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Elisha and the kind woman - part 2

Elisha trusts God to bring a dead son back to life.
Contributed by Richard Gunther
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Portuguese, Polish
1
God gave a son to a kind old woman and her husband, just as the prophet Elisha had said. The child grew into a boy and brought great happiness to his mother. Then one day something very sad happened. – Slide 1
2
One morning, the boy was out in the fields with his father’s servants watching as they cut the wheat. It was a very hot day, so hot the boy started to feel dizzy. – Slide 2
3
‘My head! My head!’ the boy shouted as he collapsed to the ground. The boy’s father was close by. ‘Carry him to his mother,’ he told one of his workers. – Slide 3
4
His mother held the boy and nursed him until noon. Then suddenly the boy died. She was shocked and heart-broken. The child she had so wanted was dead. – Slide 4
5
But the kind woman refused to give up. She took her son’s body into the room she had built on to her house for the prophet Elisha to stay and lay him on the bed. – Slide 5
6
The woman then got onto a donkey and set off to find Elisha. – Slide 6
7
As she got close to Elisha’s house, Elisha and his servant Gehazi saw her in the distance. ‘I see that kind woman is coming,’ said Elisha. ‘Run and see what she wants. Ask her if all is well.’ – Slide 7
8
Gehazi ran to meet the woman. ‘Is all well?’ he called. <br/>‘Yes all is well,’ she replied. She said this because she believed all would be well when God helped her. – Slide 8
9
When she got to Elisha. She fell at his feet and held them tightly. She was so upset she couldn’t speak. – Slide 9
10
Gehazi didn’t like to see his master being held like this. He grabbed the woman angrily and pulled her away. – Slide 10
11
‘Don’t do that!’ Elisha ordered. ‘This woman is very upset. Usually God tells me what is going on, but this time He has not.’ – Slide 11
12
The woman started to speak. ‘I always wanted a son,’ she wailed. ‘And the Lord gave me one, but now my son is no more.’ Now Elisha understood the problem. He held out his staff to Gehazi. ‘Here, take this!’ he said. – Slide 12
13
He told Gehazi to run ahead to the woman’s house and lay the staff on the boy. Gehazi set off at once. – Slide 13
14
Elisha followed after him, but was much slower than his servant. ‘I’ll travel with you,’ said the boy’s mother. – Slide 14
15
When Gehazi got to the boy, he did as instructed but nothing happened. Disappointed, he went back along the road to find Elisha. ‘The child is dead,’ he reported. – Slide 15
16
Elisha continued on to the woman’s house, went into the room and closed the door. He prayed and waited for God to tell him what to do. Soon God did just that. – Slide 16
17
Elisha lay on top of the boy’s cold dead body. Miraculously, the boy’s body began to warm up. – Slide 17
18
Elisha did the same thing again. The second time the boy opened his eyes, sat up and then sneezed seven times. – Slide 18
19
Elisha called to Gehazi. ‘Tell the boy’s mother she can come in now!’ The woman came into the room and gasped. ‘Here is your boy,’ said Elisha ‘He is alive again!’ She was full of joy. – Slide 19
20
The woman fell at Elisha’s feet again and bowed her head. She praised the one true God whose power had raised her son from the dead. – Slide 20
21
Slide 21