Read: 1 Kings 14:1-15:24; Acts 10:1-23A; Psalm 133:1-3; Proverbs 17:7-8
Jeroboam, king of Israel had a son who became deathly sick. He sent his wife to the prophet, Ahijah who had prophesied his kingship. Jeroboam told his wife to disguise herself so Ahijah wouldn’t recognize her. Jeroboam was probably felling quilty over the way he had abandoned God. Even though Ahijah was physically blind, he was spiritually acute. God told him she was coming and what to say.
As she approached his house, he called out to her by name and told her why she was there and what would happen to the boy. He would die the moment she set foot in her house. He was the only thing good about Jeroboam’s off-spring so he would be buried, but the rest of his family would be eaten by birds and dogs because of the sin he had led Israel into.
It all happened as Ahijah had said.When Ahijah died, his son, Nadab became king.
In Judah, Rehoboam ruled 17 years and led Judah into sin. They set up high places where they worshipped every god except the only true God. In his fifth year of reigning, the king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and carried away the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the kings palace. The king replaced the gold shields with bronze ones. When he died, his son, Abijah became king. He did not follow after the Lord either.
Abijah only reigned two years and the next king was Asa who was a good king. He cleansed the land of idolatry and stayed true to the Lord all his life. He brought back the silver and gold into the temple.
Throughout this time, Israel and Judah were enemies and fought against each other. Baasha, king of Israel, fortified Ramah which was the gateway into Judah. No one was allowed to travel to and from their kingdoms. Asa sent gold and silver to Ben-Hadad the king of Aram to break his treaty with Baasha and make one with him. Ben-Hadad agreed and helped Judah conquer the land of Dan and Naptali. This discouraged Baasha from building Ramah and caused him to retreat. King Asa had all the fortifications Baasha had built to be torn down. Asa built two other cities: Geba and Mizpah.
Asa died of foot disease and his son, Jehoshaphat became king.
In Acts, God sent his word to an Italian officer who loved God and gave much of his money to help the poor. He had not heard about the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God gave him a vision and in it an angel told him to send for Simon who would be in Joppa and hear what he had to say.
In the meantime, God put Simon Peter in a trance and showed him a sheet coming down from heaven with all the unclean animals on them and told him to kill them and eat them. Peter was appalled and didn’t want to eat them became they were unclean. God told him not to call unclean what he had called clean. God was ushering in a new covenant that was higher than the law. It was grace. He repeated the vision three times so Peter would get the point. While Peter was contemplating the meaning of the vision, God spoke to him and told him that three men were looking for him so he needed to go downstairs and go with them.
We can expect to have these kind of encounters in the days ahead. God is ushering in a new kingdom on earth that is his heaven coming down to earth. Everything is changing and we need to see that light conquers darkness. This is not a time to look to the end in fear but with great expectation of God’s spirit leading us into wonderful adventures with him.
Lord, awaken our spirits to hear your softest whispers.
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