Participants: Kelly Mowrer
Series Code: HWAL
Program Code: HWAL000554
00:16 Hello and welcome to His Words are Life.
00:18 I'm Kelly Mowrer and today we're reading from the book of 00:21 2nd Kings. We were reading the story of Naaman the last time we 00:25 were together, and we're just about to conclude that now; 00:28 but before we read, let's pray together. 00:29 Dear Lord thank you that just as you washed 00:34 and cleansed Naaman from his leprosy you've washed and 00:37 cleansed us from our sin and the death that came because of it. 00:41 Please send your Holy Spirit in a special way now to make these 00:45 words become life and light and bread and meat and a guidance 00:50 to us in the ways that we are walking, that we will walk more 00:53 closely with you. We love you so much and thank you for 00:56 loving us. Amen Naaman had been cured of his 01:01 leprosy and had gone back to the prophet Elisha to bring him 01:05 gifts; but Elisha had refused those gifts and so Naaman had 01:09 departed on his way to go home. We're going to pick up the story 01:12 there. We're in 2nd Kings, chapter 5, beginning in verse 20 01:17 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, 01:22 said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman the Syrian 01:27 in not receiving at his hand that which he brought: 01:30 but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat 01:33 of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him 01:38 running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet 01:40 him, and said, Is all well? And he said, All is well. My master 01:45 hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me 01:50 from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: 01:53 give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of 01:57 garments. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. 02:03 And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in 2 bags, 02:07 and two changes of garments and laid them upon 2 of his servants 02:11 and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tower 02:15 he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: 02:18 and he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and 02:23 stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, 02:26 Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went 02:33 no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with 02:38 thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? 02:42 Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, 02:46 and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, 02:49 and menservants, and maidservants? 02:51 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, 02:56 and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence 03:01 a leper as white as snow. Continuing now in 2nd Kings, 03:07 chapter 6, and this is the King James Version. 03:11 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, 03:16 the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 03:19 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence 03:23 every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, 03:26 where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. 03:30 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. 03:35 And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. 03:39 And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. 03:41 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water 03:46 and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. 03:49 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him 03:54 the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; 03:58 and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, 04:03 Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it. 04:06 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel 04:11 with his servants, saying, In such and such a place 04:14 shall be my camp. And the man of God sent unto the king 04:18 of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; 04:22 for thither the Syrians are come down. And the king of Israel 04:26 sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him 04:29 of, and saved himself there not once nor twice. 04:33 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled 04:37 for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them 04:40 Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? 04:44 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: 04:48 but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of 04:52 Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. 04:55 And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch 05:00 him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 05:04 Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots, and a great host: 05:10 and they came by night, and compassed the city about. 05:14 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, 05:18 and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with 05:23 horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, 05:26 my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: 05:31 for they that be with us are more than they that be with them 05:35 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord I pray thee, open his eyes, 05:42 that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man 05:46 and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses 05:51 and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when they came down 05:56 to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, Smite this people 05:59 I pray thee with blindness. And he smote them with blindness 06:03 according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said unto them, 06:07 This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I 06:11 will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them 06:14 to Samaria. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria 06:18 that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may 06:22 see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw: and behold, 06:26 they were in the midst of Samaria. And the king of Israel 06:30 said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite 06:34 them? shall I smite them? And he answered, Thou shalt not 06:37 smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken 06:40 captive with thy sword, and with thy bow? set bread and water 06:43 before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master 06:46 And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had 06:49 eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their 06:52 master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land 06:56 of Israel. And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad 07:00 king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged 07:03 Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and behold, 07:07 they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore 07:11 pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung 07:15 for 5 pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing 07:19 by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, 07:22 my lord, O king. And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, 07:26 whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the 07:29 winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? 07:33 and she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, 07:37 that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. 07:40 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the 07:44 next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid 07:47 her son. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words 07:50 of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon 07:54 the wall, and the people looked and behold he had sackcloth 07:58 within upon his flesh. Then he said, God do so and more also 08:04 to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand 08:08 on him this day. But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat 08:12 with him; and the king sent a man from before him: 08:15 but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, 08:19 See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away 08:22 mine head? look when the messenger cometh, 08:25 shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: 08:27 is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? 08:30 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger 08:34 came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord 08:38 what should I wait for the Lord any longer? 08:41 We're continuing in the book of 2nd Kings, chapter 7. 08:44 This is the King James Version. 08:46 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; 08:50 Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure 08:56 of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of 08:59 barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 09:02 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of 09:07 God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows 09:10 in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt 09:15 see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 09:18 And there were 4 leprous men at the entering in of the gate: 09:23 and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 09:28 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine 09:31 is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, 09:36 we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host 09:40 of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live and if they 09:43 kill us, we shall but die. And they rose up in the twilight, 09:47 to go into the camp of the Syrians: and when they were 09:50 come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, 09:54 there was no man there. For the Lord had made the host of the 09:58 Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, 10:01 even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, 10:05 Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings 10:07 of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us 10:10 Wherefore they arose, and fled in the twilight, and left their 10:14 tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as 10:18 it was, and fled for their life. And when these lepers came 10:23 to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, 10:25 and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, 10:29 and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered 10:33 into another tent, and carried thence also and went and hid it. 10:37 Then they said, one to another, We do not well: this day 10:41 is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry 10:46 till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: 10:48 now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household 10:52 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: 10:56 and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, 10:59 and behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, 11:02 but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. 11:06 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house 11:10 within. And the king arose in the night, and said unto his 11:13 servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us 11:16 They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out 11:20 of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, 11:23 When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, 11:26 and get into the city. And one of his servants answered 11:30 and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that 11:34 remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are as all 11:37 the multitude of the Israel that are left in it: 11:39 behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude 11:42 of the Israelites that are consumed: and let us send 11:45 and see. They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king 11:50 sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 11:53 And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way 11:58 was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians 12:01 had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, 12:05 and told the king. And the people went out, and spoiled 12:09 the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold 12:12 for a shekel, and 2 measures of barley for a shekel, according 12:17 to the word of the Lord. And the king appointed the lord 12:20 on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate: 12:23 and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, 12:27 as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down 12:30 to him. And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to 12:34 the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, 12:37 and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow 12:40 about this time in the gate of Samaria: And the Lord answered 12:45 the man of God, and said, Now behold, if the Lord should make 12:47 windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, 12:49 thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 12:53 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him 12:57 in the gate, and he died. Continuing in the book of 13:00 2nd Kings, chapter 8, This is the King James Version. 13:03 Then spake Elisha unto the woman whose son he had restored 13:08 to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, 13:12 and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath 13:16 called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land 13:19 seven years. And the woman arose, and did after the saying 13:22 of the man of God: and she went with her household and sojourned 13:25 in the land of the Philistines 7 years. And it came to pass 13:29 at the y years' end, that the woman returned out of the land 13:31 of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for 13:35 her house and for her land. And the king talked with Gehazi 13:39 the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me I pray thee 13:43 all the great things that Elisha hath done. And it came to pass, 13:47 as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body 13:50 to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored 13:54 to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. 13:57 And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, 14:00 and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. 14:03 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. 14:06 So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore 14:11 all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since 14:14 the day that she left the land, even until now. 14:18 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria 14:22 was sick; and it was told him saying, The man of God is come 14:25 hither. Thank you for joining 14:28 with me to read today. Please come and join with me again. 14:31 Until next time, God Bless. Goodbye. |
Revised 2014-12-17