Dr Paul Allen

Elisha’s healing of Naaman in the Bible (the leper [and] commander of the army of the king of Syria) is a familiar story to many (2 Kgs 5:1–27). Naaman hears that Elisha, the prophet of Israel, can heal him, so he makes the trip. When the two meet, Elisha tells him rather dismissively that he needs to take a bath in the Jordan River. Naaman doesn’t take this well and prepares to go home. At the behest of some servants, he consents to dip himself in the Jordan. He is miraculously healed by the simple act. The display of power, so transparently without sacrifice or incantation, awakens Naaman to the fact that Yahweh of Israel is the true God. Here’s where the story usually ends in our telling, but that would result in the omission of one very odd detail—what Naaman asks to take back home. Two mules and a pile of dirt In 2 Kings 5:15–19, the elated Naaman returns to Elisha and begs him to take payment for healing him. Elisha repeatedly refuses. Finally, before embarking for Syria, Naaman ...

When exposed to evil, we might doubt God ’s presence. Soldiers’ accounts and memoirs often recall times of doubt as they grappled with war, atrocity and, ultimately, the struggle between good and evil. While Scripture is clear that good will triumph, it also says evil will win its share of battles. Second Kings 3 records a war event where evil won. Does God take sides? Second Kings 3 describes the rebellion of Moab , led by its king, Mesha, against the monarch of the northern kingdom of Israel , King Jehoram (3:5). Like his father Ahab, Jehoram solicited King Jehoshaphat of Judah (the southern kingdom) for assistance against his enemy (3:7). They were joined by the king of Edom (3:9). The invasion route—“by way of the wilderness of Edom”—is critical to the storyline. Edom was the territory settled by the descendants of the red-haired Esau (Gen 25:25; 36:1, 8). “Edom,” a play on the word adom (אָדֹם, “red”), was epitomized by the reddish soil and rock of its wilderness. By tak...

Jeroboam sets up two golden calves, from the Bible Historiale. Den Haag, MMW, 10 B 23 165r (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” ( Amos 3:3 ) Amos was a prophet during the reign of Jeroboam II (son of Joash), who ruled the northern ten tribes of Israel from 825 to 784 B.C. ( 2 Kings14:23 ). Some 100 years earlier, Jeroboam I (son of Nebat) had led a rebellion against the son of Solomon and started the northern nation of Israel ( 1 Kings 12 ). In order to keep his people from returning to Jerusalem , Jeroboam I “made Israel to sin” ( 1 Kings 12:30 ; 16:26; etc) by developing a “new” religion centered on an image of a golden calf with idol temples in Bethel and Dan ( 1 Kings 12:28-29 ). Those northern tribes never did return to the worship of Jehovah but “sinned against the LORD,” and Israel “feared other gods” ( 2 Kings 17:7 ). The list of their sins is long and grevious in God’s sight. They “did secretly those things that were not right...

Rembrandt — The Departure of the Shunammite Woman (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) 2 Kings 4:8-37 ; 8:1-6  Just a few miles north of Jezreel , where Jezebel's story had drawn to its grim conclusion, lived a wealthy Israelite woman whose sharp eye kept track of travelers from Nazareth to Jerusalem. One of the more colorful characters who frequented the road outside her house was Elisha , the prophet who succeeded Elijah . One day the Shunammite woman invited Elisha to linger for a meal. Afterward, she said to her husband, "Let's make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us." Moved by her kindness, Elisha inquired, through his servant, Gehazi , whether he could use his influence with Israel's king on her behalf. But the woman wasn't looking for favors at court, so Elisha pressed his servant, saying, "What, then, can be done for her?" Gehazi merely pointed out t...

