January 8, 2026
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in 2 Kings, Acts, & Hebrews? Here’s today’s reading:
2 Kings 13(NIV)
Jehoahaz King of Israel
1 In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them.……Continue Reading
Next: 2 Kings 14
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Back: Acts 27
I found the shooting of the arrows interesting in this chapter. Elisha made it clear that there was a connection between the shooting of the arrows and battles against the Syrians that would end in victory and yet Joash stops shooting at 3. There are so many reasons he could have stopped but it does show a lack of effort on his part. Often God expects us to do something in situations and not just sit and wait for Him to do everything and how often are we like Joash and figure “I guess that’s enough” and not see the full measure of what God can do as a result of our own lack of participitation.
2Kings 13
Psalm 63; 2 Kings 13; Jeremiah 40
2 Kings 13
Two disobedient kings of Israel (with very similar names) who have sparks of godliness, but not enough to change the direction of their lives or worship. It just goes to show that even people that are not seeking God can have vestiges of other people’s faith or traditions they are aware of that causes them to briefly or in a shallow way engage with the things of God, but the point of God’s work is transformation that requires continued commitment. An example of this dalliance into the things of God is Jehoash calling Elisha My father and then following Elisha’s direction to shoot the arrows half heartedly. It’s like he didn’t want more victory from God. And yet how gracious God is to be faithful to Elisha in fulfilling what he had said. And it is important to note that Elisha died of illness and yet even in death, God wanted Elisha to be identified with divine power.
2 kings 13
2 kings 13
Two more kings of Israel are on the throne, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. But when the first king seeks the Lord’s favor, God listens and provides a deliverer because of his compassion for his people. For the second king he also delivers his people, Israel, from the evil king of Aram. “The Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” So we have nothing to fear or be anxious about because God has an abundance of grace, compassion and concern for us as well, for we are his children adopted into the family of the patriarchs.