In these last two days, the readings have been very interesting. It covers the entire time period in which the prophets Elijah and Elisha ministered in the northern kingdom of Israel. In Old Testament times, the only other servants of the LORD who were comparable in miraculous powers were Moses and Aaron. In both these […]

[Hello folks. By now I suppose you’re tired of me. This is my third post here! Pastor John asked me, once again, if I’d repost from when I did my 90 Day Challenge back in 2011. Admittedly my own blog tended to be less pastoral in content since I focused on “exploring” the scriptures. So my apology in advance. This post I wrote in February 2011  looks at the story of when Elijah was caught up from Elisha in a chariot of fire. I suggest you go and read the story because I jump right into talking about it. This post is not very pastoral, but I hope you enjoy it none-the-less. ~ Derek]

I was taught in Sunday School class that when Elijah was taken up into heaven from Elisha, that Elijah actually went into Heaven at that time. That is, I was taught that Elijah was “Raptured” and went to Heaven where people float around playing harps and singing hallelujahs for eternity.

I no longer hold that view for three reasons.

[Pastor John asked me if I’d repost my article for day 25 from back when I was doing the 90 Day Challenge. So here you go. Enjoy! ~ Derek]

Let’s begin with some observations from our text. First, as a matter of observation, after Solomon builds the Temple and dedicates it to God the Lord himself consecrates it: “I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there” (1 Kings 9:3). Sounds pretty absolute: God will forever be in the temple that Solomon built. But as you continue to read you will quickly discover the same Covenantal stipulations outlined in Deuteronomy 27-30: Blessings (which equals=remaining in the land) for obedience and Curses (which equals=exile) for disobedience. This means that God will abandon the temple if his people consistently move away in rebellion, in spite of his hopes of remaining there forever:

Today’s reading covers the last days of David’s 40-year reign over Israel and the transition to the kingship of his son Solomon. In 2Samuel 22, we read of David’s song of praise to the LORD for His faithfulness in delivering and protecting the king from all his enemies, including Saul. The word “covenant” does not […]

The Book of 2Samuel covers the 40-year reign of King David, Israel’s greatest king. The first half of the Book covers the first 20 years of David’s reign. These chapters cause us to rejoice with David over his many triumphs. The last half of David’s reign is covered in 2Samuel 12-24. As we read these […]

In today’s reading, Israel’s greatest king, David, becomes established on the throne of Israel (2Sam. 5:1-5). A couple of other events occur which have monumental impact on the shaping of biblical salvation history. First of all, David captures the city of Jerusalem (2Samuel 5:6-12). This city becomes the capital city of the Davidic kings and […]

This reading from the last half of 1Samuel begins with Samuel anointing David as the 2nd king of Israel (1Sam.16:1-13). The most prominent feature of this kingly anointing is that Saul remains the king of Israel for many years. In fact, most of our reading today reports the many attempts by Saul to kill David. […]

In the Book of 1Samuel, the 3 main characters are:  Samuel, the last of the Judges; Saul, the first of the Israelite Kings and; David, the second and greatest of the Kings. In 1Samuel 1-7, the focus is on Samuel. In the early growth of Israel as a nation, the only other person who had […]

The wonderful Book of Ruth is sandwiched between the end of Judges and the beginning of 1Samuel. The story narrated in Ruth occurs during the days that the judges ruled Israel (Ruth 1:1). This narrative brings a welcome relief to the crass idolatry of Micah and the Danite tribe in Judges 17 & 18 and […]

The Book of Judges covers the first 350 years of Israel’s history in Canaan, the Promised Land. It is a dark and sad time in the life of God’s people. The Israelites served the LORD while Joshua was alive and in the lifetime of the elders who were contemporaries of Joshua. But then we read […]