And
they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the
money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly.
2 Kings
12:15 (ESV)
June 24 2 Kings 5:1-8:15
June 25 2 Kings 8:16-29; 2 Chronicles 21:1-22:9
June 26 2 Kings 9-11; 2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21
June 27 2 Kings 12-13; 2 Chronicles 24
June 28 2 Kings 14-15; 2 Chronicles 25-27
June 29 Jonah 1-4
We start the week with the healing of Naaman. He has a skin
disease and asks Elisha to heal him. Naaman was expecting some kind of spell or
potion, I think, because when Elisha tells him to wash in the Jordan River 7
times (a ritual cleansing), he wasn’t happy. He did it, of course, and was
healed.
Naaman offered Elisha a financial reward for the healing and
Elisha turned him down. If Elisha had accepted the money, Naaman might have
thought that Elisha was the one who healed him and not God. One of Elisha’s
attendants was interested in the reward and snuck away, telling Naaman that
Elisha changed his mind. When Elisha found out, he was very unhappy and cursed
Gehazi with Naaman’s skin disease. It’s a good reminder that secret sins will
be seen by God. Unfortunately, no sin goes unpunished.
Beh-hadad laid siege to Samaria. There was great famine, and
the Bible records the cost of a donkey’s head at 80 shekels (a whole horse cost
150 in 1 Kings 10) and a half liter (fourth part of a kab) of dove’s dung was 5
shekels of silver – an average worker’s wage for six months. The king of Israel blames Elisha for their
troubles and Elisha promises that the siege will be over, and commerce back to
normal, the very next day.
God fulfilled Elisha’s prophecy in a dramatic way. There were
four lepers (who aren’t allowed to enter the city because of their illness) who
decided that since they will die either way, they might as well try their fortunes
in the Syrian encampment. No one was
there! Everyone was scared away by the sound of horses and chariots (God
has the best special effects department J).
The lepers took all sorts of stuff and hid it, then they felt guilty because
they hadn’t told anyone in Samaria. Naturally, the people were afraid that the
empty camp was a trap, but they sent scouts who told them that everything was
really left there. Samaria plundered the Syrian camp. Without lifting a finger,
the Samarians won because of God’s mercy. Elisha’s prophecy was fulfilled. And the
king … Elisha told him that he would never eat any of the goodness. That came
true as well. The people trampled him and he died. He mocked Elisha, which
meant he mocked God. God will not be mocked.
We watched in sorrow as the kings of Judah became
progressively worse. The kings of Israel weren’t always any better. God only allowed Israel to go on because He
had made the covenant with David. Some
kings did what was right, but none got rid of Baal AND the golden calves. We look
back and we wonder how they could respond to God like they did. He did so much
for them, and yet … and yet … we’re exactly the same way. What Baals do you
have in your life? Are you worshiping a golden calf? Or would God say that you
did right in His eyes? I know that I would not get an “A” from God.
Jonah! I recently heard a sermon about Jonah by Warren
Wiersbe called “A Worm’s Eye View of Missions” based on Jonah 4. You’ve heard
the story before. Jonah is called to Nineveh. He wants no part of that and
turns the other way, to Tarsish. While traveling by boat, the ship is rocked by
a big storm. The pagans on the boat ask Jonah to pray to his God. Jonah
tells them that if he is thrown overboard, no life will be lost on the boat. Jonah
is swallowed by a whale (it appears that Jonah thought he died because he
called it “sheol” or hell) and lives in the belly of the whale for 3 days (a
type of Christ). He is spewed out and then decides to follow God’s call. The people
of Nineveh repent and God relents. Jonah is still angry about having to go
preach to the Ninevites and he sits outside the city, presumably hoping God
will do something to the inhabitants. God sends Jonah shade and that makes him
happy. God withers the shad and of course Jonah is unhappy. He doesn’t seem to
care at all about the 120,000 unsaved people in Nineveh. He just doesn’t like
his situation
And now onto the Worm’s Eye View (Rev. Wiersbe). God is more
interested in the worker than the work. Consider Jonah as a missionary
candidate. Rev. Wiersbe calls three witnesses to consider his suitability.
Jonah’s credentials:
1.
Do you
feel a call of God? Oh yeah. Twice! He told me to go to Nineveh.
2.
Is your
theology evangelical/orthodox? Oh yes, I believe in the God of Israel. He is
gracious, merciful, slow to anger and full of kindness. Salvation is of the
Lord (2:9).
3.
Do you
pray? Oh yes, I have prayed in strange places!
4.
Does God
answer your prayers? Does He ever! Let me tell you about the miracle that I
went through. This story may sound fishy to you, but here’s what happened…
5.
Have you
experienced a deeper life? Nobody’s gone deeper than I’ve gone. I’ve been
down to the bottoms of the mountains. I know what it’s like to die and be
raised from the dead. You don’t have to talk to me about walking in
newness of life!
6.
Does your
preaching bring results? Oh sure. Haven’t you heard? A whole city repented.
