Reading for June 25
2 Kings 8:1-9:13
This continues the Elisha story as well as the story of Israel and Judah as monarchies. Again there are several miracles performed by Elisha in this section, but the most intriguing one is when he shows off his psychic abilities. So the king of Aram, Ben-Hadad was very sick and he sent one of his delegates to ask Elisha if he would recover. So he goes and Elisha tells him that Ben-Hadad will be just fine, but he will die. Then there's a tense moment where they stare at each other, almost as if they're trying to call each other's bluff, then Elisha breaks down and starts crying. When the delegate asks Elisha why he's crying he says:
"Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites," he answered. "You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women."Oof. Pretty intense. The delegate asks Elisha how he could possibly perpetrate such acts as a "mere dog" as he refers to himself. Elisha tells him that God has revealed that this delegate would become king of Aram.
When he returned, he told Ben-Hadad what Elisha had said, but only the first part about him recovering from his illness. The next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and suffocated Benny.
Now, this lends some credibility to the all knowing God. I've always thought that God's future knowledge was only in his plans. If a person lives according to God's will, God's plans for that person will come to happen, if they live away from God, then there's no telling what will happen. But now we get into an interesting scenario where Elisha is living probably the most Godly life a person could live at that time, and God's plan is for him to see future events. I wonder if this was a marriage of necessity? Like God could not convey this message except through Elisha...but why would his plan be for pregnant Israeli mothers to be "ripped open"? Or was that not his plan, and through the Elisha/God tag team, they were able to see this future event.
The other thing to think about is the self fulfilling prophecy, or more accurately, the idea of inevitability. If Elisha had not told Ben-Hadad's delegate about what he saw, would he ever had killed the king? Would the king have died in another manner to allow this guy to succeed him as king? If you watched LOST you know the idea of "Whatever happened, happened." They did a lot of time traveling where they tried to change the events of the past, but ended up causing the events they were trying to stop.
For example [SPOILER WARNING] there's this guy named Ben on the island who is basically the main bad guy. The main characters go back in time and find him as a kid on the island. He's actually a really sweet kid and it's hard to see what made him become who he turns out to be. One of the characters shoots Ben in the stomach attempting to kill him, but Ben is then rescued by people who turn him into the bad guy he becomes. [SPOILERS OVER]
So was it the same way for this future king of Aram? Was he destined to rule his country and then invade Israel and slaughter hundreds? Or would it have never happened if Elisha never told him. Ah, paradoxes...
Acts 16:16-40
Paul and Silas condemn a girl for claiming she can see the future (ironic, no?), but not only because of that. She was using this gift to steer people away from believing in the message they were preaching. Paul and Silas command whatever demon is in her to come out. This little Ms. Cleo was actually a slave, owned by people who were very mad that Paul and Silas had hindered their golden goose. So they handed them over to the Roman authorities. They were "severely flogged" and then put in jail. That night there was a great earthquake and all the prisoners cells were opened. The guard was terrified because he was given strict orders to guard the prisoners, but none of them fled. Instead they shared the message of Jesus with him and that night him and his entire family were saved.
The next morning, the jailer was instructed to free Paul and Silas, but they said, "screw that! They threw us in here without a fair trial and now they want to quietly get rid of us?! No sir. They must come here and escort us out of the prison." Not the typical humility of a disciple, but I think there's a difference between humility and doormat. So the officials come and offer their personal apologies and ask them to leave the city.
After they leave they go to the home of Lydia, one of the women that they spoke with after their long journey which we read about last night. They prayed with people there and then continued on.
Psalm 143:1-12
Blam.
8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD,
for I hide myself in you.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
Proverbs 17:26
26 It is not good to punish an innocent man,
or to flog officials for their integrity.
Everything seems to tie together today. This is totally related to the reading from Acts. Crazy.
OK - what to do for the rest of the day...
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