Elisha Receives The Mantle From Elijah

Cooking Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:
Make sugar cookies to use as Elijah’s chariot wheel. Then, with food items, tell the story.

For scripture and objectives, see above.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Prepare an opening and/or closing prayer in case you need one.
• Gather the materials

Supplies List:

• The cooking “cart” with aprons, etc.
• The Beginner’s Bible (for 2nd grade) – bookmarked to page 218
• Items in kitchen: cookie sheets, spatulas, hot pads, clean-up supplies
• Items in storage room across from kitchen: napkins, cups
• Pre-made sugar cookie dough – enough to make 2 cookies per student
• Other ingredients: Extra flour; rolling pins, cups to use as cookie cutters, parchment paper, kitchen scissors, (or candied oranges or any other candy that is orange or red and is not too chewy), zipper storage bags, pull-apart licorice ropes, and Fruit-by-the-Foot (one 0.5 oz package for 4 students).

Before Start of Class:

• Wash the metal tables.
• Unwrap the Fruit-by-the-Foot (FBTF) but leave the paper backing on. Use scissors to cut each package of FBTF into 4 pieces. Cut one package for every four students. [Make sure that none of the pieces touch each other. If they are stacked, it is almost impossible to take them apart.]
• If candied oranges were used, cut them into cookie-sized pieces, 2 per student.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Turn on vent fan (switch is to right of refrigerator).
• For younger students, roll out the cookie dough ahead of time.
• Items to have with you in the Social Hall: Prepared Fruit-by-the-Foot, licorice ropes, Candy Corn, napkins, and zipper storage bags

Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Gather everyone around the tables in the Social Hall. Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Cooking Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults. Pass around a basket to collect any offering. Remind everyone what the M&M project is: collecting money for Henderson Settlement mission.

[Note: The Shepherd will quietly take attendance, etc. while you are starting your lesson.]

Ask: Have you ever had someone help you do your homework?
Have you ever had someone teach you something new?
Say: Today we are going to talk about the experience of learning and teaching and what is called “the taking up of a mantle.”
Ask: Has anyone ever heard that term used, to “take up the mantle?” [Make sure the students don’t confuse a “mantle” with a mantel - the ornamental frame around a fireplace.]

Say: We will talk more about taking up the mantle. Let’s first begin with prayer.

Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. A suggestion: “Dear God, We are thankful to be here today to learn about your word. Help us to be open to learning about what it means to take up your mantle. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:
Say: There are two main characters in our story. They are both prophets.
Ask: What is a prophet? (a messenger of God)
Say: The two prophets we are going to learn about are named Elijah (pronounced: ee-LAI-juh) and Elisha (pronounced: ee-LAI-shuh). Elisha took up the mantle of Elijah. We can say that Elisha was a disciple of Elijah.
Ask: What is a disciple? (one who follows and learns from a teacher, and who tries to act as their teacher does)

Say: As I said, today we will learn about teaching, and learning – about being a disciple. For now you can all be my disciples as I teach you about making sugar cookies.

Have everyone put on aprons, wash their hands, and gather around the metal table.

Supply lumps of pre-made dough. Have them roll out the dough on the metal table. Use flour to keep things from being too sticky. Students should each cut out 2 cookies using cups as cookie cutters. Have them smush the two cookie shapes slightly together, so that they bake together on the cookie sheet. [The idea is to ultimately end up with two chariot wheels.] Label each child’s creation with pencil writing on the parchment paper. [Can use the excess dough to make cookies to share with coffee time.]

Place the Shepherd in charge of making sure they don’t burn! (Bake for 8-10 minutes.)
Have students wash their hands and return to the tables in the Social Hall.
[Have the Shepherd bring the baked cookies to the tables when they are ready.]

While the cookies are baking…
Say: Elijah was considered the greatest prophet in Israel. Elisha learned a lot from Elijah. He learned about how to be a prophet of God. Elisha was Elijah’s disciple.

Teach the way to remember which prophet came first –just like in the alphabet, j (in EliJah) comes before s (in EliSha).

Say: God had told Elijah to pick Elisha as his disciple. So Elijah went and found Elisha at home plowing his fields. In a dramatic, symbolic gesture Elijah threw his mantle over Elisha.

Ask: There is that word, mantle. What is a mantle anyway?
Say: A mantle is a loose, sleeveless cloak. Because of what happens in our story a mantle has come to represent something more than just a cloak. Let’s see if you can figure out what it has come to mean.

For 3rd grade and up:

Distribute Bibles.
Have everyone find 2 Kings, chapter 2, verses 1-15.
If this is the first week in the Rotation, YOU read the scripture to the students. In later weeks of the Rotation ask the students to tell you the story. Have them check their Bibles for accuracy.

For 2nd graders (who visit later in this Rotation):

Show the pictures on pages 219 – 223 of The Beginner’s Bible. Ask the students to tell you the story.

For all students:

Ask: So what do you suppose that “taking up the mantle” has come to mean?
Say: The taking up the mantle has come to represent a passing on of knowledge, faith and understanding.

