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Healing the Waters

10/28/2020

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          Elisha watched Elijah go up in a chariot of fire.  He’s picked up Elijah’s mantle.  Now, there were “fifty men of the sons of prophets” (II Kings 2:7,15) who watched from a distance. They saw the same thing Elisha did but, strangely, they wore Elisha down until he agreed to let them go out and look for Elijah’s body.  Three days of searching turned up nothing.
          Elisha waited for them to return to Jericho.  When they did, he berated them.  It doesn’t appear to have done much good.  At least, there’s no mention of the outcome.  Before he leaves, the men of Jericho ask a favor.  They like living there but the water is bad and the ground doesn’t yield anything.  Could he fix it?  Elisha says to bring him a new cruse with salt in it.  They did and Elisha casts it into the spring.  He replies, “Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.” (II Kings 2:21)
           Jericho, the city destroyed by the Israelites and cursed by Joshua in Joshua 6:26.  It was destroyed but, 500 or so years later, it has been rebuilt.  Man has a way of forgetting.  Thus, Jericho exists again.  Sons of the prophets are living there as well as others.  Life goes on. 
          Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.  God was merciful and they continued on.  It’s an unfortunate history of mankind.  The requests God makes are simple enough.  “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humble with thy God?” (Micah 6:8)
          Like Pastor Josh said, “It was a simple thing for God to get Israel out of Egypt but it took 40 years in the desert to get Egypt out of Israel.”  Mankind seems to have an inclination to do the thing he is told not to do.  Pastor Josh went on to use an example he thought was said by Einstein.  It went something like this: If there were a switch in some far off rain forest that said, ‘Do Not Touch, it’s the end of the world switch,’ someone would switch it before the paint was dry.
          It seems like mankind has an ability to always flub up.  The pastor went on to point out that what we do in the past we cannot help today.  We can only move forward and try to live for God the best we know how.  Yes, God saw that Jericho was built back.  People lived there, they studied God there.  God’s mercy for mankind continues, the water was healed.  “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 15:58)
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Carried Away

10/22/2020

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          Imagine what it would have been like to walk with a man who prayed fire down from heaven.  Who wouldn’t want Elijah for a best friend?  It’s Elijah’s last day on earth and Elisha, his follower, is unwilling to let go of him.  Elijah keeps trying to shake him off but Elisha won’t have it.  Finally, he tells Elisha if he sees him taken away, he will have the double portion of Elijah’s spirit he requested.  It’s in II Kings 2:1-15.
          That’s a good story all by itself but there’s more that doesn’t immediately meet the eye.  To being with, Elijah is carried to heaven in a chariot of fire (verse 11).  Like Pastor Josh said, “God sent a ride and a chauffeur to pick him up.”  Elijah does not die.  He’s just carried away.  It says in James 5:17 that Elijah was a man of like passions.  Regular guy, really, so what sets him apart?
          Not so fast.  From the very first mention of him in the Bible, Elijah is a great warrior for God.  First Kings 17:1 Elijah meets Ahab the King of Israel head-on.  Ahab has provoked the Lord and Elijah has stepped up to the plate.  Like Pastor Josh says, “It’s not enough to sit around on the seat of do-little or do-nothing and think about heaven and think about Christ; but, we must be witnesses of him.”  Jesus says to be witnesses throughout the earth. (Acts 1:8) 
          Elijah, a great man of faith, who is swept up to heaven.  He’s not the first though.  Jude verse 14 tells us that Enoch prophesied of the Lord coming with his saints to execute judgment.  It also says he walked with God (Genesis 5:22,24) and that he pleased God for his faith (Hebrews 11:5,6).  He, also, doesn’t see death.
          Two great examples of men of faith in the Old Testament who were ‘caught up’ to heaven.  There are two similar men of faith in the New Testament, too.  Each one of them is ‘caught up’ into heaven but they are returned.  Their work isn’t finished.  Paul, the Apostle, in II Corinthians 12:1-4 speaks of being ‘caught up’ to the third heaven (paradise) and heard unspeakable words not possible to utter.  Then there’s John in Revelation 4 who witnessed a door opened in heaven and a voice that invited him to come in.
          The day is coming and no one knows exactly when, except for God, everyone will be called for an accounting.  “We’re only here for a little while  but we’ll be there for a whole eternity.” said Pastor Josh.  “Have faith in God, don’t measure your faith by how much fire you can pray down.  But, measure your faith by how close to God you walk, by how much like Jesus you are.” ​
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Fire From Heaven...Again

