Luke 7:11-17 - The widow of Nain

Next Jesus raises someone from the dead. This time it is the only son of a widow, so again Luke is focusing on people whom society would not regard as particularly important. The son was being carried out on a bier, probably in an open coffin. Jesus' heart went out to the woman. Our God is a God of compassion. Jesus also knew what He was going to do, so He tells her not to cry. Now this would have seemed very strange, even heartless advice from Jesus. Sometimes God says things to us that make no sense, but that is because we do not know what He is going to do next, but He does. We can always trust the Lord, always be confident in His deep love for us.

Jesus went up to the bier and touched it. This would risk breaking the Jewish Law, for to touch a dead person made you unclean (Num 19:16). Jesus commanded the man to get up and he did so.

Not surprisingly this filled the people with awe. They knew that someone special was here, and also that He had come to help His people. The news about Jesus spread further afield.

Luke 7:1-10 - The Centurion's Faith

Back to Luke for a while now to continue from where we left off.

This incident involves the healing of a centurion's servant. There are a number of features to note right at the start. First the centurion is concerned for his servant's well being. We can assume that his motives were good because the rest of the section clearly indicates that he was a good man. Then note that the centurion sent some Jewish elders to Jesus. He is showing a respect for Jesus here. Now the Romans were the occupying power and could presumably treat the Jews like dirt if they so wished, but our centurion knows that Jesus is Jewish and shows respect, knowing that Jews were discouraged from mixing with Gentiles. The Jews spoke well of the centurion and encouraged Jesus to look kindly upon him. Now it is obviously true that the gospel is about forgiveness for sinners and not one of us is worthy by our own merits. However, this does not mean that the Bible places no value on virtue. Here Luke records the fact that the Centurion was a good man, as he does with Cornelius in Acts 9. 

While Jesus was on his way the Centurion sent friends to Jesus saying that He did not need to come to the house, but just to say the word. There is an enormous gulf between people who think God should behave on their terms, and those who humble themselves before the Lord. He knows that the word is sufficient, for he too is a man under authority. This is one reason why how we act towards people and to human authority is so important, for our attitudes to men will influence our attitude to God (and vice versa). 

Jesus was amazed and commends the faith of the man. We should note that Jesus was amazed. Sometimes in emphasising the sovereignty of God we can think that things just happen automatically, almost like fate. God's sovereignty is real, but so are the decisions that we make.

And the servant was healed.

1 Kings 22 - No escaping the word

Micaiah seems to have had a mischievous streak about him. Ahab is his usual confused self. First he reminds Micaiah that all the other prophets are predicting victory, implying that Micaiah had better do the same. Micaiah says he must tell only the Lord's truth, then precedes to give tongue in cheek prophecy of victory. Ahab knows this is just made up. He must surely have known that the tame prophets were just trying to please Ahab.

Micaiah then gives a true prophesy, telling that the battle would be a disaster. He also says that God is trying to entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead, and is doing so by sending a deceiving spirit. 

Ahab, having received the truth and being told what was happening, ignores the warning and has Micaiah imprisoned. However, he seems to think he get round the word of God by disguising himself. He even seems to be trying to get Jehosaphat to be a sort of decoy target. Why Jehosaphat agreed to this is a mystery. However, Aram was not deceived, and a random arrow hit Ahab. He eventually died and all Israel returned to their homes.

There is not way round the word of God.

Jehosaphat was generally a good king, following in the line of Asa. Still he did not remove the high places. 

Ahaziah succeeded Ahab and learnt nothing from his father's sins. He lasted only two years.

1 Kings 22:1-12 - False prophets can lead to large losses

For a time there was peace between Israel and Aram. There had been an alliance of various nations against Assyria. This had been successful for a time, but now tension was about to split the alliance. Aram had returned the city of Ramoth-Gilead. This had been part of Transjordan under the Law of Moses (Deut 4:43), and had been promised to Israel in the treaty made by Ahab (1 Kings 20:34).

Jehosaphat f Judea came to visit Israel and Ahab invited Jehosaphat to join him in a war against Aram, but Jehosaphat advised him to seek the Lord first.

So Ahab brought in 400 tame prophets and they all agreed that he should attack Ramoth Gilead. However, a prophet's job is not to tell someone what they want to hear but what the Lord actually has to say. Jehosaphat realised that these prophets were not worth tuppence and urges Ahab to inquire of a real prophet. Ahab reveals his true nature by saying there was one, Micaiah, but he didn't like him, precisely because he prophesied the truth. Seemingly he did not realise that the reason he got "bad prophecies" was because he was bad! If he changed his ways then the word would change as well. This is a very human trait. Society does not like what the word of God says, so it rebukes the word instead of changing its actions.

