Miracles of Elisha: 2 Kings 4:38-44, 6:1-22

Elisha had boldly asked Elijah for a double portion of the miraculous works that Elijah had performed. Many of the miracles of Elijah and Elisha are pictures of the Promised Messiah to come. These passages show more of the amazing things that Elisha was able to do as works of God. During hid time the school of prophets continued to grow. As Israel continued to not seek the Lord there were times still of famine and little food. Aram continued to cause trouble for Israel, but God was at work for his people through the prophets like Elisha.

Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”

One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot. 2 Kings 4:38-41

The school of prophets were together. It was a time of famine, so there was little food. scavenging the forest for any wild vegetables would have been a common way to provide food. Elisha was visiting the school and told his assistant to make of pot of stew for the prophets that were together.

One of the servants went out to a field to gather herbs and whatever he could find to make the stew taste better. I imagine it being like the tale of stone soup. He finds what he can, throws it all in, not really sure of what he had collected. As the men began to eat, it quickly hit their stomachs wrong and they were in a world of pain. Food poisoning is no joke.

Elisha goes to the stew and adds in some flour (not a powerful ingredient that fixes bad food) and suddenly the soup is edible. No longer was it death stew.

 A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

“How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord. 4:42-44

During this same time, most likely still during the drought, a man had come to bring his tithe. When God gave the laws to Israel, any food they had could be offered as a tithe to provide for the priests and prophets. They man brought his first fruits, but it was only 20 small loaves of bread.

Elisha told them to take the bread and feed the school of prophets with it. His servant echoed the same concern as Jesus’s disciples. “How will this be enough to feed all of them?”

Just as the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, not only was there enough food to feed all 100 prophets, there was even food left over, just as Elisha told them it would happen.

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”

And he said, “Go.”

Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”

“I will,” Elisha replied. And he went with them.

They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”

The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it. 2 Kings 6:1-7

The school of the prophets had grown quite a bit. So much that they decided to build a larger place to gather close to the Jordan river. The students asked Elisha to come with them and help build it.

So as they are chopping down trees and making lumber, one of them men loses the ask head into the river. He swing the ax to chop, and the whole metal head swings off and lands in the river, sinking to the bottom. He was very upset about it falling off, because it wasn’t his ax. He had borrowed the ax, and now he would have to replace it.

Elisha sees all this going on. He offers his help to get the ax head. He finds out where the ax head fell in, then cuts down a stick and tosses it in the river. I can imagine the confused look on the prophets faces. That is until miraculously, the heavy, metal ahead floats to the top of the river. Elisha tells the man, “Well? Grab it!”

Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”

The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

“None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” 6:8-12

During this time of Elisha, Ben-Hadad is still the king of Aram. Israel and Aram continued to have conflict with each other. Ben-Hadad would send out his army to set up camp to prepare to attack. The Lord would send a message to Elisha about what Aram was up to in order to protect Israel. Elisha would tell the king, and Aram would fail. This kept happening, so Ben-Hadad assumed there was a spy in Aram. His advisors told him that Elisha the prophet of the Lord is the one who informs the king of Israel, because of the Lord. There is no where that one can escape the Lord.

 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 6:13-15

Ben-Hadad fins out where Elisha is living and then sends his army to capture him instead of attack Israel. He sent horses and and chariots, his whole strong forces to capture one man. They came through the night to surprise Elisha in the morning. They surrounded the whole city that Elisha was in.

When Elisha’s servant woke up, in the morning, he was definitely surprised. He rushes to Elisha in a panic. “What will we do? They have come for us!!”

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 6:16-17

Elisha doesn’t share the same feelings as his servant. He comforts him with a different reality. Elisha is aware of the physical army that has come from Aram to attack him, but he is also aware of the spiritual army that the Lord has sent to protect Elisha.

Elisha prays for his servant to see with spiritual eyes. When the servant looks out again he sees the army of Aram, but he also sees a bigger army. It is an army of angels filling the hills around the city. This army also has horses and chariots, but they are on fire and full of might. The army of Aram can do nothing, because the army of the Lord is guarding over Elisha.

