here<\/a> . (Scroll down to read the entire discussion, which occurs across several comments.) You may wish to begin there. There are several possible explanations, though perhaps none of them is satisfactory to us: Most commentators agree that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153little children\u00e2\u20ac? were probably young men. A rabbi has said that the Hebrew word used here means they were \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bare of Divine commandments,\u00e2\u20ac? in other words, they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t practice their religion. Some suggest that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bald head\u00e2\u20ac? was an obscene remark, making fun of the fact that prophet was circumcised. Others say that the prophets may have shaved their heads (like some medieval monks did) as a mark of their office. In that case, the young men are making fun of Elisha as a prophet. Still others suggest that the young men are comparing Elisha (who is bald, and baldness was considered a disgrace) with Elijah (who was hairy). \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Go up\u00e2\u20ac? probably means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re Elijah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s successor as prophet, prove it by going up as he did.\u00e2\u20ac? However we interpret this passage, it is clear that these young men are questioning Elisha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s status as prophet. Often, when we hear people repeat this story, we hear them say that the bear killed the young men. However, notice that the verse does not say she killed them. However, I don’t think there is any completely satisfactory explanation of this story. It is one of the stories that many of us will have to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153put on the shelf\u00e2\u20ac? as something we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand. <\/p>\nChapters 3-4<\/i><\/p>\n
These chapters are not part of the reading assignment, but looking at them helps us understand Elisha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story as a whole. In them, Elisha becomes the ally of the king and saves Israel from the Moabites (chapter 3). He also becomes known as a man of miracles as he multiplies a widow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s oil, raises a child from death, renders poisonous food harmless, and multiplies food for a multitude (chapter 4).<\/p>\n
A high proportion of the stories of Elijah and Elisha are about the miracles they each performed. Why do you think that is so? Why are their miracles important to us? Why are any<\/i> miracle stories important to us? What function do they serve? <\/p>\n
Chapter 5<\/i><\/p>\n
As you read this chapter, ask yourself what lesson Jesus draws from the story (Luke 4:23-27)? Is there a message for our day in it? <\/p>\n
Naaman commanded the armies of the king of Aram, Ben-Hadad II (860-841 B.C.). Evidently leprosy was not subject to the same restrictions in Syria that it was in Israel. Otherwise Naaman could not have held such a high post. (It is unclear to what disease the word “leprosy” refers. It was almost certainly not what we call leprosy or Hansen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disease.) <\/p>\n
Verses 1-3: Why does the Bible say that the Lord had given Aram victory over Israel? How does a Syrian general, commander of Israel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frequent enemy, find out about Elisha (vss. 1-5)? Given what Jesus says in Luke 4:27, that no leper was healed in Israel during Elisha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time, how could the slave girl have know that Elisha could heal Naaman? <\/p>\n
Verses 4-7: Why does the king of Aram send so many riches (about 750 pounds of silver and about 150 pounds of gold, as well as 10 changes of clothing) to the king of Israel? Why is the king of Israel, Jehoram, upset at receiving the letter and riches from the king of Aram? Why does he distrust the tribute? <\/p>\n
Verses 8-9: Why is it important that Naaman \u00e2\u20ac\u0153know that there is a prophet in Israel\u00e2\u20ac??<\/p>\n
Verses 10-14: What are Elisha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s instructions to Naaman? Why doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Elisha bother to come out of his house to deliver those instructions? What is Naaman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction to this? How natural is that response? In other words, is this behavior something that we would expect from one in Naaman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s position? How is Naaman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction like that of the Israelites in the wilderness when Moses lifted up the serpent during the plague of the poisonous serpents? What advice do his servants give him? What do you What do you think God wants us to learn from Naaman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience? <\/p>\n
Verses 15-16: How does Naaman wish to reward Elisha? And what is Elisha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s response? <\/p>\n
Verses 17-19: What does Naaman covenant to do when he returns to Syria? Why would he ask for Israelite soil? What does this tell us about the non-Israelite concept of gods at this time\u00e2\u20ac\u201ddoes Naaman think that the soil of the land is connected to the gods of the land? Do we do anything like what we see Naaman doing here? How does Naaman justify continuing to worship with the Syrian king? Does Elisha excuse him for intending to do so? <\/p>\n
Verses 20-27: What mistake does Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, make? Why might he do that? What is his punishment for his greed? <\/p>\n
Chapter 6<\/i><\/p>\n
Verses 1-6: What leads to the loss of the axe head, and what miracle is associated with it? The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sons of the prophets\u00e2\u20ac? were putting a beam into place when they lost the axe. What kind and quality of accommodation can you make to live in with only one beam? What does that tell us about the people who followed Elisha? How might the quality of dwellings they were making help us understand the workman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s distress at losing his axe head? Why does it matter that it was borrowed? How might the sons of the prophets have understood this miracle symbolically? Why do you think that the chronicler of Israelite history thought it was important to tell this story? Why might God have intervened over what seems to be a very trivial matter? How do we reconcile a belief that God will intervene in such trivial matters with the fact the he often does not help those who are in dire need? How might this miracle prefigure miracles in the life of Christ?<\/p>\n
Verses 8-17: What does Elisha mean by the phrase \u00e2\u20ac\u0153they that be with us are more than they that be with them\u00e2\u20ac?? What lesson is here for us?<\/p>\n
Verse 18-21: What miracle does Elisha perform against the army sent against him? How does he bring the entire Syrian army to the mercy of the king of Israel? Notice how the attitude of the king has changed toward Elisha as he calls him \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My father.\u00e2\u20ac? <\/p>\n
Verses 22-23: What do you make of Elisha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s treatment of Israel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enemies? What does this tell us about Elisha? How is Elisha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s statement like the Savior\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s statement in the Sermon on the Mount about loving one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enemies, and his statement of forgiveness on the cross? What effect did it have? (Apparently the effect was short-lived. Note verse 24). <\/p>\n
Verses 24-25: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dove\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dung\u00e2\u20ac? is probably incorrect. Given the nitrate content of fowl manure, it is highly unlikely that people ate it, even during an extreme famine. The Hebrew word should probably be translated \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Star of Bethlehem,\u00e2\u20ac? a bulbed plant that the poor often ate for food. <\/p>\n
Verses 26-31: See Deuteronomy 28:56-57; Lamentations 2:20; 4:10; and Ezra 5:10 for other cases where people ate human flesh during a siege. (See also Leviticus 226:29 and Deuteronomy 28:53ff. for prophecies that this would happen.) How is this story like the story of the women who come to Solomon to settle their dispute over their children (1 Kings 3:16-27)? How is this story different? What does this king\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s response to the woman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story tell us about his character? How does he come off in comparison with Solomon? Why is he angry with Elisha? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lesson 29: 2 Kings 2, 5-6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corn","category-lessons-all"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}