Day 180 – Elisha & Elijah

• Elijah has been busy at work in the last week of our readings, but today we say goodbye to him as he passes the job of “the prophet to the kings” to his successor, Elisha.
• Several times Elijah tried to leave Elisha behind in today’s passage from 2 Kings 2. Why do you think this is? Did Elisha know what was about to happen?
• What did the new man, Elisha, ask of Elijah in 2 Kings 2:9-10? Why do you think he asked for this? Was it a good thing to ask for?
• How do you think Elisha knew if God had given him what he asked for?
• Did Elijah die? What happened instead? Do you remember someone we’ve already read about who didn’t die? Can you imagine what the scene looked like?
• After Elijah leaves, Elisha performs several miraculous acts in this chapter alone. What were they?
• The final story in our Old Testament reading today (about the bears) was, once upon a time when I was a mischievous youngster, one of my favourite passages. I considered it rather (darkly) humorous, despite the brutal events. What do you think when you read it? Does it seem harsh? How does your study bible notes help you to understand this story better, if you have one? Can you imagine that Elisha might have been quite scared at the large gathering of unruly boys?
• We see Elijah’s name several times in the New Testament, including in both of today’s other passages. We see him appear during the Transfiguration, which we read in the passage in Matthew. We’ll read about this event later in the reading plan; it was a special one-off event which showed people that Jesus was God’s chosen King. Elijah “appeared”, along with Moses, to point out that the prophets (Elijah) and the Law (Moses) all point directly to Jesus.
• Elijah also “appeared” in the form of John the Baptist. John isn’t literally Elijah, as he says in the passage in John, but take a look at Matthew 11:12-14 and Malachi 4:5 to get an understanding about how John prepared the way for Jesus. We’ll also read these passages in the New Testament again later in the year.

We’re starting to work through 2 Kings, so here’s a little info video which will help prepare you for the studies to come. It’s easy for 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, to get rather mixed up in your head, so the video might help you to focus on the major events we’re about to read of.

Make sure that you have a good basic understanding of Elijah as we leave his story today. The way that John the Baptist had to deny he was Elijah, and the importance of the events of the Transfiguration (in Matthew 17) should show you his influence as a figure in Israel’s history, both in what he did during his life and the way he was remembered after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym2z6MNhNuU