Hello, and welcome to the Westside Church's special Monday Morning Coffee podcast. On this podcast, our preacher, Mark Roberts, will help you get your week started right with a look back at yesterday's sermon so that we can think through it further and better work the applications into our daily lives. Mark will then look forward into this week's Bible reading so that we can know what to expect and watch for. And he may have some extra bonus thoughts from time to time. So grab a cup of coffee as we start the week together on Monday Morning Coffee with Mark.

Good morning, good morning. Welcome to the Monday Morning Coffee podcast for Monday, July the 28th. I'm Mark and I am holding some coffee here ready to talk with you about daily Bible reading because I cannot talk with you about yesterday's sermon. I was in Conway, Arkansas doing their youth weekend for the Highway 65 church. That's where Sarah and Garrett worship. It was a joy to be with them. On my way home now, actually not on my way home now, we came home yesterday afternoon. So by the time you're listening to this, we are home and I'm glad to be Be home, but it's a great weekend in Conway. All that said, today on the podcast, we've got to move directly to daily Bible reading because I have no sermon notes for you, but I am eager to see what's going on with Ahab in that battle where we left him last week on Thursday. Get your Bible. It's 1 Kings 22 that we're reading in today. Our reading for Monday is 1 Kings 22, verses 29 to 53. We are finishing the book of 1 Kings today. How about that? Making a lot of progress this year. Sometimes as we read along in daily Bible reading, we don't really notice how much progress we've made as we're going along. But hey, we're done with 1 Kings after today's reading. Remember on Thursday, we read about Micaiah the prophet, beginning in about verse 19 of 1 Kings 22, saying that Ahab would fall in this battle and that Israel would be utterly scattered in the battle. But Ahab and Josaphat go up together in the battle. Maybe Ahab is believing a little bit of Micaiah since he decides to disguise himself in verse 30. And the king of Israel disguised himself and went out into battle. So the king of Syria then said, Everybody get after the king of Israel. And the next thing you know, Jehoshaphat is being attacked, and Jehoshaphat cries out. And this is a great place to pick up the reading in Chronicles. Chronicles, generally speaking, is more interested in the kings of Judah. 1 Kings is more interested in the kings in the north, in Israel. If you go to 2 Chronicles 18 and verse 31, 2 Chronicles 18 and verse 31 says, As soon as the captains of the chariot saw Jehoshaphat, they said, it's the king of Israel. So they turned to fight against him and Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him. That's how Jehoshaphat was able to survive this battle. Indeed, 2 Chronicles 19 verses 1, 2, and 3 tell us that when he came home, verse 1, returning in safety to his house in Jerusalem, Jehu, the son of Hananiah the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord. So he is rebuked by the prophet for this unwise choice of making an alliance with King Ahab. But Micaiah has said that Ahab will die, and the fact that he's disguised doesn't change anything. He is hit, verse 34, by a random arrow shot, and he bleeds out, verse 35, in the chariot. And then we get these really gory details, verse 38, the dogs lick up his blood and the prostitutes wash themselves in it. And if you're thinking that's pretty disgusting, well, it is pretty disgusting. One scholar said, in an additional indignity to Ahab, harlots washed in the blood-stained waters probably So verse 38 is telling us that this is a wretched time where people are all caught up in all sorts of ridiculous superstition, false worship, and idolatry. So the rest of the acts, verse 39 of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house that he built, that palace has been found. And it was decorated inside with large carved ivory panels, and it shows a very clear Phoenician influence in its architecture. Then it says, Ahab, verse 40, slept with his fathers, and in his eye his son reigned in his place. Did you see how, once again, an important king, at least from a secular perspective, has his secular accomplishments? And there are many for Ahab. He had all kinds of building programs, and he reigned a really long time. No, all of that is just completely glossed over because the Bible is about your spiritual standing with the Lord. So the kings continue, and Kings does want to talk a little bit about Jehoshaphat, verses 41 to 50. As I said, you have to go to Chronicles to get the full story about Jehoshaphat, but Jehoshaphat reigns here, and he did, verse 44, make peace with the king of Israel. That's probably his primary accomplishment, this terrible alliance that he makes