Author: Daniel

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

Faith in God by Naaman vs. Gehazi and King of Israel (2Kings 5)

A photo of the Jordan River saying "The Jordan River didn’t cleanse Naaman, God responded to Naaman’s humility, honesty and integrity.

In 2nd Kings 5, we should see a connection between Yeshua (Jesus) and Elisha the prophet. Aramite captain Naaman, a pagan, was not the only one being examined in his healing from leprosy. The king of Israel and Elisha’s servant Gehazi were also being examined or tested.

In an account of Yeshua’s healing 10 lepers, only a Samaritan, a “foreigner,” returned to give God praise. Both Naaman and the Samaritan paid spiritually by having to acknowledge that salvation comes from Israel, not from their false views of God.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

Understanding + Spirit = Salvation: Eliyahu, Elisha foreshadow Messiah in freeing, healing sons (2Kings 4)

Understanding + Spirit = Salvation: 2nd Kings 4 and 1st Kings 17

We have two parallel foreshadowings — prophecies — of Messiah Yeshua in the accounts of Elisha in 2nd Kings 4 and Eliyahu (Elijah) in 1st Kings 17. In this shadow of things to come, the lesson is that people from the nations, aka “gentiles” or “goyim,” can have a lot of power of the Spirit of God but lack “understanding” about God, while people of Israel can have “understanding” about God but lack the power of the Spirit. Both can be “saved” — fully enter the Kingdom of God — if they are willing to seek what they are lacking.

Elisha is a representation of the Messiah, Who is the ultimate high priest. Both Elisha and Messiah gave a profound gift directly to the people. It’s strictly symbolic, but it’s beautiful. The story of Elisha happened about 700 years before “the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” These accounts in 1st and 2nd Kings were recorded so Israel could recognize the Messiah when He came about seven centuries later.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

2nd Kings 3: Moab illustrates that wages of rebellion against God are fear and death

Daniel Agee

There are many strange details in 2nd Kings 3, but the backstory is a rebellion of the ancient kingdom of Moab that roped in the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Edom to the southeast.

This chapter helps illustrate apostle Paul’s teaching that the “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). In this case, the wages of Moab’s rebellion was death.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Prophets and Writings

2nd Kings 2: Elisha’s life foreshadows Peter’s

Daniel Agee

Did you realize that the ministry of the apostle Peter was prophesied in Scripture? Just as Eliyahu (Elijah) has a New Testament equivalent in Yokhanan (John the Baptist), Elisha also has a New Testament equivalent: Peter.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

2nd Kings 1: Patterns of Messiah in Ahaziah’s brief and ignoble reign

Daniel Agee

2nd Kings 1 is all about rebellion, the rebellion of Moab against Israelite rule after Ahab’s death as well as Ahab’s son’s rebellion against God and the consequences of that rebellion that flowed through Israel’s army. Eliyahu showed both Ahaziah and his army that God (and God’s servants) deserved respect.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

1st Kings 22: End of Ahab’s life

Daniel Agee

In 1st Kings 22, we read about the final events that lead up to Ahab’s death. For those of us who are trying to walk a righteous life, the mistake and foibles of the unrighteous can still provide us powerful lessons, including the danger of making promises in haste and only listening to part of God’s instruction rather than all of it, but probably the most important lesson from this final chapter of Ahab’s life is that God does not need 400 voices to teach you His truth. He only needs one.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

1st Kings 21: Eliyahu’s only goal: Teach Israel who God is

Daniel Agee

It had been 70 years since Israel had any exposure to the temple in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) and to God. Eliyahu (Elijah) is starting from scratch with them. Eliyahu’s story is God’s message to Israel. It’s all tied together. Eliyahu’s interactions with Ahab and Yezebel (Jezebel) dominate the story but the purpose of these interactions were to teach the people of Israel about God.

We can see here how Israel has progressed in their knowledge of God and His law since Eliyahu started his ministry.