Month: January 2026

In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest decided to act. He summoned his courage and made a pact with five army comnanders: …. and summoned the Levites and clan leaders in all the towns to come to Jerusalem. They all gathered at the Temple of God, where they made a solemn pact with Joash, the young king.

Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the king’s son! The time has come for him to reign! The Lord has promised that a descendant of David will be our king. (vv 1-3, NLT)

[Jehoida said] You Levites form a bodyguard around the king and keep your weapons in hand. Kill anyone who tries to enter the Temple. Say wiht the king wherever he goes!”(v. 6B, NLT)

Then Jehoiada and his sons brought out Joash, the king’s son, placed the crown on his head, and presented him with a copy of God’s laws. They anointed him and proclaimed him king, and everyone shouted, “Long live the king!” (vv. 11, NLT)

So Jehoshaphat ruled over the land of Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reined in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

Jehoshaphat was a good king, following the ways of his father, Asa. He did was was pleasing to the Lord’s sight. During his reign, however, he failed to remove all the pagan shrines, and the people never fully committed themselves to follwo the God of their ancestors.

The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from begging to end, are recorded in The Record of Jehu son of Hannai which is included in The Book of the Kings o Israel.

Some time later King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who was very wicked. Together they built a fleet of trading ships at the port of Ezion-geber. Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied agains Jehoshaphat. He said, “Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy your work” So the ships met with disaster and never put out to sea. (vv. 31-37, NLT)_

After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshapat. (v. 1) NLT

“O Our God, wont’ you stop them? We are powerless against this might army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to You for help.”

As all the men of Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, wives, and children, the Spirit of the Lord cam upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, the son of Beniah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.

He said, “Listen, all you people of of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshapat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this might army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (vv 13-15, NLT)

After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising Him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:

“Give thanks to the Lord, His faithfulness endures forever!”

At that very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab and Mount Sier to start fighting among themselves. The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir, and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir , they began attacking each other. So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped. (vv. 21-4, NLT)

Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, but he went out among the people traveling from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, encouraging the people to return to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. He appointed judges throughout the nation in all the fortified towns and he said to them, “Always think carefully before pronouncing judgment. Remember that you do not judge to please people but to please the Lord. He will be with you when you render a verdict in each case. Fear the Lord and judge with integrity, for the Lord our God does not tolerated perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes.”

In Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and priests and clan members in Israel to serve as judges for cases involving the Lord’s regulations and for civil disputes. These were his instructions to them: “You must always act in fear of the Lord with faithfulness and an undivided heart. Whenever a case comes to you from fellow citizens in an outlying town, whether it is a murder case or some other violation of God’s laws, commands, decrees, you must warn them not to sin agains the Lord, so that He will not be angry with you and them. Do this and you will not be guilty.”

“Amariah the high priest will have final say in all cases involving the Lord. Zebadiah son of Ismael, a leader from the tribe of Judah, will have final say in all civil cases. The levites will assist you in making sure that justice is served. Take courage as you fulfill your duties, and may the Lord be with those who do what is right.”(vv. 1-12, NLT)

One day a group of prophets came to Elisha and told him, “As you can see, this place where we met with you is too small. Let’s do down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet.”

“All right,” he told them, “go ahead.”

“Please come with us,” someone suggested.

“I will,” he said. So he went with them.

When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. But as one of them was cutting a tree, his ax head fell into the river. “Oh, sir!” he cried. “It was a borrowed ax!”

“Where did it fall?” the man of God said. When he showed them the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. “Grab it,” Elisha said. And the man reached out an grabbed it. (vv. 1-7, NLT)

So Naaman with with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger to go out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said, “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers in Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them an be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

But this officers tried t reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey when he says simply, ‘Go wash and be cured!'” So Naaman went dow to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became the sking of a youn child, and he was healed!

Than Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now If know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from you servant.”

But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts.” And though Naaman urged him to take the gift, Elisha refused. (vv. 9-16, NLT)

The king of Aram had a great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him, the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.

At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.

So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. “Go and visit the prophet, the king of Aram told him. I will sent a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel. (vv. 1-5a,NLT)

But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset” Send Naaham to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.” (v.8, NLT)

Elisha now returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. One day as the group of prophets was seated before him, he to his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire, and make some stew for the rest of the group.”

One of the young men went out into the field to gather herbs and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them in to the pot without realizing they were poisonous. Some of the stew was served to the men. But after they had eaten a bite of two, they cried out,” Man of God, there’s poison in this stew!” So they could not eat it.

Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now it’s all right; go ahead and eat. And then it did not harm them.

Ond day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man do God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”

“What?” his servant exclaimed.” Feed a hundred people with only this?”

But Elisha repeated, “Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the Lord says: Everyone will eat, and there will even be some more left over!” And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the Lord had promised. (vv. 38-44, NLT)