Year B. 3rd Term. Lesson 9. Bible Buddy - Elisha

Scripture: for teacher background:  2 Kings 4,5,6

Making contact:

On display have glasses, binoculars, a telescope and microscope if possible, otherwise just pictures of them. 

Let the children have turns to look through them. 

Isn’t it amazing that sometimes we can see things using these instruments that we can’t see with our eyes as they are.

 Exploration:

Start the story from when Elijah left in the chariot of fire. Elisha had asked his teacher Elijah if he could also have the anointing of God, now that he was taking over Elijah's job.

Elijah said that if he saw him leaving that would mean he had the anointing.

And yes, Elisha saw the chariots of fire and how Elijah was whisked away to heaven by God. Elijah left his cloak behind and Elisha picked it up and walked back to the river. When he got there, he wanted to see if he had God's power so he hit the water with the cloak and the water parted and he walked across. He now God's mighty power with him and he could do wonderful things for God.

 One day a poor widow asked him for help because she was about to die from hunger, so he told her to borrow as many jars as she could and to go inside and close the door. She had to pour the little bit of oil into the jars and just keep pouring. She did this and filled all the jars with oil. It then stopped flowing. She could sell it to live on.

 A rich women from Shunem invited Elisha for a meal and then she and her husband decided to build an extra room so that Elisha could stay there whenever he wanted to.  

Elisha wanted to do something nice to say thanks, so he prayed that they could have a child.

This was wonderful, but one day the child got sick and died. Elisha took him up to his room and prayed for him. The boy sneezed 7 times and woke up!

A commander in the Syrian army got leprosy. His wife had a slave who was a young girl whop had been captured in Israel, She told then about the prophet Elisha and his powerful God. 

Naaman traveled there and Elisha told him to wash 7 times in the Jordan River. He was cured.

The Syrian army was trying to defeat the Israelite army, but every time they tried something their plan was foiled – someone was telling their secret plans to the king of Israel. 

They discovered that the prophet Elisha knew everything so the army surrounded the town where he was. 

They planned to capture him and kill this nuisance prophet who was causing them so much trouble.

One morning the servant called to Elisha in a panic because a huge army had surrounded the town so as to capture Elisha.

 Elisha prayed that the servant’s eyes would be opened so that he could see God’s chariots of fire covering the hillside. He could see the thousands of angels but his servant couldn't.

The army of God was much larger and more powerful.

The angels made the Syrian army became blind and Elisha led them to Samaria where the king could have killed them all, but Elisha told him to let them go and they went home and never attacked again.

Application

This Bible buddy reminds us that around us are angels and just because we can’t see them it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. God provides for us and He helps us.

Consolidation

 There are pictures to colour in about Elisha and some of these wonderful miracles.

Memory Verse

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them." Psalm 34:7