ELISHA’S MINISTRY FORESHADOWED THE MESSIAH’S When the prophet Elisha was given an offering of bread, he instructed his servant, Gehazi, to feed the people with it. But Gehazi answered that there wasn’t enough to feed the one hundred men gathered there. But Elisha had heard from the Lord that there would not only be enough
THE CHURCH KNOWN MORE FOR ITS SENDING CAPACITY THAN ITS SEATING CAPACITY Imagine attending a worship service that ends not with an invitation to lunch, but with a commissioning service that puts you on the next boat going out to sea. That’s what happened to Barnabas and “Saul” (“Paul”). Oh, to have worship services
HAVE YOU BUTCHERED THE OXEN AND BURNED THE PLOW OF YOUR FORMER LIFE? God directed Elijah to anoint a prophet from behind a plow. He didn’t send him to a finishing school for prophets, but to a farm where Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him. His father must’ve been wealthy to
THE PERSECUTION THAT RESULTED IN PROLIFERATION Jesus had instructed His disciples that they were to be His witnesses to the “end of the earth” (Acts 1:8), yet it wasn’t until after the persecution in Jerusalem that they truly began to fulfill His call. As they scattered throughout the Roman world, great numbers of people turned
GOD’S DESIRE FOR THE NATIONS After Elijah warned King Ahab about the coming drought in Israel, he fled to the wilderness. Eventually, the Lord sent Elijah out of Israel to the land of Sidon, where God had commanded a widow to provide for his needs. In this way, God both protected Elijah from Ahab and
THE BLESSING AND BEAUTY OF UNITY Psalm 133 was written by David and is one of the fifteen psalms with the inscription, “Songs of Ascent.” These psalms (120-134) were to be sung while ascending up to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to worship. In this way, worshipers brought their praise with them to the Temple.
BE A BARNABAS After Saul became a follower of Jesus at Damascus, he returned to Jerusalem. There he sought to meet with the apostles, but they were afraid and didn’t believe he had changed. But one of the disciples named Barnabas, whose name means “Son of Encouragement,” vouched for Saul and presented him to the
RESPONDING TO CHRIST’S CALL While heading to the city of Damascus to persecute Christians, Saul encountered the living Lord Jesus on the way. When Saul understood that it was Jesus speaking to him, he asked one of the most important questions a believer can ask. He asked what Jesus wanted him to do. He knew
THE CONDITIONAL PROMISE FORESHADOWS THE UNCONDITIONAL ONE After Solomon had completed the building of the Temple, the Lord appeared to him a second time. In this appearance, the Lord repeated the conditional promise that He had made to his father, David. Notice the “if” and the “then” words that mark such a conditional statement. The
SILVER HAIR IS NO CROWN WITHOUT RIGHTEOUSNESS Solomon wrote during an age when elders were honored and silver hair was considered a crown. But Solomon made clear that age alone was not sufficient for such glory. For without righteousness, the elderly are perhaps even more “laden with iniquity” (Gill) than the young. For they have