The Living Bible (117 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
After King Ahab’s death the nation of Moab declared its independence and refused to pay tribute to Israel any longer.
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Israel’s new king, Ahaziah, had fallen off the upstairs porch of his palace at Samaria and was seriously injured. He sent messengers to the temple of the god Baal-zebub at Ekron to ask whether he would recover.
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But the Angel of the Lord told Elijah the prophet,
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“Go and meet the messengers and ask them, ‘Is it true that there is no God in Israel? Is that why you are going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will get well?
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Because King Ahaziah has done this, the Lord says that he will never leave the bed he is lying on; he will surely die.’”
When Elijah told the messengers this, they returned immediately to the king.
“Why have you returned so soon?” he asked them.
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“A man came up to us,” they said, “and told us to go back to the king and tell him, ‘The Lord wants to know why you are asking questions of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel? Now, since you have done this, you will not leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’”
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“Who was this fellow?” the king demanded. “What did he look like?”
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“He was a hairy man,” they replied, “with a wide leather belt.”
“It was Elijah the prophet!” the king exclaimed.
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Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, “O man of God, the king has commanded you to come along with us.”
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But Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” Then lightning struck them and killed them all!
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So the king sent another captain with fifty men to demand, “O man of God, the king says that you must come down right away.”
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Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men.” And again the fire from God burned them up.
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Once more the king sent fifty men, but this time the captain fell to his knees before Elijah and pleaded with him, “O man of God, please spare my life and the lives of these, your fifty servants.
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Have mercy on us! Don’t destroy us as you did the others.”
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Then the Angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Don’t be afraid. Go with him.” So Elijah went to the king.
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“Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask about your sickness?” Elijah demanded. “Is it because there is no God in Israel to ask? Because you have done this, you shall not leave this bed; you will surely die.”
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So Ahaziah died as the Lord had predicted through Elijah, and his brother Joram
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became the new king—for Ahaziah did not have a son to succeed him. This occurred in the second year of the reign of King Jehoram (son of Jehoshaphat) of Judah.
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The rest of the history of Ahaziah’s reign is recorded in
The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
Now the time came for the Lord to take Elijah to heaven—by means of a whirlwind! Elijah said to Elisha as they left Gilgal, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel.”
But Elisha replied, “I swear to God that I won’t leave you!”
So they went on together to Bethel.
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There the young prophets of Bethel Seminary came out to meet them and asked Elisha, “Did you know that the Lord is going to take Elijah away from you today?”
“Quiet!” Elisha snapped. “Of course I know it.”
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Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here in Bethel, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”
But Elisha replied again, “I swear to God that I won’t leave you.” So they went on together to Jericho.
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Then the students at Jericho Seminary came to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take away your master today?”
“Will you please be quiet?” he commanded. “Of course I know it!”
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Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan River.”
But Elisha replied as before, “I swear to God that I won’t leave you.”
So they went on together and stood beside the Jordan River as fifty of the young prophets watched from a distance.
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Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it; and the river divided and they went across on dry ground!
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When they arrived on the other side Elijah said to Elisha, “What wish shall I grant you before I am taken away?”
And Elisha replied, “Please grant me twice as much prophetic power as you have had.”
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“You have asked a hard thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”
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As they were walking along, talking, suddenly a chariot of fire, drawn by horses of fire, appeared and drove between them, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.
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Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariot of Israel and the charioteers!”
As they disappeared from sight he tore his robe.
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Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak and returned to the bank of the Jordan River, and struck the water with it.
“Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” he cried out. And the water parted and Elisha went across!
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When the young prophets of Jericho saw what had happened, they exclaimed, “The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha!” And they went to meet him and greeted him respectfully.
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“Sir,” they said, “just say the word and fifty of our best athletes will search the wilderness for your master; perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has left him on some mountain or in some ravine.”
“No,” Elisha said, “don’t bother.”
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But they kept urging until he was embarrassed and finally said, “All right, go ahead.” Then fifty men searched for three days, but didn’t find him.
