少儿圣经故事:以利沙(6)/Elisha Lesson(6)

??Introduction："What's that noise？" one soldier might have asked in alarm, as he flung open his tent door. All the other soldiers must've heard it too, for suddenly the whole camp was alive with soldiers peering into the dark and listening. They heard a noise of a great army of chariots and horses coming, and it seemed very, very near! No matter about their tents, their horses, their silver and gold, food, clothes, everything---all of it was left behind, as the soldiers took off into the night, running for their lives!

??Who were these frightened soldiers, and what happened to them？Well, it's going to be an exciting Bible lesson today, you can be sure!

??In the book of II Kings, chapter 6, we read that the city of Samaria in Israel was in terrible trouble. Because they had turned their back on the true and living God, He had allowed their enemies to come in and surround them. The Syrian army camped around the city and cut off their food and water supply. The Bible says the people of Samaria suffered a great famine, which means there is no food. The hungry parents were watching their children starve to death, and there was nothing they could do. Boys and girls, if you are old enough to read, you can turn to II Kings, Chapter 6, and read of some of the horrible things that happened in the city because of starvation.

??The king of Israel was very troubled about the situation, but he would not humble 1 himself before God. As the king walked on his wall, a woman below cried out to him for help. In anger he shouted out, "If the Lord doesn't help you, how can I？" As many people do when they are angry, the king wanted to blame someone else. So he blamed Elisha, the prophet of God, and decided 2 to kill him. Was it Elisha's fault that Samaria was in trouble？??Elisha was in his house talking with the elders when suddenly God warned him that the king was going to kill him. The king's messenger arrived and said, "Why should I wait

??any longer for the Lord？" Elisha's answer seemed unbelievable! He told the king that within 24 hours there would be lots of fine flour and barley 3 for sale at low prices. One of the officers of the king had no respect for Elisha and he said, "Behold 4, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, maybe this thing would happen." In other words, he did not believe the word of God spoken by Elisha. It just seemed too good to be true.

??Gospel：When we see this world so full of war and disease and sin, it seems too good to be true that a real heaven exists where there is no war, or disease, or death. But God says that His forever home in Heaven is a place of joy and laughter, of beauty and riches, of safety and perfect health. The same God Who created the earth created Heaven, and although God put you and me here on earth, He wants us to be with Him in Heaven someday. But there is one thing that can never be in heaven and that is sin. Sin is breaking God's laws, and we all sin every day. We deserve to be separated from God and His perfect Heaven, but God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sin, so we would not have to take what we deserve. God's perfect Son Jesus died for our sin on the cross,

??rose on the third day, and completely paid the price for your sin and mine. When you believe on the Lord Jesus, He saves you from sin, and makes you ready to go to God's forever home in Heaven! Some people do not believe because they say it's just too good to be true. But it IS true, because God cannot lie.

??Elisha was not lying either when he told the king that in 24 hours there would be plenty of food for everyone to eat. And then he turned to the man who did not believe it and said, "You will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat of it." We will see what Elisha meant by that later on.

??Outside the city gate were four men who were slowly dying of leprosy, a terrible skin disease. God's law in Israel required that lepers be separated from their families and others, so these men suffered a lonely and miserable 5 life together. Now they were not only sick but starving. They said one to another, "Why are we just sitting here til we die？??If we go in the city, there is no food so we will die. If we sit still here, we will die. Let's just go down and turn ourselves over to the Syrian army. If they let us live, then we will live, and if they kill us, we're going to die anyway." As the evening grew darker, the four lepers cautiously approached the enemy camp. Would they find mercy or meet their death？What they found was....an empty camp! Oh yes, there were tents, and clothes, and weapons, and silver and gold, and an abundance of food....but no soldiers! What had happened？??II Kings 7：6 tells us："For the Lord had made the army of Syria to hear a noise of chariots...and...horses, ...of a great army...and the Syrians said, Lo, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians..." and they are all coming against us! So all the soldiers had jumped up to run for their lives, leaving everything behind! Was there really a great army coming？No! But our wonderful all-powerful God had made the sound of one!

