Tues.’s Devo - From Elijah to Elisha

Read: 2 Kings 1:1-2:25; Acts 13:42-14:7; Psalm 139:1-24; Proverbs 17:19-21 After Ahab died, his son Ahaziah became king. He seriously injured himself when he fell through the latticework of an upper room in the palace. He sent messengers to Ekron where the temple of Baal-zebub was to ask if he would recover. Ekron was a Philistine town which was the last town the Ark had been when it was stolen. Baal-zebub means “lord of the fly”. God sent Elijah to meet the messengers and ask them why the king was going to Ekron to ask if he was going to recover. Was there no god in Israel? Then he told them that because Ahaziah did this, he would not live. When they relayed the message to Ahaziah and described the prophet, Ahaziah knew exactly who he was. He sent an army captain and 50 men to bring Elijah back to the palace. The number 50 is mentioned 9 times in today’s reading. Fifty is the number of Jubilee and the number or redemption. Elijah called down fire to consume them and the next 50. When the third 50 arrived, this captain fell on his face and begged for mercy. God told him to go with him. When Elijah met Ahaziah, he told them the same thing he had told his first messenger and it happened. He died. Ahaziah had no son so his brother Joram became the next king. It was time for Elijah to be taken to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah was not going to die and go to Sheol, he was going straight to heaven. There he would be preserved. His spirit would return in Elisha, John the Baptist and in a man in the last days before the second return of Christ. Elijah and Elisha were going from Gilgal to Bethel. Elisha knew Elijah was leaving that day and vowed not to leave him. They met prophets who confirmed that. Elijah tried to get Elisha to stay there while he went to Jericho but Elisha followed. More prophets confirmed Elijah’s leaving that day. Next Elijah went to the Jordan River, struck it with his cloak and they walked across on dry ground. Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted from him and he told him he wanted a double portion of his spirit. Elijah told him that if he sees him leaving then he will have his request. Suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drown by horses of fire. It drove between them and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it. Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak and returned to the Jordan River. He struck it with Elijah’s cloak and it divided and he walked across. The other prophets saw this and came and gave him their allegiance. They knew that Elijah had put his spirit on him. They begged Elijah to let them go and look for his body. They urged him till he finally let them send 50 men to look for him. (There is that 50 again.) The first assignment Elisha was given was to make the bitter water sweet. That was Moses’ first assignment when he came out of Egypt. He threw salt into it and it remained pure. It no longer caused death or infertility. Elijah was a picture of judgment on the sins of Israel. Elisha was the reborn Elijah who brought cleansing and rebirth to the nation. Elisha retraced Elijah’s steps. He used the boys who disrespected the prophet and they were killed by two bears. Elisha revisited Mt. Carmel where Elijah had killed the false prophets. Then Elisha went to Samaria, capital of Israel. In Acts, Paul and Barnabas taught the next week also in the synagogue and it was filled with people who wanted to hear their preaching. Some of the Jews were jealous of the crowds and opposed their teaching. Paul and Barnabas told them that since they rejected their teaching they would take it to the Gentiles who would accept it. The Gentiles were glad but the Jews stirred up the elite of the city and incited a mob who ran Paul and Barnabas out of town. They shook the dust from their feet and went to Iconium. The same thing happened there. The Gentiles accepted the word but the Jews ran them out of their town also. They fled to Lycaonia to the towns of Lystra and Derbe. Every town they visited, they left behind believers full of the Holy Spirit who could continue what they started. Paul and Barnabas were igniters of fires. They carried their light to others and let God take care of the rest. Lord, may we be strong like Paul and Barnabas who lived for the kingdom, not their own lives or reputations. May we be bold like Elijah and Elisha who were not afraid to speak God’s words.

