Crazy Bible Stories Series

Last week in the TRiP we finished our Crazy Bible Stories series. It was a great series! We studied 3 Old Testament prophets: Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel. Our point was to show how interesting and unique the Bible really is by highlighting some weird stories in it. I wanted to do some Bible stories that you really do not hear too often. The three week series broke down like this:

Week 1 - Elijah and the Ravens - 1 Kings 17:1-6

Week 2 - Elisha and the Bears - 2 Kings 2:23-25

Week 3 - Ezekiel and the Poop - Ezekiel 4:12

We used the strange aspects of each story to spark interest, but ended up taking about the entire ministry of each prophet and what God did through them. It is amazing the complete nature of God that you see through combining all three prophets ministry.

Elijah's ministry centered around big acts directed to the Baal worshipers. All of his miracles were huge acts: the three year drought, the fire on Mt. Carmel, soldiers' being consumed, etc. God was showing that He is the one true god. He is the Almighty Creator of the universe. He is God and He alone is in control.

Elisha's ministry was more personal. A lot of his miracles small and individual: multiplying a widow's oil, healing Naaman from leprosy, making an ax head float, etc. Elisha showed that God is a personal god. He cares about our day to day needs.

Ezekiel's ministry was the completion of the two. He was telling the people that because you chose to sin and rebel that you are going to be punished. But if you will repent and turn from your sin, God will restore you.

So combing all three weeks we learned that God is an all powerful being that is the ruler of the universe. But even though He is a big God, He still cares about us as individuals. He still wants to have a intimate, personal relationship with each one of us. He is a big God, but also a intimate God. He loves us, but He is also a God that punishes sin. If we chose to disobey Him, we will have to suffer the consequences of our choices. But if we will just turn from our sin and return to him, we find that He is right there waiting to restore us. What an awesome God we serve! He holds the universe together and is interested in our daily ives. Like a good father, he disciplines our disobedience but welcomes us back with love when we return to Him.