??Perhaps the frightened soldiers were just out of sight when the lepers timidly approached the camp. Imagine their wonder and amazement 6 to find the camp deserted 7!

??Can you guess what they did first of all! Yes, these poor starving men filled their stomachs with food and drink! Then they begin to carry out silver and gold and clothing to hide it, not knowing if at any moment the army would return. They worked feverishly 8 cleaning out two tents, and then they stopped as they realized something. There were men and women, and little children starving to death in the city of Samaria. And here they were looking at enough food to feed them all. "We are not doing the right thing. This is a day of good news for the people of Israel, and we are not telling it. We need to be sharing this with our people. Let's go and tell the king of Israel." Yes, it was wonderful to know they had this good news, but others needed to hear it too!

??Main Teaching：If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior from sin, God wants you to tell others the Good News! Others are going on day after day in their sins, not knowing how to ask the Lord Jesus to save them. God has blessed you to hear the Good News and receive the Lord Jesus. Now you know you have been saved from sin's punishment and you are God's child forever. God has called every believer to go and tell that Good News to a dying world. Mark 16：15 says, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." The Gospel means the Good News of Jesus Christ and what He has done to save us from our sins. Can you pray for the lost, and give to missionaries 9 so they can tell others？That's a great thing to do. But still God also wants to use YOU to tell others the Good News："Jesus died for all your sin, He was buried, but He lives again. He will take your sin away, if you ask Him in today." Could you share that poem with several friends or family this week？If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior from sin, God wants you to tell others the Good News!

??The four lepers knew it would be sinful and selfish to keep such good news to themselves when others were dying of hunger. They went straight to the city gate and told the keeper, who told the king's messengers. The king immediately suspected a trick and said, "I will tell you what these Syrians are doing. They know we are all hungry, so they left their camp and hid in the field thinking that when we come out of the city, they could catch us and get into the city." The king's servants convinced him to send two chariots with men to survey the situation and report back to the king. As soon as the men brought their report to the king that it was safe to go out, the king sent one of his officers out to open the city gate. It was the officer who had not believed Elijah's words that God would send food for the people within 24 hours. As the officer opened the gate, the desperately 10 hungry people rushed out the gate. In their haste, they trampled 11 the officer under foot, and he died. Do you remember what Elijah had prophesied 12 about this officer？??"Behold, you will see God's Word come to pass, but you will not eat of the food."

??Just as Elisha had said, there was plenty of food for everyone in Samaria, and prices returned to normal. Elisha's word had been true, because he was a prophet of the true and living God. Throughout the rest of his life, Elisha remained a faithful prophet of God.

??Challenge：If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, God wants you to be faithful to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. Perhaps there are people in your family who don't know that God loves them and sent Jesus to die for them. They don't know how they can pray and ask Jesus to save them from the everlasting 13 punishment of sin. If you know the Lord Jesus, you have been blessed with the greatest gift of your life, having your sins forgiven and becoming part of God's forever family. Will you ask God to help you begin to share that Good News with others？It would be the most selfish and sinful thing for you to keep that Good News to yourself! Could you memorize this little poem and share it with someone this week？"Jesus died for all your sin, He was buried, but He lives again, He will take your sin away, If you ask Him in today." Why not go to "How to Be a Child of God" and write down those steps so this week you can share with someone in your family or a friend, how they can believe on Jesus. God wants you to be faithful to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ to others!

??Invitation：If you have never believed the Good News about Jesus yourself, do you realize today that this Good News is for you？Even though it might seem too good to be true, God really does love you so much and wants to forgive your sin and make you His child. Believe His Good News! Go right now to "How To Be a Child of God" and follow those steps!