If the cookies aren’t yet ready…
Say: The Chariot of Fire comes and takes Elijah. But his mantle is left behind.
Ask: What do you suppose was going through Elisha’s mind as he saw the mantle?
Do you suppose Elisha thought about what a hard job it would be to be the “main-prophet?”
Do you suppose that he was scared?

Say: Elisha's options were to follow in his friend’s footsteps and be faithful to God, or to play it safe and go home.
Ask:

• What does Elisha decide to do? (to follow in Elijah’s footsteps)
• What decisions do YOU need to make about being a disciple of Jesus?
• What do you need to start doing? Stop doing?
• Who can help you make these decisions?

When the cookies are ready…
Say: So our Bible story is about Elijah passing his mantle to Elisha. Let’s not eat our cookies yet. Let’s use them to practice re-telling our story.

Hand out napkins; Have each child open the napkin and lay it out in front of them.

Ask: So what is a mantle?
Give each student one piece of the Fruit-by-the-foot.
Say: Let’s pretend that this piece of FBTF is a mantle.

Ask: Where we can find the story about Elijah’s mantle in the Bible? (in the Old Testament)
The cookies you cut out were what shape originally? (round)
What letter does the circle represent? 
Say: The “O” shape reminds us the story can be found in the Old Testament.

Have the students place their “mantle” on their napkin and place the combined-cookie over the top of the “mantle.”
Say: Elijah and Elisha had been traveling together and Elijah said, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.”
Ask: What was Elisha’s response? (As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.)
Say: So they both went to Bethel.

Have children place a piece of rope licorice as though they are creating wheel spokes on their cookie “wheels.” [They may create one or both wheels.]

Say: Then Elijah said, “Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.”
Ask: What was Elisha’s response? (As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.)
Say: So they both went to Jericho.

Have children place another piece of licorice on their cookie, continuing to create spokes.

Say: Then Elijah said, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.”
Ask: What was Elisha’s response? (As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.)
Say: So the two of them walked on.

Have children place a final piece of licorice on their cookie.

Say: Upon reaching the Jordan River, Elijah removed his mantle, rolled it up and struck the water of the Jordan River, and much to Elisha’s surprise, the waters parted. And he thought to himself with wonder how God’s spirit and power was unleashed through that mantle!

Ask: Then what happened? (both crossed the river; Elijah asked for a double portion of spirit)
Say: Suddenly, a chariot of fire, pulled by horses of fire, swept down from the sky, carrying off Elijah before Elisha’s very eyes!

Pass out a few candy corns to each student. Have them place the candy corns in the center of their “wheels.”

Say: Now, if we look at what we’ve created we see Elijah’s chariot wheels with flames leaping from the hubs.

Ask: Now, who normally wears a crown? (a king)
Say: Our chariot wheel could also represent a royal crown. Our story today can be found in the Bible book of Kings. Because we have two wheels, we know our story can be found in Second Kings, Chapter 2. So to find the story in the bible just picture the wheels in your head anytime you want.

Ask: Going back to our story, as Elijah disappeared from view – what drifted from the sky falling gently at Elisha’s feet?

Say: Yes, Elijah mantle and if you all pick up your “chariot wheels,” there it is!

Ask the students to break their cookie in half. Half will be shared with someone else (not someone from class!) Have them place the half to share into a zipper storage bag.
They may eat the other half.

If time remains…
Ask the questions from the “If the cookies aren’t yet ready” section above …
AND/OR…
Ask:

• Our identity as individuals and as a community of faith is woven together from those who came before us. Who is passing on the mantle of faith to us?
• How do we learn about faith from those around us?
• How can you share with younger or older people, YOUR faith?
• Elijah passed on a physical mantle to Elisha. What are our “mantles” today?
• What rituals and physical signs do we use as rites of passage? What could we use to symbolize and remember these events?

Closing:
Have everyone repeat the key verse:
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 2 Kings 2:9b

Say: Elisha asked for and received a double share of Elijah’s spirit. He picked up Elijah’s mantle and carried on the faith and belief in God that he had learned from Elijah. This week, look for ways you can pick up the mantle of faith.

Resources:

• Lesson written by Carol Hulbert. Basic idea for this lesson came from Dianne McLaren-Brighton and from: Payne, Luanne. From a rotation.org posting: “Elijah passes his mantle to Elisha Ideas (not complete lesson plans).” 2007 Link.

• Derden, Jaymie. “Bible Background.” 2007. 
• MacQueen, Neil. “Elijah Rotation.” 2001. (some life-application questions)

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Note: This recipe was chosen and slightly edited because it is easy to manipulate – not too sticky or too crumbly. It is heavy dough – good to mix with your hands! The dough for our lesson will be made ahead of time as it rolls better if chilled.

2 cups white sugar
1 cup shortening (NOT butter or margarine)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Parchment Paper needs to be used on the cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes. Note: we used half of this recipe for each class. It made enough cookies for 8-12 kids plus they made some to share with the fellowship time. Another way of passing on…

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert for First United Methodist Church
Ann Arbor, MI 

Copyright 2006 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI. 
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material 

 A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.