Bible in 365: Day 183
07/09/2012 at 6:45 am 4 comments
2 Kings 5-8
There are so many different things that occur in today’s reading that it is hard to pick what to write about. Instead, I decided to share a story from my husband that always makes me smile when I read this passage. I hope it brings a smile to your face too.
The importance of reading more than just the headings in the Bible:
Our version of the Bible is so beautifully laid out with chapters and verse numbers and even small section headings. It is important to remember that this is not how the Bible was written in its original form, but it is nice to quickly find something using those section headings.
For instance, in three seconds you can quickly see what today’s reading is about from reading the section headings: Naaman Healed of Leprosy, An Axhead Floats, Famine in Besieged Samaria, The Siege Lifted, The Shunammite’s Land Restored (Wow! Another blessing for the Shunammite woman we talked about yesterday.), Hazel Murders Ben-Hadad, Jehoram King of judah, and Ahaziah King of Judah.
We all know that we could get the basic idea of what is going on by reading these heading titles, but we would miss so much and could possibly be mislead if we never actually read the scripture verses that go with it.
When my husband was young, he says that he was looking at the section headings, and he read “An Axhead Floats.” Immediately, this conjured up an image in his mind of an axhead floating in the air. Once he read the story, he of course, found out the axhead was floating on water (which would have been a much less scary situation than an axhead hovering around in the air!). We always joke about the floating axhead now and it has become a great reminder to pay attention to what actually happens in the story and not let preconceived notions get in the way. 
Entry filed under: Bible in 365. Tags: Axe, Axhead, Book of 2 Kings, Elisha.
1.
dougparmer | 07/09/2012 at 9:29 am
Yeah, that floating ax head had a huge Fantasia vibe going on.
Check out what happened in Samaria:
The city is under siege – no one can enter or exit the city. Once the food supply runs out, merchants are price gouging for even the smallest morsels of food. One woman agrees to cannibalize her own son just to survive.
A group of lepers realize they’re going to die for certain if they stay in the city, so they decide to turn themselves into the Arameans (who are laying the city to siege). Death is probable, but they may be taken prisoner and allowed to live – even as slaves – which was a better prospect to them than starving to death. So into the hands of the Arameans they go.
Yet the Arameans mistakenly heard the sound of an approaching army (which was from the LORD) and ran away like a bunch of frightened children. They deserted everything in their camp and the lepers found a mother lode of wealth, weaponry, and most important: food. They gorged themselves for a while until they came to this realization:
We have amazing news – news that will stop the price gouging, stop parents from eating their own children just to stay alive, and allow people to truly LIVE again – and we’re keeping it all to ourselves! How deplorably selfish of us! If we wait any longer to share this, we will FALL UNDER JUDGEMENT.
This is one of the most direct parallels in Scripture that ALL Christians are to share their faith. The people of this world are under the siege of their own sin. They are ruining their own lives – going after things that were never meant to bring lasting satisfaction. They are going to die if they stay in their sin, and it will usher in and eternity of dying.
Yet we don’t share our faith because we don’t want to “put a strain on the relationship.” Perhaps we think they’ll say “Who are you to judge me for eating my own children?” Or maybe they don’t want to hear that they are going to die if they stay in the city.
Shame on us if we do not share Christ, who is the ONLY chance any of us have at escaping the judgement we all deserve.
Ezekiel 33:6
“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’”
2.
themoptimist | 07/10/2012 at 8:13 am
Thank you so much for pointing this out. I did not think about this at all when I was reading this passage. You are so right. How selfish of us to hold any good news to ourselves, even more so the good news of redemption through Jesus.
3.
Dawn | 07/10/2012 at 5:15 am
I’d recently read in one of my books for reviewing, the passage about Elisha and his servant where Elisha prayed that the servant’s eyes would be opened and he’d see the Heavenly warriors. When I was reading my book, I didn’t give that passage a second thought. But reading that same passage in Scripture as opposed to my story has a whole different meaning. Because I was already semi familiar with it, I read it a little more carefully. I’m finding it’s rather fun to see the way that Scripture winds itself into my everyday life in the books I read, the things I think, and just having a more calm attitude.
4.
themoptimist | 07/10/2012 at 8:10 am
And when Scripture is becoming a part of our ordinary days, then we are more likely to act in a manner pleasing to God. It is a win win situation.