Elisha and the Aramean Wars

Elisha and the Aramean Wars 2 Kings, Chapters 6:1 – 8:15

Questions to Ask While Reading A Bible Story • DEFINE THE “IT” • (The “it” is the main action that gets the story going) • What happened? • DESCRIBE THE “IT” • Who made it happen? Who did it happen to? • Where did it happen? • How did it happen? • EXPLAIN THE “IT” • Why did it happen?

Elisha and the Floating Axhead • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • A group of prophets were meeting with Elisha. • They had outgrown the place where they would normally meet. • They asked Elisha if they could go to a different place. There, they would build a bigger place to live and meet. Elisha agrees and goes with them. • As they went and began to cut down trees, one of the prophets was cutting down a tree and the head came off an ax that he had borrowed. • The ax head fell into the water and sank. Using a stick, Elisha makes the iron axhead float to the surface!

Elisha Ruins the Plan of the King of Aram • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • The king of Aram tries repeatedly to launch a sneak attack against Israel. But God gave Elisha the ability to see those plans and he warned the king of Israel. • Frustrated, the king of Aram sends troops to capture Elisha but the Lord sent His army to protect Elisha. Elisha prayed to the Lord and the Lord blinded the whole army of Aram with light. • Blinded, the men follow Elisha to Samaria. God opens up their eyes and the king of Israel wants to kill them. • Instead, Elisha tells the king to provide a great feast for all the soldiers fed a lavish banquet and then send them home. After the meal, the Arameans go home and stop invading Israel…for now.

Aram Attacks Again: A Dark Famine Results • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • The king of Aram, Ben-Hadad once again attacks the city of Samaria. The continual siege of the city results in a terrible famine. • Food was so scarce, that the head of a donkey which had very little meat on it and was also considered unclean, sold for eighty shekels of silver (50 dollars)! • People were reduced to buying "dove's dung," for three dollars. But it was even worse than that—some parents were even eating their own children!! (Moses predicted this would happen: Deuteronomy 28:53-57) • When the people cried out for help, the king of Israel blamed Elisha. (Why do you think this is?) The king swore that he would kill Elisha.

The King of Aram Is Out For Blood—Elisha’s! • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • Elisha knows that King Jehoram is coming to cut off his head so he refuses to let the king near him. Jehoram cries to Elisha, “Why should I wait on the Lord any longer?” • Elisha responds: “The Lord says the prices will come down. You will be able to buy flour and grain for super cheap tomorrow.” • The chief officer who was with King Jehoram challenged Elisha’s prophecy: “Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” • Elisha replied to the soldier, ““You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”

The Lord Works Through Four Starving Lepers • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • Four starving lepers decide that their best chance of survival is to go the camp of the Arameans and surrender. But when they arrived, not one single person could be found within the Aramean camp! • The Lord had allowed the Arameans to become delusional and overwhelmed by fear. During the night they thought that they heard a large and powerful army of horses and chariots headed towards them. • Believing that the king of Israel had hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack them, the Arameans fled for their lives, leaving their camps and everything they had behind.

The King of Israel Needs Verification • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • Seeing that the Arameanian camp was abandoned, the four lepers began eating and drinking from the food that was left behind. They also began looting the area—hiding the valuable things that they found. • But then one of the lepers felt guilty and encouraged the others that they should report what they found to the royal palace. So together headed back to Samaria. • When they reported what they found, Jehoram, the king of Israel, was suspicious. He believed that this was a trick designed to catch the Israelites off guard. Jehoram sent a scouting team to verify what the lepers had reported.

The Lord Works Through Four Starving Lepers • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • Once the scout team verified the story of the four lepers, the Israelites went out to the Arameancamp and plundered and looted all that the Arameanshad left behind. • The dark famine was now officially over in the land of Samaria. The cost of goods like flour and barley went down just like Elisha had prophesied the day before. • King Jehoram put the chief official that had doubted Elisha's prophecy in charge of the city gates. Right after he had taken his post, the Israelites in their mad dash to go and gather food trampled him in the gateway and he died…just as Elisha predicted.

The Return of the Shunammite Woman • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • Remember the Shunammite woman? • Elisha warns her of an impending famine in her home town. She and her family flee to Philistia. • When she returns, the land and all that she had is no longer hers. She goes to the Israel king to ask that he'll return her land and all that she had back to her. • Gehazi the servant who once served Elisha--the one who was cursed with leprosy (why?), was now working for the king. The king, who was being told her story by Gehazi helps her reclaim all her land and possessions.

Elisha and A New King in Aram • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • Elisha was on his way to Damascus, the capitol of Aram. While he is there, Eilsha learns that King Ben-Hadad has fallen seriously ill. • Remember that through Elisha, God had healed Ben-Hadad’s most celebrated commander, Naaman, of leprosy. Now the king sends his servant Hazael to ask Elisha if God will heal him from his illness. • Elisha responds: "Go and say to him, 'You will certainly recover'; but the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die." Elisha stares at Hazael and then he begins to cry which makes Hazael felt ashamed.

Elisha and A New King in Aram • DEFINE, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE “IT” • When Hazael asked Elisha why he is crying, Elisha replies, "Because I know the harm that you will do to Israel.” Hazael is shocked and protests but Elisha insists that “The Lord has shown me that you will become king of Aram.” • Hazael returns to Ben-Hadad and tells him what Elisha said—except the part about becoming the next king! The next day we find that Hazael takes a thick cloth, soaks it in water and places it over the king's face until smothers Ben-Hadad to death. • Hazael once a trusted friend to Ben-Hadad murders him and becomes the new king of Aram.

HOMEWORK FOR TUESDAY, 11/30 • (Due on Thursday, December 2nd) • READ 2 KINGS, CHAPTERS 9 – 10 • TAKE NOTES ON WHAT YOU READ • …SO THAT YOU CAN ACE THE BIG FIVE QUIZ! • LEARN THE MEMORY VERSE

Elisha and the Aramean Wars