May we be in fellowship with you right now so that we can hear your word and you have it for us to apply in our lives, we pray in Christ's name, amen. Well, I mentioned to the group here before we got started that last week it was kind of like trying to get you to drink through a fire hose. There's a lot of information. So I think we can settle into, now we're done with the background, into maybe doing a quick review and then getting back with 2 Kings. So we saw the verses that there was a transition from Elijah to Elisha. It's at the time of the divided kingdom after Solomon. And so from now on in here, Israel means the northern kingdom, and Judah means the southern kingdom. And we saw from the kings that some have the same names on either kingdom, which gets really confusing. So I had that slide that had the kings and also in the handouts. There is a copy showing the kings and the time that they reigned for both kingdoms. And then both North and South kingdoms are in spiritual decline at this time, especially the North Kingdom, Northern Kingdom, because Jeroboam changed the whole religious system to keep control of the Northern Kingdom and also to just out of convenience, so they wouldn't have to go down to Jerusalem. So I think that's probably why the people went along with it. And that says something to us. We should be willing to sacrifice to hear God's word and to serve him and not just do things out of convenience. So we're gonna see through this last week and the rest three weeks that God is in control of nature. He's omnipotent and he is sovereign. He's in control of nature. And one of the reasons why that would be important for the people of the day is a lot of the false religions were to varying degrees, nature worshiping, either agriculture or other things, or even just the pleasures of the body. They did that too through the false religion of Baal. So let's go ahead and get into 2 Kings 3.13-14. You remember from last week, prior to this, the King of the Northern Kingdom asked Jehoshaphat to join him in battling Moab. And up to this point, Elisha has been involved with the whirlwind where Elijah was taken up. Then Elisha used Elijah's mantle to cross the Jordan. He purified the spring water, and then the female bears mauled the 42 gang members that were trying to give him a hassle. So these are just demonstrations of God is in control, and the mantle didn't do anything in its own, God was in control. Then we're gonna see more miracles and things happen as we move along here. So let's look at 2 Kings 3, 13 through 14. Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, what do I have to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother, And the king of Israel said to him, no, for the Lord has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab. Well, that wasn't the truth. So why did he come off? And he said this twice, probably the effect of Ahab on him and maybe Jezebel and that they always expected bad things from God's prophets and not any, you know, always got good things from the prophets of Baal. Well, of course, because they were false prophets and they got bad messages from the Lord because They were disobedient. So verse 14, Elisha said, as the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, were it not that I had regard for the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. So he's speaking to the Jehoram, the king of the northern kingdom. But now bring me a minstrel. And So we'll go to this verse later, but 2 Chronicles 19, one through two, Jehu warns Jehoshaphat to stop getting allied with the Northern Kingdom. They are dragging you down, buddy. And so he's married to Ahab's daughter. So that's the reason why when they were first planning this battle and he asked Jehoshaphat to join him, he said, well, my family is your family and your family is my family. Well, you get entangled if you're married to the wrong person, okay? It's a very important decision. Now, maybe he felt some kind of security, but I mean, Ahab tried to have him killed. in the battle before, where the battle plan before here in 1 Kings 22, verse 30 through 38, Ahab's plan is, I'll go in disguise, but you put on the royal robes, so everybody and their dog could know who you were, right? And then they go into battle. And it says, by chance, an archer shot an arrow. Well, In man's estimate, it was by chance, but God had it planned all along. And it hit between the armor on Ahab and killed him. Not instantly, he bled to death. And so he tried to pull one over on the Lord, but the Lord protected Jehoshaphat in that battle. So he's gonna protect him again. So where are we at here? Here's a map of the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. And this battle is going to take place at the bottom of the Dead Sea. So they're coming in around Edom into Judah. That's their plan anyhow. And it's going to be the Valley of Arabah. And so, He says, now bring, oh yeah. And here's another, there's the chart of the kings and when they ruled. And remember, Elisha was called to serve from 856 to 798 BC. And you can see where that would fit in with all these different kings. And notice how you get the same names back and forth here. And so somebody liked the name and they copied it on the other side in the other kingdom. So he doesn't have regard for Jehoram, but he does have regard for Jehoshaphat. In verse 15 through 16, he says, but now bring a minstrel. And it came about when the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, thus says the Lord, make this valley full of trenches. And so that once again, if you remember where that mat was, it's right at the bottom of the Dead Sea, where they were supposed to make these trenches. Minstrel, okay, it's a stringed instrument. David played the harp, and the Lord is with him. Also, we see music, let's look at Ephesians, keep a finger here in Kings, but Ephesians 5.19. Ephesians 5.19. Music is often associated with worship and praising the Lord. Ephesians 5.19. and pray, let's see, that's six, here we go, 519. And this is right after he says, don't be drunk with wine where it's in dissipation, but be filled with the spirit. