Dr Paul Allen

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

English: ELIYAH VISITS KING AHAB AND THE BA'AL PROPHETS 1 MELAKIM 21 KINGS (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “ Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” ( James 5:17-18 ) “Elias” is the New Testament name for Elijah, the great prophet who lived during the darkest days of Israel ’s apostasy, when Ahab and Jezebel ruled the land and had turned it over to the worship of the demonic god Baal . “Elijah” means “Jehovah is God,” a most appropriate name for a prophet of the true God in a nation and time given over to paganism. Elijah suddenly appeared before King Ahab with the ominous prophecy: “As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word” ( 1 Kings 17:1 ). This was not presumptuous. In h

English: A green version of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Allah-eser2.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Exodus 4:1–17 Biblical prophets performed miracles to establish their credentials. For example, Moses said to God in Exodus 4:1, “What if [the Israelites ] do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” How did God respond? He told Moses to throw his staff to the ground; instantly, it turned into a snake. He told Moses to pick it up by its tail; it turned back into a staff. Then God said in Exodus 4:5, “This … is so that they may believe that the LORD , the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” A similar thing happened to Elijah on Mount Carmel : He was challenged, and God sent down fire from heaven to confirm he was a true prophet (see 1 Kings 18:16–39). As for Jesus , he actually came out and said, “Do not believe me unless I do [miracles] of my Father” (John 10:37). And th

Exodus 4:1–17 Biblical prophets performed miracles to establish their credentials. For example, Moses said to God in Exodus 4:1 , “What if [the Israelites ] do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” How did God respond? He told Moses to throw his staff to the ground; instantly, it turned into a snake. He told Moses to pick it up by its tail; it turned back into a staff. Then God said in Exodus 4:5 , “This … is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” A similar thing happened to Elijah on Mount Carmel : He was challenged, and God sent down fire from heaven to confirm he was a true prophet (see 1 Kings 18:16–39 ). As for Jesus , he actually came out and said, “Do not believe me unless I do [miracles] of my Father” ( John 10:37 ). And then he did them. Even Nicodemus conceded this when he said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know you are a teache

"And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake , but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice."   1 Kings 19:11-12 After the great victory against the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel , Elijah cowered before Jezebel 's threat and fled to Mt. Horeb , hiding in a cave . God came to him and asked, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Elijah then boasted about himself, how bad the people were, bemoaned that he was Image via Wikipedia  the only one left, and they were seeking his life. God told Elijah to go outside the cave where he was given a real show: a tornado-like wind ripping up the mountain, an earthquake, a fire.  But after each, a strange comment was made: "but the Lord was not in the wind... o

Image via Wikipedia "And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God , which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee , on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither." ( 2 Kings 4:9-10 )   This sparsely furnished little room, built by a kindly woman and her elderly husband, was the prototype of all the so-called " prophet 's chambers" that have been built for traveling teachers and evangelists ever since.   Little did this simple farm couple anticipate what fruit their kindness would bear one day in this very room. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers" the Bible says, "for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" ( Hebrews 13:2 ). In the first place, to show his appreciation, Elisha prayed that the Lord would give them a son, and God miraculously an

Image via Wikipedia   “Take the helmet of salvation ” (Eph. 6:17). Your helmet of salvation protects you from discouragement and despair. We’ve seen how Satan attacks believers with his two-edged sword of doubt and discouragement. But he doesn’t stop there. He tries to take you beyond discouragement and on to despair by robbing you of hope. Unless you’re careful, his attacks will be successful when you’re battle-weary. The prophet Elijah is an illustration of that truth. The highlight of his ministry came atop Mount Carmel , where he slew 450 prophets of Baal ( 1 Kings 18:40). And yet immediately after that great victory, he fled for his life because Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him (1 Kings 19:1–3). He ran from Mount Carmel into the wilderness of Beersheba , where he “sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers’” (v. 4). He went on to moan, “I ha