were not only messengers of His judgment, but instruments of His miraculous provision for His people.

Today in the Word, May 12, 1993

Unusual Arrangement

Because the father of British composer Thomas Arne was an undertaker, the younger Arne’s violin teacher, the eminent violinist Michael Festing, once found Arne practicing with his music propped up on the lid of a coffin. Rattled by his student’s unusual arrangements, Festing said that he himself would be unable to play under such conditions for fear there might be a body in the coffin. “So there is,” replied Arne coolly, raising the lid to provide proof.

Death is always unsettling, and Festing was certainly not alone in feeling uncomfortable in its presence. But when death is sudden and untimely, its effects are more than just unsettling. Witness, for example, the agony and bewilderment of the Shunammite woman in verses 22-28 of today’s lesson. Shunem was a tiny village, nestled in the rolling hills south of the Sea of Galilee. This woman seemed to have everything. She was wealthy and apparently happily married—just the opposite of the widow we met yesterday. Her only regret may have been that she was childless.

One day she saw the prophet Elisha walking down a street in her village. Realizing that he was a stranger in town, she invited him in for a meal. That meal started a family tradition in which the prophet and his servant Gehazi would eat at her house each time they visited Shunem. Eventually the woman and her husband built a cozy bed-and-breakfast for the prophet on the roof of their house, and he became a regular guest. Wanting to repay the woman, Elisha told her that she would have a son. But what God gave, God seemed to take away when the boy fell ill and died. After his death, the woman searched separately for Elisha. The look on her face and distress in her voice was enough to tell him what had happened, for the boy’s death was never mentioned to the prophet. In seeking Elisha, of course, the woman was really reaching out in faith to God—and she was rewarded with the restoration of her son, just like the widow from Zarephath (I Kings 17).

Elisha duplicated the greatest miracle of Elijah, and another village had undeniable testimony to the true God.

Today in the Word, May 13, 1993

Godly House Servant

The Earl of Shaftesbury was a dedicated Christian reformer and member of the House of Lords who did much to relieve the plight of the poor and suffering in 19th-century England. Among his many accomplishments were improved conditions for the mentally ill, the abolition of women and children as mine laborers, and better housing conditions for the poor. He was also very active in mission work with a number of Christian ministries. In looking back over his life, the Earl made a very interesting observation in light of today’s text. He said he owed his faith to a house servant, his Christian nurse. His parents took little interest in raising their son, but this godly woman loved him and pointed him to Christ.

Today in the Word, MBI, January, 1990, p. 40

The Lost Axehead

Emerging unscathed from a duel fought in a secluded corner of London, British aristocrat Lord William Alvanley handed a guinea to the hackney coachman who had conveyed him to the spot and home again. Surprised at the size of the tip, the man protested. “But, my lord, I only took you a mile.”

Alvanley waved aside the objection. “The guinea’s not for taking me, my man, it’s for bringing me back.” Alvanley knew that getting into a duel was the easy part. Surviving the ordeal was another story. Losing something of value and finding it again is sort of like that. Losing the valued item is the easy part. Recovering it, like surviving a duel, is something else altogether.

In this brief and fascinating account from the ministry of Elisha, the miraculous recovery of a lost axehead became a powerful reminder of God’s care for His faithful servants.

At first reading, this may seem like a trivial incident. So an axehead was lost. Just pay the owner for it and go on. But there’s more going on here than a slip of an ax. The various “compan(ies) of the prophets” in Israel were crucially important if the worship of the true God was to be preserved in a nation where the majority of the people had fallen into Baal worship. So building needed living quarters for these men was important. The importance of these prophetic “schools” was also underscored by Elisha’s presence with them (vv. 3-4). He knew how critical their role was in keeping alive the worship of God. They evidently didn’t have much financial support from the people, so the loss of a borrowed axehead was a fiscal crisis.

Most important of all, Elisha turned the loss into an opportunity for God to demonstrate His power and His care for these prophets. Was that important to them in a hostile environment where they were probably outnumbered? Of course it was. This miracle was God’s way of saying to the prophetic band, “Don’t fear, I am with you.” That’s always a welcome message!

Today in the Word, May 15, 1993

Resource

• Swindoll, Growing Strong, pp. 27ff

He Did What Was Right …

And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David. 2 Kings 14:3

When a person tries to justify his wrong behavior by pointing to the conduct of others, he isn’t aiming high enough. This is also true if he patterns himself after someone who gives the Lord only partial obedience. A college student learned this lesson when he was reprimanded by the school president for misbehavior. The young fellow offered this lame excuse for his questionable conduct: “But, Sir, you’d find it difficult to locate 10 men in this school who wouldn’t have done as I did if they had been in my circumstances.” The president replied, “Has it ever occurred to you that you could have been one of those 10?”

Amaziah was a good king. He worshipped the true God and showed mercy to the children of some who had conspired against him. Apparently he set a good moral example. But he foolishly led his troops into a shameful defeat and was finally executed by a group of rebels. In 2 Kings 14:3, we are told why Amaziah did not experience the full blessing of the Lord. The text says, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David.” He followed the example of his father Joash and failed to put a stop to the semi-pagan worship conducted on hills throughout the land. He should have patterned himself after his forefather David. He simply didn’t aim high enough.

Our Daily Bread, H.V.L., Friday, July 17

The Brazen Serpent

The footnote in the New International Version at II Kings 18:4 is most interesting. When Hezekiah found the brazen serpent made by Moses in the wilderness still being worshipped, he destroyed it. The NIV says, “...he called it Nehushtan.” The footnotes explain the meaning—”a serpent made of brass.”

One is made to wonder how such an idol could have existed so long. It would seem that in the reformation movements of one of the judges or kings, it would have been destroyed. My opinion is that it was not recognized as an idol and hence was preserved. Perhaps they justified it by not calling it an idol. Hezekiah, however, came and called it what it really was—a brass image of a snake.

How often we justify sin by calling it a different name! Some call adultery, “a meaningful relationship.” We excuse covetousness by calling it “prudence” or “economy.” A life of sensual pleasure is “living with gusto.”

In answer to a critic, Abraham Lincoln asked, “How many legs does a cow have?” “Four,” was the reply. “If you call her tail a leg, how many does she have? asked Lincoln. “Five,” was the answer. “No,” Lincoln said, “Just calling a tail a leg, doesn’t make it a leg.”

Have we made a similar mistake? Do we think that sin is not sin, just because we do not call it by its right name'

Ancil Jenkins