THE BOY’S SNEEZE AND THE MOTHER’S JOY (October 9, 2022)
Text: 2 Kings 4:18 -21, 2 Kings 4:28 – 37
2 Kings 4:18-37 When the child was older, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. (19) He complained to his father, "Oh, my head, my head!" The father said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother." (20) He carried him and brought him to his mother; the child sat on her lap until noon, and he died. (21) She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, closed the door on him, and left. …. (28) Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, Do not mislead me?" (29) He said to Gehazi, "Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go. If you meet anyone, give no greeting, and if anyone greets you, do not answer; and lay my staff on the face of the child." (30) Then the mother of the child said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave without you." So he rose up and followed her. (31) Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. He came back to meet him and told him, "The child has not awakened." (32) When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. (33) So he went in and closed the door on the two of them, and prayed to the LORD. (34) Then he got up on the bed and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm. (35) He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. (36) Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, "Call the Shunammite woman." So he called her. When she came to him, he said, "Take your son." (37) She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left (NRSV).
Opening Illustration ...
Some years ago Alexander Woolcott described a scene in a New York hospital where a grief-stricken mother sat in the hospital lounge in stunned silence, tears streaming down her cheeks. She had just lost her only child and she was gazing blindly into space while the head nurse talked to her, simply because it was the duty of the head nurse to talk in such circumstances.
"Did Mrs. Norris notice the shabby little boy sitting in the hall just next to her daughter's room?"
No, Mrs. Norris had not noticed him.
"There," continued the head nurse, "there is a case. That little boy's mother is a young French woman who was brought in a week ago by ambulance from their shabby one-room apartment to which they had gravitated when they came to this country scarcely three months ago. They had lost all their people in the old country and knew nobody here. The two had only each other. Every day that lad has come and sat there from sunup to sundown in the vain hope that she would awaken and speak to him. Now, he has no home at all!"
Mrs. Norris was listening now. So the nurse went on, "Fifteen minutes ago that little mother died, dropped off like a pebble in the boundless ocean, and now it is my duty to go out and tell that little fellow that, at the age of seven, he is all alone in the world." The head nurse paused, then turned plaintively to Mrs. Norris. "I don't suppose," she said hesitantly, "I don't suppose that you would go out and tell him for me?"
What happened in the next few moments is something that you remember forever. Mrs. Norris stood up, dried her tears, went out and put her arms around the lad and led that homeless child off to her childless home, and in the darkness they both knew they had become lights to each other! https://sermons.com/search/results? term=childless&category=sermon&sermon_filters=Illustrations&tab=Illustrations&page=1 There can be no doubt that God was at work in that story. It is often a mystery how God does it, but God always has a way of making all things work together for the good (Romans 8:28).
Today we are looking at how God works beyond our ability to understand! In our scripture for today, we hear about a childless family who had a child and later lost that child until God showed up and showed out and brought that child back to life! The story is not just about what God did then. No! This story is about how God is at work every day in seen and unseen ways.
Three things we will explore in the text for today is Elisha’s blessing, Elisha’s ministry and why it is significant.
1) Elishas’s blessing: >>> Elijah’s mantle fell upon Elisha as he was transported to heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). >>> Before that moment, Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his spirit (2 Kings 2:9). Elijah and Elisha had a bond much like the bond that existed between Paul and Timothy (see Philippians 2:22). Elisha’s request for a double portion was the same as asking for the blessing of a first-born son (Deuteronomy 21:17). That request seems to have been granted by God as Elijah was transported to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). From that moment forward Elisha continued as a disciple in the tradition of his master Elijah.
2) Elisha’s ministry: Elisha’s ministry as a prophet lasted half a century (885 – 798 bc) across the span of four monarchs,”… Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Joash, sat on the throne of Israel (2 Kings 3:1 ff; cf. 2 Kings 13:14 ff.)”. Elisha’s name means “God is salvation.” (Hastings Dictionary of the Bible [an E-Sword download]). His ministry was revealing of God’s blessings!
a) A miracle for a poor widow: Elisha came to the aid of a poor widow. Now that her husband was deceased, her sons were going to be sold as slaves to pay a debt she could not pay. God worked a miracle through Elisha to cancel that debt as a container of oil supernaturally filled other vessels. It was like a coffee cup filling several gallon jugs. She was able to sell the oil, pay her debt, keep her sons from being sold as slaves and have enough to live on beyond that. (See 2 Kings 4:1 – 7). This miracle story reminds me of a New Testament miracle story when Jesus went to a wedding in Cana where he blessed clay pots filled with water and turned them into wine. Where its was said the best wine was saved for last. That was a day when the glory of God was made manifest (see John 2: 1- 11)!
b) A second miracle: He promised a childless wealthy woman that she would have a child within a year in response to her kindness and hospitality.
i) Backstory: This Shunammite woman noticed how often Elisha passed by in her area. She sensed that he must be a man of God. One day she invited him for a meal. Whenever he passed by he would stop and have a meal there. He passed by so often that she told her husband that she wanted to build him a place to stay.
This couple built Elisha a place to stay in “ a small “… chamber on the wall containing a bed, a table, a stool and a candlestick” (II Kings 4”10) ---the four essentials of Oriental furnishings”. (Herbert Lockyer. All the Miracles of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1961, p. 120). Elisha was grateful for this kindness in providing him a place to stay. He wanted to reward he for her kindness. Gehazi, Elisha’s servant confided that the Shunammite woman was childless. Elisha told her that for her kindness that she would bear a son in less than a year (2Kings 4:13 – 17),
ii) The stigma of barrenness: There are two reasons that barrenness was frowned upon. First, children were a source of security for elderly parents because there were not any established retirement programs. The second reason had to do with the belief that it was a punishment for sin. https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/21164/why-was-it-a-public-disgrace-for-elizabeth-to-be-barren-luke-125 Barrenness for this Shunamite woman would have been a sad thing for her as a widow all alone.
