Prophet Elijah ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire

Prophet Elijah ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire
from 2 Kings 2:1-18
Re-told by Debbie Dunn

• Story Highlights:
  * Elisha witnessed Prophet Elijah ascending to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire pulled by horses of fire.
  * If Elisha saw Elijah rise skyward, he requested to inherit a double share of Elijah’s spirit.
  * Elisha also requested that God would choose him to replace Elijah as God’s special prophet.

Imagine this. Your name is Elisha. You have spent 6 to 10 years training to become a prophet for God Almighty.

Question: By the way, what is a Prophet?

Answer: A spokesperson for God.

Similar to you spending years attending school, the final day of Elisha’s training session has arrived.

RINGLEADER: What happened on that day?

Group repeats

Prophet Elijah will ascend to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire.

RINGLEADER: Oh, my! That sounds exciting!

Group repeats

The Bible states, “The Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind.” [2 Kings 2:1]

RINGLEADER: A whirlwind? Tell us more!

Group repeats

On that final day, God said this to Prophet Elijah:

Father God: Elijah, I wish you to leave Gilgal, travel to Bethel, then to Jericho, and then cross the Jordan River.

RINGLEADER: How far did he have to walk?

Group repeats

Altogether, Prophet Elijah probably walked 29 to 38 miles.

RINGLEADER: Wow! That’s a loooong walk!

Group repeats

It sure was. So, at each stop, Prophet Elijah said to Elisha:

ELIJAH: Elisha, stay here while I go to all the places the Lord has told me to go.

Not wanting to miss seeing a Chariot of Fire, Elisha declared:

ELISHA: Elijah, as surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you!

At their first two stops, they were met by a group of prophets who pulled Elisha aside and said:

GROUP OF PROPHETS: Elisha, did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?

Elisha shushed them as he said:

ELISHA: Of course, I know. But be quiet about it.

When Elijah and Elisha reached the Jordan River, they saw a group of 50 prophets watching from a distance.

RINGLEADER: What happened next?

Group repeats

Prophet Elijah took off his cloak. He folded it together and struck the water with it.

RINGLEADER: What happened to the water?

Group repeats

Just like when Moses raised his staff, and the Red Sea parted, when Prophet Elijah slapped the water with his cloak, the Jordan River parted. That way, they could walk across the riverbed on dry land.

When they reached the other side of the Jordan River, Prophet Elijah asked an exciting question.

ELIJAH: Elisha, what can I do for you before God takes me away?

Elisha asked Prophet Elijah for two things.

RINGLEADER: What did he ask for first?

Group repeats

ELISHA: Elijah, please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.

RINGLEADER: What else did he ask for?

Group repeats

ELISHA: Elijah, also, please ask God to choose me to replace you as God’s special Prophet.

ELIJAH: Hmmmm! Elisha, you have asked a difficult thing. I will make a bargain with you.

ELISHA: Elijah, what is the bargain?

ELIJAH: Elisha, you will only get your request if you actually see me rise into the sky.

Elisha was determined to keep his eyes wide open so that he could witness Elijah flying up into the sky.

Just then, a Chariot of Fire appeared, driven by horses of fire. After that, a whirlwind took Elijah up toward Heaven.

RINGLEADER: Did Elisha see this happen?

Group repeats

He sure did! Looking upward, Elisha called out:

ELISHA: Wow! I see Elijah in the Chariot of Fire!

After he was gone, Elisha looked around and found Elijah’s cloak on the ground. He picked it up and brought it to the Jordan River.

RINGLEADER: What did Elisha do with the cloak?

Group repeats

As Elisha struck the water of the river with that cloak, he called:

ELISHA: Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?

With those words, the water of the Jordan River parted so that Elisha could walk across the riverbed on dry land.

Those 50 prophets turned to each other and said:

GROUP OF PROPHETS: Oh, my! Elijah’s spirit rests upon Elisha!

