This week, we shall continue to study
the book of 2 Kings in the Old Testament.
(1) Perhaps, Ahaziah did not have sons or they were too young at his death, and so his brother, Joram succeeded him:
a. Why would Joram dare to get rid of Baal worship, especially while his mother, Jezebel was still alive?
b. Why did he not get rid of the worship of the golden-calves as well? What was the biblical verdict about him?
(2) Since the death of Ahab and in the time of Ahaziah, Moab had already begun their revolt (1:1):
a. What reason, implied here, was their revolt due to?
b. What was Joram’s plan?
(3) Should Jehoshaphat join hands with Joram? Why or why not? (1 Ki. 22:2; 2 Chr. 19:1-3)
(4) Do you think Jehoshaphat did enquire of the Lord? (refer to 3:13; 2 Chr. 20:3)
(5) Presumably, the water source that they expected to depend on had dried up unexpectedly:
a. Why did Joram blame God for their plight?
b. Did this show that Joram was, after all, a believer of the Lord? Why or why not?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.” (2 Ki. 3:2-3)
Joram was quite unique among the kings of Israel. For one he was the son of Ahab, one of the most notorious and evil kings in the history of Israel whose apostasy was made even more heinous by his wife, Jezebel, who was likely instrumental in bringing Baal worship into Israel (1 Ki. 16:31) and yet Joram dared to get rid of the sacred stone of Baal, the pillar that Ahab erected in Samaria, while his mother, Jezebel was still alive (2 Ki. 9).
One would assume that Joram would return to the worship of the Lord and be one of the rare kings of Israel who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. However, the Bible says, that he “did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done… Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.” (2 Ki. 3:2-3)
If Joram was so determined to return to the Lord and get rid of the worship of Baal in Israel, why would he not get rid of the golden calves set up by Jeroboam which were just as despicable in the eyes of the Lord? Perhaps, Joram thought that a “half conversion” would suffice. As it turned out, there is no such thing as a “half-conversion” to the Lord. One has to renounce all forms of idols, visible or invisible, and believe in the Lord in order to be saved and be acceptable to the Lord. The rich young ruler in Mark 10 was a case in point, as he left sadly because he could not leave his idol — wealth (Mk. 10:22).
I was sharing the gospel with a Chinese lady just a week or two ago and she listened gladly to my sharing of the gospel. However, when she was contemplating the reception of Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, she asked, “I cannot believe in Christ and worship my Chinese traditional gods, right?”. At my affirmation in this respect, she was reluctant to give up her idols. In a sense, she had more integrity than Joram who thought getting rid of the “major” idol, Baal, in Israel was enough. As it turned out, all idols are despicable to the Lord and he was still “evil in the eyes of the Lord”.
(1) Why did Elisha pick on the king of Israel? (v. 13)
(2) Why did the king of Israel insist that the battle was the will of God?
(3) How should Joram feel and what should he do at the rebuke of Elisha? (vv. 13-14)
(4) Based on 1 Samuel 16:16, Keil & Delitzsch explains Elisha’s sending for a harpist was “to collect his mind from the impressions of the outer world by the soft tones of the instrument, and by subduing the self-life and life in the external world to become absorbed in the intuition of divine things” (K&D, 215). What do you think about this comment?
(5) How serious was the plight of the army of the three kings? (v. 17)
(6) What two promises were made by the Lord?
(7) Why was one called easier than the other one? (v. 18)
(8) How quickly was the first promise fulfilled? What might be the significance of the timing being “about the time for offering the (morning) sacrifice” at the temple in Jerusalem?
(9) How did God fulfill the second promise? (vv. 24-25)
(10) Why did the king of Moab offer his firstborn son as a sacrifice?
(11) Why was there fury against Israel? Whose fury was it? (see Lev. 18:21; 20:3)
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The fury against Israel was great; they withdrew and returned to their own land.” (2 Ki. 3:27)
It appears that Elisha did confirm the claim by Joram that this battle by the three kings against Moab was called by the Lord (3:13). That possibly also means Jehoshaphat had likely consulted the Lord first before agreeing to go to battle with the king of Israel, because he had learned his lesson at the rebuke of Jehu, the prophet (2 Chr. 19:1-3) and from then onward, he was “resolved to inquire of the Lord” in matters of war (2 Chr. 20:3).