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Elisha was still at Jericho when they returned. “Didn’t I tell you not to go?” he growled.
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Now a delegation of the city officials of Jericho visited Elisha. “We have a problem,” they told him. “This city is located in beautiful natural surroundings, as you can see; but the water is bad and causes our women to have miscarriages.”
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“Well,” he said, “bring me a new bowl filled with salt.” So they brought it to him.
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Then he went out to the city well and threw the salt in and declared, “The Lord has healed these waters. They shall no longer cause death or miscarriage.”
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And sure enough! The water was purified, just as Elisha had said.
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From Jericho he went to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a gang of young men from the city began mocking and making fun of him because of his bald head.
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He turned around and cursed them in the name of the Lord; and two female bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of them.
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Then he went to Mount Carmel and finally returned to Samaria.
Ahab’s son Joram began his reign over Israel during the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat
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of Judah; and he reigned twelve years. His capital was Samaria.
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He was a very evil man, but not as wicked as his father and mother had been, for he at least tore down the pillar to Baal that his father had made.
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Nevertheless he still clung to the great sin of Jeroboam (the son of Nebat), who had led the people of Israel into the worship of idols.
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King Mesha of Moab and his people were sheep ranchers. They paid Israel an annual tribute of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams;
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but after Ahab’s death, the king of Moab rebelled against Israel.
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So King Joram mustered the Israeli army and sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you help me fight him?”
“Of course I will,” Jehoshaphat replied. “My people and horses are yours to command. What are your battle plans?”
“We’ll attack from the wilderness of Edom,” Joram replied.
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So their two armies, now joined also by troops from Edom, moved along a roundabout route through the wilderness for seven days; but there was no water for the men or their pack animals.
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“Oh, what shall we do?” the king of Israel cried out. “The Lord has brought us here to let the king of Moab defeat us.”
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But Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord with us? If so, we can find out what to do!”
“Elisha is here,” one of the king of Israel’s officers replied. Then he added, “He was Elijah’s assistant.”
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“Fine,” Jehoshaphat said. “He’s just the man we want.”
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So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom went to consult Elisha.
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“I want no part of you,” Elisha snarled at King Joram of Israel. “Go to the false prophets of your father and mother!”
But King Joram replied, “No! For it is the Lord who has called us here to be destroyed by the king of Moab!”
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“I swear by the Lord God that I wouldn’t bother with you except for the presence of King Jehoshaphat of Judah,” Elisha replied.
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“Now bring me someone to play the lute.” And as the lute was played, the message of the Lord came to Elisha:
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“The Lord says to fill this dry valley with trenches to hold the water he will send.
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You won’t see wind nor rain, but this valley will be filled with water, and you will have plenty for yourselves and for your animals!
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But this is only the beginning, for the Lord will make you victorious over the army of Moab!
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You will conquer the best of their cities—even those that are fortified—and ruin all the good land with stones.”
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And sure enough, the next day at about the time when the morning sacrifice was offered—look! Water! It was flowing from the direction of Edom, and soon there was water everywhere.
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Meanwhile, when the people of Moab heard about the three armies marching against them, they mobilized every man who could fight, old and young, and stationed themselves along their frontier.
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But early the next morning the sun looked red as it shone across the water!
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“Blood!” they exclaimed. “The three armies have attacked and killed each other! Let’s go and collect the loot!”
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But when they arrived at the Israeli camp, the army of Israel rushed out and began killing them; and the army of Moab fled. Then the men of Israel moved forward into the land of Moab, destroying everything as they went.
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They destroyed the cities, threw stones on every good piece of land, stopped up the wells, and felled the fruit trees; finally, only Fort Kir-hareseth was left, but even that finally fell to them.
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When the king of Moab saw that the battle had been lost, he led 700 of his swordsmen in a last desperate attempt to break through to the king of Edom; but he failed.
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Then he took his oldest son, who was to have been the next king, and to the horror of the Israeli army, killed him and sacrificed him as a burnt offering upon the wall. So the army of Israel turned back in disgust to their own land.