The 50 prophets walked until they reached Elisha. They bowed to the ground before him and said:

GROUP OF PROPHETS: Sir, in case the Spirit of the Lord left your master on some mountain or valley, we will send 50 of our strongest men to search for him.

Knowing this was a ridiculous suggestion, Elisha said:

ELISHA: No. Don’t send them!

But they nagged and nagged until Elisha finally said:

ELISHA: All right. If you must, go ahead and send them.

They spent 3 days searching everywhere for Prophet Elijah. Giving up, they found Elisha in Jericho and said:

GROUP OF PROPHETS: Uh, …, Elisha. Uh, …, well, …, uh, … we never did find Prophet Elijah anywhere.

Elisha shook his head from side to side as he replied:

ELISHA: (SIGH LOUDLY) Didn’t I tell you not to go?

Question: Why didn’t they find Prophet Elijah anywhere?

Answer: Because Elijah was now in Heaven.

Any questions or comments?

Are you a Bible enthusiast or do you lead a Youth Group or Family Bible Study? To get a FREE PDF download of this story, click on this link below:

Free PDF download of Chariot of Fire story

Do you want more stories about Prophet Elijah? If so, visit the chapter called 4 other Important Prophets of Israel: Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, & Nathan from my EXPLORE BIBLE STORY dot org website.

Click here to get more stories about Prophet Elijah.

My ever-expanding Explore Bible Story dot org website includes Bible stories and Biblical Family Trees about

• Creation, Adam, & his Descendants
• Noah, the Ark, & the Flood
• Abraham & Sarah
• Isaac & Rebekah, Esau & Jacob
• Jacob & his 4 wives
• 12 sons of Jacob who became known as the 12 Tribes of Israel
• Moses who was from the line of Levi
• Joshua who became leader of Israelites after death of Moses
• 12 Judges of Israel including Deborah, Gideon, & Samson
• Kings of Israel including Saul, David, & Solomon
• 4 Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, & Daniel
• 12 Minor Prophets of Israel
• 4 other important Prophets of Israel: Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, & Nathan
• Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Lord, Savior, & King of king
• 12 Disciples of Jesus
• Apostle Paul & other Significant Followers of Christ
• Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
• The Free Gift of Salvation & The Sinner's Prayer
• About the author: Debbie Dunn

Bible tale: Adam part 1 of 3

Bible tale: Adam part 1 of 3
from Genesis 2:4 to 20A
Re-told by Debbie Dunn

• Story Highlights:
  * On the 6th day of Creation, God created First Man, Adam, from the dust of the earth.
  * God gave Adam 1 rule: If he ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, he would die.
  * God gave Adam the task of naming all the pairs of male and female animals.

Introduction:

Let’s begin. As we discover more about day three and day six of Creation, we will play detective. We’ll combine the clues we learn from the Bible verses and add in our imagination to kind of fill in the blanks of what might have happened on those two days.




























We need volunteers to play the following parts:

* Narrator #1

* Narrator #2

* Father God

* Jesus Christ

* Bible Verse Reader

* Adam

SKIT: Topic: Adam Part 1 - from Genesis 2:4-20A

Narrator #1: Genesis 2 reveals that, on the 3rd day, in addition to creating all the plants and trees, God created a beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden.











































JESUS: Father, where do you intend to place the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?

Father God: Jesus, I am going to place them in the very middle of the garden.

JESUS: That sounds great, Father!

















































Narrator #2: As you likely recall, on the 6th day of Creation, God created all the animals that lived on the land. Then, Father God might have said:

Father God: Jesus, it is now time to create my most important creation of all.

Narrator #1: The Bible verse reader will explain how the very first man was created by reading Genesis 2, verses 7 and 15.

Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (NIV)

Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (NIV)

Narrator #2: After the very first man ever created was formed, God named him Adam.

Father God: Welcome, Son! I will call you Adam.

Narrator #1: Adam came forward to hear the one rule God had made for his life in this beautiful garden.

ADAM: Okay. Uh, …, thank you, Father God, for creating me! What is this one commandment I must follow?

Father God: Adam, I hope you will enjoy your time living in this beautiful garden! There is only one rule you must follow.