??“是什么声音？” 一个士兵警觉的问到，一面掀起帐篷的幔子向外观看。其它士兵肯定也听到了，所有人忽然都安静下来凝视着黑暗并仔细倾听着。他们听到了千军万马将近的喧嚣，而且非常之近。顿时所有人都没命的奔逃，他们的帐篷、战马、金银细软、吃的用的，所有的一切都抛在他们的后面。这些被吓坏的士兵是谁呢？到底发生了什么事？这就是今天我们要讲的圣经故事。

??在列王纪下第六章，我们读到以色列地中撒玛利亚城正陷入可怕的麻烦之中。因为他们背弃了又真又活的神，神允许他们的敌人来攻击他们。亚兰人的军队包围了那个城市并切断了他们的粮草供应。

??圣经里面记述撒玛利亚城里的人陷入了严重的饥荒，食物极其缺乏。饥饿的父母只能眼睁睁的看着自己的孩子饿死，毫无办法。（如果你能阅读，请翻到列王纪下第六章，可以读以下上面记载的当时所发生的悲惨的一幕。）

??以色列王深深的被眼前的境况所困扰，但他却不愿在神面降卑。当王在城墙上面巡视时，下面有一个妇女向他哭喊求助。他气冲冲地喊着说：“耶和华不帮助你、我从何处帮助你。”向其他人一样，愤怒的王找一个人出出气。所以王迁怒于以利沙，就是耶和华的先知，想要杀他。撒玛利亚被围是以利沙的错吗？当以利沙正在他的家中与几位长老谈话时，神忽然警告他说王准备杀他。王的使者传来王的话：“我何必再等候耶和华呢？”以利沙的回答简直令人难以置信！他告诉王在二十四小时之内，就会看到有人低价出售细面与大麦。王的一个军长轻看以利沙，他说：“即便耶和华使天开了窗户、也不能有这事！”换句话说，他根本不相信神借着以利沙所传的话。在他看这事太好以至于是不可能发生的。

??当我们看到这个世界充满了战争、疾病和罪恶，就认为一个没有战争、疾病和死亡的天堂是不存在的。但上帝说他为我们预备的永远的天堂是一个充满欢乐，美好、丰富、安全、健康的地方。同样是这位创造地球的上帝也创造了天堂，尽管神现在把你我放在这个地球上，但他希望我们有一天能在天堂与他在一起。但罪却绝不会在天堂里出现。罪就是违背神的话语，我们每天都在犯罪。我们本来是与神和天堂是隔离的，但神让耶稣基督担当了我们的罪，使我们免受应有的惩罚。神的独生儿子无罪的耶稣基督为我们的罪被钉死在十字架上，第三天复活，完全为我们的罪付了赎价。当你接受耶稣基督做你的救主，他就会把你从罪中拯救出来，进入那永远的天堂！有些人不相信是因为他们认为这好象是不真实的。但这是真的，因为神不会撒谎。

??以利沙对王说２４小时之内每个人都会有充足的食物时也没有撒谎。他对那个不相信他的军长说：“你必亲眼看见、却不得吃。”过一会我们就会知道以利沙是什么意思。在城门外有四个在等死的大麻疯病人（大麻疯病是一种可怕的皮肤病。神在以色列的律法中规定长大麻疯的人需要与他们的家人和所有其它的人隔离，所以他们在一起过着孤独可怜的生活。）。现在他们不仅病了而且非常饥饿。他们彼此说：“我们为何坐在这里等死呢。我们若说、进城去吧、城里有饥荒、必死在那里．若在这里坐着不动、也必是死。来吧、我们去投降亚兰人的军队．他们若留我们的活命、就活着．若杀我们、就死了吧。” 黄昏的时候，他们起来很小心的来到亚兰人的营盘。 他们得到怜悯还是被杀死了呢？他们所看到的是一个空空的营盘！当然还有帐篷，有衣服，有武器，有金银，还有很多的食物，但就是没有士兵！到底发生了什么呢？

??列王纪下第七章第６节告诉我们：“因为主使亚兰人的军队听见车马的声音、是大军的声音．他们就彼此说、这必是以色列王贿买赫人的诸王、和埃及人的诸王、来攻击我们。”所以所有士兵丢弃了一切的东西都跳起来逃命去了！真的是有大军来了吗？没有！只不过是我们全能的神弄出来的点声音而已。

