READING FOR NOVEMBER 19, 2025: 2 KINGS 8, 2 PETER 2, PSALM 119:49-56 2 KINGS 8 We briefly return for an update on the Shunammite woman and her family. Remember that Elisha restored her son to life. Still in contact with her, he advised her to leave Israel to avoid an upcoming seven-year famine. She, by now, fully trusted his word and left to wait out the famine with the Philistines. Emigrating to another country seems not uncommon in the Bible. Naomi moved to Moab during a famine in Bethlehem and even Jesus and his family stayed in Egypt until Herod died. Perhaps it was more complicated moving back, though. When the famine in Israel ended, the Shunammite woman needed to ask the king for the right to reclaim her land. By an extreme coincidence, when she approached the throne with her request, Elisha’s one-time assistant was telling the King about Elisha bringing her son back to life. The assistant was able to dramatically point her out to the king, who unsurprisingly was then inclined to grant her request. Is this coincidence too great to be by chance. Yes. God ultimately controls the universe in ways that bring about His will and our best interests.
Elisha’s fame as a man of God was such that he was sought after in Damascus. Ben-hadad the King there was gravely ill. He asked Hazael. his assistant, to ask Elisha if he would recover. Hazael took with him an extraordinary number of gifts—40 camel loads—in order to receive the answer. It would be tempting just to give good news. In fact, Elisha did say he would recover, but he also started weeping. This wasn’t because he didn’t want Ben-hadad to recover. It was because Elisha also foresaw that afterwards Hazael would assume the throne and cause great destruction to Israel. Elisha often had to bring bad news to Israel, but he loved God’s people and totally bore their sorrow. The prophecy came true due to Hazael’s assassination of the king and seizing power. There are some folks at Yorktown Methodist Church who, through their God-given empathy, feel the pain of today’s persecuted believers. They are right to be so moved by their suffering:“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Rom. 12:15).
In our study of 2 Chronicles, we jumped ahead in time of where we are in 2 Kings. Thus, we are just now reading of the passing of leadership from Judah’s good King Jehoshaphat to his son King Jehoram. He served only 8 years and modeled his kingship after the bad kings of Israel rather than his wise father. This account implies that his marriage to King Ahab’s daughter was the cause. There is no way to overemphasize the importance of marrying a godly spouse! It’s much better to remain single than marry a non-Christian (1 Cor.7:39). During his reign, Edom broke away from their servitude to Judah. When Jehoram died, his sonAhaziah became king. He served only 1 year but still was able to earn the description as “evil in the sight of the Lord.” Does anyone want those words written on their tombstone? Note that there is a discrepancy about the age of Ahaziah. 2 Chron.22:2 says he was 42; 2 Kings 8:26 says 22. Since his father was 40 when he died, 2 Chron. obviously has a scribal copy error.
2 PETER 2 Peter warns his readers, certainly including us, that there are false teachers among us. Not every preacher/teacher teaches the truth today. How can we identify them and not be misled? Peter gives us some clues. Watch out for teachers who are “denying the sovereign Lord
READING FOR NOVEMBER 19 CONTINUED: 2 PETER 2, PSALM 119:49-56 who bought them” (vs. 1). When teachers claim Jesus is not “sovereign,” that is another way of saying He is not God. Hundreds of Biblical scholars in universities throughout America teach this to many thousands of mostly Biblically illiterate students each year. When people deny Jesus is “Lord” (i.e., master), they are saying Jesus’s commands do not need to be followed. Often, they claim they are no longer culturally relevant. More often, they deny He is Lord by not even knowing what Jesus has taught in the Bible. Thus, they can’t submit to or teach what they don’t know. When they don’t believe Jesus “bought them,” they are denying that they need to be saved from sin through faith in what Jesus did at the cross and with the resurrection. They don’t embrace the Gospel, our only hope. Peter said these false teachers often also can be recognized by their greed. They will be the ones who pay dearly in the end.
Peter anticipates our asking if God will really judge these folks just because they taught these false concepts to others? He says, look at God’s track record. God imprisoned wayward angels, destroyed the vast majority of people during the flood, and burned Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes. He can and will rescue true believers and condemn deceitful teachers. He singles out those so-called modern thinkers who pursue their ungodly desires, reject authority, and deny the supernatural, including spirit beings. They are deluded into thinking they are free when in fact they are “slaves to depravity” (vs 19). The very worst are those who once had faith in God (including many famous cases today). They’re like dogs returning to their vomit. Nasty image.
PSALM 119:49-56 The Psalmist asks God to remember His word to him. This another way of describing the practice of praying God’s word back to Him. Such a practice cannot fail according to John 5:14-15 because God’s word is guaranteed to be God’s will: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” It would be wise practice at least once day to “pray the scriptures.” Also, we need to take careful notice that, when we as Christians are mocked for being hopelessly out of date, we need not conform our beliefs to our current cultural norms but instead take comfort in God’s eternal word and not turn from it. How timely! On the other hand, we who truly believe God’s ways are truth, should be disturbed when His ways are so widely disregarded. It is sad for those who don’t follow God, not because it causes us problems. The Bible should be our theme song no matter where we find ourselves. Even at night when no one is watching, our obedience must be complete. This is no way means that it is not a joy to walk with the Lord at all times.