ADAM: What is that rule?

Father God: Adam, you are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die.

ADAM: What?!! I will die if I eat from that tree? That is scary to hear! Please point out this tree so I can be sure to not accidentally break that rule.

Narrator #2: God led Adam to the very center of the garden. He pointed out both the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. Then, God said:

Father God: Adam, do not eat from either of those trees! However, you will find plenty of other trees filled with all kinds of very tasty fruit.

ADAM: Thank you, God! I am eager to try the fruit from those other trees.

Genesis 2:19-20 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. (NIV)

Narrator #1: Now it is your turn to participate. Pretend you are Adam. As you look at the pages that show several animal pictures, announce the names by which each animal will go by from that time of Creation forward.

Father God: All you animals, parade yourself in front of Adam so he can give you a name.

Narrator #2: We can picture a great line of animals parading in front of Adam. He probably couldn’t help noticing that there were always a male animal and a female animal.

Narrator #1: At some point, Adam may have wondered why there wasn’t a female human companion with whom he could spend his time.

FYI –Pretend you are Adam. Point to the animal pictures. Announce to each animal the name by which they will be identified

For example, pointing to the bird picture, say:

I will call you a _______. (Fish)

I will call you a _______. (Birds)

I will call you a _______. (Livestock)

I will call you a _______. (Creepers)

I will call you a _______. (Beasts)

Narrator #2: Next week, we will find out all about the creation of Eve and the very tragic thing that happened between Eve, Adam, and the Serpent.

Narrator #1: END OF SKIT. Let’s give our volunteers a great big hand!

FYI – See the PDF download below for the 5 pages of animal pictures to print off and enjoy. They include several examples of the 

1. Fish of the Seas
2. Birds of the Air
3. The Livestock
4. The Creeping Things
5. The Beasts of the earth

Animal Pictures (5 pgs) to Enjoy & Print

Are you a Bible enthusiast or do you lead a Youth Group or Family Bible Study? To get a FREE PDF download of this story and the 5 pages of animal pictures, click on this link below:

Free PDF download of Adam part 1 of 3

Do you want more stories & Biblical Family Trees about Creation, Adam, & his descendants? If so, visit the Adam chapter from my EXPLORE BIBLE STORY dot org website.

Click here to get more Adam tales, blogs, & Biblical Family Trees.

My ever-expanding Explore Bible Story dot org website includes Bible stories and Biblical Family Trees about

• Creation, Adam, & his Descendants
• Noah, the Ark, & the Flood
• Abraham & Sarah
• Isaac & Rebekah, Esau & Jacob
• Jacob & his 4 wives
• 12 sons of Jacob who became known as the 12 Tribes of Israel
• Moses who was from the line of Levi
• Joshua who became leader of Israelites after death of Moses
• 12 Judges of Israel including Deborah, Gideon, & Samson
• Kings of Israel including Saul, David, & Solomon
• 4 Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, & Daniel
• 12 Minor Prophets of Israel
• 4 other important Prophets of Israel: Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, & Nathan
• Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Lord, Savior, & King of king
• 12 Disciples of Jesus
• Apostle Paul & other Significant Followers of Christ
• Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
• The Free Gift of Salvation & The Sinner's Prayer
• About the author: Debbie Dunn

Gideon leads Battle – Judges 6-8 - Part 2 of 2

Gideon leads Battle – Judges 6-8 - Part 2 of 2

We will now hear the conclusion of Gideon’s story.

To review, here are a few questions.

Question: God did not want His people to worship idols. What is an idol?

Answer: People worship a carved image as a false god.

Question: Before meeting an angel, how did Gideon label himself?

Answer: Poor farmer. Youngest brother. Part of weakest of the 12 tribes.

Question: How did God label Gideon?

Answer: As a mighty herov

Question: What did God want Gideon to do?

Answer: To rescue Israel. To fight against the Midianites.

Question: Who was on Gideon’s side when fighting against the Midianites?

