The Lord is faithful even when we are not. Be blessed.
2 Kings 3: Moab Rebels Against Israel
1 In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twelve years.
2 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
3 Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.
4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.
5 But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel.
7 And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab?" And he said, "I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."
8 Then he said, "By which way shall we march?" Jehoram answered, "By the way of the wilderness of Edom."
9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them.
10 Then the king of Israel said, "Alas! The LORD has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."
11 And Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no prophet of the LORD here, through whom we may inquire of the LORD?" Then one of the king of Israel's servants answered, "Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah."
12 And Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the LORD is with him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
13 And Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother." But the king of Israel said to him, "No; it is the LORD who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."
14 And Elisha said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you.
15 But now bring me a musician." And when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him.
16 And he said, "Thus says the LORD, 'I will make this dry streambed full of pools.'
17 For thus says the LORD, 'You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.'
18 This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD. He will also give the Moabites into your hand,
19 and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones."
20 The next morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water.
21 When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the border.
22 And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood.
23 And they said, "This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!"
24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they went.
25 And they overthrew the cities, and on every good piece of land every man threw a stone until it was covered. They stopped every spring of water and felled all the good trees, till only its stones were left in Kir-hareseth, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it.
26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not.
27 Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.
2 Kings 4: Elisha and the Widow's Oil
1 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves."
2 And Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?" And she said, "Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil."
3 Then he said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbours, empty vessels and not too few.
4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside."
5 So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her.
6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another." Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest."
Elisha and the Shunammite Woman
8 One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food.
9 And she said to her husband, "Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way.
10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there."
11 One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there.
12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, "Call this Shunammite." When he had called her, she stood before him.
13 And he said to him, "Say now to her, 'See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?'" She answered, "I dwell among my own people."
14 And he said, "What then is to be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is old."
15 He said, "Call her." And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway.
16 And he said, "At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son." And she said, "No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant."
17 But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.
Elisha Raises the Shunammite's Son
18 When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers.
19 And he said to his father, "Oh, my head, my head!" The father said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother."
20 And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died.
21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out.
22 Then she called to her husband and said, "Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again."
23 And he said, "Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath." She said, "All is well."
24 Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, "Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you."
25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, "Look, there is the Shunammite.
26 Run at once to meet her and say to her, 'Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?'" And she answered, "All is well."
27 And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, "Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me."
28 Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, 'Do not deceive me?'"
29 He said to Gehazi, "Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child."
30 Then the mother of the child said, "As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So he arose and followed her.
31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, "The child has not awakened."
32 When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed.
33 So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD.
34 Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm.
35 Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
36 Then he summoned Gehazi and said, "Call this Shunammite." So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, "Pick up your son."
37 She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.
Elisha Purifies the Deadly Stew
38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, "Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets."
39 One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were.
40 And they poured out some for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the stew, they cried out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it.
41 He said, "Then bring flour." And he threw it into the pot and said, "Pour some out for the men, that they may eat." And there was no harm in the pot.
42 A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, "Give to the men, that they may eat."
43 But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred men?" So he repeated, "Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the LORD, 'They shall eat and have some left.'"
44 So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.
Things to think about…
1. In both these chapters the key ingredient is ‘faith’. In chapter three Elisha would not have acknowledged the alliance between these three kings of Israel, Edom and Judah if it wasn’t for the ‘faith’ of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat calls for a prophet and Elisha prophesies deliverance from the Moabites who were ultimately struck down. We are a blessing to others simply because of the gift of ‘faith’ in Christ given to us. Keep praying for family and friends who are outside of Christ may be blessed by your witness to acknowledge Him as their Saviour. Jehoshaphat while he loves the Lord is still a bit of a man pleaser, especially when it comes to the northern Kings of Israel. Remember he got into trouble when followed Ahab into battle and now we see him doing the same with Ahab’s son Jehoram. Fortunately we have a deliverer who saves by His grace and not our feeble efforts.
2. Praise God for the musicians, 2Kings 3:15. Our Lord is worshipped in song. We will be singing in glory, let’s make a joyful noise to the Lord with a new song. Even the song of Moses, as here, is a song of deliverance. The hand of the Lord came upon Elisha when the musician played, 2Kings 3:!5. May we see the Lord’s hand of blessing when we play.
3. Elisha has compassion on a widow of one of the prophets 2Kings 4:1-7. She is encumbered with debt after her husband dies. The miracle of the jar of oil is representative of the blessings of God that come through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. He is the oil of our lives. Paul says ‘be being filled with the Holy Spirit’, Eph 5:18. This is a constant thing, not just something that happens at salvation. Debt is certainly a crushing thing and many in our society are burdened with it simply because of greed. As a result the ‘oil’ of the Holy Spirit is lacking in a good portion of western Christianity. Are you seeing the vessel of your life overflowing with the fruit of the Holy Spirit?
4. Elisha blesses this wealthy woman and her husband from Shunem with a son. She had wealth but not an inheritance. When the son dies, see knows the only place where she can receive an answer is from the man of God. She even tells her husband ‘all is well’. A godly woman will protect and bless her children by going to the ends of the earth for their well-being. Elisha acknowledges her faith and personally ministers to her son. We must ask the Lord to keep our children spiritually safe. Only He can raise then from the dead spiritually. Stretch yourself out in prayer for your children and grandchildren just as Elisha did for this woman’s son that they may know Christ as Saviour. The son was dead then is alive. Jesus the Son of God was dead and rose from the dead. We have life in Him.
5. Elisha reflects the ministry of Christ with the feeding of 100 men with 20 loaves (small) of barley and some grain. They ate and had some left over just as the disciples took up fragments of the fish and loaves after feeding the 5000 and the 4000. Can you recall the times in your past where the Lord has blessed you with provision when all seemed lost outwardly? He promises never to leave us nor forsake us. Perhaps you have a need at present? Allow the Lord to supply your need by taking your need to Him. His answer will add to your testimony of His faithfulness. He blesses exceedingly and abundantly above all you could ask or imagine.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon title was “talk about demons” - from Matt 24
1. Jesus says the temple will be torn down and is asked by His disciples 3 questions. 1. When will the temple be torn down? 2. What will be the sign of your return? 3. When will the close of the age happen? Mt 24:3. When did the first occur?
2. What does the “abomination that causes desolation” mean? How do we know this was this not fulfilled in AD70?? How will it be fulfilled? Discuss.
3. A number of things will occur before Christ returns, what are they as listed in Matt 24? Are they occurring in our world?
4. There have been many false prophets. Jay mentioned Harold Camping who prophesied the end of the world a couple of times and was embarrassed each time. We know people get complacent about the Lord’s return. Discuss how you talk about Jesus and who you can share the gospel with this week.
Prayer Points
1. Growth in our kids and youth ministries
2. The Chuwar carols – pray as we put the event together
3. Pray for testimonies that people will be doing every second week. Please consider when you would like to do yours when the pastor asks you to share yours.
4. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
5. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points.
1. A man who has joined CBC recently, Nathan is wanting to be a child of God.
2. Combined worship service at Riverlife – lots of young people engaging with our Lord.
3. Worship team and technical team. Thankyou Suzy, Zac, Gina, Dan H and Rin. You made Sundays praise enjoyable.