Mon.’s Devo - Fulfillment of Prophesy

Read: 1 Kings 22:1-53; Acts 13:16-41; Psalm 138:1-8; Proverbs 17:17-18 It has been at least three years since Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal and Ahab has accumulated 400 more prophets. Israel hasn’t been to war with Aram for three years, so he instigates a war with them over Ramoth-gilead and asks King Jehoshaphat of Judah to join him. Before they go to war, King Jehoshaphat thinks they should ask the Lord what he thinks and if they will win. Ahab calls his false prophets and they all say the same thing. They tell him to go and the Lord will prosper them. Jehoshaphat has watched these prophets and know that they aren’t God’s prophets so he asks if Israel has a prophet of God they can ask. Ahab tells him about Micaiah, but warns him, he always prophesies evil against him. Jehoshaphat still wants to hear what he has to say so Ahab sends for him. When he comes, he sarcastically answers just like his false prophets. Ahab gets mad and tells him to say the truth. Micaiah then tells him what God said. God wants Ahab to go to war because he will die in the battle. He is using the false prophets to convince him to go. Ahab is furious and orders Micaiah sent back to Amon and put in prison. He is to be fed nothing but bread and water until he returns. So, the two kings go to war disregarding what the prophet of God said. Ahab thinks he can outsmart God by disguising himself. The soldiers of Aram are ordered to go for Ahab. They see Jehoshaphat dressed like a king but when he calls out, they know he is not Ahab so they quit chasing him. One soldier randomly shoots an arrow towards Israel’s troops and it hits Ahab between the joints of his armor. Ahab’s officers prop him up in his chariot and he bleeds out all day while his men fight. At the end of the day, he died and his troops run for their lives. They took his chariot and washed it out by the pool of Samaria where the prophet said his blood would be spilled. Ahab had been an evil king. His son, Ahaziah became king after him. He only reigned for two years. He was evil and served Baal like his father Ahab. Jehoshaphat had been a good king of Judah. He had failed to remove all the pagan shrines where the people offered sacrifices and burned incense to false gods. His son, Jehoram became king after him. In Acts, Paul stood to give the people in Antioch of Pisidia a word of encouragement. He addressed the crowd as “Men of Israel and you God-fearing Gentiles.” He began with Moses and took them through their journey as a nation to where they were right then. They had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Then they were led by judges. Then they wanted a king. God gave them a “wilderness king” - Saul for 40 years. Then he gave them David, a man after God’s heart. Everything in history had pointed to Jesus. John the Baptist was like Samuel of the Old Testament. Samuel tried to prepare the people for a king and John the Baptist tried to prepare them for Jesus. Jesus fulfilled every prophecy about the Messiah and yet he was rejected by his own. God raised him from the dead and he appeared to them in person. It is this Christ that they were witnesses of and now preach. Through Jesus, there is forgiveness of sin and justification. The law could never give that. He warned them not to be the ones the scripture says, they heard and didn’t believe. Lord, may we not miss that you are doing something in our day that will require us to have faith. We believe and put our trust in your plan.

Sun.’s Devo - God Has the Final Word

Read: 1 Kings 20:1-21:29; Acts 12:24-13:15; Psalm 137:1-9; Proverbs 17:16 Benhadad, king of Aram came against Israel with 32 other allied kings. Benhadad sent Ahab a message that he wanted his silver, gold, wives and the best of his children and then he would leave them alone. Ahab agreed to this but then Benhadad added to his demands. He was going to send his officers into his palace and the homes of his officers and they would take everything of value. Ahab met with the elders and they drew the line when it came to them personally. They said that Ahab shouldn’t give into that demand. Benhadad sent Ahab a snarky remark and he responded with one and the war was on. Benhadad told his men to prepare to attack but he and the other kings went into their tent and got drunk. God sent a prophet to Ahab to tell him that God was going to hand them all over to him. Ahab asked how. The Lord told him the provincial commanders would do it and that they should attack first. The attack began and the Aramean army panicked and fled. The prophet came back to Ahab and told him to prepare because they would return in the spring. Just like God said, they returned and tried attacking Israel in the plains since the last battle was in the hills. The Israelites killed 100,000 in battle and another 27,000 when a wall fell on them. Benhadad had fled to the city with the fallen wall and when they brought him out, he came humbly asking for mercy. Ahab gave him mercy but God was not pleased. He sent a prophet to tell him that since he let Benhadad live, it would cost him his life and his people would died instead of Benhadad’s. Later, Ahab envied Naboth’s vineyard. Naboth had a family vineyard right next to his palace and he wanted to turn it into a vegetable garden. Think of the trouble of uprooting up all those age-old vines and planting vegetables. Vineyards take years to develop. Ahab offered to buy it but Naboth said he could never sell it since it had been in their family for years and was their inheritance. Ahab went home pouting. When Jezebel saw that Ahab wouldn’t eat, she asked him about it. She told him not to worry, she would get him his vineyard. She devised a plan and told the leader of the city to proclaim a fast and honor Naboth with a place of honor. Then place two liars before him who would accuse Naboth of cursing God and the King. Have him stoned and then Ahab could take possession of it. She did all that just as planned and when it was don she told Ahab to go and get his prize. On his way, he met God’s prophet. Since he killed and stole from Naboth, he would die on that property and so would Jezebel. His whole family would be eaten by dogs or vultures. When Ahab heard this, he put on burlap and fasted. God saw his humility and sent the prophet back to tell Ahab since he repented, he would not see the destruction of his dynasty, it would happen after he died. In Acts, we have so many people mentioned. Paul and Barnabas finished their mission in Jerusalem and returned to Antioch. They brought John Mark with them. Their church was full of some interesting people. Their teachers and prophets included a black man named, Simeon, a Cyrene named Lucius and the childhood friend of King Herod Antipas named Manaen. (Herod Antipas was the one who took his half-brother’s wife Herodius as his own, had John the Baptist beheaded and sent Jesus to Pilate to be crucified.) Who knows what Herod was like as a kid, but the power of God can save anyone. Saul and Barnabas were sent by the Holy Spirit and the church to Selucia to preach the Bible and they took John Mark with them to help. When they reached Paphos they were invited to meet with the governor, Sergius Paulus who wanted to hear what they had to say. A sorcerer named Bar-Jesus or Elymas had attached himself to the governor and tried to dissuade Sergius from believing anything Saul said. Saul had finally had enough and looked the sorcerer in the eye and told him to stop perverting the true ways of the Lord. He told them that he would be struck blind for a time. Instantly he could not see and had to be led by someone else. (Reminds me of what happened to Saul so he could “see”.) When the governor saw all this, he became a believer. When they had finished their work there, they moved on to Pamphylia and landed in Perga, its capital. On the Sabbath, they were asked to speak. Tomorrow we will learn what happened. I thank you, that you are a God of justice and you follow through on every promise you ever make.

