Guide 5/23/10

I Got The Power

2 Kings 6:8-22

Week of 5/23/10

Getting Started

This section of Scripture deals with having a 180-degree change of perspective. What’s a food that you once loved and now hate, or you once hated but now you love?

Digging Deeper

What did you take away from this past Sunday’s message?

Read verses 8-12. Elisha possesses the ability to know things and see things that most people don’t. Reading over 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, do you think that some of the gifts listed may include something similar to what Elisha possessed? Why or why not?

For further consideration, consult the first three messages on the general topic by Wayne Grudem - HERE

In verse 16 – 17, Elisha helps to give perspective to the servant. How does godly counsel help to change our perspective of challenge? How does ungodly counsel also influence how we view things?

Psalm 1; Pro.12:15;13:10;27:9.

In verse 17, Elisha prays for his servant to see the crisis from the proper perspective. What are some of the ways that prayer helps to give us a proper assessment of our problems? If you had to counsel someone on what to pray and how to pray in their difficulties, what would you say?

Prayer is in some way, inserting God into a circumstance; the exercised dependence on God.

Compare verse 17 with Ephesians 1:17-23. How does a rich understanding of the three truths of the gospel listed in Ephesians 1:17-23 empower us to live life well?

Read Psalm 119:18, in this prayer, someone is asking for their eyes to be opened? What is it that they want to see? Is that a good request? Why?

Read Numbers 22:31. When Balaam’s eyes were opened, what did He see? In both 2 Kings and Numbers 22, people needed their eyes opened to see angelic activity. Do you think angelic activity is common, or uncommon. Why?

In verses 21-22 Elisha leads the King to deal graciously with the Aramean army. What are some of the ways that we vent our stresses on people and circumstances when we don’t view them from God’s perspective? How does having God’s perspective on people and circumstances change how we handle them? Give some examples from your life.

In verse 23, Israel’s gracious actions towards the army resulted in the Arameans ceasing from raiding Israel’s territory. What’s the broader Biblical principle illustrated there. Can you think of other passages that describe this principle?

Romans 12:17-21 ¹⁷ Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. ¹⁹ Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. ²⁰ "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Putting it Into Practice

If God could open you eyes in one way, or one area, or one decision, what would it be?

Consider that it was Elisha’s prayer that gave his servant perspective. Is there anyone in your life who needs your prayer to help him or her in their time of trouble?

5/16/10 Guide

I Got The Power

2 Kings 5

Week of 5/16/10

Getting Started

Have you ever broken a bone? Which one(s)? How?

Digging Deeper

This chapter tells of a commander who was healed of leprosy. What is leprosy? How might this condition have affected this man’s reputation and job-performance?

leprosy, in the OT a disorder affecting humans, fabrics, and houses. There are different types of leprosy that afflict persons (Lev. 13). Though it is not clear what these skin diseases are, it is certain that they are not modern leprosy (Hansen’s disease). The plague in fabrics and houses is described as greenish or reddish spots (Lev. 13:49; 14:37), thus indicating a type of mold or mildew.

Persons or objects afflicted with leprosy can pollute others. Anyone who enters a leprous house must bathe. If a person tarries there by eating or lying down, both bathing and laundering are necessary (Lev. 14:46-47). Surprisingly, the Bible says nothing about the effect of a leper’s impurity. The leper certainly polluted at least like a polluted house and probably like one who has an abnormal bodily discharge (Lev. 15:2-12; 5:6).

A leper is to be excluded from habitations (Lev. 13:45-46; cf. Num. 12:15; 2 Kings 7:3-4). When the person recovers from the affliction, purification rites are performed (Lev. 14:2-20, 21-32). Similar rites are performed for a renovated house (14:48-53; note that these rites are not as extensive as the healed leper’s). These purification rites are not for the removal of leprosy, but only for the removal of residual ritual impurity (see Mark 1:44). A rite for the curing of leprosy is found in the case of Naaman immersing in the Jordan seven times (2 Kings 5:10, 14).

Fabrics incorrigibly infected with leprosy are to be burned (Lev. 13:52, 55, 57) and building materials so infected must be discarded outside the habitation (14:40, 41, 45). There is some evidence that leprosy was considered a punishment from God for sin (cf. Num. 12:10-15; 2 Kings 5:27; 15:5; 2 Chron. 26:20-21).

The Gospels report that Jesus healed people afflicted with leprosy (e.g., Matt. 8:1-4; Luke 17:11-19) and he commissioned his disciples to do the same (Matt. 10:8). Jesus is also reported to have visited the home of Simon the leper (Mark 14:3), perhaps one of those he had healed. The data do not enable one to determine if this ‘leprosy’ was Hansen’s disease. ^[1]

In verse 2 we read of a young girl who was seized from her home by the Aramians? How does she respond to her captivity? What does she teach us about how we are to face difficult surroundings and people?

Instead of justly retaliating against her captors, she genuinely seeks their good. For application, see Matt. 5:38-48; 1Cor. 7:17-24; Eph. 6:5-8.

Read verse 7. Why do you think the king of Israel was so upset?

He believed this to be a foil for another invasion; a way “to pick a quarrel.” Further, he lacked the conviction that God could step in. Elisha asks why the king despaired? The question was rhetorical, pointing out the lack of confidence that the King had in God and his messenger.

In verses 9-10, it says that Elisha didn’t personally answer the door when Naaman arrived. Could Elisha have been testing Naaman by not personally welcoming him? Why would he have done something like this?

When Elisha sent his assistant to answer the door in his place, he was communicating that the commander was subservient to the prophet of God, or better yet, the God that the prophet represented. It’s a fallen tendency for people in great positions to have too great of an opinion about themselves. If this were a test, it was designed to reveal the condition of the man’s soul – whether he was humble or arrogant. Isaiah 66:1-2 – “Thus says the LORD, "Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? "For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

Read verse 11. Why do you think Namaan was angry? What was Namaan’s expectation? Was this a reasonable expectation? How can preconceived notions of how God works get in the way? Can you think of a time that God worked in a way that you didn’t expect?

It appears that Namaan was expecting some theatrical process of healing, as well as some supernatural manifestation. He believed that God only works in winds, earthquakes, and fires, when he is often to be found in the whisper (1 Kings 19:11-13).

Dipping in the Jordan River was probably an act of humility on Namaan’s part. In what ways does the Bible connect God’s power in someone’s life to his or her humility? Give some illustrations and statements of Scripture that address this? Can you think of a time when you had to humble yourself in the process of seeking help from God?

What are some other examples in Scripture where people placed too much trust in what God used to accomplish his will? Can you think ways that we might do the same today?

Consider Israel’s unhealthy dependency on the Ark of the Covenant (1Sam. 4:3&11).

In verses 13-14, Naaman’s servant persuaded him obey the prophet. What was his counsel? How was Elisha’s instruction a display of grace to Naaman?

Read verse 15. What effect did this healing have on Namaan? How did He respond? What can we learn from this response that we can put into practice?

Read verse 16. Why do you think Elisha refused to accept a gift? What does this show about Elisha?

Putting It Into Practice

How is your personal Bible reading going?

Communion Blurb

This week we’re celebrating communion in our small groups. If you’re not yet part of a group, visit one this week.

---

^[1]Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary (1st ed.) (555). San Francisco: Harper & Row.