Elisha and the Shunammite’s Son

2 Kings 4:18-37

March 8, 2015

The children will understand:

  • The story of Elisha restoring life to the Shunammite woman’s son.
  • Elisha had compassion for the determined Shunammite woman.
  • That we should be compassionate people who do what we can to help others.

Game

Supplies:

empty 2-liter bottles

You will need 5 empty 2-liter bottles. Lay these on their sides at one end of the room and position one child by each bottle. Divide all the other kids evenly into 5 teams and place them at the other end of the room. (Feel free to change the number according to how many kids you have.) Each team is assigned a bottle.

At the signal, one person from each team will run to their bottle and stomp on it, right in the middle across the label, and then return to their team. (Do NOT stomp the length of the bottle, but go across it sideways.) The bottle will collapse under the stomp. The kid stationed at the bottle will bend over and blow into the bottle to re-inflate it while the player returns to their team. That player will tag the next team member who will run to the bottle and stomp on it. As soon as the bottle collapses, that team member will return to the team while the kid stationed at the bottle re-inflates it, again. Continue doing this until all the kids have had a turn (or as many turns as you like). Make sure that the same kid is re-inflating each bottle.

That was a lot of work to blow life back into those bottles. Today, we’re going to learn about a man named Elisha, and how God used Elisha to breathe life back into a boy from Shunem. Let’s listen, I believe I hear Elisha coming… (Elisha enters the room.)

Bible Account

Supplies:

biblical costume

staff

The actor portraying Elisha will be dressed in biblical attire and will be holding a staff. He’ll enter and begin speaking to the children. The Elisha actor will tell this story in first person.

Oh, hello there, boys and girls. My name is Elisha, and I’m a prophet of God. Being a prophet means that God gives me messages to give to His people. I was just thinking about an amazing time in my life when God used me to heal a Shunammite’s son. Oh, I see the question marks on your faces … what’s a Shunammite? A Shunammite is someone who came from Shunem, which is the name of a small town.

A very special family to me lived in Shunem. Whenever I visited that little town, this family gave me and my servant food and shelter.(He smiles as he thinks about them.) They even built a room on the roof of their house for me! Isn’t that incredible! They wanted me to feel so at home when I was with them that they built me my very own room. This man and woman were so unbelievably generous and kind. There was one thing, though, that brought sadness into their lives. They had no children, and they were getting up in years—the grey hair was showing, if you know what I mean. The Lord told me—His prophet—to tell them that they would soon have a son of their own. Oh my goodness, they were thrilled. Sure enough, about a year after I told them God’s good news, the woman gave birth to a son. That’s only the beginning of the miraculous story, though; it gets even better. Listen to this!

When the boy was young, he was out in the field with his father. All of a sudden, his head started hurting terribly! He had such a monstrous headache that the boy’s father had a servant CARRY him back home to his mother. The mother held her hurting child just like any mom would do with a sick child. But this time, it was different. She held him and rocked him … until he died in her lap! She was absolutely devastated!How horrible for her!

The mother immediately wanted to come to visit me. That was the first thing she thought of when her little boy died in her arms. I was in a nearby town at the time, but she believed that I was a prophet of God—the one true God! She laid her son on the bed in my guest room at their house, and asked her husband for a donkey to ride to the town that I was in. She didn’t tell anyone about the boy’s death. No one! She was determined to see me and she didn’t want anyone to stop her!

I saw the Shunammite woman coming from a distance and sent my servant to her. She didn’t stop to explain the situation to him, but ran straight to me and fell at my feet. I could tell something was terribly wrong, but for some reason God hadn’t revealed it to me yet. My servant tried to push the woman off of my feet, but I could see she was extremely upset, so I asked her if something was wrong with her husband or her son. She told me that her son had died.(Show children a staff.) I immediately gave my servant my staff and instructed him to go to the boy and lay the staff on his face. My servant did as I said, but the boy didn’t wake up.

So I went to Shunem. I went alone to the boy. He was lying in my bed in the guest room. He was surely dead, so I went in and prayed to the Lord to help me know what to do. This is when it got really strange! I felt God giving me some rather unique instructions. I got on the bed and laid my body on top of the lifeless body of the boy. Let me show you here on the floor. (Lay on your stomach on the floor.) I placed my mouth over his mouth. I placed my eyes over his eyes. I placed my hands over his hands. The most amazing thing started to happen. I could feel his body getting warm.(stand) I turned away and began walking back and forth in the room. Then, I laid on the boy a second time. The boy sneezed … yes, he sneezed … 7 times and opened his eyes. He was alive! It was truly a miracle of God!

