2 Kings 2

This is a pretty well known story.  But, as I read thru it, I was surprised that the taking of Elijah up to heaven is actually a very small portion of the entire story. Interesting.
15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 
They are missing it!  They are bowing down to Elisha....when the power is coming from God.  They should be worshiping God, not the vessel.

that's it nothing grand or life changing today.

tp

2 Kings 1

8 They replied, “He had a garment of hair[a] and had a leather belt around his waist.”
This line sounds familiar to me.  Its almost exactly how they described John the baptist.  Interesting.  If they added that he ate insects and honey, it would be spot on.
Elijah is an interesting character.  He seems to do crazy miracles.....by invoking God's power.  He has called down fire from heaven several times now!
Crazy faith in his Father.

tp

1 Kings 22

Nothing grand today.  I'm continually amazed at how far the hearts of the kings of God's people have fallen.  We went from a king who was "after God's own heart", to where we are reading now.  I get it, there has been a significant amount of time between then and now.....but wow!  Shrine prostitutes, 400 prophets (not from God), greed, personal agendas........its shocking.
Here's a quick question:  Is this the first time that God referred to his people as sheep?

17 ", I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd,..."

1 Kings 21

29 “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”

So I don't have a great take today.  This last line actually confuses me.  At first my thought was God's grace covers us when we humble ourselves before him even if we have done rotten things in the past. But in this case it looks like God give Ahab a pass but in the generation after he is gone things will fall apart for his son and the kingdom he leaves behind.

looking forward to your take on this chapter.
knut

1 Kings 20

Well.....its Friday.  On Fridays I like to keep it light hearted.

3 ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.’”

This line made me laugh out loud.  See how twisted I am?  I think its hilarious that he asked for his "best" wives.  I can see this on an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond.  Word comes that the king wants you wife..........really?  He wants her........TAKE HER!  I wonder what the percentage of the total wives, were the best ones?  We know Solomon had, was it 700? wives.....so, these kings probably had a pretty good number.  Even if they had 25.  I can see the king saying you can have all of these....but not that one.  She is my best one!  And take those kids too.  They're trouble.  Except for that one.  I like that one.

hahaha.

I do like reading the stories of the battles.  It seems so crazy that God delivers these huge armies into his peoples hands.  The line that is always used is, "so you will know that I am the Lord your God."  And he does it......the people are amazed.  And then they forget.

so weak
like me
tp

1 Kings 19

I find the interchange between Elijah and God interesting in this chapter.  Elijah has been so full of faith and trust.  He has done AMAZING things including raising someone from the dead!...... and then he slips a little.  He forgets that he is on God's mission.  He even lays down to die!  
Then the conversation makes me laugh.
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
Then God does all this crazy miraculous stuff right in front of him.  He shows again that he is the creator and Lord of all.  So what is Elijah's response?
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

I see myself in him, right here.

Look at how far the Israelites have fallen since David and Solomon.

1 Kings 18

³⁴ “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. ³⁵ The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

I'm not sure why but again the reference to 3 hit me.  what is about this if anything that is significant?  I did some google searches and didn't find anything conclusive.  I did come across a paper on The Third Elijah that was an interesting review of this the first Elijah and John the 2nd Elijah and what the 3rd Elijah will look like when he comes.

http://www.bibleresearch.org/prophecybook2/b2w6.html

Interesting article.  So I guess I don't have a take but it is interesting where a couple lines in the bible take you if you start digging into them.  Maybe that's what God was doing for me the past couple days is just using these words to take me down another path to learn more about his word.  I really don't know but I enjoy finding all the interrelationships scattered throughout the bible.

knut