Sat.’s Devo - Finishing Our Course

Read: 1 Kings 19:1-21; Acts 12:1-23; Psalm 136:1-26; Proverbs 17:14-15 Ahab returned home to Jezebel and told her the events on Mt. Carmel. If he was thinking she was going to be happy about all her prophets being killed, he was wrong. She sent word to Elijah that he would be dead by tomorrow. Elijah had outran Ahab to Jezrel. Maybe he was expecting to be made the king’s prophet until he heard Jezebel’s response. Then he ran for his life. He had stood up to the 850 false prophets and killed them and seen God answer with fire, yet he ran from the threat of a single woman. Elijah fled to the wilderness and sat under a broom tree ready to end his life. He finally went to sleep and was awaken twice by an angel who told him to eat and drink the food he had prepared for him because he would need its strength to finish his course. He traveled forty days and forty nights on that nourishment. He finally came to Mt. Sinai where Moses received the law of the Lord. He spent the night in a cave. God asked Elijah what he was doing there. God told him to go out of the cave and stand on the mountain. Elijah saw the Lord pass by. He was followed by a mighty windstorm, an earthquake and a fire but God did not speak through any of them. After the fire, there was the sound of a gentle breeze. God spoke and asked Elijah again what he was doing there. Each time, Elijah’s response was that he had served the Lord while the people of Israel continually broke their covenant with Him. He was the only living prophet and they were trying to kill him. God told him to retrace his steps - like undoing what he had done. God gave him three assignments and then he would be free to die. The first was to anoint Hazael king of Aram. The second was to anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel. And the third was to anoint Elisha from Abel-meholah to replace him as his prophet. And for his information, God had preserved 7,000 other prophets who had not bowed to Baal. Interestingly, he did number three first which was not the closest one to where he was. He went and found Elisha plowing a field with 12 team of oxen. Elijah threw his cloak over his shoulders and walked away. Elisha ran after him, leaving his oxen and told him that he needed to kiss his father and mother good-bye and then he would follow him. Elijah told Elisha for him to consider seriously what being a prophet like him would cost him. Elisha returned and killed his oxen and took the wood of the plow and made a fire where he offered all he had on the altar. He had counted the cost. He gave the meat of his oxen to the people of the town and left with Elijah. In Acts, King Herod took over Saul’s persecution campaign and began persecuting believers. They arrested Peter during the Passover celebration. Jesus paid Peter’s debt on Passover years before and now Peter was going to demonstrate freedom from sin. Angels came and unlocked Peter’s prison cell and led him out of the city. Peter woke up to find it wasn’t a dream. The believers were at Mary’s house praying for Peter when he knocked on the door. What an answered prayer! Needless to say, there was a great commotion in the prison when they couldn’t find Peter who had been fastened with chains to two soldiers. The soldiers were interrogated and sentenced to die. Herod then went to Caesarea. Herod was unhappy with the people of Tyre and Sidon so they sent men with a peace treaty to him. Tyre and Sidon was dependent upon Herod for food. The men from Sidon won the favor of Herod’s personal assistant so Herod agreed to meet with them to hear the conditions of their peace treaty. When they did, Herod put on his royal robe and say on his throne. He gave a speech and the crowd hailed him as a god. He received their praises and God instantly struck him with sickness and he died consumed with worms. Lord, help us to number our days and realize that this is not our home. We are here on assignment. May we complete our assignment and enjoy your presence during the process.

