I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 5-7.

    This passage contains a lot. Initially I thought I was going to touch on three of the things here. Now I am not so sure what all I will write about. First we have the story of Naaman. Naaman was willing to do just about anything to be cured of leprosy. However, he was angered because Elisha did not treat him with the honor he thought he deserved. His anger was triggered because Elisha did not take the time to come out and meet him. He was further angered because the task which Elisha set him in order to be healed was mundane, but inconvenient. One lesson for us from this is that sometimes the mission God gives us is not something noteworthy. Sometimes it is just mundane and inconvenient. Perhaps our mission is to go out of our way to pick someone up to take them to an activity. Perhaps someone we do not even like.

    The king of Aram was sending raiders into Israel, but whenever they planned an attack, the army of Israel was waiting for them. When he found out that this was happening because God revealed his plans to Elisha and Elisha told the king of Israel, he decided to capture Elisha. So, he sent an army to do so. When Elisha’s servant saw the army, he panicked. Elisha did not. When the servant asked Elisha what they were going to do, Elisha responded that there was no need to be afraid because there were more on their side than against them. This story teaches is that no matter how powerful and numerous the forces marshaled against us, they are as nothing compared to the forces which God commands.

    The final story in today’s passage is about a siege of Samaria by the king of Aram. Things got so bad that some of the people turned to cannibalism. The king of Israel confronted Elisha and blamed God for the situation. Elisha responded by telling the king that by the following day, food would be cheaper in the city than it had been before the war began. One of the king’s officers expressed certainty that what Elisha had just predicted was not possible, not even for God. Elisha told the officer that he would see it come true, but would not experience it. The following day the officer was trampled by the people going out of the city to loot the abandoned camp of the enemy army. The lesson here is that we should never doubt that God can bring plenty, even when things look their bleakest.