The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Kings 6:6-7,
"The man of God [Elisha] asked, 'Where did it [an iron axhead] fall?' When he [another prophet] showed him the place [in the Jordan River], Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 'Lift it out,' he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it."
Here Elisha defies the law of specific gravity. As we all know, iron does not float in water. But when an axhead accidentally landed in the river as the prophets were cutting down trees by the Jordan, Elisha made it happen. Actually, people cannot violate the laws the Lord created to govern his cosmos, but a prophet such as Elisha has connections. The Lord made it float at Elisha's involvement.
As remarkable as it is making iron float on water, the big story here is that Elisha's bona fides are well documented by the many miracles associated with him. Elisha was just a man, and in and of himself, unable to do anything anyone else might normally do. However, he was not only a man, he was a prophet of the living God, and as such, many miracles were performed by him. It was his enablement as a prophet of God that made it possible for him to see and do things the rest of us simply can't.
Again I point out, it was not Elisha, in and of himself, that performed these many miracles, but the Lord performing them through Elisha. We get a glimpse of this in the following account of a vision given to a servant of Elisha of horses and chariots. When the servant expressed his fear in seeing the invading force of the King of Aram, Elisha asked the Lord to open his eyes to see the Lord's vast array of military might. It wasn't that Elisha opened the eyes of the servant, but that he asked the Lord to do so for the servant, "'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, 'Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.' Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." 2 Kings 6:16-17.
Prophets have been able to do so many different things over the years. One remarkable observation made in this chapter is that whatever the king of Aram, the enemy of Israel had to say, even in the privacy of his bedroom, it was known to Elisha, who passed the important information on to the king of Israel.
How remarkable it is that our Creator chooses to manifest (in calculated ways) his presence at times through having his prophets do what cannot be done! When these miracles are performed, they testify to the existence of our Creator as well as his involvement in his creation. These miracles demonstrate who he has selected to represent himself, or communicate on his behalf.
For me, the greatest contribution of God's prophets (the Lord worked great things through all his prophets) that impacts me personally, is the work they performed that Peter speaks of in 2 Peter 1:20-21, "Above all, you must understandthat no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." Here is how we got our Bibles!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"The man of God [Elisha] asked, 'Where did it [an iron axhead] fall?' When he [another prophet] showed him the place [in the Jordan River], Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 'Lift it out,' he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it."
Here Elisha defies the law of specific gravity. As we all know, iron does not float in water. But when an axhead accidentally landed in the river as the prophets were cutting down trees by the Jordan, Elisha made it happen. Actually, people cannot violate the laws the Lord created to govern his cosmos, but a prophet such as Elisha has connections. The Lord made it float at Elisha's involvement.
As remarkable as it is making iron float on water, the big story here is that Elisha's bona fides are well documented by the many miracles associated with him. Elisha was just a man, and in and of himself, unable to do anything anyone else might normally do. However, he was not only a man, he was a prophet of the living God, and as such, many miracles were performed by him. It was his enablement as a prophet of God that made it possible for him to see and do things the rest of us simply can't.
Again I point out, it was not Elisha, in and of himself, that performed these many miracles, but the Lord performing them through Elisha. We get a glimpse of this in the following account of a vision given to a servant of Elisha of horses and chariots. When the servant expressed his fear in seeing the invading force of the King of Aram, Elisha asked the Lord to open his eyes to see the Lord's vast array of military might. It wasn't that Elisha opened the eyes of the servant, but that he asked the Lord to do so for the servant, "'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, 'Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.' Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." 2 Kings 6:16-17.
Prophets have been able to do so many different things over the years. One remarkable observation made in this chapter is that whatever the king of Aram, the enemy of Israel had to say, even in the privacy of his bedroom, it was known to Elisha, who passed the important information on to the king of Israel.
How remarkable it is that our Creator chooses to manifest (in calculated ways) his presence at times through having his prophets do what cannot be done! When these miracles are performed, they testify to the existence of our Creator as well as his involvement in his creation. These miracles demonstrate who he has selected to represent himself, or communicate on his behalf.
For me, the greatest contribution of God's prophets (the Lord worked great things through all his prophets) that impacts me personally, is the work they performed that Peter speaks of in 2 Peter 1:20-21, "Above all, you must understandthat no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." Here is how we got our Bibles!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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