Mural - Elisha (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In Matthew 11:14 , Jesus recalls the promise in Malachi 4:5 , and names John the Baptist as the Elijah who was to come. If Jesus is the one who comes after John the Baptist, can we draw a parallel to the one who came after Elijah? If John is Elijah, does that mean Jesus is Elisha ? If we look closer it is actually possible to find an uncanny resemblance between the man of God who came after Elijah in the book of Kings, and the Son of God who came after the second Elijah, the Baptizer. Not only do their names have similar meanings (compare Elisha—‘God is salvation’—with Jesus—‘Yahweh will save’) but the respective accounts of their lives show clear parallels. To begin with, their ministries commence with a ‘handover’ scene at the Jordan River . Elisha receives a double portion of Elijah’s spirit having just passed through the river Jordan ( 2 Kgs 2:6-12 ). He then sees Elijah taken up into heaven by a whirlwind. Jesus, in turn, meets Jo...

Elijah taken up into heaven, by Gustave Doré (1832-1883), based on story in Hebrew Bible, 2 Kings 2:11. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken ( 2 Kings 2:22). Elijah ’s departure out of the land was in a sense a judgment. He led Elisha, his protégé, out of the land with him and into the wilderness. Since Elisha represented all the prophets, who in turn represented all the faithful, we can see in this a new departure from Egypt , so to speak. Ahab and his dynasty were like Pharaoh, Israel was like Egypt, and God’s people had to make an exodus. Moses died in the wilderness without seeing the conquest of the land, and Elijah also departed in the wilderness. No one knows where God buried Moses (Deuteronomy 34:6), and in the same way, the prophets searched for Elijah’s body but could not find it (2 Kings 2:16–18). Later Elisha returned to Israel. Keep in mind that Elisha was to Elijah what Joshua w...

Recently some Bible College students from a particular church, went to a cemetery, laid on the tombstone of Aimee Simple McPherson (pentecostal speaker from California ) to try to receive a transfer of her Holy Spirit anointing to themselves.  ON WHAT SCRIPTURAL BASIS CAN THIS BE JUSTIFIED? Their actions somehow appear to be linked to an event from 2 Kings 13:21.  During the spring, the usual season of beginning campaigns in ancient times. Predatory bands from Moab generally made incursions at that time on the lands of Israel . The bearers of a corpse, alarmed by the appearance of one of these bands, hastily deposited, as they passed that way, their load in Elisha ’s sepulchre, which might be easily done by removing the stone at the mouth of the cave.  According to the Jewish and Eastern custom, his body, as well as that of the man who was miraculously restored, was not laid in a coffin, but only swathed; so that the bodies could be brought into contact. The...

Dove representation in the Baptism of Christ by Pietro Perugino, circa 1498 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Timothy’s fervor and devotion had cooled to some degree. Paul’s first admonition, therefore, was for this young pastor to renew his divinely inspired commitment to proclaim and defend the gospel and to faithfully shepherd the believers God had entrusted to his care. YOU ALREADY HAVE A SPIRITUAL GIFT ? Under the Spirit’s guidance, and in His power, we must regularly exercise the gift we have received from God , lest it atrophy from neglect and disuse. Gift refers to the general categories of spiritual gifts that Paul explains in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. God sovereignly bestows these enablements on believers according to His own divine will, totally apart from any personal merit, qualification, or seeking. Therefore, “since we have gifts [charismata, plural of charisma] that differ according to the grace [charis] given to us,” Paul admonished believers in Rome ...

Over the last few years, I’ve enjoyed investigating the historical record regarding the charismatic gifts, especially  the gift of tongues . And I can only hope that the above pastor, and his co-author, will treat the material responsibly in their upcoming work on the subject. (Who knows, maybe they’d be open to a two-views book?) I would also hope that, in the process of critiquing the cessationist position, the authors do not create a straw man version of cessationism. (I’ll admit that,  based on what I’ve read so far , I’m afraid the straw man is already under construction.) Nonetheless, in an effort to dismantle a fallacious misrepresentation before it is built, I offer the following four clarifications about  what cessationism is not : * * * * * Cessationism is not anti-supernatural, nor does it deny the possibility of miracles. When it comes to understanding the cessationist position, the question is  not :  Can God still do miracles in the...