Jonah & the Fish

146 – Jonah & the Fish

Jonah 1:1-2:10

The Lord said to Jonah the prophet, “Leave right now and go to Nineveh. You’re to tell them I’m going to judge them because of their wickedness.”

Jonah knew that God was merciful and would forgive Nineveh if they repented. He didn’t want that, so he ran away from God’s will and went to the seaport town called Joppa. He bought a ticket and got on a ship going to Tarshish. He wanted to get far away from God’s will so there would be no possibility of Nineveh’s repenting.

Once the ship was out to sea, God sent a violent storm to hit it. The sailors were terrified because the storm was about to destroy their boat and drown them. They threw their cargo overboard to lighten the load. When that didn’t help, they prayed to their various gods. While all of this was going on, Jonah was fast asleep down in the hold of the boat.

The captain woke him up and said, “How can you sleep? We’re about to die. Get up and pray to your god.”

Eventually the sailors figured out that this storm was directed at only one person on the ship. They cast lots to see who it was. The results showed that Jonah was the reason for their troubles. They said, “Who are you, and what have you done?”

He said, “I serve the Lord God, who made the sea and the dry ground. But I’m running away from him.” Suddenly the storm got worse! The men screamed at Jonah, “What should we do to you to calm the storm?”

Jonah yelled back, “God only wants one thing, and the storm won’t stop until He gets it. You’re to grab me and throw me overboard.”

The men didn’t want to kill an innocent man, so they worked even harder to fight against the storm and get to land. Finally they realized they couldn’t fight God. They cried out to the Lord and asked him for mercy for what they were about to do. They then grabbed Jonah and threw him overboard.

Immediately, the storm stopped! The men were shocked at the power of God. They fell to the deck and worshiped the Lord and vowed to serve only him.

God had a large fish waiting for Jonah as he went into the water. The fish immediately swallowed him, and he stayed in the fish’s stomach for three days.

Jonah prayed and acknowledged that it was God who put him in the fish. He finally said, “I’ll give you what you want. I’ll thank you for your will, and do what you want me to do.”

With that, the Lord spoke to the fish. It went to land and vomited Jonah onto the shore.

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Death of Elisha

145 – Death of Elisha

2 Kings 13:1-25

After Jehu died, his son became king of Israel. Unfortunately he wasn’t a good king. Still, there was one time he desperately needed God’s help, and the Lord helped him.

After he died, his son Jehoash became king. During his reign, Elisha became sick and was about to die. The king knelt down beside the prophet’s bed and cried. He said, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

Elisha said to him, “Go get your bow and some arrows.”

The king went and got them. When he came back, the prophet said, “Grab the bow.” So the king grabbed the bow. The man of God then put his hand on top of Jehoash’s hand and said, “Now, open the window.”

The king opened the window. Elisha said, “Shoot an arrow out the window.” So Jehoash shot an arrow out the window.

Elisha said, “That was the Lord’s arrow of victory. You’ll have victory over Syria. Now grab a handful of arrows and hit them on the ground.”

Jehoash grabbed some arrows and hit the ground three times and stopped. The prophet yelled at him. “Why did you only hit the ground three times? You should’ve hit it five or six times. Then you would have totally defeated Syria and brought an end to them. Now you’ll only defeat them three times.”

Elisha died and was buried in a tomb. The following spring, some Israelites were conducting a funeral. Suddenly they saw some men coming, and realized they were Moabite raiders. The men from Israel threw the body into Elisha’s tomb and ran away. As soon as the body touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man came to life and stood up.

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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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Blind Soldiers

138 – Blind Soldiers

II Kings 6:8-23

The king of Syria invaded the land of Israel. He brought in his military leaders and told them his plans—where he was going to set up camp and how he was going to attack the Israelites. As soon as he spoke the words, Elisha went and told the king of Israel exactly what the Syrians were planning. The army of Israel made preparations and won the battle.

This happened several times until the king of Syria finally realized that the Israelites always knew exactly what he was planning. He said to his commanders, “Which one of you is a spy for Israel?”

One of them said. “My lord, we’re all loyal to you. It’s Elisha, the prophet. He is the one telling his king about your plans. He knows what you say, even when you’re in your bedroom.”

“Where does this prophet live?”

“He lives in Dothan, my lord.”

So the king sent a large army with horses and chariots to Dothan. They arrived at night and surrounded the city.

Elisha’s servant got up early and stepped outside. Suddenly he saw this massive army. Running back inside, he yelled, “The Syrian army has surrounded the city. What are we going to do?”

Elisha was surprised. “Why are you afraid? Our army is much bigger than theirs.”

Then he prayed, “Lord, open this man’s eyes so he can see.” So the Lord opened his eyes. He looked out and saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire. All of them were for Elisha.

At that point, the Syrians started moving in on the city. The prophet prayed, “Lord, please make all these men blind.” Suddenly the Lord struck them with blindness.

