Onesimus – Philemon

257 – Onesimus – Philemon

Philemon 1:1-25

Onesimus was a slave who ran away from his master Philemon. He went to Rome and eventually met Paul who led him to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Onesimus stayed with the apostle and helped him in the ministry. Eventually they knew it was time for the “runaway slave” to return to his master. Paul was a personal friend with Philemon, so he wrote a letter to help the two men reconcile their relationship. He said…

Philemon—my dear friend—greetings to you, your family, and the church that meets in your home. I pray for you on a regular basis. I thank God for the love you have for the Lord Jesus Christ and for fellow believers. Those who meet you are encouraged in their faith.

Dear brother, you know me. I don’t normally hesitate in telling you what is right and wrong. I’m usually quick in reminding you of your duties in Christ. But I’m not going to do that this time. Instead, I am going to beg.

Picture this in your mind. I’m an old man who is in prison for the cause of Jesus Christ. In my weakness, God sent me a helper, Onesimus—a man who caused you pain and grief. But God sent him to me and I was able to introduce him to Jesus. He yielded his life to Christ and then became invaluable as a helper to me.

In a way, it was like you sent him here to help me because you couldn’t come yourself. I don’t know how I can carry on without him; but he and I both know he should go back to you. He was helping me in your stead, but we didn’t have your permission.

Listen, he was a worthless slave when he ran away from you. Now he’s coming back as a valuable brother in Christ, a co-worker in the ministry and a dear friend of mine. Receive him back in love.

Oh, concerning those things he stole from you —put those on my account. Here, I will pick up the quill and write this in my own handwriting. “I, Paul, will repay it.” I won’t remind you of the fact that you actually owe me your very life.

Please receive him as if you were receiving me. You’ll bring joy to my life when I hear how you’ve accepted Onesimus back into your life and home.

But what am I talking about? I know you’ll do this and even more.

By the way, prepare your guest room for me. I know you’ve been praying that I’d be set free and come back to visit you. I think the Lord is going to answer your prayers.

Greet all my good friends who are there. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Paul.

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Ezra

173 – Ezra

Ezra 7:1 – 10:44

Ezra was an expert in the laws of God. Therefore, it was decided he should go to the new Temple in Jerusalem and teach the people.

The king of Persia gave him letters authorizing him and his helpers to go to Jerusalem. The king sent along a large amount of gold and silver.

Ezra was also authorized to appoint judges who knew the laws of God. He was told the kingdom of Persia would punish anyone who disobeyed those laws.

Men volunteered to go with Ezra and move their families to Judah. They suddenly realized there were no Levites in the group. So Ezra sent out a plea, and several Levites volunteered to go.

Everyone knew going from Persia to Jerusalem was a dangerous trip. They had families, their possessions, and a large amount of gold and silver. Yet they didn’t have soldiers to protect them. Ezra didn’t ask the king for armed guards because he had said, “God is our protector. His strong hand is upon people who serve him.”

So the group prayed and fasted, asking God for his protection. They set out on their journey, and God protected them as they traveled. No one tried to ambush them along the way. They arrived safely in Jerusalem, and took all the gold and silver to the Temple.

Several leaders went to Ezra as he made preparations for his instructions about the laws of God. They said, “Many of our people have not separated themselves from the non-Jews that live in the area. They have married their women, and these wives have brought their pagan ways with them.

Ezra was shocked when he heard this. He ripped his clothes and went to the Temple and fell on his knees and spread out his hands to the Lord. He prayed “Oh God. We’re doing it again—just like our forefathers. You sent them into captivity because they took foreign wives and started worshiping idols.

“Now you’ve given us a brief moment, allowing us to come back here. And what did we do? We married foreign wives. Oh, God we’re not worthy of your blessing. You have the right to totally destroy this small group of people who live here.”

Ezra continued to cry, and pray, and confess sin. As he did, people came and sat and prayed with him. More and more came until there was a large crowd gathered around. They all cried and confessed their sins.

Finally the people said, “We know we’ve done wrong, but there’s still hope. We’ll make a promise before God. We’ll send away our foreign wives and their children. But you must help us if we’re to do this properly. Get up! Take action! Show us what to do and we’ll do it.”

So Ezra agreed to oversee this and make sure it was done properly. All the people sent their foreign wives away and turned from idols. They then totally committed themselves to the Lord.

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Captain of 50

131 – Captain of 50

II Kings 1:1-18

After Ahab died, his son Ahaziah became king of Israel. A short time later, he broke through a wooden rail and fell to the ground from the second floor of his house. His was seriously injured, so he said to his servants. “Go ask the god Baal-zebub if I’ll recover from this.”

