Scripture Focus: 2 Kings 8:1-6
1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” 2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.

3 At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land. 4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.

Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.

Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”

Reflection: A Model of Faithfulness
By Jon Polk

Who do you run to? When met with times of hardship or uncertainty, where does your faith rest?

The Shunammite woman, one of many unnamed faithful women in scripture, found herself in a rough spot. Out of the country for seven years, upon her return she discovered that her house and land had been claimed by others. Now apparently widowed, this was a devastating blow to her livelihood.

Note that she is no ordinary unnamed woman. This is the woman whose son had been raised from the dead. Let’s go back to 2 Kings 4.

A wealthy woman in the village of Shunem heard that the prophet Elisha was coming through town. She prepared a meal for him, and he began to stop there for dinner regularly as he passed through their city. This faithful woman convinced her husband to add an extra, furnished room to their home so that Elisha would have a place to stay during his visits.

Elisha was so moved by her generosity that he asked what he might do for her. His servant Gehazi mentioned that she didn’t have a son and that settled it, Elisha prophesied that within a year’s time, the woman would give birth to a son.

A boy was born as promised, but during childhood, he tragically died unexpectedly. She brought Elisha back to her home, he prayed, and the boy was healed.

In both cases, the death of her son and the loss of her property, the Shunammite woman’s faith did not waiver. There is no indication in either instance that she panicked or was hysterical. Her faith was not dependent on God’s provision but on God’s presence. 

Back to chapter 8, she approached the king straightaway with an appeal for her house and land. At the exact same moment, Gehazi was explaining to the king how Elisha had raised a woman’s son back to life. Coincidence? 

When she recounted her story to the king, he was moved to intervene on her behalf and restored her property, including all the income from the land since the day she left.

This unnamed woman is a model of faithfulness. She recognized Elisha as God’s prophet and provided food and lodging for him. When the promised son died, she confidently called Elisha. When all her belongings were taken away, she approached the king with the same confidence.

During challenging times in life, maintaining faith can be difficult, but we can run to God. In times of uncertainty and instability, we can trust God’s providence.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Our God will come and will not keep silence; before him, there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm. — Psalm 50.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
2 Kings 8 (Listen 5:18)
Psalms 55 (Listen 2:43)

This Weekend’s Readings
2 Kings 9 (Listen 6:32) Psalms 56-57 (Listen 3:11)
2 Kings 10 (Listen 6:30) Psalms 58-59 (Listen 2:32)

Read more about Ordinary Measure of Faithfulness
The Shunammite woman is a tale of the slow, quiet, and ordinary walk of faithfulness.

Read more about God, Can You Hear Me?
It can feel like God is slow to respond. We confuse the patience of God as the endorsement of evil.

Scripture Focus: 2 Kings 6:5-7
5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.

Reflection: You Matter
By Erin Newton

I don’t have anything to pay my taxes. A coin appears in the fish’s mouth.

The wine has run out. Water is transformed.

The tool I borrowed fell into the river. The ax-head floats.

Have you ever started a prayer request with the disclaimer, “I know this is no big deal…” or even avoided sharing a request because it seemed so insignificant in comparison to others?

My brother died. Lazarus walks out of the tomb.

I have bled for a decade. The hem cures a lifetime disease.

They are trying to burn us alive. The three men survive unscathed.

We pray for the big ones—the big needs that seem to warrant prayer because our ability is so evidently outmatched. When we think we are strong, we forget to ask for help. Or maybe we think some things are too small for God.

The story of the floating ax is seven verses long. It is brushed over rather quickly in most commentaries in just one paragraph. It follows a larger miracle—a big one—as Naaman is healed of leprosy. The lack of attention for this physics-defying event reflects our assumption that some things are too small to bother God.

Or maybe it’s just too mundane. Why would God care about a borrowed tool? It was just a tool. Replaceable. Inanimate. Perhaps a little old. Maybe a little dull. Definitely a little broken.

What if the reluctance to ask for help in the little things reflects how we think God looks at us? Do we think God only cares about the big things and the important people?

For all the verses that speak of God’s love for his creation, we sometimes love ourselves very little. We think God only cares about the military commanders with leprosy, not an unnamed prophet cutting down trees.  