Like Abraham and Sarah, they were passed the age when couples normally had children. The Shunammite woman’s husband was older than she was and it was more than “… likely that her husband would precede her in death which would leave her all alone (Warren Wiersbe. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary OT. Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook. 2007, p. 682). We know from the story of Ruth about the potential hardships of widowed women. Naomi lost both her husband and both of her sons. Then Naomi and her daughters in law Orpah and Ruth were widowed and childless. This Shunammite woman would probably have been ok as a widow because she was wealthy but she would also be lonely and the last of her family line.
iii) Crisis: Elisha’s promise came true. >>> Fast forward to years later the boy was complaining about his head as he was with his father among the reapers. >>> His father sent him sent him home. >>> They laid him on Elisha’s bed. Unfortunately, he died. Many Bible commentators and commentaries have speculated that this boy’s death was caused by a heat stroke.
In modern day, a lady by the name of Joyce Smith lost her son to an accident back in January . Three boys were walking on ice. Three fell through the ice and only two were rescued alive. The third boy, John Smith, was down there for over fifteen minutes. They rushed him to the hospital and tried in vain to resuscitate him. We’ll come back to him in a minute. This story is told in the book entitled Impossible, by John’s mother Joyce Smith. It was also made into a movie called “Breakthrough”. After you hear the rest of this story you will see how that move title is very fitting!
Elisha sent his servant Gehazi to greet the Shunammite woman if something was something because he sensed something was not right. She told Gehazi when he asked about her husband and her son that “all was well” (2 Kings 4:26).
>>> The expression she used when she said ‘all is well’ was the Hebrew word “Shalom” which means peace. Yet, is seemed to be a contradiction to how she really must have felt.
>>> The Shunammite mother seemed calm even though her question must have stung. When she spoke to Elisha: The [Shunammite] woman said to him, "Sir, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to get my hopes up?" (2 Kings 4:28). It seemed as though she was being respectfully sarcastic!
>>> Elisha sent his servant Gehazi to lay his staff on the boy’s face and the boy did not respond. (32) When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. (33) So he went in and closed the door on the two of them, and prayed to the LORD.
>>> As someone has pointed out “ Elisha was a Prophet of the Almighty. He combined natural processes with Divine Inspiration”. https://www.britam.org/Kings/2Kings4.html >>> (34) Then he got up on the bed and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm. (35) He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
This Shunammite woman rejoiced when she heard her son cry after he was born. She must have rejoiced even more when she heard him sneeze! I cannot help but to wonder if he sneezed in Elisha’s face the moment he bent over.
Joyce Smith was in lifeless son’s hospital room when she placed her hand on his ice cold feet as she began to pray. In her own words she said, “I had to be desperate with my Lord. I had to get a hold of God and get a hold of Him fast.
In my Bible Study group we working through Beth Moore’s “Believing God”. In it Beth encourages Christians to embrace the faith statement “I believe God is who He says He is, and I believe God can do what He says He can do.” I knew that the Holy Spirit raised Christ from the dead and that the power that was there was also available to us, God’s children.
All of a sudden, everything and everyone in that room faded away and it was just me and John and God. With a voice that I thought was quiet, but it actually bellowed down the hallway, and throughout the entire emergency room, I declared, “I believe in a God who can do miracles! Holy Spirit, I need You right now to come and breathe life back into my son!”
I sobbed an exhale and closed my eyes.
And in that instant, I heard the sound of a miracle.
Beep ….. beep …. beep ….
John’s heart monitor ----and John’s heart---- sprang back to life. … His pulse came back as the heart monitor started a rhythmic beat.
[Like the Shunammite woman who rejoiced when she heard her son sneeze seven times, Joyce was relieved]. Joyce’s knees gave out as she “…stumbled backward toward the chair and fell into it”.
John had been in the water for close to thirty minutes, under the water for more than twenty minutes, had received CPR for about forty-three minutes, and had been dead for more than an hour. My son was dead and then … he wasn’t dead. John defied the odds all throughout his recovery and by God’s grace and glory until he made a complete recovery. (Joyce Smith. The Impossible. New York: Faith Words, 2017. pp. 32 – 34, [quoted and paraphrased]). I literally wept with tears of sadness and joy when I saw the movie “Breakthrough” based on this story. It was truly a breakthrough that John died and was brought back as an answer to Joyce’s prayer!
3) Significance: >>> There are only three times in the Old Testament that people were resurrected. One was on Elijah’s watch--- the Resurrection of the widow’s son in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17–22) and the other two were on Elisha’s watch the resurrection of the Shunammite woman's son (2 Kings 4:18–37) and the resurrection of the man thrown into Elisha’s grave (2 Kings 13:20 - 21).
>>> “Rabbinic tradition makes him [Habakkuk] the son of the of the Shunammite woman whom Elisha restored to life. Habakkuk was also a prophet of Judah and of the Tribe of Judah and the temple singers” (Habakkuk 3:19). (Herbert Lockyer. All the Men of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Press, 1958, p. 131).
>>> These miracles were a foretaste of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross, conquering sin, death, and the fear of death as He rose from the dead!
>>> It is because of His resurrection that we can live without fear if we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior!
>>> “Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4 NRSV). He gives sight the blind, makes the lame to walk, the mute to speak, the deaf to hear because He said He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one can make it to heaven without Him (John 14:6)!
Do you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