There were 120,000 people!
7.
Can you
quote Scripture? Do you believe in
Bible memory work? Oh yes, I can quote Psalms by the yard.
“I
called out to the Lord, out of my
distress, and he answered me (Ps. 3:4; 120:1; Lamentations 3:55); out of the
belly of Sheol I cried (Psalm 118:5), and you heard my voice. (Lamentations
3:56) 3 For you cast me into the deep (Psalm 88:6-7), into
the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your
billows passed over me. (Psalm 42:7) 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven
away from your sight (Psalm 31:22); yet I shall again look upon your holy
temple (1 Kings 8:35,38).’ 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life
(Lamentations 3:54, Psalm 69:1)); the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped
about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 When
my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. (2 Chronicles 30:27) 8
Those who pay regard to vain idols (Psalm 31:6; 2 Kings 17:15; Jeremiah 2:5)
forsake their hope of steadfast love. (Jeremiah 2:13) 9
But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you (Psalm 50:14;Hosea
13:2; Hebrews 13:15); what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord! (Psalm 3:8)” Jonah 2:2-9 (ESV)
8.
Have you
got courage? I was willing for those people to throw me in the water to
save them.
And yet… he was a
failure. He sat outside the city pouting and angry at the people he should be
reaching. It was evident that Jonah did not have a love for the people that he
was called to minister to.
Jonah’s companions:
1. The sailors (chapter 1). “That man is a
troublemaker. Everything was going well on the ship until he boarded. We were
in danger and he was sleeping! You’re going to send him to be a
missionary? “
2. The fish (chapter 2). “He is stubborn. He
was called by the God who made me to go preach and he refused to do it. Everything in creation does what God wants
except for people. Jonah could have confessed his sin on the ship, on the way
to the water, or on the way into me but he didn’t. it took three days
and three nights before he was broken. I can’t stomach him!”
3. The people of Nineveh (chapter 3). “He
came walking through our city and we found out he had gone through a miracle. He
preached a message of repentance. He came as an ambassador and he led us to repentance,
but we don’t understand. He should be in our city praying with people and
teaching people, but you know where he is? Outside sitting in a booth, pouting.
He’s a problem to us. We love him because he brought us God’s message, but he’s
a problem.”
4. The worm (chapter 4). The great creator
called me and told me to watch the man. He is an immature person. Just look! He’s
living by his feelings, not by obedience to God. He’s angry at God because he
didn’t get what he wanted. He’s bitter. He’s bigoted and prejudiced because he
didn’t want to see us – the enemy of Israel – to receive salvation. He has no
burden for the lost. He’s hoping the city will be destroyed. He was shown mercy
by God but he shows no mercy himself. He is unlike the God that he preaches. He
is not gracious, merciful or slow to anger. How can he witness about God when
he doesn’t live like God wants him to? He prays selfishly. He prayed to save
his own skin, and now he’s whining that he would rather die than face his
friends and tell them that he helped saved Nineveh. The thing that makes you
happy shows your character. He wasn’t happy because Nineveh was saved. He was
happy for his shade.”
Jonah’s Creator and Lord (Rev. Wiersbe says “far be it that
I should ever interrogate God, but
let’s use our imaginations):
1. Did you call Jonah? Yes I did. Called him
twice.
2. Did Jonah obey you? He obeyed me
outwardly but not inwardly. His heart wasn’t in it (Ephesians 6:6). He did it
because he had to.
3. Are the witnesses’ statements true? Yes
the are.
4. What do you suggest we do? I suggest we
give him another chance. There’s another lesson. Let’s give him another chance.
Aren’t you glad God is a God of second chances?
God dealt with Jonah first with big storms and pressures. Now
he’s dealing with Jonah quietly, with gourds and winds that are so smothering
that it’s difficult to take. He was patient and gracious. Jonah had already
learned three great lessons about God. In Chapter 1 he learned you can’t run
away from God. In Chapter 2, he learned that God will forgive if you ask. In
Chapter 3 he learned that if you obey God, he will powerfully do something. In
Jonah 4:10, we see the fourth lesson – he had to learn how to love lost souls. How
did God teach him? The first time, God stuck him down (water, cold)– the second
time God had him in the light. It was a reminder to Jonah how it felt to be a
lost sinner. When you’re lost, it’s like being in the bottom of the ocean, in
darkness, in heat and torment and constant torture. Was God giving Jonah a
taste of hell?
We can learn a lot from Jonah. We learn to follow God
wholeheartedly and we learn to have a heart for the lost. If the heart is
right, the mind, will and body will all be right. God wants our hearts. If we
love God, we will love his people
What else have you learned from Jonah? Has any verse touched
your heart this week? Please share!
I would love to hear from you with questions, comments,
prayer requests and praises. Email me or leave a comment. This blog is designed
to be interactive. There is no point that is too small, no question that is too
silly, and no prayer request that’s too big for God.
I will see you next week.
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