??也许被惊吓的士兵刚刚逃出那些胆小的大麻疯人的视线。可以想象当他们发现是个空的营盘时是何等的惊奇！你可以猜出他们先做什么了！这些饿的要死的人先自己吃饱喝足了！然后，他们把找到的金银衣服藏起来，也不知道什么时候那些士兵会回来。当他们激动的拿空了两个帐篷时，他们忽然停下来，意识到什么东西不对劲。在撒玛利亚城里面有正在挨饿的男人、女人、还有孩子，而这里却有足够他们吃的食物。“我们所作的不好．今日是有好信息的日子、我们竟不作声．若等到天亮、罪必临到我们．来吧、我们与王家报信去。”这是多么美好的一件事情，当他们有好消息而且觉得也应该让别人知道。

??如果你已经接受了耶稣基督做你的救主，神希望你将这个好消息告诉其它的人！还有很多人他们仍然日复一日的活在罪里面，不知道怎样才能从主耶稣那里得到拯救。神赐恩给我们让我们得以听见这个好消息并接受了主耶稣。现在你已经从罪中得到拯救成为神的儿女。神已经呼召每一个信的人都要去这个将要灭亡的世界传讲这个好消息。马可福音第十六章第5节说：“你们往普天下去、传福音给万民听。”福音就是关于耶稣基督拯救我们这些罪人的好消息。你能为那些未信主的人和正在传福音的弟兄姐妹们祷告吗？这是一件非常伟大的事情。但神更希望你去传福音：“耶稣为你们的罪死，埋葬了，但他又复活了。今日你若求他，他必让你的罪远离。”这个星期你能将这首诗与你的朋友或者家人分享吗？如果你知道耶稣基督是你的救主，神希望你去告诉别人这个好消息！

??这四个大麻疯病人意识到别人还在挨饿而自己却不把这个好消息告诉他们是罪恶和自私的。他们就径直来到城门，告诉守门的，守门的又告诉了王的使者。王开始以为这是开玩笑。“我告诉你们亚兰人向我们如何行。他们知道我们饥饿、所以离营、埋伏在田野、说、以色列人出城的时候、我们就活捉他们、得以进城。”王的大臣们力劝王先派两辆马车去探视一下再回来报告。当去探视的人回来报告可以平安出城时，王就派他的军长去开城门。这个军长正是不相信以利沙的话的人。当这个军长把城门打开，饥饿的人群就拼命的涌出城门。在众人拥挤时，这个军长被践踏在脚下踩死了。你还记得以利沙对这个军长的预言吗？“你必亲眼看见、却不得吃。” 正如以利沙所说，撒玛利亚城中每个人都有充足的食物，粮食的价格也正常了。以利沙的话成就了，因为他是又真又活的神的先知。在他的以后的日子里，他一直是神的忠心的先知。

??如果你已经接受主，神希望你能忠心的去传福音。也许就在你的家人里面就有人不知道神的爱与耶稣基督为他们而死，他们也不知道他们可以借着祷告就可以求耶稣基督将他们从罪的永远的惩罚中拯救出来。如果你已经接受主，你已经蒙神赐给你最宝贵的礼物那就是永生，你的罪已被赦免成为神的儿女。你能求神帮助你将这个好消息与他人分享吗？如果你不想分享那将是多么罪恶与自私啊！这一周你能记下这几句诗并与他人分享吗？“耶稣为你们的罪死，埋葬了，但他又复活了。今日你若求他，他必让你的罪远离。”你可以到本栏目“如何成为属神的孩子”一章，记下要做的每一步，这一周就与你的家人或者朋友来分享如何相信耶稣。神希望你能忠心的告诉别人关于耶稣基督的好消息。

??如果你还没有相信关于耶稣的好消息，那么今天你知道这个好消息就是为你准备的？尽管它看起来好的不真实，但神真的非常爱你，他要赦免你的罪让你成为神家中的孩子。相信他的好消息！欢迎收听我们“怎样成为神的孩子”一章，按着那些步骤去做。