The prophet walked up to them and said, “Somehow you’ve gotten on the wrong road. You’re at the wrong city. I’ll guide you and take you to the right place.”

He then led them to Samaria, the capital of Israel. Once they were inside the gate, he prayed, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” The men looked around and realized they were in Samaria.

The king of Israel saw this and said to Elisha, “Should I kill them? ”

“No. You can’t kill these men. You didn’t capture them in battle. They’re your guests. Give them food and drink, and let them go back to their master.”

So the king prepared a great feast for his guests. When everyone had had enough to eat and drink, they went back to the king of Syria. It was a long time before Syria invaded Israel again.

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Naaman

136 – Naaman

II Kings 5:1-14

Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army. He was a brave warrior and led his men to win many victories. His king considered him a great man. During one of their wars with Israel, he captured a young girl and brought her back to be a servant for his wife.

In time, Naaman realized he had leprosy, a crippling disease of the skin. The young slave girl said, “I wish my master could go to Israel. They have a prophet who’s able to heal people, even those with leprosy.”

Naaman told this to the king. Immediately, the king made preparations to send Naaman to the king of Israel. He sent gifts of gold, silver, and fine clothes along with a letter saying, “I’m sending my servant Naaman so you can cure him of leprosy.”

The king of Israel was shocked when he read the letter. He ripped his clothes and yelled, “Who does he think I am? I’m not God. I can’t cure people of leprosy! He’s trying to start a war with me.”

Elisha heard about this and sent a message to the king. “Why are you ripping your clothes? Send the man to me so he’ll know there’s a prophet in Israel.”

So Naaman and his men rode to the prophet’s house and stood outside. Elisha sent his servant Gehazi out with this message. “Go down to the Jordan River and wash seven times. After you’re done, you’ll be healed of leprosy.”

Naaman couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He became furious and stormed away. He said, “A true prophet would come out and stand in front of me. He’d pray to the Lord and wave his hand over my skin. If I thought washing in a river would help, I’d bathe in one of the beautiful rivers of Syria—not a dirty river like the Jordan.”

His servants said to him, “My father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard, you would’ve done it. But he told you to do something easy—wash and be clean.”

So Naaman went to the Jordan River and dipped into it seven times. Suddenly his skin was healed just as the prophet said it would be. In fact, it was like the skin of a young boy.

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Jehoshaphat’s Victory

130 – Jehoshaphat’s Victory

II Chronicles 19:1 – 20:37

Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king of Judah. He ruled for 25 years. He set up an educational system, established justice in the land, and reformed the legal system.

Things were going well in Judah, until suddenly the nations of Moab, Ammon, and Edom decided to unite together and fight against Jehoshaphat. A massive army moved from the east side of the Dead Sea to En-gedi, on the west side.

Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he sought the Lord’s help. He sent out a proclamation saying that everyone was to fast and seek God’s favor. The people responded, and many went to Jerusalem to be with their king and pray with him. A huge crowd went to the Temple and stood before the Lord. Men brought their wives and children, so entire families prayed together and sought God’s help.

Jehoshaphat stood before all the people and prayed to God. He said, “Oh Lord, you’re the God of heaven. You’re the one who gave this land to your friend Abraham. You control all power and might. You said we’re to trust you when we’re in trouble. Look! The Moabites and Ammonites have gathered a massive army and have come to destroy us. We have no power to fight against them. We don’t know what else to do but look to you.”

Suddenly the Spirit of God came upon a prophet. He said, “Hear what God says to you. ‘Don’t be afraid of this vast multitude. This isn’t your battle, but mine. Tomorrow, go against them. You’ll see them coming, but you don’t have to fight them. Get in position, but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Don’t be afraid, I am with you.’”

Jehoshaphat bowed down and put his face to the ground. All the people did the same and worshiped the Lord. Suddenly, the Levites stood up and started praising the Lord God with a loud voice.

In the morning, the men got up early and went out to face their enemies. Jehoshaphat told them, “Believe in the Lord and you’ll be successful.” He then appointed people to sing for the Lord. They went out in front of the army singing, “Give thanks to the Lord. His faithful love endures forever.”

As the people shouted and praised the Lord, suddenly their enemy became confused. The Ammonites and the Moabites turned on those from Edom and totally annihilated them. They then turned on one another and kept killing until every man was dead. When the army of Judah arrived on the battlefield, there was nothing but corpses lying on the ground. No one had escaped.

Jehoshaphat told his people to gather up anything of value from the dead bodies. They found that their enemies had carried a large amount of valuables onto the battlefield. There was so much that the people gathered for three days. Finally, they couldn’t carry any more.

They met on the fourth day, just to praise God. Then they returned to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat at the lead. Everyone gathered at the Temple to once again praise the Lord with great rejoicing!

All the nations around Judah heard about the great victory God had given his people. They were all terrified of the Lord, and none of them attacked Jehoshaphat as long as he lived. So there was peace in the land, and all was quiet.

