Reading for Today:

• 2 Kings 1:1 Chapter 1 1 And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. –2:25
• Psalms 71:9-16 9 Cast me not off in the time of old age; Forsake me not when my strength faileth. 10 For mine enemies speak concerning me; And they that watch for my soul take counsel together, 11 Saying, God hath forsaken him: Pursue and take him; for there is none to deliver. 12 O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me. 13 Let them be put to shame `and' consumed that are adversaries to my soul; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt. 14 But I will hope continually, And will praise thee yet more and more. 15 My mouth shall tell of thy righteousness, `And' of thy salvation all the day; For I know not the numbers `thereof'. 16 I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord Jehovah: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.
• Proverbs 18:6-8 6 A fool's lips enter into contention, And his mouth calleth for stripes. 7 A fool's mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul. 8 The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts.
• John 16:1-33 Chapter 16 1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be caused to stumble. 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God. 3 And these things will they do, because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But these things have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come, ye may remember them, how that I told you. And these things I said not unto you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I go unto him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? 6 But because I have spoken these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. 8 And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; 11 of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged. 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, `these' shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare `it' unto you. 15 All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare `it' unto you. 16 A little while, and ye behold me no more; and again a little while, and ye shall see me. 17 `Some' of his disciples therefore said one to another, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye behold me not; and again a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? 18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? We know not what he saith. 19 Jesus perceived that they were desirous to ask him, and he said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, A little while, and ye behold me not, and again a little while, and ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world. 22 And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you. 23 And in that day ye shall ask me no question. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full. 25 These things have I spoken unto you in dark sayings: the hour cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in dark sayings, but shall tell you plainly of the Father. 26 In that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father. 28 I came out from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father. 29 His disciples say, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no dark saying. 30 Now know we that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. 31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and `yet' I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Notes:

2 Kings 2:1 by a whirlwind. Literally, “in the whirlwind.” This was a reference to the specific storm with lightning and thunder in which Elijah was taken to heaven (v. 11). The Lord’s presence was connected with a whirlwind in Job 38:1 Chapter 38 1 Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, ; 40:6; Jer. 23:19; 25:32; 30:23; Zech. 9:14. Elisha. The record of this prophet, who was the successor to Elijah, begins in 1 Kings 19:16 16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. and extends to his death in 2 Kings 13:20 20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. .

2 Kings 2:3 the sons of the prophets. See 1 Kings 20:35 35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his fellow by the word of Jehovah, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. . take away. The same term was used of Enoch’s translation to heaven in Genesis 5:24 24 and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. . The question from the sons of the prophets implied that the Lord had revealed Elijah’s imminent departure to them. Elisha’s response that he didn’t need to hear about it (keep silent) explicitly stated that Elijah’s departure had been revealed by the Lord to him also (v. 5). from over you. I.e., from supervising you, an allusion to the habit of students sitting beneath the feet of their master, elevated on a platform. Elisha would soon change from being Elijah’s assistant to serving as the leader among the prophets.

2 Kings 2:11 chariot of fire…with horses of fire. The horse-drawn chariot was the fastest means of transport and the mightiest means of warfare in that day. Thus, the chariot and horses symbolized God’s powerful protection, which was the true safety of Israel (v. 12). As earthly kingdoms are dependent for their defense on such military force as represented by horses and chariots, one single prophet had done more by God’s power to preserve his nation than all their military preparations.

2 Kings 2:24 pronounced a curse. Because these young people of about 20 years of age or older (the same term is used of Solomon in 1 Kin. 3:7) so despised the prophet of the Lord, Elisha called upon the Lord to deal with the rebels as He saw fit. The Lord’s punishment was the mauling of 42 youths by two female bears. The penalty was clearly justified, for to ridicule Elisha was to ridicule the Lord Himself. The gravity of the penalty mirrored the gravity of the crime. The appalling judgment was God’s warning to any and all who attempted to interfere with the newly invested prophet’s ministry.

John 16:25 25 These things have I spoken unto you in dark sayings: the hour cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in dark sayings, but shall tell you plainly of the Father. in figurative language. The word means a veiled, pointed statement that is pregnant with meaning, i.e., something that is obscure. What seemed hard to understand for the disciples during the life of Jesus would become clear after His death, resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit (vv. 13, 14; 14:26; 15:26, 27). They would actually understand the ministry of Christ better than they had while they were with Him, as the Spirit inspired them to write the Gospels and Epistles and ministered in and through them.

DAY 7: What very specific ministry does the Holy Spirit have on people’s lives?

In John 16:8 8 And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: , the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was approximately 40 or more days away at this point ( Acts 2:1 Chapter 2 1 And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. –13). Jesus says that the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to “convict” people. This word has two meanings: 1) the judicial act of conviction with a view toward sentencing (i.e., a courtroom term—conviction of sin) or 2) the act of convincing. Here the second idea is best, since the purpose of the Holy Spirit is not condemnation but conviction of the need for the Savior. The Son does the judgment, with the Father (5:22, 27, 30). In v. 14, it is said that He will reveal the glories of Christ to His people. He will also inspire the writing of the New Testament, guiding the apostles to write it (v. 13), and He will reveal things to come, through the New Testament prophecies (v. 13).

The Holy Spirit convicts of “sin” (v. 9).The singular indicates that a specific sin is in view; i.e., that of not believing in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. This is the only sin, ultimately, that damns people to hell. Though all men are depraved, cursed by their violation of God’s law, and sinful by nature, what ultimately damns them to hell is their unwillingness to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior (8:24).

He convicts of “righteousness” (v. 10). The Holy Spirit’s purpose here is to shatter the pretensions of self-righteousness (hypocrisy), exposing the darkness of the heart. While Jesus was on the earth, He performed this task especially toward the shallowness and emptiness of Judaism that had degenerated into legalistic modes without life-giving reality. With Jesus gone to the Father, the Holy Spirit continues His convicting role.

And of “judgment” (v. 11).The judgment here in context is that of the world under Satan’s control. Its judgments are blind, faulty, and evil as evidenced in their verdict on Christ. The world can’t make righteous judgments (7:24), but the Spirit of Christ does (8:16). All Satan’s adjudications are lies (8:44–47), so the Spirit convicts men of their false judgment of Christ. Satan, the ruler of the world (14:30; Eph. 2:1–3) who, as the god of this world, has perverted the world’s judgment and turned people from believing in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God (2 Cor. 4:4), was defeated at the Cross. While Christ’s death looked like Satan’s greatest victory, it actually was Satan’s destruction (Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14, 15; Rev. 20:10).The Spirit will lead sinners to true judgment.

From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.

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