I called my servant and the boy’s mother into the room. She fell at my feet and bowed to the ground in gratitude to God. Then, she took her son and left. That, boys and girls, is a true story. Every word of it! God is so powerful! God gave breath to that boy through my breath. God gave sight to that boy through my sight. And God gave strength to that boy’s hands through my hands. Amazing! That’s the story. That’s how I, Elisha, gave life back to the Shunammite woman’s son. If that’s difficult for you to believe, you can read all about it for yourself in 2 Kings, chapter 4 of your Bibles.(Elisha exits lesson area, mumbling to himself, “Amazing … I’ll never forget that day … unbelievable … thank you, Lord, that you allow me to be your prophet … bless you, Lord.”)

Game

Supplies:

dice

I would say that the Shunammite woman had an emergency, wouldn’t you? If we were in this woman’s situation in today’s times, would we run to borrow a donkey? NO! What would be one of the first things we would do? We would definitely call 9-1-1. We would pick up our cell phone and dial in the emergency! We’re going to play the game “Emergency Telephone” to see how well you know the Bible account today.

Divide the children into groups of 4-6 and give each group a pair of dice. The groups should sit in a circle on the floor or around tables. At the signal, one person in the group will roll both dice. They are trying to get the dice to add up to 9 (5:4, 6:3). If their roll does not produce a total of 9, they will pass the dice to the next person to roll. As soon as one person gets a “9”, then they will take one dice out of the game and now roll for a “1”. Once someone gets a “1”, then they will roll for another “1”. When a group rolls 9-1-1, they will all yell “Emergency! Call 9-1-1!” That group will be asked the first question below. Give the signal again and all groups will roll again (starting with what they had already rolled in the previous round)to see who can get 9-1-1 first, so they can answer the next question. Continue doing this until all the questions have been answered.

  • What was the name of the prophet of God in this Bible account?

(Elisha)

  • What did the Shunammite family build for Elisha in their home?

(his own guest room)

  • What was the one thing in the couple’s lives that caused them sadness?

(They had no children.)

  • What happened to the Shunammite woman’s son?

(His head started hurting and he died.)

  • Where did the woman lay her dead son?

(on Elisha’s bed)

  • After getting a donkey from her husband, where did the woman immediately go?

(to find Elisha)

  • What did Elisha tell his servant to do after hearing about the boy’s death?

(go to the boy and lay the staff on his face)

  • What did Elisha do to the boy after he prayed for him?

(laid on top of him, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, and hand to hand)

  • What did Elisha feel happening to the boy’s body?

(It was getting warmer.)

  • What did the boy do after Elisha laid on him a second time?

(sneezed 7 times)

  • What did the Shunammite mother do when she saw her boy alive again?

(fell at Elisha’s feet)

Activity

Supplies:

PowerPoint slides of optical illusions

What do you focus on? Show the children the following three optical illusions:

  1. The children will study the first slide. What do you see? Do you see an Eskimo? Or, do you see a head? Point out both of these in the one slide.
  2. The children will study the second slide. What do you see? Do you see an old woman with a big nose? Or, do you see a sophisticated woman dressed up for a night on the town? Point out both of these in the one slide.
  3. The children will study the third slide. What do you see? Do you see a duck? Or, do you see a rabbit? Point out both of these in the one slide.

In the Bible account today, the Shunammite woman could have focused on her son and made his death the only thing she could see. She could have stayed home and cried. She could have focused on how sad she was … on her emergency, but she didn’t! She saw something different. She saw an opportunity for God’s power. Her first thought went right to God and His prophet, and that led her straight to Elisha!

When you have an emergency … when something goes wrong … what’s your first thought?

Message

Supplies:

Bibles

(show slide #2)Look at things God’s way!

We just saw that in one drawing you can see two different things. One person saw a duck and another saw a rabbit. One person saw an Eskimo and another saw a head. One person saw an old woman with a big nose and the other person saw a woman dressed up in fancy clothes.

