Day 106 – January 17, 2024: II Kings 1-5 and Proverbs 6

We continue along with the story of Elisha the prophet and all of the things that he was able to do, both miracles and deeds that were clearly from God. But before we enter into the life of Elisha fully, we see the final acts of Elijah including his ascending into heaven in a chariot of fire. It does remind me of the movie with the same title, although I don’t clearly see the parallel. The literal passing on of the mantel from Elijah to Elisha, see where this concept came from?, this literal passing is seen in chapter 2 where Elisha literally picks up the mantel of Elijah that he leaves behind. From then on he is seen as the prophet of the Lord.

The healing of Naaman is one of the more well known stories of Elisha and reminds us of the power of God. But we see this same power as Elisha is able to increase the oil in the widows jar, and heal the Shunamite widow’s son, and other stories that remind us that the power of God was upon Elisha just as powerfully, if not more, than on any other prophet of his day. You also see in the story of Gehazi that it is really hard to find good help.

Proverbs continues to warn against thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side, especially in light of relationships and marriage. There is an interesting, and somewhat disturbing line, about the preference of a prostitute over adultery. Let’s not go down that path, let’s just remain faithful in all counts.