Day 181 – Elisha & the Ditches

• Today, especially in the second passage, we have a glimpse into many of the miracles that God worked through the prophet Elisha. Remember that Elisha asked for a “double portion” for his ministry from God on day 179? We certainly see that in use today!
• If you’ve got an ESV bible, you may have noticed that 2 Kings 3:1 lists “Jehoram, son of Ahab” as the new king of Israel. This doesn’t seem to match up – wasn’t Jehoram king in Judah, and wasn’t his father Jehoshaphat? Yes – this is a different Jehoram. To complicate things, the NIV refers to him as Joram, as does my “kings timeline” image I shared a week or so ago, so I’m going to refer to this new king as Joram.
• We’ve already read that Jehoshaphat had been told off for being too close to king Ahab (day 176). Here we can see he also had a relationship with King Joram. Look at 2 Kings 3:13-14. Elisha had little time for evil Joram, but nevertheless helped him (i.e. through the provision of the water) because of Joram’s relationship with Jehoshaphat. Joram benefited because of who he knew. Jehoshaphat was effectively his mediator. Can you think of a situation where we get unmerited grace because of the actions of a “mediator”? In our messed up, sin-filled state God could not look at us, but He treats us with mercy and compassion because we have an unbreakable connection to Jesus.
• How did God save Jehoshaphat and Joram from the Moabites? Picture the scene! It’s vividly described, isn’t it?
• In 2 Kings 4 we read of a number of miracles. Throughout this chapter, Elisha is often referred to as the “man of God”.
• How did God work a miracle for the woman with the oil (2 Kings 4:1-7)?
• How did the Shunammite woman provide for Elisha (2 Kings 4:8-17)? Did she expect anything in return? What did she get? Do you know someone who goes the extra mile to be hospitable to others?
• God gave the woman a child, but as you’ll have read, later allowed him to die. Why do you think God let this happen? What kind of faith did the woman show after he died?
• What saved the boy? Was it Elisha’s staff, or Elisha’s prayer?
• We read a well known story in the New Testament today of another miracle. It, too, was performed by an even greater “man of God”! How is it similar to the story of the oil, and how is it greater?

It was interesting to me how John the Baptist was described as “Elijah”, preparing the way for the Lord. Elijah, when he actually lived, preceded Elisha. Elisha did many miracles (including raising the dead and the miracles of food) which were mirrored, in a greater way, by Jesus.