A 1189 Day Journey Through the Bible

I am writing from my hotel in San Diego, CA. 2 Kings 12: This starts with Joash as king, and ends with him dying and his son Amaziah taking over. But it seems that the main idea is this:  The money that comes into the temple needs to be used to further the purpose of the temple. Let's think about that.

I am writing from my hotel in San Diego, CA. 2 Kings 11: So Ahaziah mother's Athaliah was pretty upset when she saw that her son was dead.  We are told she began by massacring the entire royal family.  Then there was a ceremony where a king was crowned.  Athaliah thought it would be a good idea to shout "treason!" at the king, so she was executed.  I'm not sure how she thought that was going to end.

I am writing from my hotel in Spokane, WA. 2 Kings 10: So basically Jehu has a shit ton of Ahab's family slaughtered.  At one point, he has cronies chop off seventy heads and bring them in baskets.  He reminds us that he's fulfilling a prophecy of God, set forth by Elijah. Jehu continues his mean streak by tricking all of the servants in Baal to comes to a gathering, and then having them all killed.  And he destroyed their temple. God was actually pleased with Jehu and his genocide.  God was a little upset about Jehu possibly worshipping a golden calf.  Genocide okay.  Golden calf not okay.  Priorities. This chapter ends with information that Jehu died, and his son Jehoahaz became king next.

I am writing from my desk in Seattle, WA. 2 Kings 9: Elisha tells a prophet to tell Jehu that he will be anointed king of Israel, so he was.  Also, he said that Jezebel would be eaten by dogs.  And to destroy all of Ahab's house. Jehu is off to a quick start, taking no time at all to kill Joram and Ahaziah. So Jehu goes to see Jezebel, and he tells some eunuchs to throw her out the window.  So they do and she splatters on the ground.  Then some dogs ate her.  Vivid.

I am writing from my desk in Seattle, WA. 2 Kings 8: Ok so maybe the famine isn't over? A lady leaves during the famine, and then comes back seven years later and they give her all her land back, which is a nice gesture.  Her son was the boy who Elisha had healed. Hazael asked Elisha what was going to happen to Ben-Hadad (king of Aram) since he is ill.  Well Elisha said Ben-Hadad would die, but was very devastated at the fact Hazael would take over.  Apparently Elisha knows Hazael is gonna do a bunch of bad stuff.  Well the next day, Hazael murders Ben-Hadad.  Not a great start.  But Hazael took over as king of Aram. Jehoram died and Ahaziah took over as king of Judah.

I am writing from my desk in Seattle, WA. 2 Kings 7: Elisha says that the famine will be over the next day, but one of the king's officials doesn't really believe him.  Elisha reminds this dude that he will soon find out, but won't get to eat any of it.  Elisha isn't the most gracious. So there's four dudes with leprosy deciding what to do.  Stay on the outside of the city and they die, go into the city where the famine is and die, or go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender, where they could also possibly die.  They decided to surrender, but it turns out that no one was there.  They were able to eat and drink and loot around a bit.  There's a moment where they feel bad for keeping what they've found to themselves, so they went and reported it to the royal palace.  And we don't hear anything else about these men. The king sends people out and they plundered the camp.  The guy that Elisha told wouldn't eat; well people trampled h...

I am writing from my hotel in Walnut Creek, CA. 2 Kings 6: Elisha's tricks continue, and a woman eats her child. This chapter opens with a man who drops his ax in the water, and Elisha makes it float. The king of Aram (Ben-Hadad) was at war with Israel, and then found out that Elisha can tell the king of Israel anything that the king of Aram does.  Remember, he's a prophet.  So the king of Aram tries to capture Elisha by sending a bunch of people after him. This doesn't work, as Elisha blinds them all.  He then leads them to Samaria and restores their sight; and a feast is prepared for them.  They no longer bothered Israel. Awhile later, there was a famine in Samaria and a woman ate her own son.  The king of Israel wants to blame this on Elisha, but it is not yet clear why.