with Israel. He also constructs a navy, verse 48, and that went nowhere. The ships, verse 48, were wrecked at Zion Geber. So, Jehoshaphat doesn't do a whole lot in Kings because Kings wants to pass on and talk more about Israelite kings, kings in the north. So we get Ahaziah, verses 51, 52, and verse 53, and it's just like father, like son. But did you see there, the father here is Jeroboam. He walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, verse 52. He is like Ahab. He is like Jezebel. But even more importantly, he is like Jeroboam, and he is leading Israel deeper and deeper into sin. Unfortunately, that trend will continue as we start 2 Kings tomorrow. But our reading for Monday is 1 Kings 22, verses 29 to 53. Welcome to Tuesday, and today we begin the book of 2 Kings. Let me get some coffee here. 2 Kings is really just the continuation, of course, of 1 Kings. It begins about 80 years after the division of the nation, and it will carry forward all the way to the end of Israel in 722 BC at the hands of the Assyrian Empire, and it will go all the way then to the end of the Judean Kingdom. I was going to say Judean Empire. There was no Empire of Judah, but it does end Judah as being a kingdom in 586. The book will cover the last 12 kings of the north and the last 16 of the south, and this is the time of the prophets, men like Elijah and Elisha and the writing prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others. The book divides very naturally into two pieces. Chapters 1 to 17, mostly about the decline of the northern tribes Israel, and then 18 to 25, mostly about Judah's decline. So when we open the book today after the death of Ahab, that's 852 B.C. 852 B.C. Moab rebels against Israel. So God is already punishing Ahaziah. Moab is rebelling. The commercial venture with Jehoshaphat was defeated by God. We read that yesterday. And now he is ill personally, and he makes a terrible mistake. He decides that he will inquire of Baal-zebub in verse 2. He sins to inquire of the idol god Baal. And God is deeply offended by this, and it becomes very clear very quickly that God God knows the secret plans of the king, verse 6. And so the king says, hey, who was this prophet who met you? And they say, verse 8, he wore, and the ESV has a garment of hair, but better, he was a hairy man. If prophets are known for wearing this hairy garment, and that may be the case, I think about John the Baptist, he seems to have been known for wearing a certain kind of garment, then that would not cause the king to know who this was. He would just know it's a prophet because he's wearing the garment of a prophet. But if Elijah is known by having quite a head of hair, he's a hairy man, then that would be a cue as to who this is. And he does know, verse 8, it's Elijah the Tishbite. So he sends some soldiers to get Elijah, and it's important that we all understand these men have come to arrest and or kill the prophet of God. And that's why there's such a harsh punishment pronounced on them here. Maybe they should be thinking about 1 Kings 18 and how Elijah was able to call fire down from heaven. You don't treat a prophet badly. That'll get you into all kinds of trouble, and we want to talk more about that as we journey along in 2 Kings, and I want to talk more about that next Sunday in the pulpit, but you need to show respect for a prophet. And the last captain, verse 13 of the third 50, he shows the right respect, and his life is spared. But Ahaziah's life is not spared. Verse 17, he died according to the word of the Lord. According to the word of the Lord. How much have we seen about the word of the Lord? And because Ahaziah doesn't have a son, his brother Jehoram becomes king. Unfortunately, There's another Jehoram reigning in the south. So we have Jehorams on both thrones, and it is completely confusing. Our reading for Tuesday is 2 Kings chapter 1. Westsiders, we have Zoom tonight. I'll see you on the Zoom Bible study call. The rest of you, I'll see you on the podcast in the morning. Our reading for Tuesday again, 2 Kings chapter 1. It is Wednesday. It is Wednesday, and today... we will read all of 2 Kings chapter 2. All of 2 Kings chapter 2 is our reading for Wednesday, and this is the end of the ministry of Elijah. If you watch, you'll see that the story is organized by geography. Elijah and Elisha go to Bethel, verse 2, then to Jericho, verse 4, and down to the Jordan, verse 6. Then Elisha by himself goes to Jordan, verse 13, Jericho, verse 19, and Bethel, verse 23. So there's a pattern here that shows, as one scholar noted, Elisha really did receive the firstborn share of Elijah's spirit because Elisha retraces Elijah's very steps doing his mighty works. And this chapter does fit between the stories about these kings and seems to be answering the question, how do we go on without a great prophet like Elijah? What will we do