29 Sept. 2 Kings 2:19-22,4:1-7

29 Sept.  Elisha performs miraculous deeds

“The people of the city [Jericho] said to Elisha, ‘Look, master, this city is a nice place to live as you can see. But the water is so bad the land cannot grow crops.’”

“Elisha said, ‘Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.’ So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt in it.”

“He said, ‘This is what the LORD says: “I have healed this water. From now on it won’t cause death, and it won’t keep the land from growing crops.”’ So the water has been healed to this day just as Elisha had said.”

          (2 Kings 2:19-22)

“The wife of a man from the groups of prophets said to Elisha, ‘Your servant, my husband, is dead. You know he honoured the LORD. But now the man he owes money to is coming to take my two boys as his slaves!’”

“Elisha answered, ‘How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?’ The woman said, ‘I don’t have anything there except a pot of oil.’”

“Then Elisha said, ‘Go and get empty jars from all your neighbours. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go into your house and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and set the full ones aside.’”

“So she left Elisha and shut the door behind her and her sons. As they brought the jars to her, she poured out the oil. When the jars were all full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another jar.’ But he said, ‘There are no more jars.’ Then the oil stopped flowing.”

“She went and told Elisha. And the prophet said to her, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay what you owe. You and your sons can live on what is left.’”

          (2 Kings 4:1-7)

 

 

When Elijah was taken up to heaven, he bestowed on Elisha a double share of his spirit (see 2 Kings 2:9-10). During his ensuing ministry, Elisha went on to perform twice as many miracles as Elijah.

The first of these miracles occurred at Jericho as Elisha made his way back from ‘Elijah’s Hill’ to Bethel. When he was staying in Jericho, the people of the city approached him with a problem. While the city was a pleasant place to live, the water supply from the spring was so bitter that it was difficult to grow crops.

Elisha put some salt into a bowl and sprinkled the salt into the water. This miraculously purified the water, “So the water has been healed to this day.” (2 Kings 2:22)

The second miracle occurred shortly afterwards. The widow of one of the group of prophets in this area told Elisha of her distress: Her husband had died, and the man to whom he owed money was now threatening to take her two sons as slaves in payment of the debt.

Elisha asked the woman what resources she possessed. Having discovered that a jar of olive oil was all she had, he miraculously multiplied the last remains of the widow’s oil supply so she could sell the excess oil to pay her debts.

The photo (by Tamar Hayardeni) shows ‘Elisha's Fountain’ at Jericho, thought to be the site of the spring that Elisha miraculously purified.

You can read more about Elisha @ https://thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/32-the-divided-kingdom-amp-journey-into-exile/elisha-performs-miracles-and-healings/

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