As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

Elisha told them, “This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to Samaria. 6:18-19

As the army of Aram came into the city to arrest Elisha, Elisha pray to God. He asks that they are struck with blindness. He doesn’t mean blindness as in, can’t see anything. He means spiritual blindness to see things differently that they are. Like all the times before when the Lord confused armies that attacked themselves, the Aramean army didn’t see Elisha. He convinced them that they had the wrong city.  he would do them a favor and “lead them to the correct city and man.” The army followed Elisha to Samaria, which was the capital city of Israel.

After they entered the city, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.

When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father?Shall I kill them?”

^“Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.” So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory. 6:20-23

When they reached the city of Samaria, Elisha prayed again that the Lord would open their eyes. Suddenly they realized that they were standing in the midst of their enemy, Israel. The king asked Elisha, “should I kill them or capture them?”

Elisha tells him, “neither.” Instead he tells the king to make a feast for the enemy. The Aramean army is to be fed and given drinks, then sent back to their land. The king of Aram finally gave up trying to attack Israel and left them alone

Through out the Old Testament, the Lord revealed what kind of person the Messiah would be. Through the prophets and kings of the past, glimpses of who Jesus would be were revealed. His saving power through sin would make right what was broken and lost.

For the craft I found these two images from freebibleimages.org Using the images I created a flip craft to show the army of Aram before Elisha prays, and the army after he prays for his servant’s eyes to be opened.

I shrunk the images and then print them off. Elisha and the army of Aram

Both images will need to be cut out. Next fold both images in half horizontally, inward.

Lay the two images on the table with the “open sky” picture on top, but folded over. Flip the “open sky” pic so that the fold is facing the fold of the “army sky” image.

Glue the white area on the bottom picture.

Match the two folded seams together to create a flap picture. 

All scripture is in bold print and is used from the NLT.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Elisha Helps Two Women: 2 Kings 4

Elijah was taken up to the Lord. Elisha asked Elijah to bless him with a double share of the spirit that Elijah went out with, to be the successor to the work that Elijah had done for the Lord. As a prophet of the Lord, Elisha was to speak for the Lord, guiding them back to him. Ahab’s son, Joram went to war and asked Jehoshaphat to join him. When they ran out of water in the desert before the battle, they came to Elisha to ask for his help. The Lord not only provided water for their armies, but also gave them victory over their enemy. The Lord had used Elijah to care for widows, and it was the same for Elisha. 

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” 2 Kings 4:1

Elisha served as part of a company of prophets to the Lord. After Elijah ran from God, a school of prophets was formed that lived in Israel. One of these men died, and his wife was left to care for her two sons with no money. She went to Elisha to ask him for help, because they were going to take her two sons away, which would leave her with nothing.

Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” 4:2-4

She had nothing of value in her home that she could sell, no animals, food, or even clothing. Perhaps she had already tried to pay the debts off, or maybe they were tapped financially, and this was part why they had gone into debt. During years of famine, which Israel had a lot of, it was very hard on all the people, even the people who loved the Lord. The only thing of value she had was a small jar of olive oil. Olive oil was common and very useful, from making food, lighting lamps, and even used medicinally.

Elisha tell the woman to go to her neighbors. Ask them for any empty jars they aren’t using, but he encourages her, don’t get a few. Get as many as you can. Then she and her sons are to go into their house, with the door shut, and begin to pour the oil from the flask into the empty bottles she had collected.

She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” 4:5-7

The widow did as Elisha had told her. She and her sons collected the jars, went to her house, shut the door, and began to pour oil. As they filled the last jar, and she asked for another, her sons told her that was it. There were no more jars, and the oil from the flask she started with ran out.

When she was done, she found Elisha and asked him what to do now. He told her to sell the oil God had provide. It would be enough to pay her debts and to provide for current needs her family had.

One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’” 4:8-13

Traveling in ancient times was much different than current times. When you traveled, there were no hotels or inns to stay in. You stayed in other people’s homes who had provided for you. Maybe they were distant family, or maybe you met them in the center of town that day. As Elisha traveled, he met a wealthy woman who invited him to eat whenever he passed through. Because she knew he was a man of God, she had her husband build a guest room for them to use as he traveled.