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns, spiritual songs, singing and making melody, with your hearts to the Lord. So music is often associated with worship or praise, and then we see another reference in Colossians 3.16 for the same thing. So music can be a real blessing, but music can also be a big distraction. Have you ever tried to study for a final test when you got music, somebody, your roommate's got music on that you hate? It really can be distracting. Well, when I worked for the mining companies looking for gold, they had settling ponds, heap leach settling ponds. for gold and to keep the ducks and geese from diving in, landing in these ponds, they played acid rock, heavy rock. And those animals had enough sense to, they didn't want anything to do with landing in that pond. but they had to have it on like, you know, 20 hours a day. So I doubt anybody got any sleeper out there. And so once again, I'll put, so here it says came upon. In the handout, I just put upon. Old Testament believers were filled but not indwelled by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was given for special purposes. And then I have some references there of Exodus 35. 7, 2 Peter 1.21. Pastor Jeremy has had an excellent study on the Holy Spirit and his framework series. And so I encourage people that haven't heard that to get into that. He'll be talking about that again today, but you know, for the last month he's been on that. And so in some cases, believers could ask the Father for the Holy Spirit. We see in Luke 11.11, John 14, 16 through 17. I got that from Chafer Systematic Theology, Volume 6, page 74 to 75. The hand upon him, the hand upon, refers to God's power and control. And so, Looks like I got lost in the weeds here. There we go. Yeah. So let's look at Exodus 7, verse 4 through 5. And this is in judgment. So sometimes his hand upon it is for judgment, and sometimes it's just indicating power. Exodus 7, 4 through 5. Exodus 7, four through five. When Pharaoh will not listen to you, God already tells Moses he's not gonna listen, then I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring out my hosts, my people, the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt with great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst." We could see it in Exodus 9.3, 9.15, but let's look at 13, chapter 13, verse 3, since we're here. Exodus 13, verse three. And this was just to show that it's used for God's power. And Moses said to the people, remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery, for by a powerful hand, the Lord brought you out from this place, and nothing leavened shall be eaten. So when he says hand upon him, the power of the Holy Spirit came upon him. And he revealed that they need this valley of trenches. And this valley is in Arabah, and that's in that southern area just below the Dead Sea. They didn't question the strategy when God commands. You know what? We shouldn't either. When we know there's a commandment to do something, we just obey. And we see in John 15, 10 through 11, that we get joy when we obey the Lord? Well, because we stay in fellowship. That's why. If you don't obey, you're not gonna stay in fellowship. So John 10, or 15, 10 through 11. 10 through 11. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. You'll stay in fellowship. just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love, these things I've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full. So, you want full joy? Obey the Lord. Pretty simple. And you will know because the Holy Spirit will make it clear. He'll bring up a verse, and you'll know that that's what you're supposed to pay attention to. So, once again, this battle's gonna occur right at the bottom of the Dead Sea. And the next battle that we'll look at today is gonna occur inside Judah. They actually make it around the corner, and, Must have been a different generation because I think they would have been really cautious going around there if it was the same generation. Let's look at 2 Kings 3, 17 through 18. 2 Kings 3, 17 through 18. We're gonna spend most of our time in 2 Kings, so if I wander off, keep a finger there so you can get to it quickly. Verse 17, for thus says the Lord, you shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain, and yet the valley will be filled with water so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts. Because before this, they went out there to check this out and they almost died of thirst. There wasn't any water. So that's the reason why he has to reassure him. So God gives us a promise, and he wants us to believe him. And that's what we're building up to here. Faith, rest. And this is but a slight thing in the sight of the Lord. He shall also give the Moabites into your hand. So he's going to take care of the details, but guess what, gang? He's going to nail the Moabites, too. That's the real reason that you're concerned. So let's look at, so not see wind and rain. God supernaturally causes this, not Mother Nature. You know, there might have been people, oh, the springs, there was an earthquake and the springs opened up. Well, God might have used that, but he may not have either. They did the trenches, so they tapped into something, and God knew it would happen. Pagans of the day worship nature to some degree. God is showing Jehoram and the King of Edom, he is in control of nature, just like Pharaoh. So they've got a little lesson here. But like I said, generations from there, they didn't learn very much because they came in and tried to do it again. So why? Because he wants them to learn. For one, he's working on Jehoshaphat's faith, he's building Jehoshaphat's faith, and we'll see coming up pretty soon. And he wasn't perfect, just like David wasn't perfect, but he was used mightily by the Lord. So the word drink, God will not only work out the victory, but he also take care of their basic needs. And we see with the, you know, where Jesus promises in Luke 12, 22 through 30, to be anxious for nothing, that God will take care of us. By worrying, we can't accomplish anything. And then Psalms 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. So let's look at chapters, 2 Kings 3, 19 through 27. And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. Then they said, this is blood. The kings have surely fought together, and they have slain one another. