Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.  2 Kings 13:20-21 This passage is the last reference to the prophet Elisha in the old testamen...  Read More

The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great distress. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, "We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals."The LORD replied, "When the Egyptians, the Ammonites, the Philistines . . . oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have for...  Read More

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, "Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they challenged him vigorously.But he answered them, "What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do c...  Read More

The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, Mighty Warrior.""Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?  Where are...  Read More

The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men, I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, 'My own strength has saved me.'  . . . So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, "This one shall go with you, he shal...  Read More

Gideon replied,  "If I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return."Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast.   . . . he brought them out and offered them to him under t...  Read More