One day, shortly after the room was finished, and Elisha and his assistant were staying there. He was wanting to return her kindness to him and asked his servant, Gehazi, to ask the woman how they could help her out. Maybe they could ask the King of Israel for a favor?

She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

“What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.

Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway.¹⁶ “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”

“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”

 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her. 4:13-17

When Gehazi asked how they could help her, she told them she had what she needed. Remember, her husband was wealthy. Gehazi told Elisha that she had no children, and her husband was old. Especially for ancient times, she would have been looked down on by her community. Plus for her own, to have children of your own would have most likely been her real hearts desire. Elisha tells her that in a year she will have a son of her own.

By her own exclamation it can be seen how important this was to her to have a son. She begs Elisha to not tease her. Don’t promise a son who she can’t have or keep. It is better for her to not ever have hope of a son, than to be teased with one. Just as Elisha had said, the next year she gave birth to a son.

The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. He said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

“Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.”

“That’s all right,” she said.

She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. 4:18-24

The passage doesn’t tell us how old the boy was, but he was out one day with his father, working the fields, keeping the harvest. Suddenly he is overwhelmed with a terrible headache, maybe a brain aneurysm. A servant rushes him back to the house, to mom. She held him in her lap until he died around noon. She carried him up to the room that she had made for Elisha, and shut the door.

Filled with grief, she had a donkey loaded up and rushed to Mt Carmel to find Elisha. He husband was confused. She most likely didn’t tell him that the son had died. She rushed as fast as she could to Mt. Carmel.

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.” 4:25-27

As the woman came closer, Elisha looks and recognizes her coming. He sends his servant down to greet her. Is everything okay?! She tells the servant that everything is fine, and continues to approach Elisha. When she finally arrives, she falls down and grabs his feet. Gehazi is taken back, and started to push her away to protect Elisha. Elisha stops him. He recognizes her grief, but doesn’t know why. God hasn’t revealed to him what she needs.

“Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her. 4:28-30

Without saying what happened to the boy or what is wrong, she cuts to the chase. She never asked for a son. How dare he ask for a son from God, just so the boy would be taken away by death. Her worst nightmare has come to be.

Elisha turns to Gehazi. He tells him to run as hard and fast as he can to the boy. As soon as he arrives, he is to lay Elisha’s staff on his face. Gehazi is not to talk to anyone, or greet them. He is to go as fast as he can. Elisha then turns to the woman. He will travel all the way back with her back to the house.

Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.” 4:31

When he arrives, the servant does just as Elisha had told him. Laying the staff on the boy’s face doesn’t bring him back. He leaves the house, and meets Elisha on the road back to report.

 When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.” She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out. 4:32-37

Elisha arrives to the house. There is the boy, lifeless and laying on his bed. Elisha sends everyone out from the room and shut the door. He prayed to God, although it doesn’t say what, it is known that he begs for the boy’s life back. Or maybe he simply prayed the same prayer of Elijah, “Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 1 Kings 17:20

Elisha lays across the boys body, just as Elijah had done. The first time he did this, the boys body began to warm back up. Life was returning to him. Elisha get up from the boys, walks around the room, then does the same thing again. This time the boy sneezed 7 times and opened his eyes. Life had returned to the boy.

Elisha calls for his servant, who calls for the woman. She tore into the room and fell to the feet of Elisha in gratitude. She had her son again.

Not only does Elisha have the same power that Elijah had, and he even completes double the miracles recorded of Elijah. Both Elisha and Elijah are seen as predecessors of Jesus. They are not the Messiah, but are doing similar works of Jesus, who will come.

The craft is simple enough. I created this image of a clay jar with our Bible verse written backwards on it. Print one for each child on regular copy paper. The kids will glue the paper into their books, with the image side down. Using cotton balls or paint brushes, they will then “paint” the backside of the paper with Olive oil. This will cause the image to appear, writing now corrected.

 Elisha Jar

All scripture is in bold print and is used from the NLT.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.