10/12/2020

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          God is not to be trifled with.  Jeremiah said it in chapter 10 verse 6 and 7 of the book carrying his name, “O Lord thou art great, and thy name is great in might.  Who would not fear thee, O King of nations?”  Yet Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, refuses to learn this truth about God.
          It’s in II Kings 1:1-18.  Ahaziah has fallen through a lattice at his palace and is injured.  This is the son of Ahab and Jezebel who succeeded his father as King of Israel.  He sends messengers to Ekron, a Philistine city, to enquire of the god Baalzebub whether he will live.  An angel of the Lord sends Elijah to the messengers to relay to the king that since he had to go to a god in Ekron that he will die.
          Ahaziah is sick but he still gets mad and wants to know who told them this.  After Elijah is described to him, Ahab sends a captain and 50 soldiers to arrest Elijah.  The cocky captain orders Elijah, “O man of God, the king has said, Come down.”  Elijah responds that if he is a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume the captain and his men.  They are consumed by fire.
          Ahaziah really wants to get Elijah.  He sends another captain and 50 more men and the same thing happens.  They are consumed by fire.  Now the third captain has learned from observing what happened to the first two groups.  He approaches Elijah differently.  He falls on his knees before Elijah and begs for his life and those of his men.
          The angel of the Lord tells Elijah to go with them to see the king.  There is nothing to be afraid of now.  Elijah delivers the Lord’s message:  Ahaziah will die because he sent messengers to a god of Ekron rather than the God of Israel.  Ahaziah dies.
          It says in Isaiah 55:6 to seek the Lord while he may be found and to call upon him while he is near.  It also says in Hebrews 12:29 that our God is a consuming fire.  God does not take sin lightly.  Romans 6:23 reminds us again that the wages of sin is death.  There is a day coming that everyone will be judged before God according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)  The lesson here is don’t trifle with God.  Seek Him while you can.
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Ahab's End

10/7/2020

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          Do not be deceived; God is not to be mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7) Words spoken during the course of the sermon taken from I Kings 22:29-40.  It’s about three kings and two prophets, the kings of Israel, Judah, and Syria; and the prophets Micaiah and Zedekiah.
          Ahab, the King of Israel is in hot water because he coveted Naboth’s vineyard.   He was willing to look the other way while Jezebel came up with a plan to get Naboth and his sons murdered.  All this just so Ahab could have the vineyard.  God sent Elijah to tell Ahab how He felt about it.  Also, to let him know about his (Ahab’s) death. (I Kings 22:24)
          When he heard it, he was upset enough that he tore his clothes, fasted, and lay in sackcloth.  Because he was at least contrite God decided to not bring evil until his son’s days.  That lasted about three years.
          Probably 6-7 years earlier Benhadad, the king of Syria, had attacked Israel and was whipped.  Benhadad’s servants said that the gods of Israel are gods of the hills. (I Kings 20:23)  What they should do is battle Israel in the plain and they’ll win.  Israel beat them again but Benhadad escaped.  He pleads for mercy before Ahab and Ahab lets him go.  God is displeased.  Ahab has let an enemy of God go.  In I Kings 20:42 God tells Ahab it will be his life for Benhadad’s.  The stage is set.
          It’s been three years since Naboth’s death.  Syria is set to attack Israel again.  Ahab calls on Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to join him in the battle.  The king of Judah wants to hear from a prophet of God for instruction.  Ahab does so unwillingly and sends for Micaiah.  It says “And all the prophets prophesied…” (I Kings 22:12) They, including one called Zedekiah, prophesy that Syria will be consumed.  Except for Micaiah, the prophet of God.  He says that all Israel will be scattered like sheep.  He also delivers a vision of the Lord.  It’s in chapter 22 and covers verses 19-23.  In it the Lord calls for Ahab's death.
          The Lord is finished with Ahab.  Evil has marked his days and it’s time for him to reap what he has sown.  Ahab thought to outsmart God.  He called for Jehoshaphat in hopes of tricking the Syrians into thinking Jehoshaphat was him, Ahab.  That way, he would suffer Ahab’s death.  Ahab’s story ends in verse 40.  Don’t let your story end there.  “We will either bow to the word of God or bow to the wrath of God.” Said Pastor Josh.

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    Linda Johnson

    Linda Johnson moved to Douglas County with her husband Tom 12 years ago after retiring from teaching. Following Tom's death in 2016, Linda began facilitating a grief support group called GriefShare through Sweden Church.​ She serves as the Sunday School teacher for our High School class. Her "Layman's Pen" articles are also published in the local paper, The Douglas County Herald. 

    Andrea Strong

    Andrea is Pastor Joshua Strong's wife. She also serves Sweden Church as Church Secretary, website administrator, and Sunday School teacher to the Intermediate Class.

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