Continuing in chapter eight of 2 Kings, verse 7, the king of Syria asked his servant Hazael to go to the prophet Elisha. The king was sick and he asked his servant to ask Elisha if he would ever recover.
Hazael did as he was told. Elisha said that the king would recover from his grave illness, but the Lord told him that the king would die. Elisha wept, for he knew the evils that the king had done to the people of Israel.
Elisha then told him that the Lord showed him that Hazael would soon be the king of Syria.
Hazael went to his king and told him that Elisha said he would recover. He was pleased with this answer. However, the next day the servant murdered the king and Hazael then became the new king.
It was done just as the Lord had said would happen.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Sunday, December 9, 2018
How much trust do you have in the source? Who else needs to be in the conversation?
In chapter 8 from the book of 2 Kings, Elisha told the woman, who had a son who had been raised by him from the bowels of death, to go and leave with her household, for there was a famine the Lord had commanded that would last for seven long years.
Seven years later, she returned and asked the king for her land to be returned to her. The king asked his servant to recall the great deeds Elisha the prophet had done, including what he had done with the woman's son. Upon hearing from the servant about the truth behind the woman's son being restored back to life, he gave all the lands back to the woman, including all that her fields produced during the seven-year famine.
What I find interesting about this short passage was that the king didn't just assume the woman was telling the truth. This could have been someone with a devious mind who just wanted her land. Because the king trusted in his servant, who was also a man of God, to tell him the truth, he trusted what he had heard.
How many times have we assumed something to be true, maybe because a single institution or even the government put out a report on it. In August 2015, a reporter wrote an obscure article, where he found government data classifying the best and worst places to live in the United States. The reporter named the county that I'm currently living in, Red Lake County in Northwestern Minnesota, as the "ugliest" in America. He received a fair amount of heat for it and was even welcomed to visit by the members of our community. He did. He was completely blown away by the hospitality. So much so that a year later he moved his family here.
And has been here ever since.
Be mindful of the source. Do they have motives for saying what they're saying? If you want an example, look at the ongoing debate of global warming (i.e. climate change). Again, trust the source. Who benefits from it?
And remember, just because a government report says something doesn't mean it's true.
Seven years later, she returned and asked the king for her land to be returned to her. The king asked his servant to recall the great deeds Elisha the prophet had done, including what he had done with the woman's son. Upon hearing from the servant about the truth behind the woman's son being restored back to life, he gave all the lands back to the woman, including all that her fields produced during the seven-year famine.
What I find interesting about this short passage was that the king didn't just assume the woman was telling the truth. This could have been someone with a devious mind who just wanted her land. Because the king trusted in his servant, who was also a man of God, to tell him the truth, he trusted what he had heard.
How many times have we assumed something to be true, maybe because a single institution or even the government put out a report on it. In August 2015, a reporter wrote an obscure article, where he found government data classifying the best and worst places to live in the United States. The reporter named the county that I'm currently living in, Red Lake County in Northwestern Minnesota, as the "ugliest" in America. He received a fair amount of heat for it and was even welcomed to visit by the members of our community. He did. He was completely blown away by the hospitality. So much so that a year later he moved his family here.
And has been here ever since.
Be mindful of the source. Do they have motives for saying what they're saying? If you want an example, look at the ongoing debate of global warming (i.e. climate change). Again, trust the source. Who benefits from it?
And remember, just because a government report says something doesn't mean it's true.
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
The missing Syrians
In the seventh chapter of 2 Kings, starting at the third verse, we find four lepers at the entrance of a city, where there was a great famine.
Since they were destined to die, they too wanted to enter the city where others were dying.
They arrived at a Syrian camp. They expected it to be full, but no one was there. They then heard the sound of chariots, under the awesome power of the Lord, and they fled. They ate food and drank at the empty camp. They even took the vast amounts of gold, silver, and clothing.
But they felt they were doing something wrong. So they went back to the city and told what they had found. The king of the city thought this was a trap, to lure them out so they could be ambushed. So he had two horsemen "go and see" for themselves.
They searched. And found no sign of the Syrians.
Since they were destined to die, they too wanted to enter the city where others were dying.
They arrived at a Syrian camp. They expected it to be full, but no one was there. They then heard the sound of chariots, under the awesome power of the Lord, and they fled. They ate food and drank at the empty camp. They even took the vast amounts of gold, silver, and clothing.
But they felt they were doing something wrong. So they went back to the city and told what they had found. The king of the city thought this was a trap, to lure them out so they could be ambushed. So he had two horsemen "go and see" for themselves.
They searched. And found no sign of the Syrians.
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