II KINGS 2-4 OBSERVATIONS

CHAPTER 2

Elijah Ascends into Heaven

• God gets Elijah to take up into heaven.
• Elisha knows it and will not Elijah out of his sight.
• Prophets at Bethel and Jerico confirm that Elijah is about ready to “depart”
• Elijah crosses the Jordan on dry ground after Elijah took his mantle off and struck the water.
• Elisha follows him.
• Elijah then asks Elisha what he would like for him to do for him.
• Elisha asks for a double portion of his spirit to rest on him.
• Elijah says that is a hard thing to ask for…never the less, if you see me when I am taken away…it will be so.
• Right after that, Elisha saw the Chariots of Israel swoop down between him and Elijah and take Elijah up in a whirlwind.
• Following that, Elisha tests to see if the spirit of Elijah had fallen on him, and indeed it had.

Miracles Performed by Elisha

• Healing the bitter water
• Sending two female bears after some youths who were mocking him

CHAPTER 3

Moab Rebels Against Israel

• Jehoram reigns in Israel
• 18^th year of Jehoshaphat Judah
• Reigned for 12 years
• Did evil
• But did good in putting away the sacred pillar of Baal
• But continued the sins of Jeroboam
• Jehoshaphat (Judah) joins with Jehoram (Israel) to subdue Mesha (Moab)
• They decide to march on a 7 day roundabout route w/ Edom.
• They run out of water
• Jehoshaphat asks if there is a prophet of the Lord
• Elisha.
• God tells them through Elisha, that if it weren’t for Jehoshaphat, I would allow all of you to get captured. But God did allow them to overcome the Moabites.

CHAPTER 4

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil

• Shunamite woman comes to Elisha…dead husband and no son.
• Elisha predicts she will get pregnant, which she does.
• Then he comes later and says she has no food and just a little it of oil.
• So Elisha tells her to get all the owls she can and fill them with the oil…which she does…getting all the neighbor’s pots…and then sells it and gets enough $$ to pay her debts and live on the remainder.
• PRINCIPLE: OK to borrow if God tells you to…but then you must
• Get out of debt and
• Learn to live on the rest (live below your means.)
• Note how God’s power multiplied little into much.

Elisha Raises the Shunamite’s Son

• Woman of Shunem who provided a room for the prophet to stay when he was passing through town
• PRINCIPLE: What can I do to help a man of God?
• Her son dies
• She asks Elisha to help her
• He agrees to and raises her son back to life

Elisha Purifies the Pot of Stew

• There was death in a pot of stew.
• Elisha called them to put some flour in it and it was healed and they were able to eat

Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men