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2 Kings 2:1-25; 2 Kings 4:1-44<\/strong><\/span> Today in 2 Kings 2 we read about Elijah going up to heaven in the whirlwind!\u00a0 Elijah was taken to heaven without dying.\u00a0 He is the 2nd person in scripture to do so \u2013 Enoch was the first (see <\/span>Genesis 5:21-24<\/span>).\u00a0 Jesus of course was also taken to heaven in bodily form after His resurrection from the dead (see <\/span>Acts 1:9<\/span>).\u00a0 Below is Italian artist Giovanni Battista\u2019s (1683-1754) painting of Elijah\u2019s whirlwind scene:<\/span><\/p>\n Okay, so 2 Kings 2 verses 23 & 24 are some of the most unique verses in the Bible no doubt\u2026\u00a0 \u201cElisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. \u201cGo away, you baldhead!\u201d they chanted. \u201cGo away, you baldhead!\u201d Elisha turned around and looked at them, and he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Zondervan\u2019s NIV Study Bible has some good commentary on these verses as follows: \u201cThe youths from Bethel no doubt assumed that Elisha was going up to Samaria to continue Elijah\u2019s struggle against royal apostasy.\u00a0 Some believe that the youths, in their mocking, were telling Elisha to ascend to heaven as Elijah had done.\u00a0 By calling Elisah \u201cbaldhead\u201d the youths from Bethel expressed that city\u2019s utter disdain for the Lord\u2019s representative, who, they felt, had no power.\u00a0 Elisha pronounced a curse that gave warning of the judgment that would come on the entire nation of Israel should it persist in disobedience and apostasy.\u201d<\/span> Bible.org\u2019s commentary on today\u2019s 2 King\u2019s readings titled \u201cChariots of Fire\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span> and \u201cElisha\u2019s Accreditation\u201d is <\/span>at this link<\/span> and \u201cElisha and the Two Bears\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n 2 Kings 4 verse 8 definitely demonstrates that in addition to being a prophet, Elisha was a very wise man!\u00a0 \u201cOne day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. A wealthy woman lived there, and she invited him to eat some food. From then on, whenever he passed that way, he would stop there to eat.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n Interesting readings in 2 Kings 4 about the Shumanite woman, her son and the prophet Elisha today!\u00a0 You\u2019ll note that in verse 20 her son dies, and in verse 21 she places her son on Elisha\u2019s bed \u2013 in part so that no one will know that her son died.\u00a0 As she gets to verse 22-24 she is saddling up on a donkey to go straight to Elisha without anyone in her family knowing her son had died!\u00a0 Below is a painting by Rembrandt from 1640 titled \u201cThe Departure of the Shumanite Woman\u201d:<\/span> As the Shumanite woman nears Mount Carmel Gehazi, Elisha\u2019s servant, comes out to greet her and still she won\u2019t even tell him that her son has died!\u00a0 She says everything is fine.\u00a0 She wants to deliver the news first and directly to Elisha!\u00a0 I like this woman\u2019s focused faith.\u00a0 She knew that Elisha delivered the Word that she would have a son in previous day\u2019s readings, and now that her son had died, I think she had faith that Elisha, being a prophet in relationship with God, would be able to revive her son.\u00a0 Do you have a focused faith like this when it comes to your relationship with God and Jesus?\u00a0 Do you always take your problems directly to the One who can truly revive you?\u00a0 Below is an image of Elisha and the Shumanite woman by artist C.F. Vos:<\/span> Did anyone else notice that at the end of chapter 4 today Elisha busted out with a miracle that seemed to foreshadow Jesus\u2019 loaves and fishes miracles??\u00a0 Very cool to consider the parallels between Jesus\u2019 feeding of the 5,000 and Elisha feeding 100 here in chapter 4 verses 42-44: \u201cOne day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, \u201cGive it to the group of prophets\u00a0so they can eat.\u201d \u201cWhat?\u201d his servant exclaimed. \u201cFeed one hundred people with only this?\u201d But Elisha repeated, \u201cGive it to the group of prophets so they can eat, for the LORD says there will be plenty for all. There will even be some left over!\u201d And sure enough, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the LORD had promised.\u201d<\/em> (That\u2019s Jesus below, not Elisha \ud83d\ude42<\/span> Bible.org\u2019s commentary on today\u2019s Second Kings readings titled \u201cThe Shunammite\u2019s Son Resurrected\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>, \u201cDeath in the Pot\u201d<\/strong> is at <\/span>this link<\/span> and \u201cThe Miracle of the Bread\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Worship Video:<\/strong> Today\u2019s readings remind me of the song \u201cLord, I need you\u201d by Matt Maher, sung here by Lauren Daigle:<\/span><\/p>\n \n
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