12 May (2 Kings 8-10)

2nd Kings 8

(v.2) I find this famine to be like the one in Gen 41 in the dream of Joseph. Seven is the number representing completion in Hebrew culture, and I like to stress to my kids to see the whole Bible as one book...not a compilation of many books. Here we have many different authors who say the same things, and use the same typology. That can only be because there is One Author...the Holy Spirit!!!

(v.6) Just like in Gen 41, the Jews are restored and saved after the famine!

(v.19) We have another reference to the Davidic Covenant...God's promise to David, that his descendants will always rule over Israel. However, only One will rule in the end...Yeshua...Jesus!

2nd Kings 9

(v.20) This is a good Bible reference to say when someone is driving their car in an unsafe way...tell them they are like Jehu! At the very least, they will slow down to know what you mean!

(v.26) Isn't it fitting that the son of Ahab had his corpse thrown on the land of Naboth...the land taken by blood? God doesn't forget the evil things we do, but we can have them washed away by the blood of His Son. All we have to do is repent and accept Christ into our lives.

(v.35) I tell my kids that evil will one day be repaid. Jezebel saw this, and all who deny Christ will regret their pride and foolish ideas of being their own gods on earth!

2nd Kings 10

One thing that strikes me about this chapter, is that God is using a king of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) to exact His justice...even upon the Southern Kingdom (Judah). Jehu was following God's Word here, since he cites the words of Elijah and his prophecies.

Ahab and Jezebel are symbolic of evil...God is showing us that He will destroy evil in the Day of the Lord...when Jesus returns. There are patterns and types all throughout the Bible that help us understand the big picture if we study them.

(v.28) Jehu is a type of Christ here...he destroys the evil doers, and also destroys the evil worship places.

(v.29) Jehu is NOT at type of Christ here, because his actions were only political...not spiritual. Jehu only did these things for power, not to serve the LORD, but only for himself. Only God knows the heart, and we need to be discerning of those in the pulpit who seem Scriptural in politics, but fail to be Scriptural in spirit.

If we are following God, our heart will lead us...not our pride. Jehu is a great example of looking holy and righteous on the outside by his actions, but we see that in his heart, he wasn't a real believer in the LORD.