Elijah stopped the servants along the road and said, “There is a God in Israel. So why are you taking this question to Baal-zebub? Here is the Lord’s answer for the king. You won’t get up from your sickbed. Instead, you’re going to die.”

The servants went back and gave King Ahaziah this message. The king said, “What did the man look like who told you this?”

“He was a hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.”

“Oh, I know who he is. That’s Elijah.”

So King Ahaziah sent 50 soldiers to go get Elijah. When they got to where he was staying, the prophet was sitting at the top of an embankment. The captain of the men yelled up at him. “Man of God, come down! I have orders to take you to the king.”

Elijah said, “If I’m a man of God, fire will come out of the sky and kill you and your 50 men.” Suddenly a fireball fell from the sky and killed the captain and his men.

So the king sent another 50 soldiers to get Elijah. When they got to where he was staying, the prophet was still sitting at the top of the embankment. The captain of the men yelled up at him. “Man of God, come down! I have orders to take you to the king.”

Elijah said, “If I’m a man of God, fire will come out of the sky and kill you and your 50 men.” Another fireball fell from the sky and killed the captain and his men.

Once again, the king sent 50 soldiers to go get Elijah. When they got to where he was staying, the captain of the men fell on his knees in front of Elijah. He said, “Man of God, please show compassion on us. Spare my life and the lives of these 50 servants of yours.”

The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go with them. You’ll be safe.” So he got up and went with them.

When he saw King Ahaziah, he said, “This is a message from the Lord. ‘You could have asked me anything you wanted and I would have answered. But no! You sent your messengers to Baal-zebub. Therefore, you’ll not get up from your sickbed. Instead, you’ll die.”

It happened just like Elijah said. King Ahaziah died. He didn’t have children, so his brother Joram became king of Israel.

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Going to Egypt

164 – Going to Egypt

2 Kings 25:22-30 Jeremiah 40:1–44:30 52:31-34

Stories 159 – 164 happened during the life and ministry of Jeremiah, the prophet.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, totally destroyed Jerusalem. He left a few people to care for the land, and made Gedaliah governor of Judah.

Rebel soldiers still lived in the hills of Judah. Gedaliah met with them and said, “The king of Babylon wants to have peace with you. So stop fighting. Look at what the people left behind when they went into exile. You can harvest their grapes and olives and summer fruit. Select a town and go live there. I’ll represent you with the Babylonians.”

The soldiers followed this advice and lived in the land. Jews who lived in other countries came back and accepted Gedaliah as their governor. Altogether, they had a great harvest that year.

The king of Ammon hired ten Jews to kill Gedaliah. The people of Judah warned the governor about this plot. They said, “We have it good here. We don’t want these traitors to ruin it for the rest of us.” But Gedaliah didn’t believe them. He thought they were simply trying to get an advantage over their fellow countrymen.

Gedaliah invited the ten traitors to have a meal with him. During the meal, the men drew their swords and killed the governor. After throwing his body down a large well, they headed back to Ammon. The men of Judah chased after them. There was a battle, but most of the traitors got away.

The people of Judah knew what Nebuchadnezzar would do once he found out his governor had been killed. They made plans to escape to Egypt. They went to Jeremiah and said, “Ask the Lord what we should do. We promise we’ll do whatever he says.”

Ten days later, Jeremiah gave them a message from the Lord. “Don’t move to Egypt, but stay in Judah. I’ll be with you and protect you from the king of Babylon. If you stay, I’ll build you up and establish you here.

“I know you’re afraid, but listen to me. Your fears are waiting for you in Egypt. You won’t find war, hunger, and disease in Judah. No, they’re waiting for you in Egypt.”

The people yelled at Jeremiah, “You’re lying to us. The Lord didn’t tell you that. You want us to stay here so Babylon will kill us.”

The people left Judah and went to Egypt. They took the prophet and Baruch with them. Jeremiah finished his book in Egypt, and then he died.

Years later, a new king ruled Babylon. He brought King Jehoiachin out of prison and gave him his freedom. He was also given a living allowance and was invited to eat at the table of the king of Babylon. He lived in comfort for the rest of his life.

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Joash

144 – Joash

2 Kings 12:1-21 2 Chronicles 24:1-27

Joash was seven years old when he became king of Judah. Jehoiada, the high priest, taught the king and helped him live a godly life. As long as Jehoiada lived, Joash followed the ways of the Lord.