However, as much as the Lord had called them to this battle and even promised them a sweeping victory, the mandate seemed to be bringing Moab back into submission to Israel only, and not the wiping out of every Moabite, meaning God had not meant them to commit genocide. This appeared to be their intention, as they forced the king of Moab into sacrificing his first-born son as a last attempt to free himself and his men.
The word “fury” according to K&D, “is used of the divine wrath or judgment”, and thus indicates God’s displeasure not only with the act of the king of Moab but also with Israel’s desire to wipe out the Moabites leading to such an act of atrocity that was clearly abhorred by the Lord (Lev. 18:21; 20:3).
While many people like to label the Lord of the Old Testament as a violent God who is bent on exterminating people, nothing can be further from the truth, and this was just one of many examples of a God who truly values the lives of human beings whom He has created in His own image, to the point that He eventually gave His own Begotten Son to die for their sins (Jn. 3:16).
The spotlight now reverts back to Elisha, the prophet:
4:1-7—The Plight of the Widow and Orphans of a Prophet
(1) How does this story reflect the life of a prophet at the time of Elisha? (vv. 1-2)
(2) Why would God allow those who serve Him to live in poverty?
(3) What did Elisha ask the widow to do?
(4) How would you react to such words by Elisha?
(5) What did the widow do? And what does this say about her?
(6) What lesson(s) might you have learned from this incident?
4:8-17—The Hospitality of a Godly Woman
(7) How did this mother view what God had given her by her treatment of Elisha? How did it echo the teaching in Ephesians 4:28?
(8) How did this woman demonstrate her thoughtfulness in meeting the needs of Elisha? (4:10)
(9) Why did Elisha think of doing something for this woman? How influential was Elisha given his offer to the woman?
(10) What was the meaning of her answer? (v. 13)
(11) What did Gehazi mean by the words he spoke on behalf of the woman? (v. 14)
(12) Have you noticed how the conversation between Elisha and the woman took place? What do you think was the reason?
(13) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“She said to her husband, 'I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us'.” 2 Ki. 4:9-10)
Hospitality is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:13), and this woman in Shunem set a great example in this respect in these ways:
- She was mindful of the needs of others: She knew that Elisha, as a servant of the Lord needed to travel very often, and often under less than ideal weather and conditions. The need to have a restful night and a quiet place to pray was important to Elisha.
- She understands their wealth was given by God for a purpose: Just as the Apostle Paul teaches us that part of the reason why God gives us wealth is so that we “may have something to share with those in need” (Eph. 4:28). Her subsequent answer to Elisha’s offer to do something for her showed that she was a very content person, and she understood that God had given them wealth so that she could take care of God’s servants.
- She respected her husband: She knew her place in the family, and she did not just go ahead with her idea, but first shared it with her husband, and did so with his consent.
- She also showed great respect to God’s servant by only communicating through Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, fully demonstrating propriety and respect, leaving no room for gossip.
What an example of a hospitality and godliness!
We have no idea what kind of illness the child died of, maybe from sunstroke, but it was certainly sudden and unexpected:
(1) What might go through the mind of this mother at the time of her son’s sudden death?
(2) Why did she put the child on the bed of Elisha and then go to fetch Elisha?
(3) Why did she not tell her husband?
(4) What did she say to Elisha? (v. 28) What did she mean?
(5) What did Elisha ask his servant to do? (v. 29)
(6) Why didn’t he go himself?
(7) Did his staff save the boy?
(8) What did Elisha do upon entering the house?
(9) Why did it take his prayers and his twice lying over the boy before he was brought back to life?
(10) What did this mean to Elisha himself?
(11) What did this incident mean to the woman? (v. 37)
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.” (2 Ki. 4:35)
Personally, I do think that the “double portion” of the spirit of Elijah given to Elisha was amply demonstrated in the many more miracles performed by Elisha than by Elijah recorded in the Bible. It is perhaps because of this very fact that Elisha had to be reminded from time to time, that it was not really his spirit that could perform any miracle, but the very Spirit Himself. This incident of the death and resurrection of the child was a case in point.
