Journey Through the Old Testament

Transcription

1 Journey Through the Old Testament 2 Kings Lesson #69 Elisha the Prophet For Wednesday, January 18, Kings 2-6 Elijah Appoints Elisha. Elisha was a farmer who lived with his parents at Abel-meholah (1 Kings 19:16-21). When Elijah the prophet first met him, Elisha was out in the field plowing with twelve pairs of oxen. One thing we know about his physical appearance was that he was bald (2 Kings 2:23). His name means "God is salvation". We read in a previous lesson how Elijah the prophet became discouraged and depressed. Elijah felt very alone. Part of the way God helped him feel better was to have him appoint Elisha to be a prophet of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Elijah called him by going up to him and throwing his cloak over Elisha s shoulders. Elisha faithfully followed Elijah from the moment they met. Elijah Leaves the Earth. Some time later Elijah knew that he was about to leave the earth. Elisha and the other prophets also seemed to know that this was the day the Lord would take Elijah away. As they walked through several cities from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho, Elijah kept urging Elisha to stay behind. But Elisha had stayed beside Elijah ever since he had been appointed as a prophet and was determined to be with him as the great moment came. Elijah asked Elisha, Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?" Elisha said, Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. Elijah had been a very bold prophet who had worked several miracles. Now Elisha was asking for even more of the spirit that Elijah had shown. Elijah responded, You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, you will have what you asked for, but if you don t see me you won t have it. When the two prophets got to the Jordan River, Elijah took off his mantle and struck it against the water. The waters miraculously parted and the men were able to cross over. Fifty men from among the sons of the prophets watched as they crossed over to the other side of the Jordan. As they walked on and talked, a chariot of fire appeared drawn by horses of fire. As it came past it caught Elijah up into the air and separated them. When Elisha saw it, he called out to Elijah, My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel! A garment of clothing fell from Elijah to the ground. Then the heavenly chariot disappeared from sight and Elisha did not see him again. Elisha went and picked up the garment which was Elijah s mantle. Elisha tore his own clothes, which was often as sign of grief. Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? And when he also had struck the water, it divided just as it had done for Elijah, and Elisha was able

2 to cross over. When he returned to where the fifty men were they cried out, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. Elisha is Mocked. As Elisha was going along the road to the city of Bethel, a large gang of youths from the city say him passing by and started making fun of him. They shouted out, "Go on you baldhead!" As they kept on doing this, Elisha turned around to look at them, and he pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Two female bears came out of the woods and attacked forty-two of the youths. We need to understand that these were not little children like some versions of the Bible suggest. The word for youths could mean someone as old as their early twenties. Young children might not know any better, but these young men were certainly old enough to know this was rude and disrespectful. Notice that Elijah did not try to do something against them, but asked God to deal with them. God obviously thought these young men needed dealing with, since it was He, not Elijah who sent the bears to attack this gang of rude people. Elisha Helps the Wife of a Prophet. A woman had been married to one of God s faithful prophets, but that man had died. The woman was left with nothing but one jar of oil. They owed money and the creditor was coming to take her two sons as slaves. She pleaded with Elisha for help. Elisha told her, Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors -- empty vessels; don t just get a few. Go in your house and shut the door so that it is just you and your sons in the house. Then start pouring what you have into all those vessels. When one fills up, then set it aside and start on another one. The woman did just as he said and a miracle happened so that each vessel filled completely up. When all the vessels were full, the oil ran out. Then Elijah told her to go sell the oil and pay off her debt, and then they would have money left to live on. The Woman at Shunem. Elisha and his servant Gehazi went to Shunem to the home of a rich woman who provided for them. This woman invited them for a meal in her house. Then woman asked her husband to fix up a room for Elisha and his servant so that whenever they came to that town they would have a place to stay. One day Elisha asked the woman, Since you have been kind to be concerned about us, what can I do for you? But the woman did not ask him for anything. So Gehazi, Elisha s servant, said to Elisha that the woman didn t have a son. So Elisha told her "About this time next year you will be holding a son." And it all happened just like Elisha said. One day as that little boy grew older he had gone out to where his father was in the field. Suddenly, he called out to his father, My head! My head! They took him back home and the child died in his mother s arms. She ran to where Elisha was and fell down at his feet holding on to him. Elisha started back to where she lived and went to where the child was lying. He lay across the child and slowly the warmth came back in the child s body. Then the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. Elisha told the woman she could come get her son.