Fri.’s Devo - God’s Provision and His Victory

Read: 1 Kings 18:1-46; Acts 11:1-30; Psalm 135:1-21; Proverbs 17:12-13 The famine was into its third year and God told Elijah to meet with King Ahab and tell him that He was going to soon send the rain. Ahab and Obadiah, the man in charge of his palace were out personally looking for enough grass to keep a few of his horses and donkeys alive. The famine was so severe that he couldn’t trust anyone to find it for him. Obadiah feared and worshipped the Lord and had hidden 100 of God’s prophets from Jezebel’s wrath. Obadiah and Ahab divided the land and went separate ways looking for grass. Obadiah met Elijah on his road and fell to the ground with respect. Elijah told him to tell Ahab he wanted to meet with him. When Ahab came, he accused Elijah of bringing the famine on Israel. Elijah made it clear that Ahab and his family and their sins were the reason for the famine. Ahab was to summon all of Jezebel’s 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah to Mt. Carmel. When they arrived, Elijah told the prophets to make a decision whether they were going to worship God or Baal. No one spoke. Elijah had them bring two bulls to him. They were to pick their bull and Elijah would take the other. They would each pray and the god who answered in fire would be the true God. Elijah told the false prophets to go first. They did all sorts of incantations, dances, and cried out to their god from morning till noon. When they were exhausted, it was Elijah’s turn. Elijah first dug a trench around his altar large enough to hold three gallons of water. He placed the wood in first then cut his bull into pieces and laid them on the wood. He then asked for water, which in the famine, water was like gold. He had them pour four large jars with water over the sacrifice till it filled his trench. He had them do it three times, then prayed. His prayer was that God would prove himself to his people and bring them back to Him. God answered in fire that flashed down from heaven and burned up everything in the trench. The people fell on their faces and acknowledged that God was the true God. Then Elijah commanded that every prophet of Baal be taken down to the Kishon Valley and killed there. He told Ahab to eat and drink because he heard a mighty rainstorm coming. Elijah climbed to the top of Mt. Carmel to pray for the rain. Elijah sent his servant seven times to see if there was any rain coming. The last time he went he saw a small cloud in the sky. Elijah sent his servant to tell Elijah to hurry home or he would be caught in the storm. Soon the sky was dark with clouds and Ahab tucked his robe and outran Ahab’s chariot all the way to Jezreel. In Acts, Peter returned to Jerusalem where news had reached them of Peter’s preaching to the Gentiles. He had to explain the whole event so they could see how God had led him to them. The people’s objections turned to praise. Other Christians who had been scattered to other nations also were seeing a great spread in the Gospel. There was a great move of God in Antioch which was in Syria. Barnabas was sent to teach the Syrians the truth. When Barnabas arrived he realized he needed help and went to get Saul to help him. They stayed there a whole year teaching them the truth of God’s Word. Prophets were sent from Jerusalem to Syria and Agabus was one of them. He prophesied a famine was coming. The believers were able to prepare for themselves and send supplies to other believers in Judea. They sent aid also to the believers in Jerusalem. Both of our stories include a famine and in both, God took care of his people. God supplied a widow with oil and flour until she could get her own and in the New, God warned them so they could store up and bless others. Lord, help us to prepare our hearts to be ready for your next move upon the earth.

