The Second Book of the Kings
Chapter 2 - 13
The Prophet Elisha Bible Study Lesson
The Prophet Elisha Bible Story Events
Greetings ... As you remember from our last study of Elijah
... He was being taken away while his friend Elisha was left alone.
As Elisha watched Elijah being taken up to Heaven by a whirlwind he
tore his clothes in two. (This is the custom of the Jewish people
when they are saddened or grieved they tear their clothing to show
their grief.)
Elisha went and picked up the mantle that Elijah dropped on the
ground on his unusual ride to Heaven. Elisha walked back to the
Jordan River and hit the waters with Elijah's mantle and said "where
is the Lord God of Elijah?" as he said this, the waters parted and he
walked across on dry land.
There were some sons of prophets watching all this from Jericho and
they said the spirit of Elijah has rested on Elisha and they ran to
him and bowed before him. They then told him that there were many of
them that wanted to go and search for Elijah in the hills.
They said what if the Spirit of the Lord had dropped him and he is
lost in the hills. Elisha thought this was silly and said not to go.
But they kept on and on and on so finally he said go look then.
After 3 days they came back and told him that Elijah was no where to
be found. I am sure Elisha laughed when he told them "Didn't I tell
you not to go look for him in the first place? The people of Jericho
came to Elisha and said, "As you can see our city is pleasant yet the
water is bad and the land is barren."
The Prophet Elisha Bible Study Teaching
The Prophet Elisha Bible Story Characters
So Elisha had them bring him a pitcher of salt. He went to the water
springs and threw it in there and said "The Lord says I have healed
these waters and no more shall there be death or barren land coming
from this spring." And so it was done from then on.
Elisha traveled to another town and on the way some children from the
city laughed and made fun of him saying "Go up bald head Go up bald
head". (In those days when a man was bald it was seen by others that
God had punished the man by making him bald or that the man for
penance would shave his hair off.
They were saying go up bald head because they were telling him to go
up on the hill at the altar and repent to God and make sacrifice for
being a sinner. However this was not the case with Elisha since he
was God's chosen prophet and even had double the anointing of
Elijah.) Elisha cursed the kids in the name of the Lord and at that
moment 2 bears came out of the woods and killed 42 of the children.
Elisha carried on in his travels and went on to Samaria where the
King of Israel stayed. Wow! Now you may be saying to yourself, hold
on a sec, why in the world would God allow 42 children to die just
for making fun of Elisha's bald head? Well it may seem a bit drastic
but the Lord's ways are not our own. Look at it this way, back then
there was God and His prophets.
The people wanted a King and now that the Kings were mostly corrupt
and did wickedly there were only God's chosen prophets that
represented God on earth. A strike at the prophet was like a strike
at God. Anytime a country or a people whether they knew it or not
messed with God's chosen people, they were punished or killed. Look
at what happened to Pharaoh and Egypt when he wouldn't let Moses and
Israel go.
The Prophet Elisha Bible Study Research
The Prophet Elisha Bible Story Miracles
If any person that wasn't a chosen priest touched the Ark of the
Covenant they were dead immediately. There are things that are Holy
and sacred and God did not play around when it came to his chosen
people. It is what makes God Holy. So by these kids making fun of
God's prophet they were making fun of God, whether they knew it or
not didn't matter. And even when God's people turn against him and go
and kill His prophets.
God defends the Prophets as He sees fit. In the book of Hebrews
13:2 it says to entertain strangers for some have entertained
Angels unawares. Do unto others as if you would have them do unto
you. These kids picked the wrong guy to mess with. Kind of like the
Sodomites when they were wanting to do evil things to Lot's two male
guests which happened to be Gods Angels. Sodom
and Gomorrah ...
Well first they were blinded then their whole city was burned to the
ground. If those people would have been righteous to those Angels
perhaps God would not have killed them all. Yet they were wicked. The
best lesson to learn from this is to never judge by appearance and to
be kind to everyone you meet for you never know who they may be.
You know music can change your mood. If you are feeling down and you
hear a good song and your spirit starts to show and well you know it
makes you feel good. In this same way Elisha used music to help him
hear the word of the Lord. There were three kings who banded together
to fight another king from Moab. The three kings were from Judah,
Israel and Edom.
Now the King of Israel was Jehoram who was a son of Ahab and he did
the same wickedness as his parents. Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Now
these three kings ended up in a valley with no water and they were
stuck for their horses had nothing to drink and couldn't go on. So
Jehoram said "I am sure the Lord has trapped us all here together to
deliver us into the hands of Moab." (Typical of one with a guilty
conscious.)
The Prophet Elisha Bible Study Truth
The Prophet Elisha Bible Story Concerns
Now the King of Judah whose name is Jehoshaphat was a good man who
followed the Lord. He asked the people with them if there was a
prophet of the Lord around so they may ask him what they should do.