When the king was older, he decided to make repairs on the Temple of the Lord. Athaliah had taken every thing of value out of it to use in the worship of Baal.

Joash assigned priests and Levites to go throughout the nation and collect money for Temple repairs and annual upkeep. Many years earlier, Moses had provided for this by imposing a tax.

They started collecting the money, but the repairs didn’t start. The king finally realized the money was being used for administration costs and for other things the priests thought important.”

It was clear that the priests and Levites were the wrong people to oversee the Temple repair. Joash decided on a different method. He told men to make a large box and put it at the Temple gate. He then announced that people were to bring their money for the Temple and put it in the box.

The people of Judah liked this, so they brought their offerings and put them in the box. When it got full, the money was given to the men making the repairs. This gave them the ability to keep at their work and not slow down. They were men of integrity, so the king didn’t require them to give an accounting of the money and how it was spent.

The offerings kept coming in even after the work was done. So the extra money was used for making various tools of worship. The people of Judah became faithful at coming to the Temple and worshiping God.

All of this was done while Jehoiada was still alive. He died when he was 130 years old, having lived a good life. He had served his king, his God, and the people of Judah.

After his death, Joash listened to various leaders of Judah who wanted a different direction for the nation. He allowed them to make changes, and soon the people stopped going to the Temple to worship God. Instead they turned to idols and sex goddesses.

The Lord sent prophets to preach against this. The son of Jehoiada was now a priest. God had him stand before the people and say, “If you leave the Lord, he’ll leave you.”

The people rejected this message and wanted to kill the priest. Finally Joash ordered him to be stoned, even though he was the son of Jehoiada, who had been a faithful friend and advisor.

Soon afterwards, God allowed a small Syrian army to conquer the superior army of Judah and take Jerusalem. Many of the Jewish leaders were killed, the king was badly wounded, and the Syrians took everything of value. After they left, several men went into the king’s bedroom and killed him.

Joash had been king for 40 years. The people didn’t bury him in the tombs of the kings because of what he had done to the son of Jehoiada.

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Jezebel

142 – Jezebel

2 Kings 9:30 – 10:36

After Jehu killed the two kings, he went back to Jezebel to find Jezebel. She knew he was coming, so she put on makeup, brushed her hair, and sat next to her second floor window.

When he arrived, she called down to him, “Why are you here—to keep killing people who are better than you?”

He looked up at her, and then yelled, “Is anyone up there that’s on my side?” Some men who worked for the queen looked down from the window. Jehu yelled, “Throw her out of the window!”

They picked up Jezebel and threw her out of the window. She fell to the ground, splattering blood on the wall. Jehu drove his chariot over her several times. He then went inside to get something to eat.

After the meal, he said, “Well, I guess we should bury her. After all, she is a queen.”

He sent some men out to take care of this, but they could only find her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands. They told Jehu, and he said, “God spoke through Elijah when he said, ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel at Naboth’s field, and she will be fertilizer.’”

Jehu then sent a message to the elders in Samaria. “Your city walls are strong, and you have plenty of horses, chariots and weapons. The 70 sons of Ahab live under your protection. Therefore, select one to be your king, and prepare for battle.”

The elders were terrified when they got this letter. They sent him a message saying, “We don’t want to make any of these sons of Ahab our king. We’re your servants and will do whatever you say.”

He sent a message back to them. “If that’s true, put the heads of those 70 sons in baskets and send them to me.” So the 70 sons of Ahab were killed, and their heads were sent to Jehu. He then made sure no other relative of Ahab was still alive.

Once all of this was done, Jehu made an announcement in Samaria. He said, “Ahab served Baal a little, but I’m totally dedicated to him. Therefore I’m having a great sacrifice to Baal. All the true worshipers of Baal are to be there. I’ll kill anyone who misses this meeting.”

This announcement was made all across Israel. Baal worshipers came from every part of the nation. They filled up the temple of Baal. No one was missing. Jehu said, “Look around and see if there are any servants of the Lord with us. If you see one, throw him out immediately. Only servants of Baal are welcome here.”

Once this was done, the people started making their burnt offerings. Jehu went outside and said to his men. “Go in and kill everyone. If anyone escapes, you’ll give your life for his.”

So the men went in and killed everyone. They then tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a large toilet.

The Lord said, “You have followed my instructions with enthusiasm. Therefore, your sons will be king of Israel for four generations.” So Jehu reigned over Israel for 28 years.

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Elisha Crying

140 – Elisha Crying

2 Kings 8:1-15

Elisha went to the Shunammite woman and said, “Take your family and leave Israel as soon as you can. A famine will hit the land and last for seven years.”

