The Story of Elijah, the Prophet

One of the greatest of all the kings of the Ten Tribes was Jeroboam the second. Under him the kingdom
of Israel grew rich and strong. He conquered nearly all Syria, and made Samaria the greatest city of all
those lands.

But though Syria went down, another nation was now rising to power -- Assyria, on the eastern side of the
river Tigris. Its capital was Nineveh, a great city, so vast that it would take three days for a man to walk
around its walls. The Assyrians were beginning to conquer all the lands near them, and Israel was in
danger of falling under their power.

One of the kings who ruled over Israel was named Ahab. He provoked the anger of the Lord. His wife,
Jezebel, who was a worshiper of Baal, persuaded him to build an altar to the false god.

Elijah, a prophet of the Lord, was sent to him and proposed a test. Two altars were built; one to Jehovah
and one to Baal. The priests of Baal called upon their god to send down fire; but there was no answer.
Then Elijah called upon the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and fire came down and burnt up the
offering.

The people turned upon the priests of Baal and killed them all. Later the wicked queen, Jezebel, coveted
a vineyard for Ahab, and she caused Naboth, the owner of the vineyard, to be placed in front of the battle.
When he was slain Ahab took the vineyard.

[Illustration: Denounced Ahab and Jezebel]

Once more Elijah came and denounced Ahab and Jezebel, telling them that they had done wickedly, and
that the Lord would punish them.

[Illustration: Made king when he was only seven years old]

In a little while the prophet's words came true, for Ahab was slain in battle and Jezebel was put to death
by order of King Jehu. Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.

There was another prophet, a companion of Elijah, whose name was Elisha, a brave and courageous
man who did not fail to deliver God's message.

It happened that when Elisha was an old man there can to him King Joash, who had been made king
when he was only seven years old. Joash was now a young man and was trying to do right in the sight of
the Lord. But he felt the need of the prophet's aid, and he came to Elisha and said:

"My father, my father, you are more to Israel than its chariots and horsemen."

[Illustration: "This is the arrow of victory"]

Elisha, though weak in body, was yet strong in soul. He told Joash to bring him a bow and arrows, and to
open the window to the east, looking toward the land of Syria. Then Elisha caused the king to draw the
bow; and he placed his hands on the king's hands. And as the king shot an arrow, Elisha said:

"This is the arrow of victory; of victory over Syria; for you shall smite the Syrians in Aphek and shall
destroy them."

It happened as Elisha had foretold and the Syrians were defeated and their cities taken.
The Story of Elisha, the Prophet
When the young men who were in the schools of the prophets saw Elisha divide the waters
of Jordan, they knew that God was with him, as He had been with Elijah they came and
bowed down to the ground before him, to do him honor.

They, as well as Elisha, had seen Elijah taken up by the fiery chariot but they thought that
God might perhaps have carried him, in that way, to some other part of the country.

So they begged Elisha to let fifty of them go and seek him. Elisha at first forbade their doing
so, but at last he gave them his consent. So they looked for Elijah for three days. But they did
not find him because he was with God in heaven.

Then the people of Jericho came to Elisha, complaining that, though the situation of their city
was beautiful, as he saw, the water was almost poisonous, and the soil was barren.

So he told them to bring him a new bottle, with a little salt in it. And when it was brought, he
went to the spring where the water that supplied the neighborhood rose, and throwing the salt
into it, he declared that God had taken away the filth from the water, so that from that time
neither men nor cattle would be injured by drinking it, nor would it any longer render the soil
unproductive, as it had done.

After this, Elisha went to Bethel and when he was near the city, some young men came out
ridiculing and insulting him and they mockingly told him "go up," as his master had done.

This was a shocking sin, for it was turning into mockery that great miracle that God had just
done, of carrying Elijah, living as he was, into heaven. Elisha knew that God's anger would
fall upon them for such wickedness and, turning back toward the young men, he told them
that they would be punished. And immediately two fierce female bears rushed out of the
wood, and killed forty-two of them.

God enabled Elisha to do many miracles. He brought a dead child to life again. He healed the
Syrian general, Naaman, of an incurable disease; fed a hundred of the prophets with a small
quantity of bread; and did many other wonderful works.

When Elisha lay dying, Jehoash, king of Israel, came, and wept over him. Then Elisha told the
king to shoot an arrow out of the window, and afterward strike the ground with the whole
quiver-full, to show the king that he should overcome his enemies, the Syrians.

When he had done this, Elisha died.

 Story of Naaman
DO YOU know what this little girl is saying? She is telling the lady about Jehovah’s prophet
E·liʹsha, and the wonderful things that Jehovah helps him to do. The lady does not know
about Jehovah because she is not an Israelite. Let’s see, then, why the girl is in the lady’s
home.

The lady is a Syrian. Her husband is Naʹa·man, the chief of the Syrian army. The Syrians
had captured this little Israelite girl, and she was brought to Naʹa·man’s wife to be her
servant.