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. Well, The element of surprise is often a good thing to have in military battles. So they think, they're probably not even really thinking about battle arrangement. They're just going in to grab everything. But when they came to the camp, verse 24, of Israel, the Israelites arose and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them, and they went forward into the land, slaughtering Moabites. Thus they destroyed the cities, and each one threw a stone in every piece of good land and filled it, so that they stopped all of the springs of water, fell the good trees, until Kereseth only left its stones. However, the slings went about it and struck it. And when the king of Moab saw the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him 700 men who drew swords to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. So the slaughter continues. Then he took his eldest son, his oldest son, who was to reign in his place, and he offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. This is Moloch. Remember, the false god of Moloch and Moab, they would take their firstborn baby and throw him in the fire. So this is very satanic, not that Satan's got a degree, but I guess it could be, I mean, it's very satanic, not too unlike abortion in this country, very satanic. And there came a great wrath against Israel. Well, so they wouldn't even acknowledge God's sovereignty and his power. they were so stuck on their false religion, and they departed from him and returned to their own land. So that's the reason why they came back and tried to hit Israel again after this. But boy, they must have had to wait a generation to get enough people to put armor on again, I would think. So Moab's defeated. Now, we're gonna look at 2 Kings 4, 1 through 7. Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves. If you owed money, that was something that could happen. And Elisha said to her, what shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? And she said, your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of probably olive oil. Says oil, but olive oil. That's pretty valuable. Verse three, then he said, go borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels, do not get a few. In other words, load the wagon here, you know, let's make this count. and you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons and pour out into these vessels and you shall set aside what is full. So we've got a learning lesson here that her children get to see how God can multiply this. Verse five, so she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons and they were bringing vessels to her and she poured. And it came about when the vessels were full that she said to her son, bring another vessel. And he said to her, there is not one vessel more. And the oil stopped. So this is kind of like feeding the 5,000 that Jesus did, very similar. You'll see some similarities here. And so God cares for his people. And he's honoring Elisha. He's honoring his leaders. So let's look at verse eight. Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shunem, and there was a prominent woman, and she pursued him to eat food, or persuaded to eat food. And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food. And she said to her husband, behold now I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. Please let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him and a table and a chair and a lamp stand. And it shall be when he comes to us that he can turn in there. She's using her gift of hospitality here. I really like the relationship. Now, Shunem is just southwest of the Sea of Galilee. So we'll go back to the same map, now we go up to the Sea of Galilee and just down close to the Valley of Megiddo. Prominent, so she's rich, she's great, prominent. She uses her hospitality, she uses her wealth to bless a God's servant. So like the chosen lady in 2 John. She said to her husband, behold, I perceive this man's a holy man. So she used the word please. She's honoring her husband's headship and her family. So there are a lot we can get from this. They're a team, they do this together. Yeah, they've got a good relationship. So they make decisions together, act as stewards together. He gives her the freedom to use her heart of hospitality. And she says, please, she's honoring him, his headship. And she honors his headship and their marriage. God will honor this healthy relationship and her gift. This act has been an example for believers in providing a prophet's chamber in their home for travelers in the ministry to this day. Isn't it amazing? And I'm glad that that's in here. Let's look at verse 11. Gehazi, his servant, called this Shunammite. And when he called her, she stood before him. And he said to her, say now to her, behold, you've been careful for us with all this care. What can we do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or the captain of the army? She answered, I live among my own people. And he said, what then could be done for her? And Gehazi answered, truly, she has no son and her husband is old. Well, the son could really help her as she gets older. Verse 15, and he said, call her And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. Then he said, at this season, next year, you shall embrace a son. And she said, no, my lord, oh man of God, do not lie to your maidservant. And the woman conceived and bore a son at the season the next year, as Elisha had said to her. Notice how God honors this prophet. Like Samuel, verse 18, when the child was grown, the day came when he went out with his father to the reapers. And he said to his father, my head, my head. And he said to his servant, carry him to his mother. And when he had spoken, taken him and brought him into his mother, he sat on her lap until noon and then died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind her and went out. Then she called her husband and said, please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys that I may run to the man of God and return. And he said, why will you go to him today? It's neither new moon or Sabbath. And she said, it will be well. So he saddled the donkey and said to the servant, drive, noticing they're still acting as partners. Then she went and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. Well, that's a ways away. So she goes across Megiddo Valley and up to, you know, further west. And it came about that man of God saw her at a distance and he said to Yehazi's servant, behold yonder Shunammite. Please run now to meet her and say to her, is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child? And she answered, it is