now? He is gone. And I wonder if Elijah, verse 2, didn't want Elisha to be spared the pain of seeing him leave. They are very close, it seems, by now, and it would be difficult to see your mentor, the one who helped you so much as you began to step into that prophetic role. It would be very hard to see him leave. And he does ask, verse 9, for a double portion of Elijah's powerful spirit. And that seems to be kind of like the firstborn son who gets a double portion of everything when the father passes away. He wants all of Elijah's powerful spirit so that he can do what Elijah did. And it's fair here to note this is such a terrible time in Israel's history. So many things are going wrong and their kings are just wicked and evil. The last chapter we just read, they're trying to kill Elijah the prophet. Just a terrible time. terrible time, he'll need everything that he can get. So then in verse 10, Elijah says, it's a hard thing, but if you see me as I'm being taken from you, then you will receive this double portion. And the condition there may be that he understands what's happening to Elijah more than he just sees. He sees it with the eyes of his heart more than just visually he lays eyes on what's going on. But he does see it, and he does understand, and so verse 14, he is able to do what Elijah had done. It is clear, verse 15, the spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha. And of course, they say, hey, can we go look for him, verse 16? And that's foolish. Why would God pluck Elijah up and just pitch him off someplace where you can't find... That's just foolishness. That's just foolishness. And Elisha knows that it is foolishness. But he says, hey, get after it. Just go look. And then we'll all know Elijah is nowhere to be found. Then there is the conclusion here with a couple of miracles. And there is the very unusual story with the bears. And I would say more about the bears except... I want to preach about that in the 9 a.m. this Sunday, so I will talk about Elijah and the two bears. That's what will be the subject of the 9 a.m. lesson. Our reading then for Wednesday, 2 Kings chapter 2. I'm excited to hear Reagan McClenney tonight as we continue our series on judges. Be interesting to see what he does with Jephthah and Jephthah's foolish vow. See you tonight. Our reading for Wednesday, 2 Kings 2. It is Thursday, and our reading today is 2 Kings chapter 3. 2 Kings chapter 3, the entire chapter, is our reading for Thursday. We have to be careful here because we have double Jehorams. We have a Jehoram in the south and a Jehoram in the north. You have to try to keep track of all that. Mostly this is about the Jehoram in the north. 2 Kings 3 verse 1, Jehoram, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel in Samaria. He reigned 12 years. And he is not a good king, but he does put away the bales. He puts away the bales, but he does And there's a play on words that's being made here. Hebrew loves play on words. He put away, verse 2, the pillar of Baal. Verse 3, He clung to the sin of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin. He did not... put away it. The ESV has depart, but it's the same word. He did not put that away. And this is about the battle with the Moabites as they rebel. Anytime you get a new king, that's a great time for the vassal kingdoms to say, we're out of here. We're not going to pay tribute anymore. And so Jehoram talks Jehoshaphat into going to battle with him. And that brings Elisha the prophet onto the scene. Verse 11, is there no prophet of the Lord here that we can inquire of? And Jehoshaphat said, verse 12, the word of the Lord is with Elisha. Again, Word of the Lord. And Elisha comes and says, I got nothing for you, Jehoram. No respect for you, no respect for your family, but I will talk to Jehoshaphat. And he asks, verse 15, very puzzling here for music. And I wonder if music calmed the prophet here so that he could be in a state where he could hear what the Lord had said. Just not entirely... certain exactly why he needs to call for a musician in verse 15. And then verse 16 is translated in different kinds of ways. The New American Standard and the New King James have Make it full of trenches, which means dig. Dig trenches. But the ESV departs from that as a different idea. I will make this dry stream bed full of pools. So you may have heard this passage used as a great illustration of faith must work. They have to dig these trenches and then God fills them with water. ESV kind of takes away that preaching point. Hey, thanks a lot, English Standard Version. I need the preaching point here. But it's a different idea, a different way of looking at the Hebrew. That's way above anything that I can deal with. Just have to compare those different translations and make some decisions about what we think would be best. I think the sense here is clear. We're going to