Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So, the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before. I Kings 13:6
King Jeroboam was worshiping idols when an unnamed prophet came right up to the altar where two golden calves were and prophesied over it that a new king was going to arise from Judah who would come and destroy the altar.
“Seize him!” Jeroboam cried in anger, pointing at the prophet. But when Jeroboam stretched out his arm toward the man, his arm immediately withered. He pleaded with the prophet, “Pray for me that God will restore my arm.” The prophet prayed, and Jeroboam’s arm was restored.
When God began anointing kings, He set up the kingdom with prophets to minister to the kings, He set up the kingdom with prophets to minister to the kings, and sometimes that meant performing miraculous signs. Who else do we know who came with miraculous signs to convince sinners and idolaters to return to the living God? Jesus!
Now let me say this to you, a lot of times we ski over the prophets and kings in the Old Testament (1 and 2 Kings; 1 and 2 Chronicles) because they can be confusing. But when we do, we miss seeing Jesus in the prophets and we become profitless in the process. Ask God for seeing eyes and hearing ears when you read about the kings and prophets and you will see Jesus in a greater way than ever before!
Dear Heavenly Father, I believe that You want me to see Jesus in every book of the Bible. Give me seeing eyes and I hearing ears, knowing that studying the prophets will make me profitable! Amen.