She did as the man of God said. Her family left Israel and moved to the land of the Philistines and stayed there seven years. When she came back to Israel, she went to the king to ask that their family house and land be returned to her.

When she arrived, she found that the king was listening to Gehazi, who was talking about some of the great things Elisha had done. It happened that the servant was telling about the time the prophet brought the dead boy back to life.

Just then, the Shunammite woman walked in. Gehazi said, “My lord. This is the woman I was talking about. It was her son that was raised from the dead.”

The king asked her to tell the story from her viewpoint. After she told the story, he said to a court official, “Make sure this woman gets everything back that belongs to her. Also, give her whatever money was made from her fields while she was away.”

Some time later, Elisha went to the capital of Syria. The Syrian king was sick. When he heard that Elisha was in town, he sent his servant Hazael to the prophet. “Take some gifts to the man of God and ask him if I’ll recover from this illness.”

Hazael took 40 camel-loads of all kinds of goods as a gift. He said to the prophet, “The king of Syria wants to know if he’ll recover from his illness.”

Elisha said, “Go tell him that he’ll recover from his illness. But that’s not true. The Lord has told me that he’ll die.”

Then Elisha stared at Hazael. He stared so long that Hazael became embarrassed. Then the prophet broke down and cried. Hazael said, “Man of God, why are you crying?”

“Oh, because of the horrible things you’ll do to the people of Israel. You’ll burn down their cities and kill their young men. You’ll crush the heads of babies and rip open pregnant women.”

Hazael said, “How can I do these terrible things? I’m only a servant.”

“Oh, the Lord has shown me that you are going to be the king of Syria.”

Hazael left the prophet and went back to his master. The king asked, “What did Elisha say?”

“He said you’d recover from your illness.”

The next day, Hazael dipped a heavy cloth into water, and used it to suffocate the king. After he died, Hazael took his place as king of Syria.

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Elijah and the Widow

124 – Elijah & the Widow

1 Kings 17:1-24

Israel had many wicked kings. They all followed the example of Jeroboam.

While Asa was still king of Judah, Ahab became king of Israel. He was extremely evil, more than any of the kings that were before him. He married a woman named Jezebel, who worshiped Baal. Through her influence, Ahab built a temple of Baal in the capital city of Samaria.

The prophet Elijah stood before the king and said, “I have a message from God. There will be no dew or rain until I say so!”

The Lord said to Elijah, “Leave here and go to a certain brook. It will provide you water, and I have already told the ravens to bring you food.”

So Elijah went and lived next to that brook. And just as the Lord said, the ravens brought him bread and meat every morning and every evening. But in time, the brook dried up because there hadn’t been any rain.

The Lord said, “Go to a Gentile town called Zarephath. I have selected a widow to provide for you there.” When Elijah entered the village, he saw a woman gathering wood. He said to her, “Please bring me a little water.” As she went to get it, he said, “And also bring me some bread.”

She turned and looked at him. “I don’t have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in the jar, and a bit of oil in the jug. I was gathering these sticks so I could make it into bread for my son and myself. We were going to eat it and then die.”

The prophet said, “Don’t be afraid to do what I say. Go and make your bread, but when it’s done, give some to me first. The Lord God of Israel has said, ‘The jar will always have flour, and the jug will always have oil until the day God sends rain.’”

Again, she looked at him, and then went and did as he asked. She made the bread, and gave some to him first. Sure enough, from that day on, the jar always had some flour, and the jug of oil never ran dry.

She prepared a place for the prophet in the upper room of her house.

Sometime later, the woman’s son got sick. Soon his illness was severe, and finally he died. The woman went to Elijah and said, “Man of God, why did you come in to my house? Was it to expose my guilt, so you could kill my son?”

Elijah said, “Give me your son.” He took the boy to the upper room where he was staying. He laid him on the bed and then prayed, “Oh Lord God, why did you bring me into this woman’s home, and then kill her son?

He then stretched out over the boy and prayed, “Oh Lord my God, please bring life back into this boy!”

He stretched out over the boy a second time. “Oh Lord my God, please bring life back into this boy!”

He stretched out over the boy a third time. “Oh Lord my God, please bring life back into this boy!”

Suddenly the boy started breathing. Elijah took him back down into the house, and gave him to his mother. He said, “Here is your son. He’s alive.”

The woman fell down before the prophet and said, “Now I know you are a man of God, and his word is in your mouth!”