The next verses speak of the servant’s miraculous vision of Elisha surrounded by a host of angels, hills covered in horses, and chariots of fire. Nestled among these big miracles is the simple recovery of a borrowed ax.

In our world that promotes grandeur and importance, God still cares about the littlest of things. He sees the faithful person doing a day’s work, nothing grand, nothing glorious, and he cares.
There is no need for a disclaimer on “little” prayers. God’s attentiveness poured out for you comes in the same measure as it is with the highest-ranking officer.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Love the Lord, all you who worship him; the Lord protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily. — Psalm 31.23

Today’s Readings
2 Kings 6 (Listen 5:05)
Psalms 51 (Listen 2:19)

Read more about Don’t Lose Heart: God Hears Your Prayers
God isn’t like us—or the unjust judge. He doesn’t grow weary of our prayers.

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Scripture Focus: 2 Kings 1:13-15
13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! 14 See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!”

15 The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

Reflection: The Tale of Three Captains
By Jon Polk

2 Kings opens with a story reminiscent of a classic fable: there’s a king, a tragic accident, a trio of warriors, and a wise sage on a hilltop.

First, be reminded of what a rotten king Ahaziah was. The book of 1 Kings ends with this unflattering assessment of his reign, “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” His father was Ahab, widely recognized as the worst king of Israel, so Ahaziah’s apple didn’t fall far from the proverbial tree.

Ahaziah suffered an injury after falling from the upper room of his palace in Samaria. He sent a delegation to inquire of the god Baal-Zebub whether he would recover. The messengers never made it to their destination, however. They were intercepted by the bold prophet Elijah.

Elijah delivered a stinging rebuke and prophecy to be relayed to the king. “You’ve rejected the God of Israel, so you turn to the god of the Philistines? You wanted to know if you will recover from your injuries? Be warned, death is coming for you.”

Incensed, Ahaziah asked who had sent the message. From the description, he immediately knew who it was. “Ah yes, that’s Elijah. Send a company of fifty men to bring him to me.”

The first company captain approached Elijah, now sitting on the top of a hill, with scorn, “Man of God, the king says to come at once.”

You can hear the mockery in Elijah’s response, “Oh, you call me a man of God? Well, if I am, may fire come down from heaven and consume your company.” And so it did.

The king sent a second company of fifty men. The second company captain called to Elijah with equal disdain, “Man of God, the king calls for you.”

Surprise, surprise. Second verse, same as the first. Elijah called down fire on company number two.

The third company captain took a decidedly different approach, “Man of God, please respect my life and these fifty men! We are your servants!” This time, Elijah acquiesced and went along to deliver his prophecy directly to the king himself.

How often do we approach God with the same attitude of Ahaziah and the first two company captains, demanding that our needs be met or our questions be answered? 

May we learn from the example of the third company captain who recognized that God cannot be ordered around. Let us approach God humbly, with respect, acknowledging our station as beloved children of God.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God and worship him upon his holy hill; for the Lord our God is the Holy One. — Psalm 99.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
2 Kings 1 (Listen 3:13)
Psalms 45 (Listen 2:17)

This Weekend’s Readings
2 Kings 2 (Listen 4:26) Psalms 46-47 (Listen 2:15)
2 Kings 3 (Listen 4:29) Psalms 48 (Listen 1:28)

Read more about A King’s Vanity and a Slap in the Face
Are we any better than Ahab?
Do we surround ourselves with voices that only tell us what we want to hear?

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Scripture Focus: 1 Kings 13.29-33
29 So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”

31 After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”

33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways… 

2 Kings 23.4-24
15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

17 The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

18 “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

Reflection: Nameless Prophets
By John Tillman

It is one of the strangest stories in the Bible. 

Three powerful and frightening signs.
Jeroboam was offering a sacrifice on the altar of Bethel when the Judean man of God prophesied to the altar. At the prophecy, two signs occurred. The altar split and the ashes spilled. The third sign came when Jeroboam threatened the man of God and his hand instantly shriveled. Jeroboam repented of his threat and at the prophet’s prayer, the hand was restored.

Two nameless prophets.
The mysterious “man of God from Judah” is identified only by gender and geography. He confronted a powerful king with powerful signs. Yet, he became so hungry he made a serious error in judgment.