First, he was not even aware of the death of the child and so he said to his servant Gehazi, “but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why” (4:27). The implication appears to be that Elisha did expect God to tell him in advance all the time about important matters like this.
Then, whether his instinct told him to ask Gehazi to put the staff on the boy’s face, or he felt led by the Spirit of God to do so, it turned out that to his disappointment, it did not work.
Then we find him having to shut the door and pray first. In other words, he felt the need to clearly seek God’s direction before he would do anything further. This had to be a humbling experience for Elisha who might have taken his “double-portion” spirit for granted.
Then, I am sure, he was now clearly directed by the Lord to lie himself over the boy, and yet he had to do it twice before the boy was restored to his life.
Therefore, I believe that, as much as this miracle was meant to build up the faith of the woman, it was also meant to remind Elisha that even with the promised double-portion of Elijah’s spirit, the power was not his, but God’s!
I think it is also a good reminder to us today that as we share the gospel, we can only do our part to pray and to share responsibly the complete gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, repentance and faith can only come from the work of the Holy Spirit, not our persuasion.
While the spotlight continues to be on Elisha, the various events recorded concerning the school of prophets appear to tell us that these prophets were living in relative poverty:
4:38-41—Bitterness in the Food
(1) Gilgal was a seat for a school of prophets (2:1), and Elisha likely “returned” to reside there for a time: What was the particular situation faced by these prophets at the time?
(2) What did Elisha decide to do for them?
(3) “Death in the pot” probably means that it was very bitter; what was the cause of this bitterness?
(4) If there was no famine and they were not poor, what would they be eating normally?
(5) How did Elisha solve their problem?
(6) Was there any meaning to this miracle to them? What about us?
4:42-44—Feeding of a Hundred (Note: Baal Shalishah is west of Gilgal.)
(7) Again, what does this tell us about the plight of the prophets?
(8) What did this offering of bread baked from the first ripe grain by the man represent? (Prov. 3:9-10; Lev. 23:17)
(9) Did Elisha know that 20 loaves would not be sufficient to feed his fellow prophets when he directed his servant?
(10) What did the Lord tell Elisha in advance?
(11) How would you compare this miracle to the miracles of Jesus in John 6:1-13?
(12) The crowd that Jesus fed obviously knew this miracle of Elisha in the Old Testament, how might they think of Jesus because of His miracle? (Jn. 6:14)
(13) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“We have left everything to follow you.” (Mk. 10:28)
After Elijah was taken up to heaven, Elisha became the focal point of the prophetic ministry in the northern kingdom, Israel. But unlike the accounts surrounding Elijah, Elisha’s ministry was often mentioned in the context of a certain group or school of prophets, and from these accounts, we have come to understand that these prophets were living in almost abject poverty.
The earlier account of the death of a prophet who left behind his wife and two sons (who were almost forced to be sold into slavery) appeared not to be an isolated incident (2 Ki. 4:1). The stories of the bitter pot of stew and the feeding of a hundred prophets who appeared to be starving also indicated their relative poverty. The subsequent story of the panic over the lost borrowed axe in chapter six highlights their inability to even repay such an item (6:5). One wonders why God would allow those who “have left everything to follow” Him to be in want all the time? (Mk. 10:28).
Apart from the obvious fact that those who have left everything to follow Him have all made a decision to live by faith, being in want from time to time comes with a life of faith. However, whether it was the miracle of the oil, the turning of the bitter stew into edible food, the feeding of a hundred or the miraculous finding of the lost axe (2 Ki. 4:7, 41, 44; 6:7), they all proved the faithfulness of the Lord. And thus, the Psalmist concludes, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread” (Ps. 37:25).
(1) With the constant conflict between Israel and Aram, how would the people of Israel, including their prophets look upon a person like Naaman?
(2) Why was the girl so confident that Elisha could heal her master?
(3) What was the reaction of the king of Israel (Joram) to the letter from the king of Aram?