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Ethnic Cleansing

112 – Ethnic Cleansing

II Samuel 21:1-22

A famine hit the land of Israel. At first, David thought it was a natural event until it lasted for three years. He then realized the famine was from God. So he asked the Lord about it. God said, “It is because of what Saul did to the Gibeonites.”

The Tabernacle of God was at Gibeon. The Ark of God was in Jerusalem, but the Tabernacle was set up in Gibeon. So there were two places of worship.

The Gibeonites made an agreement with Israel in the days of Joshua. Saul decided to ignore those agreements and eliminate the Gibeonite population. He tried to totally annihilate their existence.

David went to them and said, “Our people have wronged you. How can we once again be reconciled with you?”

They said, “Money can’t pay for killing our brothers and sisters. And we don’t have the power to strike back at Israel. Still, our complaint isn’t toward Israel. It’s only toward the man who tried to exterminate us from the earth.”

David said, “So, what can we do for you?”

They said, “Give us seven of Saul’s descendants. We will hang them in his hometown, near where the people worship the Lord.”

David agreed. He selected two of Saul’s sons and five of his grandsons. He spared Mephibosheth because of his promise to Jonathan.

The Gibeonites killed the seven men and hung their bodies on a hill near where people went to worship. They were to hang there from April, which was the beginning of harvest, until October, which was the beginning of the rainy season.

Saul’s wife went to the site where her sons and grandsons were hanging. She stayed there day and night to protect the bodies from the birds during the day and the wild animals during the night.

When the allotted time was over, David went to the city where Saul and Jonathan were buried and got their bones. He then buried them in their family tomb, along with the seven men. After all of this was done, God once again heard David’s prayers concerning the land.

Years later, the Philistines once again declared war on Israel. David went with his men to fight a battle. He suddenly became exhausted during the fight. A relative of Goliath saw this as his opportunity to kill David. The Philistine was a huge man of great strength. He moved in to make the kill. One of David’s men stopped the giant and killed him.

David was taken off the battlefield, and his men took an oath. They said, “You are never to fight with us again. You’re the Lamp of Israel, and you’re not to put it out on the battlefield.” So David never went out to war again.

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Wise Woman of Abel

111 – Wise Woman of Abel

II Samuel 19:13 20:1-26 I Chronicles 2:16-17

David removed Joab from his command of the army. He replaced him with Amasa, who was also his nephew. He said to Amasa, “Gather my troops in three days so you can hunt down Sheba.”

Amasa started gathering an army, but it took him too long. He wasn’t back in three days. David said to Joab’s brother, “We must act fast if we’re to defeat Sheba. If we give him time, he’ll be a bigger danger then Absalom ever was. Go after him immediately.”

Joab joined his brother, and together they quickly organized an army. They then left Jerusalem to capture Sheba.

Along the way, Amasa finally caught up with them. Joab walked over to him, “Amasa, my cousin. How are you?” He then reached up with his right hand as if to draw Amasa closer and greet him with a kiss. Amasa didn’t see the knife in Joab’s left hand.

Joab stabbed Amasa in the stomach. He fell to the ground, dying but not yet dead. Joab turned and left to continue his search for Sheba. A soldier stood next to Amasa and shouted, “Follow Joab if you’re loyal to king David.”

As the army followed Joab, they kept slowing down as they passed Amasa, who was groaning in extreme pain. Some even stopped to look at him. Finally, a soldier pulled Amasa off to the side of the road and threw a blanket over him. Then the army moved along quickly.

They chased Sheba all around the country. He finally took his men to a city called Abel. Joab’s troops lay siege on the city and built a ramp against its walls. The purpose was to tear down the walls and destroy the city.

As they were working, a woman yelled out to them. She was known around that area as woman of wisdom. She said, “Go get Joab so I can talk to him.”

Joab came to that part of the wall and yelled, “What do you want?”

She yelled back, “Are you Joab?”

“Yes, what do you want?”

She said, “People say, ‘Go to Abel to get the best advice.’ That’s because we know how to solve problems. So why would you want to destroy a valuable resource like Abel? Our city is like a mother to Israel.”

He said, “We’re not here to destroy your city. We’re chasing Sheba, who has rebelled against David, our king. If you give us this man, we’ll leave your city alone.”

The woman said, “I’ll hold you to that. We’ll throw Sheba’s head out to you.”

The woman went and talked to the city officials. They trusted her wisdom, so they caught Sheba, cut off his head, and threw it out to Joab.

Once Joab saw it, he blew the ram’s horn, and his army went home. Joab went back to Jerusalem, where he was once again made commander of David’s army.