Famine and War are Terrible Things

From II Kings 4-6:

1. God ALWAYS takes care of those who love Him. It is neat to see how God took care of the lady whose husband was a man of God and had died. In this case, he caused a miracle with the oil. It is also interesting to note that he was among the company of prophets. So I really wonder why Catholics would declare that priests cannot marry. Upon what basis do they issue this edict?

2. God really tested the faith of the Shunammite woman. He gave her something very precious and then took it back to see how she would react. As we can see from the story, she placed all of her trust / hope in God and his servant. Additionally, she was persistent in calling out to God to help her. And she had great faith, as she told her husband everything would be fine. (It is interesting to note that the boy's symptoms are consistent with that of a stroke / aneurysm - which is not something you just get up from.)

3. In chapter 4 we have yet another story of God causing a little food to become much. And yet we (I include myself in this) worry about what we will eat / wear. (Matthew 6:25) It is really neat to see that there were men during this time that were still reverent towards God and offered their first fruits.

4. In chapter 5 we see the first instance of a missionary by circumstances. The little slave girl cared for her master (I guess they must've treated her well - but who knows) and mentioned the prophet of God in Israel. As a result, I bet that his entire family believed in the God of Israel in the end.

5. Two things can be learned from Gehazi:
A. Do not be greedy. God will provide in due time. And remember, there was a famine in Gilgal, so Gehazi was likely thinking that one could not pass up an opportunity to get some "insurance" for potential future food.
B. Do not judge but rather let God do that. Gehazi may have thought that since Naaman was from Aram, he should get something from them, as they were enemies (see chapter 6 for reference). He used his earthly viewpoint in dealing with this situation.
Gehazi learned both lessons by getting leprosy. I hope that none of my readers will learn these lessons the hard way, like Gehazi did.

6. I wonder who the king was and why Elisha kept helping him. Did he begin to fear God because of Elisha's showing God's power through helping him to avoid capture?

7. Famine and war are terrible things. We forget this in the US, as most citizens have never faced them in their lifetimes. Due to these circumstances, two women in chapter 6 made a pact - one with evil motives and intentions, the other with hunger driving her reason from her mind. It is unfortunate that they did not trust in God to provide them with the food they needed.