ELISHA’S MINISTRY: “CHRISTIAN – HOW IS YOUR LITTLE UPPER CHAMBER FURNISHED?” Part 1 of 2
SERIES – MESSAGES ON ELISHA – HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY Number 8
2Kings 4:8 Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shunem where there was a prominent woman, and she persuaded him to eat food, and so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food. 2Kings 4:9 She said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. 2Kings 4:10 Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand, and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there.”
2Kings 4:11 One day he came there and turned in to the upper chamber and rested. 2Kings 4:12 Then he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite,” and when he had called her, she stood before him. 2Kings 4:13 He said to him, “Say now to her, Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the army?” and she answered, “I live among my own people,”
2Kings 4:14 so he said, “What then is to be done for her?” and Gehazi answered, “Truly she has no son and her husband is old.” 2Kings 4:15 He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 2Kings 4:16 Then he said, “At this season next year you shall embrace a son,” and she said, “No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant.” 2Kings 4:17 The woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year, as Elisha had said to her.
Elisha obviously had a circuit he undertook from time to time, no doubt at the leading of God, for that meant he had any base and any calling for any duration of time. The Lord’s service is not bound by human timetables, and all His servants must be open in their calling, not bound by conceived plans of man, committees and organisations. How the work of the Lord sometimes must suffer by artificial time terms and contracts, for these can take the leading of the Holy Spirit out of the equation. I have been acquainted with the calling or appointment of ministers to churches in a few different denominations, and all I can say, is that this is a very complex issue that I don’t want to expand on.
However there are two major points I will make. The first is where a true man of God is appointed, he does the Lord’s work as best as he is able and God can and does bless his ministry. I see this at work to some extent in the Sydney Anglicans. The second point is that there are ministerial boards that appoint to clerical positions in churches of that denomination, and some who hold positions on those boards are not at all controlled by the Holy Spirit or guided by the mind of God. The result is a hit and miss placement. Then you have the situation adopted by the Baptists generally, where the church is considered autonomous, and is free to call its own pastor, but this means smaller churches can miss out while richer churches appeal to a good number of pastors who see life easier and incomes better. One of the flaws of this calling is it appears that the Baptist minister is on an “auction roulette”. All would be so much easier if churches remained autonomous and functioned according to the gifts and men the Lord grants to those gathered together in a communal church. Nevertheless, many communal churches struggle because of a lack of spiritual gift among the men caused by a failure to study to make oneself approved before God, and to cultivate the gifts and talents God has given, and wants you to develop. One must be disciplined and exercised.
A certain day came when Elisha's ministry led him to Shunem and there he made the acquaintance of a certain woman who had a husband and a house. God’s leading is always an exact one. Abraham’s servant went to a distant country and there God led him to the correct person for Isaac’s bride. The disciples of the Lord were led to the owners of the donkey that was to be the Lord’s mount on Palm Sunday. God led Ananias to Straight Street to meet Saul. Cornelius sent some soldiers to Joppa to find a certain Simon the tanner in a house by the sea. Elisha needed care in his ministry and the Shunem house was that exact provision from God. The Lord will always make contacts available for His people that can lead to connections and a furtherance of ministry, even if it is not for the immediate instance, then for a time yet future. We do not know what is achieved by our contacts with others, and where it could lead. I have just returned from a cruise where we made some Christian contacts through the bible study each sea day, and God gave opportunity for the writer to share the word of God with others over several weeks. We may have been as ships passing in the night, but none of God’s moves is accidental or meaningless. I myself made contact that has blessed me through a book, whose author was on the cruise, and he wrote a manual for those in ministry. Praise God for that. Well Elisha and the woman met and she provided for his food – the word says, “She persuaded him to eat food.”
In describing this woman the NASB calls her a prominent woman. I understand that to mean she was an important or influential woman. The word can also be “great woman” which is the expression used in the KJV and an alternate wording suggested by the NASB. It is fantastic when God gives strategic contacts to assist in ministry and to be a help along the way, and this woman was certainly one of these, so much so, that whenever Elisha passed that way, he always called into the woman’s house to be refreshed. We have been talking about a woman, but this house was owned by a married couple, nonetheless a childless one. They were older maybe, certainly the husband was, so the expected maturity was there. This was a godly household. It may be debated of course, but God’s withholding of children can be a means of extended ministry for a couple. It may give extra opportunity to serve God as we see in certain totally surrendered, young women who serve others, or are found on the mission field, working to the glory of God. They have never married, so children and family were forfeited, but their reward will be great. Thus it was that this Shunemite woman gave herself to the support of the man of God. Shunem became a regular stop as Elisha passed that way each time.
Time passed, and it became even more obvious to the woman that Elisha was truly a man of God. This is not always obvious at first with people who are new in ministry or in a church and is why the New Testament advises caution with appointments, especially in the position of elder. God advises, “not a novice” and “don’t lay hands on anyone suddenly”. With God, there is a proving ground before a man can be accepted into a responsible position, but the organisation of man overlooks this in the way appointments are made, especially church ministerial positions. Experience shows the problems that emerge. When things are done God’s ways, correct discernment comes in God’s own time. It is the Holy Spirit who grants the witness in this discernment and grants the conviction in one’s heart as to what God’s will is. Being truthful, I have to say I have not been correct a few times and I think this is because of an imperfect wait or a faulty discernment. God’s ways are always correct so the fault lies with us when a mistake is made, which means we need to be more finely attuned to what God wants.
The woman perceived him to be a holy man of God. Holiness is paramount. I believe there is a difference in these terms. Being a man of God may apply to some or all of us in a general way, but being a holy man of God is something much different. Holiness is the very operation of the Holy Spirit to produce that aspect in our lives, to conform us to the image of Christ, and if we are not living in holiness, we are not allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work. His desire for us is holiness, which is a spiritual blessing Paul explains in Ephesians - Ephesians 1 v 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Eph 1 v 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. This Shumanite woman’s initiative was taken up with her husband - 2Kings 4 v 9 She said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually.”
Her suggestion to her husband was that they should make a little, walled, upper chamber for Elisha. This is our key verse for today - 2Kings 4 v 10 Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand, and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there.” It was not a mansion or some extravagant construction in the manner some Americans would enact in compliance with their wealth. It was just a token of love and support. Isn’t it such a blessing when we see small touches of God’s love and care and support, and know it is God’s doing through His own children. God has always provided for His people, even when the provision is not seen by human eyes. Provision can be touches along the way, even like the almost indistinct track that leads through trouble, or the person who meets you along the way. It can apply to both spiritual and physical needs, and is a great confirmation of blessing as it was to Elisha.
This chamber’s makeup has caused different views to emerge but I like this selection from Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges - The Hebrew might mean either a chamber with a wall, a walled room, in contradistinction to one built of wood, or a building above the usual roof of the house and so supported by the walls. The latter seems to be the sense required here, for it is said in verse 21, that the mother went up when she wished to lay the dead child upon the prophet’s bed. As the roofs of Eastern houses can be reached by a staircase from outside, a chamber on the housetop (cf. Proverbs 21:9; Proverbs 25:24) would furnish the sort of privacy which Elisha would desire. He could also thus come in and go out without being mixed up with the movements of the household.
In the next part we shall see what these items of furniture in the room represent. There are some great applications that come from these. God’s provision is wonderful, and this is a fantastic account.
END OF PART 1 OF 2. NEXT PART FOLLOWS IN NEXT POSTING.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