One of the servants said that Elisha was here. Jehoshaphat said he
knew the word of the Lord was with him so they went down to see
Elisha.
Now when Elisha saw Jehoram the King of Israel he said "What do you
want with me? Why don't you go and seek answers from your father and
mother's gods? Let it be known by the Lord before whom I stand that
if it wasn't for Jehoshaphat, I wouldn't even see you or speak with
you. Bring me a musician and let him play."
As the musician played the Word of the Lord came upon Elisha and he
told them of what they should do. The Lord would deliver Moab into
their hands and they would get all the spoils of war. And so it
happened as Elisha said. You can tell he was angry at even seeing the
son of Ahab.
Remember his parents had all of the Lord's prophets killed except for
Elijah and the 100 hidden in the cave that they didn't know about.
Jehoram had not changed either for he was as wicked as his folks. So
Elisha knew he couldn't hear the Lord with anger so he brought in
music to calm his soul. Pretty cool huh? It worked for him it works
for us too.
A certain woman came to Elisha with a problem. Her husband had passed
on and the creditors were going to take her two sons to repay the
debts they owed when he died. Wow, I hope they do not still do that
today Elisha asked her what she owned. All she had was a pitcher of
oil. He told her to go to all her neighbors and borrow as many empty
pots, pitchers or vessels of any kind that she could.
The Prophet Elisha Bible Study Details
The Prophet Elisha Bible Story and Elijah
She then was to take her two sons and shut themselves in their home.
She was to pour out the one pitcher of oil that she had into each of
the borrowed vessels till there was no more empty ones. She did so
and even her first pitcher was still full of oil. She went to Elisha
and said ok what do I do now?
He told her to go and sell all the oil and repay her debts and then
live off the rest of the money for her and her sons.That's what you
call your cup overflowing. It reminds me of the story where Jesus fed
5000 on 5 loaves of bread and a couple of fishes and a prayer. Mark
6:37-44
Elisha did a lot of traveling being the Lord's prophet. He passed by
a certain home often and the woman of the house noticed that he did.
She asked her husband and they would invite him in and feed him
whenever he passed by. The woman knew that he was a man of God and
asked her husband if they could set up a room for him with a bed for
him to rest when he came by and so they did.
One day Elisha told his servant Gehazi to go and ask the woman what
he could do for her. Gehazi came back and said that she is without a
child and her husband is old. Elisha called her and told her this
time next year you will embrace your own son. She couldn't believe it
and yet. She said, "Please do not deceive me." When the year passed,
she had her son.
As time passed the boy went out to work with his dad in the fields
and was struck hard on the head. His dad told him to run home to his
mother and there he died. She went out to find Elisha. When she did
Gehazi asked her if all was well and she said yes. Yet when she saw
Elisha she grabbed onto his feet and wouldn't let go.
The Prophet Elisha Bible Study Explanation
The Prophet Elisha Bible Story and Naaman
When Gehazi attempted to remove her Elisha said no and when he found
out what happened she told Elisha that she didn't want to be deceived
by her having a child. He told Gehazi to take his staff and go to the
child. Salute no one on the way nor talk to anyone. Place the staff
on the child's face. Gehazi did this but nothing happened so he went
back and told Elisha. Then Elisha went into the room where the child
was and shut the door.
He prayed to the Lord and then he lay on top of the child and blew
breath into him. The child's skin grew warm. He then went downstairs
and when he came back up he did it again and the child sneezed seven
times and was alive again. When God makes a promise to us He keeps
His word. No matter how it may look and we may feel that we have been
deceived He always makes it right for it is His Holy Promise and He
keeps it.
A man named Naaman was the captain of the army in Syria. He was a
great and mighty warrior whom the Lord gave victories in conquering
many lands. Yet Naaman had leprosy. One day a maid who waited upon
Naaman's wife told her, "If only Naaman was with the prophet in
Israel he would be healed of his leprosy."
When this was told to the King of Syria he sent Naaman with much gold
and silver and clothing to the King of Israel with a note saying
these treasures are yours if you would heal my servant Naaman. Now
the King of Israel was no prophet so when he read the note from the
King of Syria he ripped his clothes in two and said "I am not God who
creates and takes away life.
I cannot heal this man why does the King of Syria want to start a
fight with me?" When Elisha heard that the king had torn his clothes
he sent word to him saying "Send this man to me so that all will know
there is a Prophet of the Lord in Israel." Elisha told Naaman when he
came to where he was "Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times and
your flesh will become whole again."
The Prophet Elisha Bible Study Update
The Prophet Elisha Bible Story and Gehazi
This angered Naaman and he went away back to Syria. He told his
servants with him "Aren't the waters in Syria much more clean and
pure than the waters in Israel? Why wouldn't I wash in those waters
to be cleaned?" Yet his servants told him that if Elisha would have
asked him to do a greater thing than wash in the river seven times
wouldn't he have done it?