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Rehoboam & Jeroboam

122 – Rehoboam & Jeroboam

I Kings 14:1-31 15:33-34 II Chronicles 12:1-16

One of the sons of Jeroboam became sick. The king said to his wife, “When I was a servant of Solomon, a prophet told me that I’d become king of the northern ten tribes of Israel. He lives in Shiloh. Take him gifts of food and ask him what will happen to our son. Put on a disguise, so he won’t know you’re my wife.”

The prophet was now old and blind. The Lord said to him, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming wearing a disguise. She’s going to ask you about their son who is sick.” Then the Lord told him what to say.

Soon the prophet heard the woman’s footsteps. He said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why are you wearing a disguise? Listen, God has a message for your husband, a horrible message!”

The Lord says, “I selected you when you were an average man. I tore part of the kingdom away from the family of David and gave it to you. But look what you’ve done. You haven’t followed me. You haven’t kept my commandments. Instead, you’ve insulted me with two golden calves, and you’ve become more wicked than anyone else.

“So, listen to what I’m going to do to you. All of the males in your family will die a horrible death. The family name of Jeroboam won’t continue after you’re gone. Dogs will eat those who die in the city, and birds will eat those who die in the country.

“There will be only one exception to this. Your son who is now sick is a good man, the only one in your family. He will die a normal death. But he’ll die as soon as you get home. You’ll bury him, and all of Israel will mourn his death. But he’ll be the only one in your family that will be buried.

“All of this will happen because of what Jeroboam did to Israel. His sin will force me to hit Israel so hard that their roots will be ripped up from this soil. They’ll be carried away and scattered among the nations.”

Jeroboam’s wife went home, and her son died as soon as she walked into their house. He was buried and all of Israel mourned his death.

Jeroboam ruled for 22 years, and then died. His son became king after him. He followed the example of his father but only ruled for two years. He was killed and the entire family of Jeroboam was destroyed. It all happened just like the prophet said.

While Jeroboam ruled Israel in the north, Rehoboam ruled Judah in the south. He also made the Lord angry by leading the people in ways that were evil. Judah became as wicked as all the surrounding nations.

During the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Egypt came and plundered Jerusalem. They took all the gold from the Temple and the royal palace. They took the gold shields Solomon had made.

After they left, Rehoboam replaced the shields with ones made of bronze. Whenever the king left the palace and went to the Temple, guards walked along with him, carrying the bronze shields.

There was war between Judah and Israel as long as Rehoboam and Jeroboam lived. Rehoboam died after ruling Judah for 17 years, and his son became king after him.

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Queen of Sheba

118 – Queen of Sheba

I Kings 10:1 – 11:25; 11:42-43 II Chronicles 9:1-31

The queen of Sheba heard about the great wisdom of King Solomon. She couldn’t believe it was true. So she decided to go and test him with a list of hard questions. She organized a large band of servants to travel with her and selected presents to present to the king. She arrived in Jerusalem with a great caravan of camels loaded with gold, jewels, and spices.

She met with the king and asked him her list of questions. He was able to answer every single question. None of them was too difficult for him to explain to her. She was amazed to see the palace he had built, the variety of food at every meal, the way his servants were dressed, and the burnt offerings he made at the Temple. She said, “Everything I heard about you is true, but I couldn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. Now I find that I wasn’t told half of what is true about you. May your God continue to bless you as you carry out justice and righteousness.”

She gave him a half a ton of gold, and more spices than had ever come to Jerusalem. Solomon also gave her many gifts before she and her servants returned home.

Every year, Solomon received 25 tons of gold in addition to normal trade. Because of this, he covered many things with gold—ornaments, drinking cups, dishes, and his throne. He didn’t use silver because he didn’t think it was valuable.

Solomon crafted 200 large shields, each made with 15 pounds of hammered gold. He also made 300 smaller shields with 4 pounds of gold in each one. No other king in the world was as rich and wise as Solomon.

He accumulated a large herd of horses for his military. These were imported from many countries around that part of the world.

Unfortunately, Solomon also accumulated many women, which was a direct violation of God’s law. He had 700 wives, all daughters of kings. Each one worshiped the gods of her country. He also had 300 concubines.

When Solomon got old, these women convinced him to build a shrine for each of their gods. Eventually, every hill around Jerusalem had a shrine on it, honoring their many gods. Solomon started burning incense at these places and offering sacrifices. Finally, he departed from worshiping the Lord and joined his wives in worshiping their gods. Wickedness filled his heart.

God was angry with Solomon because he departed from following the ways of David. The Lord said, “I’m going to tear your kingdom in two, and give one part to a servant of yours. But I won’t do this in your lifetime because of my promise to David. Your son will lose most of your kingdom.”

Then God allowed the enemies of Solomon to organize against him, so there was no longer peace in the land. Finally, Solomon died. He had been king of Israel for forty years.

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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.