Dear Azy, Rumi, and Ari,
Last time, we covered the kings after David and Solomon and the division of the kingdom to two parts: The northern 10 tribes became Israel, and Judah and Benjamin became the southern kingdom. With the exception of Asa and Jehoshaphat, most of the kings of both kingdoms were evil and turned away from God. So God used his prophets to talk to the people and share his ways and what they needed to do to remind them how to live a good life by turning back to him. Two of these prophets were Elijah, whom we talked about last time, and Elisha.
The lessons from today’s stories show how amazing God is. Even though when his people had turned form him, worshipped pagan idols and lost their ways, he performed so many miracles and signs to remind them he is the true one living God and to turn back to him. Because there are so many miracles, I’m going to put them here in bullet point format so I can list all of them, along with the additional lessons for each story, where needed.
– Elijah confronts King Ahaziah – King Ahaziah falls and seriously injures himself. He sends prophets to pagan idols to find out if he’s going to die. But Elijah sends him a message from God through the king’s messengers saying: Is there no God in Israel? Why are you asking pagan idols when there is only one true God. Because you done this, you will die. The king got angered and sent an army of 50 men to arrest Elijah. But Elijah said, if I’m a man of God, let fire come from heaven and destroy these 50 men. And fire fell and destroyed the 50 men. So the king sent a 2nd group of 50 men and the same thing happened. The third time the king sent 50 men to arrest Elijah, the commander of the men said to Elijah, please spare our lives and come with us. For if you don’t, the king will surely destroy us. So Elijah went to to the king and told him personally you will not leave the bed you’re lying on and die here. (2 Kings 1)
Lesson: There is only one true God. Worship him. And, like the commander, submit to God’s people even when you’re under ordered not to. The solider knew to be kind and obedient to Elijah and ask him to come versus forcing him to come based on what Elijah did to the first and second 50 men sent by the king.
– Elijah taken to Heaven – When it was time for Elijah to go with God, he got picked up by a whirlwind and ascended to heaven. Before he left, Elisha, who was his assistant and taking over for him, asked if he could get a double portion of his spirit so he could serve God even more. Elijah said if it’s God’s will, you will see me when I’m taken, and it will be granted.
And it was. Elisha then parts the Jordan river as confirmation that he received the double portion of Elijah’s spirit. (2 Kings 2)
Lesson: When you ask God for things that will give you great power or influence, he will give it to you if he thinks you will serve his will. Bot Elijah and Elisha had supernatural powers, beyond what any human could do, because God knew they would use it to serve his purpose.
– Water Appears in Desert on way to Moab Through Elisha – King Joram and Jehoshaphat cross the desert to Moab to get them to pay tribute and ran out of water. Elisha then said: God says this dry valley will be filled with pools of water and you will have plenty for you and your cattle and will be victorious over the army of Moab. The next day, water suddenly appeared everywhere and they were able to defeat the army of Moab. (2 Kings 3)
Lesson: Anything is possible with God
– Wealthy women having child ressurected through Elisha – A wealthy women realizes Elisha is a man of God. To make things easier for him while he travels, she builds him a house so he has a place to stay when he’s in town. Elisha said I appreciate your concern for me. What can I do for you? She said nothing, my family takes good care of me. Then Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, said she doesn’t have a son and her husband is an old man. Elisha responded by saying to her, by this time next year, you will have a son. She responded, please Lord, don’t get my hopes up like that. But sure enough, she got pregnant and had a son next year. One day, when the child was older, her son got sick and died. She immediately left to see Elisha and tell him what happened, and then said I won’t go home unless you come back with me. Elisha went back with her to her house where her child was. He put his hands on the child’s hand and his mouth on the child’s mouth and the child grew warm. Elisha did this several times and walked across the room and stretched him out again. Then the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. Then Elisha called the mother and said, here is your son. The mother fell at his feet and bowed before him, filled with gratitude. Then she hugged her resurrected son. (2 Kings 4)
Lesson: This is the second time we’ve seen a resurrection in the bible, the first one with Elijah and the poor widow which we covered in the last journal report. The key lessons here are from the women. She is wealthy so instead of using her money to buy more possessions or boast about her fortune, she uses her money to serve one of God’s people. This is the power of money. We make money to take care of our needs and God will always provide. And if we’re blessed to make more than we need, we should use it to serve God’s purpose. Then when Elisha asked her what he could do for her, she said nothing because she felt her life was complete. She wasn’t longing for something more. Most of us are always wanting something more to fill a hole that only God can fill. She had peace and was full of God’s love and was so fulfilled in her life and didn’t need more. So don’t get obsessed with more of worldly things. Because more will always equal not enough. When God is in your heart, God will use that “more” to serve others and then bless you as a result because you have been a good steward. Then Elisha gave her what was secretly in her heart, a child, which brought so much joy to her life, the same way you brought so much joy into Mommy and Daddy’s life! 🙂
But when the child died, she did not wait and immediately went to the one person who could help, the man of God, Elisha. When things go wrong, don’t wait. Turn to God and pray. Let him show you the solution or give you insight on how to deal . And, in this case, Elisha performed a miracle, making him only the second person to ever be resurrected in the bible. God may not always give us miracles. Sometimes, his will may have other plans. But when he does, it’s important to share our testimony with others to increase their faith and have them turn to God when they’re dealing with their own challenges.
