Elisha Series

February 18, 2023

Today we transition from the mission of Elijah to the mission of Elisha.

I have broken down Elisha’s story into 8 vignettes:

• The mob and the 2 bears

• The widows oil

• The Shunamite woman

• Poison Food

• Naaman’s Leprosy

• The floating axe head

• The blind army

• The Samarian famine

The Mob and the 2 Bears – 2 Kings 2:23-24

Previously, Elisha had performed a miracle on behalf of the people of Jericho by healing the water. Now he was on his way to Bethel (one of the locations of the golden calf worship), when a mob of young men came out from the town and began to mock him, “Go up, baldhead! Go up, baldhead!”

This was a not a random stunt by school children, this was an organized confrontation. Their chant, “go up, bald head” was a deliberate and malicious insult and implies that they would like nothing more than for Elisha to join Elijah – They wanted him to go away - into the next life preferably.

Elisha turned and pronounced a judgment on them in the name of Yahweh. 2 she-bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the young men.

Even though the mockery was aimed at Elisha, the real object of the mob’s distain was Yahweh, Himself. Bethel had once been a place of worship and communion with God, but had been turned into a place of calf worship and idolatry. God had ordained Elisha to be His mouthpiece and if He had allowed this sin to go unchecked, Elisha’s ministry would have been effectively over. This terrible judgment affirmed that Elisha was Yahweh’s chosen and that He would not allow anything to interfere with Elisha’s mission.

• Ellen White {GC 273} - …. After this, Elisha had no further trouble in his mission. For fifty years he passed in and out of the gate of Bethel, and went to and fro from city to city, passing through crowds of the worst and rudest of idle, dissolute youth; but no one ever mocked him or made light of his qualifications as the prophet of the Most High.

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil – 2 Kings 4:1-7

A widow of one of the “Sons of the Prophets” came to Elisha with a problem. A creditor was coming to enslave her 2 sons as payment for a debt.

She informed Elisha that all she had in the house was a small jar of olive oil – not nearly enough to pay the debt.

Elisha told her to go to all her neighbors and borrow as many empty jars as possible - then go home with her sons, close the door, fill the empty jars with olive oil and set them aside.

The widow did as Elisha instructed. When all the jars had been filled, the oil from her one small jar stopped flowing.

The widow sold the oil, paid off the debt and lived off the residual income.

The Shunammite Woman – 2 Kings 4:8-37

Elisha’s travels often took him through the town of Shunem, in the tribe of Issachar. He was there so often that he became a regular guest in the home of a prominent woman and her husband. Eventually they constructed a small upper room for Elisha to use whenever he was in town.

Elisha was touched by the woman’s generosity and instructed his servant, Gehazi, to inquire what could be done for her as a way of saying thank you. She said she didn’t need anything, but Gehazi mentioned to Elisha that woman had no children. Elisha told the woman that at the same time next year, she would have a son.

Her response is interesting, she said, “don’t lie to me.” But, just as Elisha said, the next year the woman had a son.

The boy grew. One day he was in the field helping his father. Suddenly, he grabbed his head and said, “My head, my head,” before collapsing. The boy died and his mother laid him in Elisha’s chamber and closed the door.

She and a servant raced to find Elisha. When she found him, she fell at his feet….. “Did I ask for a son? No, I did not and now the boy is dead.”

Elisha instructed Gehazi to take his staff and run quickly to the where the boy lay and place the staff on the boy’s face. Gehazi did as instructed, but the boy did not wake up.

When Elisha arrived, he went to the upper room and closed the door. He prayed and then he laid on the child putting his mouth, eyes and hands on the boy’s mouth, eyes and hands – the boy started to get warm. Elisha paced the room then repeated his actions – this time the boy sneezed 7 times and opened his eyes.