3 Naaman. Another miracle of Elisha involved a man who was an official in the army of one of Israel s enemies. One of the stronger nations around Israel during this time was Syria and the commander in the king of Syria s army was a man named Naaman. At times the Syrian army would go out and attack Israelite villages. One day their army raided a town and took a young Israelite girl captive. She became a servant for Naaman s wife. We are told that Naaman was really a great and honorable man, and a very courageous soldier, but he had a terrible illness. He had leprosy and that was one of the most dreaded diseases in Bible times. There was no cure for it. One day the young girl said to Naaman s wife, "If only my master Naaman could see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would heal him of his leprosy." The little girl had heard about all the miracles that Elisha had done and was sure he could heal Naaman s leprosy. Naaman s wife told this to her husband. The king of Syria sent a letter to the king of Israel telling him that he hoped his commander Naaman could be healed. Soon Naaman was on his way to find the prophet. He took with him a large amount of gold and silver and clothing to give as a present to Elisha. When the king of Israel read the letter from the king of Syria, he ripped his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? The Israelite king thought that maybe the king of Syria just wanted to start trouble with him. Elijah heard what had happened, and told the king of Israel, Please let him come to me, so that he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and came and stood at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha did not come out, but sent a messenger to Naaman and said, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean. Naaman could be healed of his leprosy. You might have though that Naaman would be very excited that he could be healed, but instead he got very mad for three reasons: In the first place he thought that Elisha would have come out and talked to him. Then Naaman though that surely Elisha would do something; something like coming out and waving his hand over the leprosy and calling on God. And lastly, Naaman thought that the waters back at his home near Damascus were much nicer than the muddier waters of the Jordan River. Why couldn t he have just washed in them? Naaman turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came up and said to him, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, wouldn t you have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'? I guess Naaman could see that their words were reasonable, so he went to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times in the water just like Elisha had said. And after the seventh time Naaman came up from the water and was cleansed from his leprosy. So Naaman went back to see Elisha and said "Now I know for sure that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel. Please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. Gehazi s Greed. Naaman told Elisha, Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant. Remember he had brought gold and silver and clothing as gifts. But Elisha did not want Naaman to think God s blessings

4 could be bought or that he just wanted money from him. So Elisha refused to accept anything from Naaman; he just told him to Go in peace. After he had left, Elisha s servant Gehazi got to thinking about Naaman s gifts. So he ran after Naaman s chariot and told him, My master has two visitors who need your gifts. Naaman was quick to give Gehazi the gifts. Gehazi took the gifts and put them in his house. When he went back to Elisha, the prophet asked him where he had been. Gehazi claimed he had not gone anywhere. But Elisha knew what Gehazi had done. So Elisha said, The leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever. So Gehazi went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow. Elisha s Invisible Army. II Kings 6 During the time of Elisha, the king of Syria made war with Israel. But God would reveal to Elisha where the Syrians were camped, and Elisha would warn the king of Israel not to go there. This happened enough times that the king of Syria wondered if some of his men were secretly informing Israel. But his servants said, No one is telling your secrets. It is Elisha the prophet; he knows everything you tell even if you said it in your own room. So the king of Syria ordered them to try to find where Elisha was. When they found that he was in the city of Dothan, the king sent horses and chariots and a large army to capture the prophet, and they surrounded the city. Elisha s servant saw that the city was being surrounded. He asked Elisha, Master, what shall we do? But Elisha said, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." What did Elisha mean by that? How could Elisha, his servant, and perhaps a few other prophets possibly outnumber the large army that the king of Syria had sent? Elisha prayed to the God, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." So the LORD opened the young servant s eyes and he saw that the mountain was filled with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. These were the Lord s heavenly forces, His holy angels, and they were there to protect the prophet. Elisha prayed again to God that the people would be temporarily blinded, and God caused them not to be able to see. In their blindness Elisha promised to lead them to the city, and he took them to Samaria, the capital city of Samaria. Once they arrived Elisha asked God to make them see again. This Syrian army looked and realized they were captured by the Israelites. The king of Israel asked Elisha if they should kill them, but Elisha said to feed them and send them home. He knew that when the Syrians heard what had happened, they would be too afraid to every come back. Sure enough when these raiders went home, they never came back to Israel. The New Testament Teaches Us

5 Learning From the Story of Naaman. Jesus said, He who believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16). That seems fairly simple. The command to Naaman was simple too, Go wash seven times in the Jordan River. Still, Naaman didn t understand why it had to be done that way. Jesus tells us to be baptized in order to be saved, but some people still argue. Many religious people don t believe that. They say you can be saved without being baptized. Like Naaman they argue that there are other ways to be cleansed. But like Naaman everyone must ultimately do what God commands if they hope to be saved. Bible Quiz 1. When Elijah asked Elisha what he could do for him, what did Elisha ask? (II Kings 2:9) 2. As the chariot of fire took Elijah up in the air, what did Elisha cry out? (II Kings 2:12) 3. What did the crowd of youths say that mocked Elisha? (II Kings 2:23) 4. What miracle did Elisha do for the widow of one of the prophets? (II Kings 4:1-7) 5. What nice things did the woman at Shunem do for Elisha? (II Kings 4:8,9) 6. When the Shunemite woman s son died, Elisha brought him back to life. What did the boy do right before he opened his eyes? (II Kings 4:35) 7. What did Elisha tell Naaman to do to be cleansed of his leoprosy? (II Kings 5:10) 8. Why did Naaman get angry at this and what did he thing should have happened? (II Kings 5:11,12) 9. In II Kings 6:17 when Elisha asked the Lord to open the eyes of his servant, what could his servant see?