(4) Why was his reaction so different from that of the Israeli servant girl?
(5) What did Naaman expect Elisha to do in order to heal him? Was his expectation logical? Why or why not?
(6) Why didn’t Elisha do what was normally expected?
(7) What lesson can we learn about the "ways” of the Lord in performing His miraculous works?
(8) What was the advice of Naaman’s servant?
(9) What was the wisdom in his advice?
(10) What happened when Naaman did the less than spectacular act of simply dipping in the Jordan seven times?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” (2 Ki. 5:13)
Unknowingly, we always associate the work of God with the spectacular, or we would not attribute it as the work of God or a miracle. This is indeed a common misconception among people, including Christians. Naaman was no exception.
For one, we have to admire his faith in the Lord God of Israel. He was acting on the words of an Israeli maidservant, and no doubt, he had also asked around about the past history of Elisha. Whatever he had heard had given him confidence that his leprosy could be healed by the God of Elisha. His getting permission from his king, the bearing of not only great gifts but a letter from the king, all pointed to his faith in the God of Elisha.
However, for whatever reason, he thought that such a miraculous deed of healing had to be accompanied by pomp and circumstance, or in his words, he thought, Elisha “would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy” (2 Ki. 5:11). As a result, he was offended by both the refusal of Elisha to greet him personally and his less-than-spectacular way of healing. Fortunately, it was his wise servant who understood the ways of the Lord and explained to him the essence of God’s work — it is never the means but our faith and obedience in Him and His power that matters!
I suggest that we should look around even today, and observe the miraculous deeds of God around us — the rising of the sun, the birth of a child, the blooming of flowers in our backyard, our recovery from the flu, and yes, the breath that we still have today — all are the miraculous deeds of God.
(1) What did this less-than-spectacular healing mean to Naaman and all his attendants?
(2) From hindsight, was Naaman’s sickness a blessing or a curse? Why?
(3) What gifts had Naaman brought with him? (5:5)
(4) Why didn’t Elisha accept Naaman’s gifts?
(5) Should he not accept them, at least for the sake of the other prophets, because they were really poor?
(6) What if Elisha accepted those gifts? What impact might it have on Naaman or his attendants?
(7) What did Naaman wish to take home with him? Why? (v. 17)
(8) Now that Naaman knew that “there is no God in all the world except in Israel”, what dilemma did he face? How did he propose to resolve it?
(9) What was Elisha’s response to his proposal?
(10) What important lesson do we learn from Elisha’s response?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“‘As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.’ And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.” (2 Ki. 5:16)
Naaman had brought with him a huge amount of gold and silver as gifts to Elisha, plus ten sets of obviously expensive clothing in keeping with Naaman’s extraordinary position as the commander of the army of Aram (5:5). It is understandable that Elisha would refuse to accept these gifts — he was a man of integrity and he served the Lord not for money or wealth. However, given the abject poverty of the prophets around him, should he not accept those gifts, after Naaman had to be a God-send to alleviate their poverty in a significant way. In today’s economy, he could have used the money to set up a trust and provide for the prophets and their families out of it for a long, long time!
Yet, Elisha flatly refused — not because he did not care about the other prophets, but because of a very important reason. Naaman and his attendants were gentiles who used to worship other gods. Now, through the miraculous healing they had just begun their faith journey in knowing that “there is no God in all the world except in Israel” (5:15). However, if Elisha accepted these exuberant gifts, Naaman, if not his attendants, would think that Elisha and his other prophets were no different from the priests of their gods — they were in it for the money! Since they had just begun to know that Yahweh was the only true God, they would, as a result, think that Yahweh would not be any different from their gods — like servants, like God!
I once was offered a huge sum of money by one of the richest men in Hong Kong to officiate a funeral service for his wife because as a non-believer himself, he “sensed” that the God of Christianity was probably the true God. I still conducted the funeral in strict Christian tradition and took the opportunity to share the gospel for all to hear, but I did not take a dime from him, basically learning from the example of Elisha, lest this gentleman think that God’s servants were just like the priests or monks of pagan religions!