RCCG SUNDAY SCHOOL MANUAL SUNDAY 10TH OF DECEMBER, 2023

[1]Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

[2]Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

[3]And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

[4]If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

[5]And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

INTRODUCTION: In Bible times, people suffering from skin diseases like leprosy were treated as outcasts. There was no cure for the disease, which gradually left a person disfigured through loss of fingers, toes, and eventually limbs. It is, therefore, surprising and challenging how God decided to use these categories of people to bring relief to the nation of Israel during the famine, despite their limitations (1 Corinthians 1:27).

At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

a. Understand that one can live above limitations.

b. Know practical values that can help one to live above limitations.

a. Allow the students to recite the memory verse, read the Bible passage, contribute to the discussion, do class activities and assignment.

b. Allow the Assistant Teacher to see to the well-being of the class, and mark attendance and assignment.

c. Teach the lesson outline, summarise, conclude, evaluate the lesson and give assignment to the students.

A. In this passage, Prophet Elisha prophesying concerning the famine experience in Samaria says:

i. Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel. V1a.

ii. And two measures ………………………..….V1b.

B. But a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said:

i. Behold, if the LORD would ……………….V2a.

ii. And Elisha said, Behold, thou shalt see ………..………………V2b.

C. Meanwhile, there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? V3.

i. If we say ……..…….……………………V4a.

ii. Now therefore come, and let us fall …………V4b.

iii. And they rose up save ………………..……..V5a.

iv. And when they were come to …………..V5b.

i. Obstacles on our way to the fulfilment of God’s plans and purposes for our lives especially as Christians.

ii. Setbacks, stagnations, and losing out in the battles of life.

B. The sources of limitations may include but are not limited to:

i. Spiritual (Daniel 10:12-13).

ii. Human misdeeds or errors (2 Samuel 4:4).

iii. Natural occurrences (Exodus 14:10).

iv. Afflictions (Exodus 3:7).

C. In our Bible passage – 2 Kings 7:1-5, leprosy (among other diseases) confined and restricted the purpose for living of some men:

i. These lepers were treated as outcasts; they stayed outside the camp (Numbers 5:2-3).

ii. They could not live among their brethren (Leviticus 13:45-46).

iii. They were confounded to the entering of the gate (2 Kings 7:3; Luke 17:12).

D. We are bound to have challenges as Christians (Jeremiah 1:19).

i. The good news is that God has assured us of being more than conquerors through Christ (Romans 8:37).

ii. However, we have a lot to learn from the case of the lepers in 2 Kings 7:1-5, who asked themselves a fundamental question “Why sit we here until we die?”

CLASS ACTIVITY 1: Students should share any experience where they succeeded in spite of difficulties.

The teacher should ask the students to mention the lessons that can be learned from the actions of the four lepers. He/she should then explain the lessons as follows:

1. Unity: The lepers were united. Unity is strength and it is easy to accomplish a feat when we are unified (Amos 3:3; Psalm 133:1-3).

2. Purposefulness: They were determined to achieve their goal and this helped them to conquer their fears despite their condition (2 Kings 7:4; Daniel 1:8).

3. Understanding: They were able to analyse and interpret the situation they found themselves in. This informed the decision they made and there was no strife amongst them (Proverbs 20:3).

4. Daring: They were audacious. They made up their mind to go to the camp of the enemy irrespective of the odds (Esther 4:16; 2 Kings 7:4).

5. Resolute: Twilight is a period of obscurity or haziness but the lepers were not deterred. Even in this period of uncertainty, they still went ahead with their plans. Do not give up on your dreams (2 Kings 7:5a, Daniel 3:15-18).

6. Saving Culture: Do not eat with “10 fingers!” After eating to the full they still kept some behind. Savings is important to grow big (2 Kings 7:8; Proverbs 21:20).

7. Compassion: They rebuked themselves and went to report their findings to the king’s household so that everyone could benefit from the booty (2 Kings 7:9; 1 Peter 3:8).

8. Stop Procrastinating: Immediately they decided to tell the porter of the city their discovery they followed it with a decisive step. They did what they thought in their mind (Proverbs 13:4; 2 Kings 7:10a).

9. Share Information: They did not wholly withhold information about all that they saw at the Syrian camp. They took the good news to the right source; the king (Hebrews 13:16; 2 Kings 7:10).

* Mention three sources of limitation.

* Mention two lessons believers can learn from the four lepers.

EVALUATION: Teachers should ask the students to explain how they can fulfil their purpose in the face of limitations.

ASSIGNMENT: Mention five people in the Bible who overcame their limitations and fulfilled their destinies. (2×5=10 marks).