well. Well, it's not really well, but must have been a way to get to him. Then she came to the man of God to the hill. She caught hold of his feet and Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, let her alone for her soul is troubled within her. And the Lord has hid it from me. as to who has not told me. Verse 28, then he said, did I ask for a son, or she said, did I ask for a son from my Lord? Did I not say, do not deceive me? And then he said to Gazi, gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go your way. If you meet any man, do not salute him. If anyone salutes you, do not answer him. And lay my staff on the lad's face. Verse 30, and the mother of the lad said, as the Lord lives and as you live yourself, I will not leave you. And then he arose and followed her. Gehazi passed on before them, laid the staff on the lad's face, but there was neither sound nor response. So we returned to meet him and told him. Lad was not awakened. Then Elisha came into the house. Behold, the lad was dead and laid on his bed. He entered and shut the door behind him. them both and prayed to the Lord. And he went up and lay on the child and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, his hands on his hands, And he stretched himself on him, and the flesh of the child became warm. Then, verse 35, then he returned and walked into the house once back and forth, and went up and stretched himself on him. And the lad sneezed seven times, and the lad opened his eyes. He called Yehazi and said, call the Shumanite. So he called her, and when she came in to him, he said, take up your son. And then she, went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground. She took up her son and went out." So this is very similar to that miracle that Elijah did in 1 Kings 17, 18 through 24. And then we've got a couple other ones here. This was kind of, So verse 38, when Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. Famines in the land, we'll see, are commonly associated with the cycles of discipline of Deuteronomy 28. The Northern Kingdom has been disobedient for a long time, and there's been lots of miracles done to try to reawaken them, and nothing has worked on a national scale. We don't see a revival. We will see one in Jehu coming up, and it's an eye-opener. Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land, and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, put a large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets. Then went out into the field and gathered herbs. Do you know what the most common form of death is for kayakers, especially experts? Drowning. Do you know what the most common death is for mushroom experts? mushroom poisoning. So when you're gathering herbs, you better be smart. And found a wild vine gathered from it in his lap full of wild gourds. And they came and sliced them into the pot of stew, for they did not know what they were. Okay, so these wild gourds are poisonous. They grow in the land of Israel on a vine, and they look like those little miniature watermelon you get. You even see the stripes on them. like you get on a miniature watermelon. So they looked good, okay. So they, verse 40, poured it out for the men to eat, and it came about as they were eating the stew that they cried out and said, oh man of God, there is death in the pot. And they were unable to eat. But he said, now bring meal. And they threw it into the pot, and he said, pour it out for the people that they may eat. Then there was no harm in the pot. So another miracle. So we left off last week with the female bears attacking the 42 gangsters. Now we see God floods Ereba. We see the widow's oil. We see the Shumanite's son and they've resuscitated the son. Now he purifies the stew. Verse 42. Now a man came from Baal Shalisha and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, 20 loaves of barley, fresh ears of grain in his sack and said, give them to the people that they may eat. And his attendant said, what shall I set before a hundred men? But he said, give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, they shall eat and have some leftover. So they said it before them and they ate and they had some leftover according to the word of the Lord. Remember the feeding of the 5,000 and the 3,000, same thing. So these are indications of miracles. And he's doing this sometimes with the prophets to boost up their faith, sometimes he's doing it to the leaders to boost up their faith, sometimes to unbelievers, and hopefully to awaken them to faith. So now we're going to take a little sidestep here. Time-wise, this is pretty accurate as far as the next thing that happens here. Remember, we had problems with Moab. and now probably 15 years has gone by because they had to come up, they had to get more troops somewhere. And so if they got slaughtered on that one war, and we looked at the map and I told you that now they're gonna come around into Judah on the west side of the Dead Sea. So we're gonna look at 2 Chronicles 20. So turn to 2 Chronicles 20. And we'll probably be here for the rest of the time, so you take your finger out of the second Kings. So 2 Chronicles 20, I'm gonna start with verse one. This is kind of zeroing on Jehoshaphat, to give you a little bit of idea of who this king was. It says, now it came about, after the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon together with some of the Ammonites, those are probably a part of what became Syria, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. Then some came and reported Jehoshaphat saying a great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea out of Syria, yeah, and beyond. And they are in, Azerzan Tamer, which is in Gedi, and that's down at the bottom Dead Sea area. And Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord. So, then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court. And he said, oh Lord, the God of our fathers. So he's gonna do something that you'll see very common with some of the great prayers. They give the people the history of their people and the history of God's faithfulness. O Lord God of our fathers, art thou not God in the heavens? And art thou not ruler over all the kingdoms and nations? Power and might is in thy hand, so that no one can stand against you. Yet didst thou not, O God, drive out the inhabitants of the land before this people, Israel, and give it to the descendants of