Day 24

A man from the group of prophets died and his wife went to find Elisha. The men her husband was in debt to wanted to take their children to repay the debt. Elisha told the widow to borrow as many jugs and bowls as she could from her neighbors. She was to lock the door to her house and secure her sons safety then pour what little oil she had into ALL the jugs. When a jug was full, it was to be set aside. The oil was free flowing and she had enough to fill all the containers. When the widow told Elisha what happened, he instructed her to sell the oil to get out of debt then use the rest of the $ for her family.

Elisha had a meal with a woman and her husband in the town of Shumen. This became a tradition, which happened so frequently a small room was added for Elisha to stay in. Gehazi, Elisha's servant, summoned the Shunammite woman so Elisha could ask her if he could report anything back to the king or the army commander. She refused the offer and said there was nothing to report. Even though her husband was an old man, Elisha told her she'd become pregnant and the woman conceived a son. While the boy's father was working in the fields, the boy complained about his head hurting. A servant carried him to his mother and he died in her lap. She then laid him on Elisha's bed and left then traveled all the way to Mt. Carmel to find Elisha. He had no idea what was going on with her son and ordered Gehazi to grab his staff and go as fsast as he could to the woman's home. He was to lay the staff across the boy's face. Gehazi returned stating the boy hadn't stirred at all. Elisha went to Shunem and went alone to the room and prayed to God. He then climbed in bed with the dead boy and covered him with his body. Warmth entered the boy's body. Elisha paced the room then got back in bed. The boy sneezed 7 times and opened his eyes. He called for the mother and she was in awe of what he did.

The people of Gilgal were in the midst of a famine. While Elisha met with the prophets, he told his servant to make some stew. One man picked gourds from a wild vine in the field and put them in the stew. No one knew what plant it had come from. The prophets began to eat the stew, but cried out, "Death in a pot, O man of God! Death in a pot!" The stew was inedible. Elisha threw some meal into the stew and served it up for it was ok to eat. A man from Baal Shalishah brought Elisha 20 loaves of fresh bread and a few apples. His servant went to feed the 100 men but there wasn't enough food to go around. Elisha assured him God said there was plenty and they ate to their fill and even had leftovers!

The army general under the king of Aram was named Naaman. He was a truly honorable man and the king had great favor for him b/c God had used Naaman for their victory. He took a young wife he found when they raided Israel. Unfortunately, he had leprosy and his skin was white as snow (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Leprosy). His wife told a confidant that she wished her husband could see the prophet in Samaria and be healed. The king of Aram allowed Naaman to travel to Samaria and gave him 750 lbs of silver, 50 lbs of gold, and 10 sets of clothes. He even wrote a letter to the king of Israel, which was delivered by Naaman. The letter said, "When you get this letter, you'll know that I've personally sent my servant Naaman to you, heal him of his skin disease." The king of Israel ripped his robe to pieces because he was upset about the letter. He knew he couldn't possibly heal the man. Elisha heard what happened and sent word to the king asking why he was so upset. He told the king of Israel to send Naaman his way. Slisha's servant greeted Naaman and told him to go the Jordan River and immerse himself 7x and he'd be healed. This ticked Naaman off and was annoyed that Elisha wasn't there to pray to God for his healing. He said the rivers in Damascus were much more sanitary than the ones in Israel. As he went to storm off, Naaman's servant caught up with him and urged him to listen to Elisha's servant. He sucked it up and immersed himself and was healed. Naaman went with his servants back to Elisha saying he wasn't doubtful there was a God anywhere like the one of Israel. Elisha refused the gift Naaman wanted to give him as a token of his gratitude. Naaman asked him for a load of dirt because he was never again going to worship false gods. When the king of Aram entered the shrines of Rimmon with him, may God forgive him. Elisha told him to go in peace. Gehazi took off after Naaman because he left without saying thank you. The two men met and Gehazi fabricated a lie about how Elisha sent him to Naaman because two brothers, who were prophets in Ephraim, showed up. He suggested Naaman give them 75 lbs of silver and a few changes of clothes as a gift. Naaman insisted on 150 lbs along with the clothes and 2 servants. Gehazi left and stored the gifts in a fort and sent the servants packing. Elisha asked what Gehazi was up to and he said nothing much. Fortunately, Elisha knew exactly what he did and told him Naaman's skin disease would plague him and his family because of what he did.