Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

a father, will he give him a stone?or if he ask a fish, will he for a fishgive him a serpent? Or if he ask anegg will he offer him a scorpion? Ifye then being evil, know how to givegood gifts unto your children: howmuch more shall your heavenly Fathergive the Holy Spirit to them that askhim?" A wise earthly father certainlywould not answer his son's requestfor something good and needful byoffering to him something uselessor even injurious. People have originalsin but even so they know how to giveaccording to a son's need. People prayto God for things and if God gave themwhat they asked for, it might be thesame as a man giving his son a serpentwhen he asked for a fish. Instead ofGod doing such a thing He grants theHoly Spirit to His people who "askHim." When people receive the HolySpirit in answer to their requests allof their other needs are supplied also.The gift of the Holy Spirit is veryinclusive and all other beneficial giftsare comprised in that one great gift.The apostle James says in 4:3, "Yeask, and receive not because ye askamiss." If God would grant what manypeople ask for He would give a stoneinstead of bread. All believers should,therefore, pray that through the giftof the Holy Spirit all their needs mightbe supplied."Lesson based on International SundaySchool Lessons: the International Bible Lessonsfor Christian Teaching, copyrighted 1966by the Division of Christian Education, NationalCouncil of Churches of Christ in theU.S. A."with authority, as the oracle of God.II Kings 2:6, 17; A man of spiritualvision. II Kings 13:14-19; Died a victoriousdeath. After reading these versesI am sure we would like to have aleader of just some of these qualitiesto direct our nation in all her affairs.Elijah and ElishaThere is a striking resemblancebetween the life of Elijah and that ofElisha. Their names sound very muchalike. The main events of their livesrun in much the same channels. Theyare twin figures in Hebrew history.Elijah was a man who lived awayfrom people at times. We have norecord that Elisha ever complained ofhis lot, or that he fled from his enemies,or lost his courage.Elisha received a double portionof the Spirit. That is the reason helived such a victorious life as he mingledwith his fellow men. He alsoperformed a greater numiber of miraclesthan any other prophet exceptMoses.Both Elijah and Elisha performedmiracles that had points of resemblance.Some of them were these: Theysmote the water of the river Jordanand passed over on the dry ground;they brought waters of refreshmentin times of drought; they increaseda widow's store of food; they raisedonly sons to life; they performed miraclesfor persons outside the boundariesof Israel; they pronouncedsentences upon kings; they calleddown vengeance upon unbelievers.In the following stories you willlearn why Elisha was given the name,"The Gentle Prophet."Elisha lived in the days whenJoram was the king over Israel, andJehoram was the king of Judah. Joramwas not a good man, but he was notas bad as his father, Ahab. Jehoramworshiped idols as Ahab had done,because he had married Ahab's daughter.God had punished him with sicknessand war.terrible, doesn't it? But this was thecustom in that time: when one hadno money to pay his debts, his childrenwere taken as slaves.The poor woman went to Elisha intime of her trouble. Elisha thoughtof a plan, but the woman had to workvery hard to carry out his plan. Sheput her two sons to work, too. Elishatold her that she should go and borrowfrom her neighbors all the jars shecould find. Then he said, "Shut thedoor, so that no one can come in. Pouroil from your pot into all these jars."As the boys brought the jars thewoman poured olive oil into the jars.The sons would not have any problemfinding jars, because people store theiroil and foods even today, in clay jars.When she had filled every one, theoil in her own jar stopped running.Then she went to Elisha. He said, "Goand sell the oil and pay your debt." Shedid so. She and her sons lived on themoney that was left over after she hadpaid her debt. Gentle? Yes, Elisha wasvery kind and gentle.Elisha often visited a rich womanand her husband who lived in Shunem.The woman and her husband had alittle room upstairs in their home forElisha. In this room was a bed, a table,a chair, and a light, so that he couldstay all night, whenever he pleassd.Because the woman had been sogood to Elisha, he wanted to do somethingnice for her. She said, "No thankyou. I do not want anything."StillElisha was not satisfied; he did wantto make her happy. Finally, Gehazi,Elisha's servant, knew that Elishacould do wonderful things, by thepower of God. So he said to Elisha,Junior Topic"She has no child, and her husbandisan old man." Elisha called the womanfor February 7, 1971and said to her, "Next year you shallELISHA, THE GENTLE PROPHEThave a baby boy." How happy theUnit: Later Old Testament DaysMrs. Herbert A. HaysScripture verses. This is the timefor us to stop and review the Scriptureverses we have learned over the past Elisha worked among the people,woman was. She had so much joy sewingthe clothes for the little baby. Thenext year the baby came. How happythe woman and her husband weretohave a little boy in their home. Howfive lessons.helping and teaching them. A certain much they loved him and played withPsalms: Choose some of your woman came to him for help. Her him.favorite Psalms for this meeting.Scripture for the lesson. Elisha isalso called a "model spiritual leader."Some of the following verses will helpyou to understand just why he was suchhusband had been one of the sons ofthe prophets. He was dead, and hiswife was very poor. She could hardlyget enough to eat.One day a man came to the widow'sWhen he was five or six years oldhe went out to his father's farm onehot summer day. The sun poured downon the harvest field. In the heat, thelittle boy got a sunstroke.a leader. I Kings 19:19; A man of great house to take away her two sons just The servant carried the little boyenergy. II Kings 2:9; Sought a spiritual because she could not pay a debt she back to his mother. She did all sheequipment. II Kings 3:16, 17; Spoke owed fne man. The man wanted to could do for him to make him well12make the two sons slaves. This sounds again. He got worse and worse. AboutCOVENANTER WITNESS