The “old prophet” from Samaria was unscrupulous and ambiguous. Did he attempt to save a fellow prophet from starving on the side of the road? Did he sabotage a rival prophet who destroyed an altar his family served? Where did his loyalty lie? He lies to the man of God, then lies with the man of God, side-by-side in the same tomb. His dying wish implies he meant no harm, but we can’t be sure.

One corrupt, wicked king.
God promised Jeroboam a kingdom “as enduring as the one I built for David” if he would walk in obedience. Instead, he became as corrupt as the son of Solomon he rebelled against. (1 Kings 11.34-40)

One reforming, destroying future king.
Josiah is the greatest reformer of any biblical king. (2 Kings 23.25) He is known more by what he tore down than by what he built. David fought for political peace against outer threats, armies entrenched at the borders. Josiah fought for spiritual peace against inner threats, foreign gods entrenched in hearts and culture.

The Bible is not a curriculum. Many tales, like this one, lack obvious takeaways. However, we know that God is on a mission of reformation and restoration. The process will be painful. Errors in one generation harm those following. Future generations must tear down errors before harms can be healed.

Jesus is a greater reformer than Josiah. When Jesus sets things right, they will stay that way. Are we willing to be nameless prophets, announcing the coming king? God seeks the repentant and the faithful for nameless missions whose happy endings may come after our death.

Come soon, King Jesus.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us, saying: “There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.” — Luke 12.32

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
1 Kings 13 (Listen 5:14)
Psalms 33 (Listen 2:08)

Read more about Incomparable King and Kingdom
Scripture’s accounts of kings are focused on the only statistic that matters—righteousness.

Read more about Supporting Our Work
Our work needs your support. Join us in bringing biblical devotionals to inboxes across the world.

Scripture Focus: 2 Kings 25.28
28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.

Reflection: Restoration Begins
By John Tillman

Even the Babylonian destruction and exile, with all its violence and extreme practices, could not stop the purposes of God to bless the world through the people he chose.

Jeremiah told Jehoiachin that “even if he was a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off.” (Jeremiah 22.24) However, Jehoiachin did surrender to Babylon rather than rebelling against him like other kings before and after him. 

Perhaps it was this surrender that eventually led to him being restored to some status by the Babylonian king. It is unrecorded in canonical scripture, but Rabbinical tradition assumes that Jehoiachin repented of his wickedness while in captivity. This is shown in how God seems to lift the curse on Jehoiachin that was pronounced by Jeremiah.

Jeremiah stated that Jehoiachin should be “childless” and that no son of his should sit on David’s throne or rule. However, after many years in chains and captivity, the repentant king is restored. 

The writer tells us that Jehoiachin “put aside his prison clothes” and ate at the king’s table. Jehoiachin also had a grandson appointed as governor when the Jews began to be returned to Jerusalem. The prophet Haggai would use the exact same phrase used by Jeremiah to indicate that God had relented and reversed the curse: “‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” (Haggai 2.23)

Restoration begins with repentance. Exile and slavery are not the end for God’s people. They’re more like a restart. Israel had been enslaved when he called them out of Egypt. He would soon call them out of Babylon as well. In Egypt, Israel started as honored residents of the nation and ended up as slaves. In Babylon, the pattern reverses. 

Through Jehoiachin, the king who was raised from prison to the side of Babylon’s king, comes Jesus, the king who was raised from death to the side of Heaven’s king.

We, when we repent and return our affection to God, are lifted out of the prison of our sin and seated at the table with Christ. May we put aside our prison clothes, dress in Christ’s righteousness, and walk in freedom that produces justice.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy Name and glory in your praise. — Psalm 85.10

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
2 Kings 25 (Listen – 5:24)
Hebrews 7 (Listen – 2:58)

This Weekend’s Readings
1 Chronicle 1-2 (Listen – 11:18), Hebrews 8 (Listen – 2:22)
1 Chronicle 3-4 (Listen – 8:52), Hebrews 9 (Listen – 4:40)

Read more about Captivity, Exile, and Exodus
The return from exile narrative is a mirror-version of the Exodus from Egypt narrative.

Read more about The Exodus and The Return
There are two different examples in scripture of God setting his people free from oppressive captivity and parallels in the New Testament to go along with them.