Micaiah was called. Zedekiah was the leader of the useless prophets and made a dramatic show of the false prophecies. This sort of behaviour still goes on today with charlatans of various sorts adding drama to their supposed words. The true word of God can be given simply.

1 Kings 21 - Naboth's Vineyard

This chapter further reveals the depravity of Ahab, the corrupting influence of Jezebel and the judgement of God. It really is amazing if you think about it that Israel's holy book devotes so much time to outlining in graphic detail the sins of Israel.

Ahab had a palace near Jezreel and wanted to buy Naboth's vineyard. Naboth refused because he had a far better idea of the importance of heritage than did Ahab. Because of the Law the king was unable to simply take the vineyard. Moreover, Naboth knew that the Law taught the importance of land belonging to families (Lev 25:23). Ahab accepted this, but was very sullen, acting like a spoilt child. Jezebel promised to do something about it. We see here the importance of heart attitudes. Ahab had outwardly accepted Naboth's refusal, but in his heart he was resentful, so when Jezebel offered to do something about it he went along with this.

So Jezebel set up a scam to falsely accuse Naboth. What was worse was that the accusation was that Naboth had cursed God, when in fact he was the one upholding the Law. So Naboth was stoned to death, and Ahab went to take possession of the land.

However, they had forgotten about God in all this. When men go about their corrupt ways they think that there is no God, they are wrong and there will be a price to pay. God speaks to Elijah and tells him to go and pronounce judgement on Ahab. See that God always uses men to execute His purposes. Jezebel was also judged and terrible death foretold.

Ahab is seen as the worst king Israel ever had. However, Ahab did repent, at least to a fashion, so God postpones the judgement. God is merciful and it is always worth repenting.

1 Kings 20 - Victory that brings defeat

This is a very strange chapter. Ahab is a thoroughly bad king, one of the worst, yet now we see God seeming to act favourably towards him.   However, Ahab manages to make things turn out badly.

The king of Aram sent demands for silver, gold and wives from Ahab, and Ahab agreed. He asked for the best of Ahab's wives, pity Ahab didn't send him Jezebel! Ben-Hadad then makes further demands and this time Ahab refuses and firmly resists him.

Meanwhile a prophet comes to Ahab prophesying victory, and gives specific instructions on how it will be achieved. Ahab followed the instructions and duly won the victory. This was also partly due to the complacent attitude of the enemy.

The prophet warned Ahab to prepare for a counter-attack in the spring. Aram mistakenly thought that the Israelite "gods were gods of the hills". Pagan gods were thought to have specific spheres of influence. So they decided to fight the battle on the plain. This was a big mistake. The Lord is Lord of All and is about to demonstrate to Aram that He has no limitations. 

Israel won again, and Ben-Hadad decides it is time to sue for peace. Ahab is lenient with him.

This was another of Ahab's mistakes. The victory was not Ahab's victory, but God's victory, and it was part of God's judgement upon Aram. Ahab should not have let Ben-Hadad go. 

We live for God, not for ourselves.

1 Kings 19:9-21 - Gentle Whispers

Elijah arrived at Horeb and went into a cave. This was probably for his protection, rather than a reflection of his mood! God appears to him and asks "what are you doing here?" Now why did God ask that? For God knows everything anyway, and God had sent the angel to tell Elijah to come to Horeb. The reason is to get Elijah to reveal his thoughts to God. God wants us to be open with Him, then we can receive from Him.

Elijah gives God a tale of woe, fearing for his life. God then tells Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain. We then get the famous wind and earthquake, with the statements that God was not in the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire. Then came a gentle whisper, and God was in the whisper.

So what is the message of all this? We need to be careful where we get our security from. God had done great things with Elijah, but he must not put his faith in these things. All sorts of events may happen, but there is always stillness in God. God may do many things through our lives, at the same time many things will happen to us. 

Elijah again gives God his sad tale. God then sends Elijah back and gives him several tasks to do, appointing kings, even over nations outside Israel. Also Elijah was wrong that all had turned against God, there were still seven thousand who had not bowed down to Baal. 

Elijah went to find Elisha, his successor. He throws his cloak on Elisha, signifying the passing on of the mantle. Elisha tries to follow Elijah, but Elijah seems to reject him. Why is this? Elisha goes back to his farm and burns the ploughing equipment and kills the oxen. Then he follows Elijah. In order to be the prophet he needed to be he needed to be 100% committed.