Single lesson
The Shunammite Woman's Land Is Restored
2 Kings 8:1–6
This lesson helps children follow a short Bible story about a woman who listened to a warning, lived away during famine, returned home, and asked the king for help. Children will sequence the account and notice how each action leads to the next one.
Before you teach
In this passage, Elisha speaks to a woman whose son had been restored to life and warns her about a seven-year famine. She obeys and lives away with her household. When she returns, she asks the king for her house and land, and the king hears her and orders that all be restored.
Students will be able to retell the sequence of 2 Kings 8:1–6 and identify the woman’s actions and what the king restored.
Welcome: Hear the problem in the story
5 minSay, “Today we will trace a story step by step.” Introduce three key ideas from the passage: a warning, a journey, and a return. Explain that Elisha told the woman to leave because Yahweh had called for a famine in the land, and that it would last seven years. Ask children to listen for what she does next.
2 Kings 8:1
Read and explain: The woman listens and leaves
7 minRead verses 1 to 3 aloud. Explain that famine means a time when food is very scarce. Point out that the woman arose and did according to the man of God’s word. She went with her household and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years. After that, she returned and asked the king for her house and land.
2 Kings 8:1, 2 Kings 8:2, 2 Kings 8:3
Discuss: As Gehazi was telling the king
6 minRead verses 4 and 5. Show that the king was talking with Gehazi about the great things Elisha had done. As Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman came to ask for her house and land. Gehazi then identified her and her son to the king.
2 Kings 8:4, 2 Kings 8:5
Make and respond: Put the story in order
8 minChildren make simple sequence cards with four scenes: Elisha warns the woman, the woman leaves, the woman asks the king, and the king restores her property. As they arrange the cards, ask them to tell what happened first, next, and last. Encourage them to use words from the passage as they explain each card.
2 Kings 8:1, 2 Kings 8:2, 2 Kings 8:3, 2 Kings 8:6
Closing: What was restored?
4 minRead verse 6 and summarise the ending. The king asked the woman, she told him, and he appointed an officer to restore all that was hers. That included the fruits of the field from the day she left until then. Finish by inviting children to name one choice the woman made and one outcome the king ordered.
2 Kings 8:6
Questions to explore
What did Elisha tell the woman to do, and why?
Look for the command to arise and go, and the reason given about the famine coming on the land for seven years.
2 Kings 8:1
What did the woman do after hearing the word, and how long was she away?
The verse says she arose, did according to the word, and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
2 Kings 8:2
What exactly did the king order to be restored?
Listen for both parts of the command in the final verse, including the produce from the field since the day she left.
2 Kings 8:6
Make, think or respond
Story Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- paper or card
- pencils or textas
- scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Fold or cut paper into four cards.
- Draw one scene on each card: the warning, the move, the request to the king, and the restoration.
- Mix the cards and have children place them in order.
- Ask each child or pair to retell the story using the ordered cards.
Sequencing the cards helps children follow the order of events in 2 Kings 8:1–6 and notice the woman’s actions and the king’s response.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, prepare four simple picture prompts and let them point to the next event before retelling it in short phrases.
- For older or more confident children, ask them to add key words from the passage to each card, such as famine, seven years, begged, and restore.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: “God, please help us listen carefully, act wisely, and tell the truth when we are asked, as we learn from this account. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
2 Kings 8
1 Now Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise, and go, you and your household, and stay for a while wherever you can; for Yahweh has called for a famine. It will also come on the land for seven years.”
2 The woman arose, and did according to the man of God’s word. She went with her household, and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
3 At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. Then she went out to beg the king for her house and for her land.
4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.”
5 As he was telling the king how he had restored to life him who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life begged the king for her house and for her land. Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”
6 When the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.