Abraham? So he's touching into the Abrahamic covenant. thy friend forever. And they lived in it, and have built you a sanctuary there for your namesake, saying, should evil come upon us, the sword or judgment or pestilence or famine, we will stand before this house and before you, for your name is in this house, and cry to you in our distress, and you will hear and deliver us. And now behold, the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, which is Edom, whom you did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, they turned aside from them and did not destroy them. Verse 11, Behold how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from your possession, your possession, which you have given us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? or we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on you. And all Judah was standing before the Lord with their infants, their wives, their children. In the midst of the assembly, now this priest, The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehoshiah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jael, the son of Metaniah, the Levite, the sons of Asaph. And he said, listen all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord to you, do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's. So Josaphat is a good leader. He is teaching these people to have faith rest. He's believing God's promises. Verse 16, tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up the ascent of Ziz. And you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeril. You need not fight in this battle. Station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf. O Judah and Jerusalem, do not fear or be dismayed tomorrow. Go out to face them, for the Lord is with you. So he's giving them a promise. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground. And all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. He's a good leader. So the Levites from the sons of Kohath and the sons of Korahite stood up and praised the Lord God of Israel with a very loud voice. Verse 20, and they rose up early in the morning and went out to the wilderness to Tikko. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, listen to me, O Judah, inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord, your God, and you will be established. Put your trust in his prophets and succeed. So he's teaching them faith first. And when you have consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised him in holy attire as they went out before the army, before the army, and said, give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness is everlasting. And when they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, Mount Seir, who had come against Judah so that they were routed. So Joseph acted as though the prayer had already been answered positively, and the people followed. That's what we need to do. When God gives us a promise, we got problems, we need to act as though he is gonna answer that. He may not do it what we want, may do it his way, but he's gonna answer that prayer. So verse 23, so the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir and destroyed them completely. And then when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped destroy one another. When, verse 24, Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked to the multitude and behold, there were corpses laying on the ground. No one had escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to look at the spoil, they found much among them, including goods, garments, and valuable things, which they took for themselves more than they could carry. And they were three days taking spoil because there was so much. Then on the fourth day, the assembly in the valley of Baraka, where they blasted the Lord and they have named that place the Valley of Baraka until this day. So that's where Baraka got the name for their church, right here. Every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head. returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice to their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house of the Lord. And the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. So the kingdom of Joseph was at peace, for his God gave him rest on all sides." Pretty amazing. So, that's amazing. So what have we learned so far today? God is powerful, he's sovereign, and he will protect his people. Doesn't mean we're not gonna suffer, we're gonna suffer, but we'll know in confidence that it's in God's plan. And so we can have a good attitude. It's really important that when we hear God's word, We see a situation where we can use that, that we do, and we claim his promises and stay in fellowship and grow from that. Now, was Jehoshaphat perfect? No, he wasn't perfect. In fact, a few more verses you're gonna see, and plus Jehu had already rebuked him for getting into these alliances with Ahab's family. Because Jehu next week is going to be called to wipe out the family of Ahab. And he does. And it's pretty ruthless. But then again, these guys really destroyed the northern tribe. Ahab's family did. So now we get down to the bottom here. all these miracles that were done. And next week, we'll start with more miracles and God is gonna use Elisha to demonstrate that he is in control. And then he's gonna raise up Jehu as a prophet in the Northern Kingdom. And so they're gonna work together to make sure that Elijah's prophecies come true. And so Jeremy has taught how oftentimes you'll have prophets at the same time, and they actually help each other be, you know, accountable to walk with the Lord and to be able to record God's word accurately. And that kind of overlap, it's kind of a training type thing. You can see, where one prophet will help another prophet grow in the faith, even though they maybe just joined the school of prophets. Let's close with a word of prayer and then we'll... Be ready for the main service. Father, we thank you for another time in your word. And we see examples, as Paul tells us in Corinthians 10, that are written for our example. And some of them are good examples, and some of them are ones we can learn maybe from their mistakes and not repeat them too. So just make us aware of how we can use your word this week. And let's start every day being thankful and walking in the Spirit so that you can lead us, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.