Thurs.’s Devo - The First Seven Kings of Israel

Read: 1 Kings 15:25-17:24; Acts 10:24-48; Psalm 134:1-3; Proverbs 17:9-11 Today we have a quick run-down of the first 7 kings of Israel. They start with Jeroboam who led Israel into idolatry. He was succeeded by his son, Nadab who only reigned 2 years. He was killed by Baasha who was not of his family. He killed all of Jeroboams descendants thus taking the dynasty of Jeroboam away just like was prophesied. Baasha ruled Israel for 24 years. God sent his prophet, Jehu to tell him that God was going to destroy him and his family also because of his idolatry and because he murdered all of Jeroboam’s family. He died and his son, Elah became king for two years. He was murdered by Zimri who killed all the descendants of Elah’s family. His reign only lasted 7 days before he was killed. When the army learned that Zimri had killed the king, the army commander, Omri attacked the city that Zimri was in and when he saw the city had been taken, Zimri went into the palace and burned it down with himself in it. Half of Israel wanted to make Tibni the king but the other half wanted to make Omri the king. Omri’s supporters killed Tibne and Omri became the king. He reigned for 12 years and his son, Ahab became Israel’s seventh king. All of these kings were evil in the Lord’s sight and worshipped idols, but none more than Ahab who married Jezebel. Jezebel led Israel into the worship of Baal and Asherah. God raised up prophets all through Israel’s history who tried to call Israel back into righteousness. One of God’s leading prophets was Elijah. God sent him to tell Ahab that He was closing up the heavens so that it would not rain until Elijah spoke the word. Then God told Elijah to hide so Ahab couldn’t find him. Elijah went to the Kerith Brook where God sent ravens to bring him bread and meat every morning and evening. When the brook dried up, the Lord sent him to the village of Zarephath where a widow was to feed him. He met her by the city gate where she was picking up sticks to prepare her last meal, then she was going to die. Elijah told her to give him her last meal and she would have enough to last till the famine was over. She obeyed and his word came true. She fed Elijah and her family till the famine ended. One day, her son became deathly ill. she took him to Elijah and blamed him for her son’s illness. (How much like us to blame God for every bad thing that happens to us.) Elijah took the boy and carried him up to his room and laid him on his own bed. Then Elijah prayed. He stretched his body over the son’s body three times. God heard Elijah’s prayer and gave the boy back his life. When he presented the son to his mother, she knew for certain that Elijah was a man of God who spoke his words. Just as Elijah laid on this son three times, God’s son laid in the grave for three days then they both resurrected to new life. In Acts, Peter and Cornelius finally have their divine appointment. Cornelius had invited his family members and good friends to hear what Peter had to say. Peter told them the good news about Jesus and the Holy Spirit came and fell on them. They praised God and spoke in tongues. Peter was amazed that the Holy Spirit was given to Gentiles. He ordered for them to be baptized in Jesus name and then stayed with them for several days. Lord, may we remember the good things you have done for us and not blame you for things we can not understand.

Wed.’s Devo - Spiritual Eyes

Read: 1 Kings 14:1-15:24; Acts 10:1-23; Psalm 133:1-3; Proverbs 17:7-8 Jeroboam, king of Israel had a young son, named Abijah, who became very sick. Jeroboam told his wife to disguise herself and go ask the prophet, Ahijah if he would live. The comical thing was that the prophet was blind but God gave him spiritual eyes to see through her disguise. God told him that she was coming and would be disguised. Ahijah told her that her son would die when she entered back into her city. He also told her that God was so disgusted with Jeroboam that he would raise up someone else to take his place. All of their male descendants would be destroyed and eaten by the dogs or the vultures. That means they would rot in hell. Jeroboam had led Israel into idolatry and paganism. Rehoboam in Judah didn’t do so well either. He built pagan shrines and worshipped Asherah. God sent King Shishak of Egypt to attack Jerusalem. He took the treasures and stole the gold shields Solomon had made. King Rehoboam had them replaced with bronze ones. His guards used them to protect him when he went into the Temple. I don’t know if he was afraid of the people or God. There was constant war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. When Rehoboam died, his son, Abidjan became king. His mother was Maacah whose name means “pressure”. She was known as the queen mother and was very evil. She was the granddaughter of Absalom. There was constant war between Jeroboam and Abijam. Judah’s next king was Abejam’s son, Asa. Asa was one of Judah’s good kings. He displaced his grandmother as the queen mother and took down the Asherah pole Maacha had erected and burned it in the Kidron Valley. Asa got rid of the male and female prostitutes and all the idols. He brought silver and gold into the temple. Baasha was now king in Israel and Asa had constant war with him. King Baasha fortified Ramah which was the city people had to go through to get from Israel to Judah. King Baasha closed it so that no one could pass through. So the people of Israel could not come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. Asa hired the king of Aram to make a peace treaty with him instead of Israel. Ben-hadad of Aram agreed. They removed the stones that fortified Ramah and also gained more towns for Judah. They took the stones and fortified cities in their territory. When Asa died, his son, Jehoshaphat reigned. In Acts, God was breaking down the walls of racism. An Italian man who was also a Roman officer had a heart for God and served him. God wanted to introduce his son to him so he sent angel to Cornelius who told him to seek out a man called Peter and told him where he would find him. Meanwhile, God gave Peter a vision where he saw a sheet lowered from heaven with pictures of unclean animals on it. He was told to kill and eat them. Peter did not want to eat anything unclean. God told him not to call unclean what he called clean. When Peter woke from the vision, he was wondering about it when three men came to his door. The Holy Spirit told him to go downstairs and to go with them because He had sent them. They told him they were from Cornelius and asked him to come with them. Peter invited them to spend the night, then they went the next morning. These are the kind of things that are going to be happening in our lives very soon. Lord, we anticipate your great move on the earth. We see it beginning and are excited to be living in a day like today.