rely upon the Lord. We're going to ask God to bless us. And in fact, God does bless them with water. And when the Moabites show up, the water looks like blood. There's a lot of red clay in this part of Israel. And so they decide, oh, they must have just jumped on each other and killed each other. Kind of a scene out of Judges. Gideon comes down and the Midianites attack each other. and are killing each other. So the Moabites come rushing in, and that's an absolute disaster. That's an absolute disaster, and they're completely defeated until verse 27. When the king of Moab took his oldest son, who was to reign in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall, and there came great wrath against Israel. That's a very difficult passage. What exactly is that talking about? Who got wrathed? That's not a word, but it should be. Why is Israel getting wrath when the king of Moab is offering a human sacrifice? Well, the idea may be that the invaders were sickened at this spectacle and just went home. The Israelites saw this thing going on and said, we're out of here. Can't... can't do anything with people act this way and and so the idea would be that wrath is is horror or being just being full of revulsion and oh this is so horrible to see the other idea is that the Moabites themselves may have been indignant at the cost of this invasion what the king did to try to turn the tide and so they rallied and drove them off I'm not so sure of that I think I like the idea here that the wrath is probably just the Israelites saying oh this is horrible we're we're We're done with people like this. And I will give you an archaeological note. The famous Moabite stone contains accounts of Misha fortifying his northern borders and throwing off the yoke of Israel, just like the Bible says he did. So our reading for Thursday is 2 Kings chapter 3. It is Friday. It's Friday, and today we're in the Psalms, of course, so we're reading Psalm 32. This is a lament, but it is a unique and special kind of lament. This is a penitential psalm. This is a crying out to God for forgiveness of sins. Not deliverance from enemies. I need to be delivered from my sins. It is the second of the seven penitential psalms in the And this psalm, yes, confesses sin, but even more gives thanks to God for being forgiven, and it instructs us... and how we can receive that very same blessing. So the theme of the psalm begins in verses 1 and 2, and here the psalmist writes about his journey from despair to joy, from separation to blessedness, and he uses three terms for sin. Transgression, which is usually an act of rebellion and disloyalty. Sin, oftentimes we talk about sin being missing the mark. That's an intentional thing. And then Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. Iniquity is a crooked or wrong act. And corresponding to those three terms, he then describes forgiveness as being forgiven, literally to carry away, to remove, covered, and that's gracious atonement, and impute iniquity. God justifies us and counts us righteous iniquity. even when we are not. Then he talks a little bit about the experience he had when he was not repenting, and there's just a sense of weariness in verse 3, a sense of heaviness in verse 4, and a sense of emptiness at the end of verse 4. Being in sin, not confessing sin, not using your repenter, to hearken back to my sermon from youth lectures, that just causes all kinds of anguish and mental depression. Finally then, there is, not finally, this is in the center of the psalm, there is the confession of sin, and then finally verses 6 to 10, there is an exhortation. The psalmist has learned from this experience. He's learned how to have joy, and now he talks about this is what we do. This is how we follow after God. You pray, verses 6 and 7. You follow the appropriate path, verses 8 and 9. Verse 10, you love those who trust the Lord. That's what you need to do. Be with God's people, those kinds of ideas. It's a beautiful psalm. It's the kind of psalm that you want to mark in your Bible so that when you find A reading for Friday, Psalm 32. That's the podcast for the week then. Certainly do appreciate you listening to the podcast. I enjoy doing the podcast and I hope that it's helping you with your daily Bible reading and helping you as you think about the sermon from Sunday. I like both parts of that. Sometimes you preach your heart out on Sunday and you wonder by Monday morning, is anybody even still thinking about that? Does that move the needle? Does that cause anything to happen? I think the podcast helps us work it into our lives. Tell somebody about the podcast. Leave us a review. Leave us a rating. So... Until Monday, I'm Mark Roberts. I want to go to heaven, and I want you to come too. And I will see you again on Monday on the podcast with a cup of coffee.

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