In our story today, a young man dies. His mother sees something that others wouldn’t see. They would’ve seen a lifeless boy. She saw the power of God and a son who was once again alive, because she had a tremendous faith in the God who could do that.

God can take a situation that everyone thinks is done for and use it for His glory. God can take a marriage that seems there’s no way for it to ever work out, and bring it back to life. Instead of a destroyed marriage, God sees how His power could be seen in that marriage. We see with our eyes. God sees with His eyes. Let’s pray that God gives us His eyes.

God can take a situation where a bully is terrifying the kids around him and change that bully into a follower of Christ. God can use a scared kid to reach a despicable bully. When there’s no other way to make it happen, God can make things happen! We see with our eyes. God sees differently. Let’s pray that God gives us His eyes.

Name some other times when we see hopeless situations. Then, tell how God might see those same situations. What can God do with a hopeless situation?

(show slide #3)It’s a chance to show compassion.

Elisha had compassion on the woman. He could see how upset she was and he decided to do something about it. When things seem hopeless, it’s an opportunity for God’s people to show compassion … compassion that only God gives.

Have you ever seen a commercial or read a letter about starving children in a different country? Do you feel sorry for them? Do you have compassion for them?Real compassion leads to action! After you watch that commercial, or read that letter, do you act?

Have you ever watched a kid at school drop all of her books or maybe an adult drop a bag of groceries? Did you feel sorry for them? Did you have compassion for them?Did your compassion lead you to action? Did you help her pick up the things she dropped?

In our Bible account today, Elisha had compassion for the woman holding onto his feet. He didn’t just say, “Awww, that’s too bad.” No, his compassion moved him. It moved him to do a pretty amazing thing! If Elisha had not been moved to act, to go to the woman’s house, the boy would not have come back to life. Elisha’s servant was not able to restore life back to the boy. Elisha acted on his feelings of compassion and the boy lived!

You may never breathe life back into a dead person, but how can you act on compassion in your own school? In your own home?In your own community?In a different country?

(show slide #4)Do what you can.

The Shunammite mother did what she could. She was persistent! She was a fighter! In this part of the Bible account, Elisha was going to send his servant to try to bring the boy back to life with Elisha’s staff. The boy’s mother said,“NO WAY!” This mother was going to cling to Elisha’s feet until he himself came to Shunem to see the boy! She didn’t care how silly she looked or how inappropriate her actions may have seemed. She was determined! She was not going to give up! That’s what she could do and she did it.

Elisha did what he could. He listened to God and then did what God directed Him to do. It took both the Shunammite mother and Elisha for this boy to be brought back to life. God used both of them to make this happen. What would’ve happened if the mother hadn’t been persistent and done her part? What would’ve happened if Elisha slammed the door in her face when she came with her persistent plea? Both of them had to do what they could—what God prompted them to do.

  • What can you do to serve God?
  • What is He prompting you to do?
  • What breaks your heart when you see it happen?
  • What is the part you play and what CAN you do?

Activity

Supplies:

YouTube video

Beforehand, download the YouTube video called “The Real ‘Soul Surfer’ Bethany Hamilton Shares Her Story” submitted by Fox News Insider.

Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm at the age of 13 when a shark attacked her as she was surfing. A movie was made about her, called “Soul Surfer.” She lost 60% of her blood that day, which should’ve meant her death. But God used the emergency professionals and kept her alive. Within a month, she was back in the water learning how to surf with only one arm. She could’ve given up surfing after the shark bit her arm off. Nobody would’ve thought it wrong if she chose not to surf again, BUT Bethany was determined. She was not going to give up. Let’s listen to what Bethany has to say in this interview.

Show the video. Now that’s determination! I’ve heard that surfing is all about balance. It would be extremely difficult to balance yourself on a moving wave without both arms! We must be just as determined to seek out God in our difficult times as Bethany was determined to surf again! How does listening to Bethany make you feel?

Puppets

Supplies:

one puppet

one actor

wagon

cans of food

The skit will start with the actor pulling a wagon full of canned foods to the puppet’s front door. The actor knocks on the puppet’s door.

Puppet: I’m coming. I’m coming. Hold your horses out there. (opens door) Oh, hello.What are you doing at my door today?

Actor: (pulling wagon with cans in it)I’m out collecting cans of food for the local food pantry.