Naʹa·man has a bad sickness called leprosy. This sickness can even cause some of a
person’s flesh to fall off. So this is what the girl is telling Naʹa·man’s wife: ‘I wish my master
could go to Jehovah’s prophet in Israel. He would heal him of his leprosy.’ Later this is told
to the lady’s husband.

Naʹa·man wants very much to be healed; so he decides to go to Israel. When he gets there,
he goes to E·liʹsha’s house. E·liʹsha has his servant go out and tell Naʹa·man to go wash in
the Jordan River seven times. This makes Naʹa·man very angry, and he says: ‘The rivers
back home are better than any river in Israel!’ After saying this, Naʹa·man leaves.

But one of his servants tells him: ‘Sir, if E·liʹsha told you to do something hard, you would do
it. Now why can’t you just wash yourself, as he said?’ Naʹa·man listens to his servant and
goes and dips himself in the Jordan River seven times. When he does, his flesh becomes
firm and healthy!

Naʹa·man is very happy. He returns to E·liʹsha and tells him: ‘Now I know for sure that the
God in Israel is the only true God in all the earth. So, please, take this gift from me.’ But
E·liʹsha answers: ‘No, I will not take it.’ E·liʹsha knows that it would be wrong for him to take
the gift, because it was Jehovah who had healed Naʹa·man. But E·liʹsha’s servant Ge·haʹzi
wants the gift for himself.

So this is what Ge·haʹzi does. After Naʹa·man leaves, Ge·haʹzi runs to catch up with him.
‘E·liʹsha sent me to tell you that he would like some of your gift for friends who just came to
visit,’ Ge·haʹzi says. This, of course, is a lie. But Naʹa·man doesn’t know that it is a lie; so he
gives Ge·haʹzi some of the things.

When Ge·haʹzi returns home, E·liʹsha knows what he has done. Jehovah has told him. So
he says: ‘Because you did this bad thing, Naʹa·man’s leprosy will come upon you.’ And it
does, right away!

What can we learn from all of this? First, that we should be like the little girl and talk about
Jehovah. It can do much good. Secondly, we should not be proud as Naʹa·man was at first,
but we should obey God’s servants. And thirdly, we should not lie as Ge·haʹzi did. Can’t we
learn a lot from reading the Bible?
The Story of Baby Jesus
A long time ago, in the town of Nazareth, lived a young woman named
Mary. Mary did her chores, was kind to others, and loved God very much. She
was engaged to be married to Joseph, who was a carpenter.

One day, while Mary was at home cleaning her room, an angel suddenly
appeared. Before Mary could say anything the angel told Mary that she was
favored by God, and that God was with her.

Mary was surprised. She was trying not to be afraid, but she had never seen an
angel before. After all, Mary was just a regular lady like you or I. Why was this
angel visiting her? What did the angel want?

The angel quickly tried to reassure Mary. "Do not be afraid!" the angel said. "God
has found favor with you. You will have a baby boy, and are to give him the name
Jesus."

Mary was confused; she was not yet married to Joseph, so how could she have a
baby? The angel thought that this might concern Mary so he said, "The Holy Spirit
will perform a miracle, and because of this your baby will be called the Son of
God."

To Mary's surprise, the angel had more exciting news: "Even your cousin Elizabeth
is going to have a son in her old age. Many thought that she couldn't have
children, but she is already pregnant. Nothing is impossible with God."

Mary couldn't believe what she was hearing; she didn't know what to say. She
realized that she was trembling, and knelt down. When she was finally able to
speak she said, "I am the Lord's servant, and I hope everything you have said will
come true."

Then the angel disappeared, and Mary was left alone.

Soon after, Joseph found out that Mary was going to have a baby. Joseph was
confused and upset by this, but an angel came to him in a dream and said, "Joseph
do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. The child Mary is going to have is
God's son, and you are to give him the name Jesus."

When Joseph woke up he remembered what the angel had said. He knew that
everything was okay, and he wasn't upset anymore.
In those days, the government decided that they should count everyone that lived
in that area of the world. So Joseph had to take Mary to his town of Bethlehem to
register.

It took Mary and Joseph a long time to get to Bethlehem. They didn't have cars
back then, so it probably took them a lot longer to get there. This was very tiring
for Mary because she was soon going to have a baby.

When they reached the town, all the hotels were full and there was nowhere that
they could stay. Finally, someone felt bad for them and offered them a place to
stay.

The Bible doesn't say for sure where they stayed but most people think that they
stayed in a small barn where animals were kept. In any case, doesn't it seem
strange that Jesus, the King of the Jews wasn't born in a fancy palace or even a
hospital?

Mary and Joseph were thankful that they at least had a place to lie down. It was
warm, and there was plenty of straw to lay on.

That night an exciting, wonderful thing happened: Mary and Joseph had a
baby! But this wasn't just any baby, he was Baby Jesus! The creator of the whole
world, the King of Kings, and the one who would save the world.

The little baby boy fell asleep in Mary's arms. She wrapped him in cloths and laid
him in a manger on some clean straw.

Mary and Joseph soon fell asleep; they were so glad to have this special baby join
their family.