Answer: God

Gideon sent out this message to the Israelites:

GIDEON: All you warriors, the Lord guarantees our victory against the thousands of Midianites who have tortured us for the last 20 years. Who will join me?

Armed for battle, a huge number of Israelites arrived.

Question: Guess how many warriors showed up.

Answer: 32,000

When all 32,000 warriors gathered, the Lord said:

Father God: You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast that they saved themselves by their own strength. Therefore, anyone who feels timid or afraid should return home.

So, Gideon turned to the Israelite warriors and announced:

GIDEON: Uh, thank you for coming. However, the Lord said that if any of you feel timid or afraid, you should leave this mountain and return home.

Question: Guess how many warriors remained after a bunch of them realized they were too scared to fight.

Answer: 10,000

When only 10,000 warriors remained, Gideon was absolutely shocked when he heard the Lord’s next words:

Father God: There are still too many of you! Bring them down to the stream to take a drink. If they bend down to lap water like a dog, send them home. Keep only those who cup the water with their hands.

Gideon carefully watched each man as he drank.

Question: Guess how warriors remained to fight.

Answer: 300

When only 300 warriors remained to fight, Gideon announced:

GIDEON: Grab a ram’s horn to use as a trumpet, a torch to hide inside a clay pot, and a sword. Now, rest up until midnight.

That evening, to help calm Gideon’s fears, the Lord told him to take a companion, sneak into the enemy’s camp, and listen. They heard these comforting words:

MIDIANITE #1: Man! I had this crazy dream.

MIDIANITE #2: What did you dream?

MIDIANITE #1: I dreamed that one of our tents was knocked flat by a huge loaf of falling barley bread.

MIDIANITE #2: Your dream can mean only one thing. God has given Gideon and his army victory over us!

MIDIANITE #1: Yikes!

Excitedly, Gideon and his friend rushed back to their camp, woke up the 300, and ordered:

GIDEON: Get up! For the Lord has given us victory over our enemies!

Gideon divided his warriors into 3 groups of 100 each. Each man held 4 objects: (1) a trumpet made of a ram’s horn, (2) a torch, (3) a clay pot, and (4) their sword. Gideon said:

GIDEON: Group 1 goes to one side of the enemy’s camp. Group 2 goes to the other side of the camp. Group 3 will join me in the middle. Just after midnight, when the enemy switches their night-watch guards, do these 3 things: (1st) Blow your ram’s horns. (2nd) Break your clay pot. And (3rd) Hold your fire torch up high. Because it is so dark, our enemies will panic. They will never guess there are only 300 of us. Finally, shout these words:

CHANT LEADER: A sword for the Lord! [Group repeats]
And a sword for Gideon! [Group repeats]

The terrified Midianite soldiers began swinging their swords around. Because they couldn’t see, thousands of them ended up killing each other.

After that, it was an easy matter to kill the remaining enemies who had tortured them for the previous 20 years.

Thrilled, the Israelites urged Gideon to be their leader. But Gideon announced:

GIDEON: Not I! Only the Lord will rule over you.

For 40 years, there was peace in the land of Israel as Gideon served as a faith-filled judge.

Question: Describe some of the ways the Israelites won their battle against the Midianites.

Answer: (1) They blew ram’s horns.
(2) They broke clay pots.
(3) They lit torches.
(4) They shouted loud words.
(5) They relied on God to help.

Question: What loud words did the Israelites shout?

Answer: A sword for the Lord! A sword for Gideon!

Question: Any questions or comments?

Please note: These are Bible stories we use with the girls at our Wednesday night Youth Outreach program sponsored by West Highland Baptist Church in Athens, Alabama. The pastor uses his own material when working with the boys. I also use these Bible stories with the Youth Sunday School class I co-teach.

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to Bible books about Jesus, middle school anti-bullying curriculum books, plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle).

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• Author’s Page on Amazon.com

Here is my website: https://bible-books-for-his-glory.com/index.html. It describes which stores you can order any of my 7-book series called "Bible Books for His Glory."

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• Bible Books for His Glory 7-book series