2 Kings 4: The miracles of Elisha

Synopsis:

Miracle 1: A woman whose husband has died is worried her sons will be taken as bondsmen to pay off her late husband’s death. So Elisha has her gather all the empty vessels she could find. She poured the little oil she had into the vessels until they were all full, then she sold all the oil and was able to pay off the debt.

Miracle 2: A woman puts out bread and provides shelter for Elisha every time he passes through her town of Shunam. He asks what he can do. She wants a son. She got pregnant, had the son, but when he was grown, he got sick. She put him on Elisha’s bed and went to go find Elisha. He sent his servant Gehazi to put his staff on the child. But the child did not wake up. So Elisha went. He put his mouth upon the child’s mouth his eyes upon his yes and his hands upon his hands and stretched himself up on the child. He got up, walked about and did it again. The child sneezes 7 times and opened his eyes.

Miracle 3: Elisha makes porrage for the people of Gilgal, but they are afraid it is poisonous. So they add meal to it and everyone ate and no one died.

Miracle 4:  A man brought first fruits, 20 loaves of barley and corn. Elisha said give it to the people. The man didn’t think it was enough, but everyone was able to eat and there was some left over.

In other words:

Elisha performs a series of miracles.

Favorite bit:

Miracle 2: 2 Kings 4:8-37  I love that he did mouth to mouth and used his body to warm up the “dead” kid.

Least favorite bit:

Miracle 3: 2 Kings 4:38-41 – The problem was a guy they didn’t know had put vines and goards into the pottage and it tasted funny when they went to eat it, so they added meal to make it taste better. There is no guarantee this was a miracle.

Moral Lesson Learned:

You never know what you can accomplish if you try. 2 Kings 4)