– Poor widow and endless flask of olive oil through Elisha – A poor widow needed money because here husband had died and her creditors had come, threatening to take her sons as slaves for payment. She shared this with Elisha. Elisha asked her what do you have in your house? She replied nothing but a flask of olive oil. He then said, borrow as many empty jars as you can from your neighbors and friends. Then go and fill up the empty jars with your flask until they are full. So she had her son get as many jars as they could and her flask, which never ended, filled up all the empty jars to the brim. She told her son, bring me another jar. Her son said there aren’t anymore. And then the olive oil stopped flowing from the flask. When she told Elisha what had happened he said, now go and sell the olive oil jars to pay your debts and live on what’s left over. (2 Kings 4)
Lesson: This miracle story is one of faith. The poor widow turned to God by going to Elisha when she needed help. That was the first step. Then when he told her to get as many jars as she could, she did, and God filled them all up. We don’t know how many jars she had, but it was enough to pay all her debts and more left to live on. If she got 100 jars, 100 were filled. If she would have gotten 1000, she would of filled 1000. The key here is she would of filled up as many jars as the amount of faith she had. This is how God works with us. He gives us according to the level of our faith of what we think is possible. And since we have an unlimited flask of olive oil to work with, just like this poor wisdom, everything is possible with God.
– Elisha saves men who ate poison and meals feed 100 during famine through Elisha
Some men ate poison and Elisha brought some flour and threw it in the pot and said go ahead and eat it. They ate it and weren’t harmed. Then one day a man brought a fresh sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest as an offering to God. There were over 100 people and Elisha said, go ahead and give it to the people to eat. The man said this is only enough for a small group of people, not 100. Elisha said give to the people for this is what the Lord says: Everyone will eat, and there will be some left over. And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the Lord had promised. (2 Kings 4)
Lesson: Just like the lesson above, God took something small and make it not only enough but much more, with plenty left over. God not only provids what we need but also gives us abundance to remind us he’s the God of plenty. When we walk with him, we will lack for nothing for he is with us. And one recurring theme from all these miracles is God doesn’t provide everything. We must bring something to the table. But he’ll take what we bring and turn it into something much more. So always bring something to the table, be it a flask of olive oil or a sack of grain, and when we give something for God to use, he’ll multiply it.
– The Floating Ax Head through Elisha – One day the prophets met with Elisha and said this place we meet with you is too small. Let’s do down to the Jordan river and get some logs so we can build a new place for us. Elisha agreed and went with them. When they arrived, one of them was cutting a tree and the ax head fell in. The man cried, on that was a borrowed ax. Elisha asked where did it fall in? The man showed him the place. Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at the spot where the men pointed out. Then the ax head floated to the surface. Grab it, Elisha added and the man, in amazement, grabbled the floating ax head.
Lesson: This was a miracle God did in just the daily task of prophets trying to build a bigger place to serve the Lord. A heavy ax head defied the natural law of sinking to the bottom of the river by floating to the top of the river. God gives us these miracles to show us he’s here to help us. He is always there. He doesn’t forsake us. Even in the mundane tasks, he shows up to show us what a magnificent, all-powerful, ever-present God he is.
We’ll continue with part 2 of more Elisha miracles on our next lesson. But I hope through this lesson you see what a wonderful God we have. He not only provides, but there’s always plenty left over. It’s all measured based on our faith. The stronger the faith, the more he does life with us. And just like Elijah and Elisha, he performs miracles to show we are the exception to his rules so we can glorify him. The greatest honor in life would be to be a servant of God, like Elijah and Elisha. If all you do in life is serve God and do his will, you’ve lived a full life.
Till the next adventure! 🙂
Daddy Loves you!
Love,
Daddy
7/5/25