So Naaman did as Elisha said and dipped himself in the Jordan seven
times and afterwards when he came out of the Jordan his skin was as
fresh as a child's skin. Naaman went back to Elisha and said "I know
for a truth that there is no God in all the lands except for the God
of Israel" and he offered him the treasures that the King of Syria
sent with him.
Yet Elisha refused it. Naaman urged him more but Elisha would not
accept payment for the gift that God did for Naaman. Naaman then
asked Elisha that if the Lord would pardon him for when his King of
Syria goes into the house of his god that he holds Naaman's arm and
bows before their god. Naaman knew that the god his king bows before
is not real and that there is only one God. Elisha told him to go in
peace that all is well.
But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha got a bit greedy. He ran after
Naaman and told him that two prophets had come after he left and were
in need of some money and clothing. And he told Naaman that Elisha
had told him to come get them from Naaman. Naaman gave them to Gehazi.
Yet when Gehazi got back to Elisha he said "Gehazi where did you go?"
Gehazi said nowhere. Then Elisha said. "It is not the time to receive
gifts from man. Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will be upon you and
your seed forever." Gehazi left with leprosy and his skin was white
as snow.
Adventures of the Prophet Elisha Bible Study
The Prophet Elisha Bible Story Warning
Naaman, like many of us, feel that when God is to do a miracle for us
that we should expect something mighty to happen when sometimes it is
not that great of a task to get the job done. Also, the lesson of
Gehazi is that we need not accept gifts for Gods power. Especially in
the deceitful way that Gehazi did.
After all of Naaman's pleading with Elisha to take gifts and Elisha
refused what do you think Naaman thought afterwards after he was told
that Elisha had changed his mind? He may have thought, oh yeah even a
great man of God cannot refuse the riches of this world when offered.
Not a good sign to be sending, especially since it was a lie by
Gehazi, so therefore Gehazi was punished in the manner he was.
Some of the prophets came to Elisha and told him that there wasn't
enough room where they were staying at and asked him if he would move
with them to a larger place at the Jordan River. Elisha agreed and
went with them. As they were cutting down trees to build one of the
axe heads fell into the water and sank.
They came to Elisha and told him what happened and they were worried
because it was a borrowed axe. Elisha had them show him where the axe
fell in the water. Elisha cut off a stick and threw it in the water
and the axe head floated to the surface. Elisha told them to grab the
axe head out of the water and they continued building.
Meanwhile the King of Syria was going to invade and attack Israel. As
the Syrian King told his men where they were going to camp at as to
make a surprise attack on Israel, Elisha was given by God this
information every time the king planned his surprise attack.
The Prophet Elisha Bible Study on Vision
The Prophet Elisha Bible Story Prophecy
In turn Elisha told the King of Israel to avoid these places and it
saved his life many times. This bothered the Syrian king and he asked
his people which one of them was a traitor. They told him that it was
Elisha the prophet of God who was hearing and telling the King of
Israel their plans.
So the king spied out where Elisha was at and when they found him he
sent an army to go and grab him and take him to the king. The army
surrounded the city Elisha was in and when his servant saw what was
happening he asked him how they would get out of this mess.
Elisha said fear not for those that are with us are more than be with
them. The servant looked around and saw nothing but the Syrian army.
Elisha then prayed that God would open the servants' eyes so he could
see. God did open his eyes and he saw horses and chariots of fire all
around them surrounding Elisha. It was God's army.
Elisha prayed that all of the Syrians would be blinded and they were.
Elisha then went to the army and said the man you are seeking is not
here, follow me and I will take you to him. They followed him yet
Elisha led them right into the middle of the army of Israel.
Elisha prayed that they would receive their sight again and when they
did they found themselves surrounded by their enemy. The King of
Israel asked Elisha if he should kill them all. Elisha said no but to
give them bread and water and then send them back home to their king.
The army of Syria did not enter any more into the land of Israel at
that time.
The Prophet Elisha Bible Study Summary
The Prophet Elisha Bible Conclusion
Another lesson of when your enemies are digging a pit for you to fall
in God will be digging their own pit. God promises us that He will
always be there for us. Even when it looks like the whole world is
caving in on us, He is there. Imagine the feeling of the young man
with Elisha.
He saw that they were about to be captured by a very angry and
hostile Syrian army. There was no hope. Yet when God opened his eyes
he saw that they were protected. We should all pray that God opens
our eyes when we are at our weakest and most vulnerable moments.
Whether He opens our eyes or not Faith is in knowing that He is there.
And it came to pass that Elisha finally died and they buried him.
After that a man who had died was thrown into the grave where Elisha
laid. When the dead man hit Elisha's bones he was immediately brought
back to life. Even in death Elisha had the double anointing of Elijah.
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