I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for over a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.

     Elisha told the woman whose son he had raised from the dead to move out of Israel for a time because a famine was coming. She did as Elisha recommended. When the famine had ended, she moved back to Israel. When she returned to Israel, she went to the king of Israel to request her land back. She got there as the king was talking to Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. As Gehazi talked about the time Elisha had raised her son, she arrived at the court. Gehazi immediately pointed out that she was the mother of the boy whom Elisha had brought back to life. When she confirmed Gehazi’s story, the king ordered that her property be returned to her. This passage confirms that God will look after our interests if we make the effort to serve Him with our resources.
     The passage goes on to recount how Elisha told Hazael that he was going to kill Ben-hadad, king of Aram. It tells us that Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat married Ahab’s daughter and as a result did evil in the sight of God, as did his son, Ahaziah. And finishes by telling us how Elisha sent one of the young men from among the group of prophets to anoint Jehu as king of Israel. After being anointed, Jehu led a revolt of army officers against the existing king of Israel.

     One day while they were in Philippi, a slave girl who was used as a fortune-teller started following Paul and the rest of his party shouting that they were servants of the Most High God and that they had come to tell people how to be saved. This went on every day for several days until Paul became exasperated. Paul turned to the girl and commanded the demonic spirit which allowed her to tell fortunes to come out of her in the name of Jesus. It immediately departed. The slave girl’s owners, having lost a source of income, roused a mob against Paul and Silas. This led the arrested and beaten. They then threw them into prison.
     Paul and Silas were placed in the inner dungeon and their feet were placed in stocks. During the night Paul and Silas were singing and praying, while the other prisoners listened. There was a violent earthquake in the middle of the night which opened the prison doors and released the locks on the chains holding the prisoners. When the jailer came out of his house and saw that the prison doors were open, he thought the prisoners had escaped. As a result, he drew his sword and prepared to kill himself. Paul quickly called out to him that he should not harm himself as all of the prisoners were still there. The jailer brought Paul and Silas out of the prison and asked what he needed to do to be saved. Paul preached the Gospel to them and they believed. Even though it was the middle of the night, the jailer had Paul and Silas cared for and fed them a meal. Then he and his household were baptized.
     In the morning, the city officials sent word to have Paul and Silas released. At this point, Paul declares that he is a Roman citizen and demands that the city officials come themselves to release them. The city officials were alarmed to discover that they had had Roman citizens beaten and imprisoned without a trial. The city officials came to try to appease Paul and Silas and asked them to leave the city. Paul and Silas returned to Lydia’s house, where they met with the believers and encouraged them some more.
     There are several points that I wanted to highlight. The first is that, unlike the way many people would react, Paul was annoyed by the slave girl following them around proclaiming that they were servants of God. Paul refused to accept acclamation from a demon-possessed person. Another point is that when the jailer and his household expressed belief in Christ, Paul made sure they had a basic understanding of what that meant by teaching them immediately and then he and Silas baptized them. They did not wait to have them complete a class, just as in the other accounts in the New Testament, baptism immediately followed a profession of faith. The final thing that struck me in this passage was that Paul did not make an issue over being punished in violation of his rights until the city officials were trying to make him go away. I am not sure what that means for us today, but it is something that needs to be thought about.

     The psalmist proclaims that he will turn to the Lord when depression strikes, that he will not allow deep depression to disrupt his faith in God. Even though he has suffered major setbacks, he still trusts on God to rescue him. He will call on God to show him the path he should follow. I will call on God to teach me to do His will, even when times are difficult and circumstances seem to be stacked against me. He is my God and I know that He will guide me on firm footing and that He will silence my enemies. I will forever be His servant.

     It is wrong to punish those who are innocent and even worse when honest officials are harshly penalized.