2 Kings 4:8 – 37 “One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.
Then the woman said to her husband, “Behold, now I know that the one who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Please let us make a small room upstairs and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there.”
One day Elisha came to visit and went to his upper room to lie down. And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call the Shunammite woman.” And when he had called her, she stood before him, and Elisha said to Gehazi, “Now tell her, ‘Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’ ”
“I have a home among my own people,” she replied.
So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” “Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”
“Call her,” said Elisha.
So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway. And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.”
But the woman did conceive, and at that time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
And the child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the harvesters. “My head! My head!” he complained to his father. So his father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
After the servant had picked him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut the door and went out.
And the woman called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may go quickly to the man of God and return.”
“Why would you go to him today?” he replied. “It is not a New Moon or a Sabbath.” “Everything is all right,” she said.
Then she saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Drive onward; do not slow the pace for me unless I tell you.” So she set out and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman. Please run out now to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’ ” And she answered, “Everything is all right.”
When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.”
Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me?’ ”
So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment, take my staff in your hand, and go! If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him. Then lay my staff on the boy’s face.”
And the mother of the boy said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.
Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”
When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his bed. So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD.
Then Elisha got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, and hand to hand. As he stretched himself out over him, the boy’s body became warm. Elisha turned away and paced back and forth across the room. Then he got on the bed and stretched himself out over the boy again, and the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her and she came. Then Elisha said, “Pick up your son.” She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.
The assurance of a good meal, a bed, a table, a chair, a lamp, and a room in the upper part of the house where the evening breezes would make everything delightful – these were the homely things that this practical – minded lady of Shunem provided for the prophet Elisha and his servant Gehazi. As far as we know, Elisha had no wife or child and he had left his parents to follow Elijah. There were probably many times when Elisha and Gehazi had to settle for sleeping in stables or even in caves. Under such circumstances, the promise of good food, safe drinking water, and a clean attractive place to sleep and meditate must have seemed like a dream come true to Elisha and Gehazi. Little wonder then, that Elisha would try to do something to repay this lady’s kindness.
The Shunammite woman had no son and her husband was old. Perhaps she was a young woman who had been married off to an older man by her parents so that she would have a comfortable situation and would be able to assist them. At any rate, Elisha interceded for this lady and God gave her a son. All was well until the day when the boy was in the field with his father and the harvesters and began complaining of a severe headache. Within a few hours, this sweet child was dead and his mother was distraught. But this lady was a woman of faith; she believed that if Elisha had prayed for the birth of this child, Elisha might still be able to pray and raise this child from the dead.
This lady’s husband was not a believer. It was the faithful wife who insisted that all was well, even after she had carried her dead son’s body up to Elisha’s room. Despite protests from her husband, this lady courageously had a donkey saddled and then rushed to Elisha, still proclaiming that all was well. But all was not well and when Elisha sent Gehazi with his staff as a sign of authority, the boy remained dead. Elisha and the woman returned to her home. Elisha went upstairs, shut the door, and prayed to the Lord. Then Elisha stretched himself out on the boy, allowing God’s power to flow through his body and into that lifeless body. Suddenly the boy began breathing and sneezed seven times. Why seven times? Seven was considered the number of completion. God allowed the boy to sneeze seven times because He was healing the boy thoroughly. How Elisha and the Shunammite lady must have grinned at each other as Elisha called her and told her to pick up her son. That lady did not need to be told twice! That little boy probably got the hugging of his life as his mother embraced him, sobbing tears of joy.
APPLICATION: This is rainy season, a time of year when parents rush their malaria – stricken children in pale and seizing. We try to save every child; however, sometimes we fail. We might ask why God has chosen to raise this lady and yet allows so many of these children to die with complications of malaria. We will never know until we reach heaven. But what is remarkable about this story is not merely the raising of a child from the dead, but the faith of his mother. This lady has carried her dead son’s body up to the prophet’s room. She knows that her son is dead, and yet, she keeps maintaining that nothing is wrong and that everything will be all right. Yes, God moves through Elisha to heal the boy; however, it is the faith of the boy’s mother that impels her to saddle that donkey and rush post – haste to call Elisha to come. A woman of lesser faith would have simply shrugged her shoulders and buried the child and no miracle would ever have taken place.
We read these stories and wonder if God really does this stuff. A few years ago, a lady came to our mission hospital from across the river in Togo. We treated her for several days and then she went to stay at a local pastor’s house in town. That night, about 7:30, the lady died! There was no doubt that the lady was truly dead; she stopped breathing, had no heartbeat, and her body was starting to become stiff. The pastor led prayers for the lady and her family. Lacking anyplace else to put the body, her female relatives carefully laid her in one corner of the room and then prepared to go to sleep themselves in the same room. But two hours later, at 9:30 PM, the lady woke up. Let me say that again: THE LADY WOKE UP! God raised that lady from the dead, and she was healed. The problems that had sent her to the hospital were gone.
We can always ask God for healing; there is nothing wrong in asking. And we can ask repeatedly; Jesus encouraged his disciples to pray persistently. But at the end of the day, we must remember that we are only in advertising and that God is in management. Sometimes we don’t know what might happen if someone continues to live. God loves our family members far better than we can and He knows the end from the beginning. Let us come to God in faith, trusting Him and asking for big things, knowing that a loving heavenly Father will give us His very best.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You, even when circumstances seem grim. Thank You for loving those who are dear to us far more than we ever can. Help us to pray and not to give up but to recognize Your timing in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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