{"id":35325,"date":"2025-04-02T22:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T05:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=35325"},"modified":"2025-03-25T19:18:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:18:12","slug":"2-kings-3_1-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-kings-3_1-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Known For These 2 Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Kings\u00a0 3:1-12 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 3:1-12.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Kings<\/em><\/strong>\u00a03<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/strong>1<\/em><\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>3<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n1<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years.\u00a0<\/em>
\n2<\/sup>\u00a0He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made.\u00a0<\/em>
\n3<\/sup>\u00a0Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-3:\u00a0 Joram becomes king of Israel and gets rid of the sacred stone of Baal (v2b), which his father Ahab and mother Jezebel had used to worship the idol Baal.\u00a0 But Joram still “clung to the sins of Jeroboam” (v3), suggesting that Joram continues to worship the idols that Jeroboam had set up.\u00a0 As such, “he did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (v2a).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Partial idolatry is still idolatry.<\/strong>\u00a0 When you stand before God, God will not accept you or reject you based on how you compared to your parents or your peers, but on how you compared to God’s perfect and holy standards.\u00a0\u00a0Even if you think you are much better than your parents or your peers, the fact is that we are not blameless in God’s sight until there is no sin or idolatry in our lives at all.\u00a0 That’s why we need Jesus, the only one who lived a perfect and blameless life before God and who sacrificed that life to pay for our sins.\u00a0 Only the blood of Jesus can pay for our sins.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Kings 3:4-11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep, and he had to supply the king of Israel with a hundred thousand lambs and with the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So at that time King Joram set out from Samaria and mobilized all Israel.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”\u00a0“I will go with you,” he replied. “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“By what route shall we attack?” he asked. “Through the Desert of Edom,” he answered.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“What!” exclaimed the king of Israel. “Has the\u00a0LORD\u00a0called us three kings together only to hand us over to Moab?”
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0here, that we may inquire of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0through him?”\u2026”<\/p>\n

On verses 4-11:\u00a0 Mesha king of Moab refuses to pay the 100,000 rams and 100,000 lambs he owes Joram king of Israel.\u00a0 So Joram king of Israel, together with Jehoshaphat king of Judah and the king of Edom, launches an attack against Mesha king of Moab.\u00a0 Evidently without consulting the Lord, Joram king of Israel leads all three\u00a0kings\u00a0in a roundabout, confused route when they run out of water.\u00a0 Joram then blames the Lord for their plight: “The LORD has brought the three of us here to let the king of Moab defeat us.” (v10)\u00a0 However, Jehoshaphat does not panic and suggests that they consult a prophet of the Lord for guidance (v11).<\/p>\n

Have you ever done what Joram king of Israel did?\u00a0 i.e. without consulting God, you unilaterally decide that you’re going to do something, and then when things don’t work out or you run out of resources, you blame God for your mistake?\u00a0 That’s what Joram did.\u00a0\u00a0When you\u2019re in a bind, don\u2019t blame God like Joram, but consult God like Jehoshaphat.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Kings<\/em><\/strong>\u00a03<\/em><\/strong>:11b-12 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD through him?” An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”\u00a0<\/em>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 11b-12:\u00a0 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah asks if there is a prophet of the Lord they can consult, one of King Joram’s officials says, “Elisha is here.\u00a0 He used to pour water on Elijah’s hands.” (v11)\u00a0 Recognizing Elisha, Jehoshaphat says, “The word of the Lord is with him” and so the three\u00a0kings\u00a0(Jehoshaphat, Joram and the king of Edom) go to consult Elisha.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0See problems as an opportunity to draw near to God and experience His power.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0If you will serve God and people humbly, God will lift you up in the end.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Elisha started his ministry as a servant to Elijah.\u00a0 He went from pouring water on Elijah’s hands to eventually becoming a great prophet himself, armed with the word of God and whom\u00a0kings\u00a0would consult.\u00a0 Humility leads to exaltation.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Elisha was known for two things: serving others humbly and\u00a0demonstrating God’s Word to others\u00a0through his life.\u00a0 May you be known for those same two things as well by how you live.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to pay the price for all of my idolatry and to cleanse me from my sins.\u00a0 When I’m in a bind, may I not blame You like Joram, but consult You like Jehoshaphat.\u00a0 And may I be someone who is known for humbly, faithfully and consistently serving others, and someone who shows others Your Word through my actions, words and example.\u00a0 Thank You that in due time You will lift up those who humble themselves before You.\u00a0 \u00a0In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 3:1-12.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n2\u00a0Kings\u00a03:1-3\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years.\u00a0
\n2\u00a0He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made.\u00a0
\n3\u00a0Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-3:\u00a0 Joram becomes king of Israel and gets rid of the sacred stone of Baal (v2b), which his father Ahab and mother Jezebel had used to worship the idol Baal.\u00a0 But Joram still “clung to the sins of Jeroboam” (v3), suggesting that Joram continues to worship the idols that Jeroboam had set up.\u00a0 As such, “he did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (v2a).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35325"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35328,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35325\/revisions\/35328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}