We read in Psalms 77:11, “I will remember your great deeds, LORD; I will recall the wonders you did in the past.”(GNB)
We recall the wonders of God from the past, so as to understand the manifold nature of our Almighty God. As we meditate on all that is recorded in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, we perceive in depth the heart of God, and all that He desires of us as His children.
Elisha and the woman of Shunem
We read in 2 Kings 4:8, “And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.”(ASV)
As the prophet Elisha passed by the town of Shunem, there was a respectable woman, who invited the prophet to her home, and compelled him to eat bread in her house. The woman recognized Elisha as a man of God, and therefore chose to honor him. We read earlier that Elisha was one who poured water on the hands of the prophet Elijah, and ministered to Elijah. Elisha was so humble, that the Lord honored him with a double portion of the anointing that rested on Elijah. Elisha honored Elijah, and now the woman of Shunem honored Elisha.
In the New Testament we read of Mary, Martha and Lazarus who often invited Jesus to their home and showed Him love and hospitality. They were living in a time when many leaders sought to kill Jesus, and if anyone believed in Jesus they were even cast out of the synagogue. In spite of these oppositions, Mary and Martha determined to be hospitable to Jesus, simply because they knew that He was the Son of God, who was worthy of their honor.
When we honor the Lord’s anointed, the Lord will most assuredly honor us in due time.
1. The woman of Shunem showed hospitality
We read in 2 Kings 4:10, “Let's make a small room on the roof and put a bed, table, chair, and lamp stand there for him. He can stay there whenever he comes to visit us."(GW)
The woman of Shunem then went to her husband, and made a request that they build a small room on the roof of their house for the prophet Elisha, furnish it well, so he could stay with them whenever he passed by that town. The woman of Shunem ministered to Elisha with her hospitality, and she did the very best that she could, with what she had. It was also commendable that she offered this kindness and hospitality to Elisha, not expecting anything in return.
We live in a calculative world, where so often people offer something to someone, expecting to get something back in return. But, the Lord reminds us to be like this woman, who served with kindness, without anticipating anything in return.
As Elisha visited the house of the woman of Shunem often, enjoying her heartfelt generosity, he was prompted to look for some way he could bless this woman, who showed such cordiality to him.
We read in 2 Kings 4:13, he said to Gehazi, "Ask her what I can do for her in return for all the trouble she has had in providing for our needs. Maybe she would like me to go to the king or the army commander and put in a good word for her." "I have all I need here among my own people," she answered. (GNB)
Elisha was a man of God, who was truly grateful to the woman of Shunem, and wanted to bless her back in any possible way. Elisha called his servant Gehazi, and sent him to the woman to find out if there was anything that he could do, in appreciation for all that she did for him. Elisha was a man of great influence, and he wanted to know if he could put in a word for her to the king or the army commander to which the woman replied, ‘I have all I need here among my own people’. Here was a woman who was so filled with contentment and satisfaction, that she desired nothing more from Elisha.
Our God is mindful of all that we do, and when it is done as unto Him, the Lord will never forget it. We read in Hebrews 6:10, “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” (NKJV) If the Lord were to ask us if there was anything we wanted to have, I am sure that most of us would have a long list of requests. Like the woman of Shunem, we must decide to be grateful to the Lord for all that He has bestowed upon us, instead of complaining and wanting to have more and more.
We read in 2 Kings 4:14, Elisha conferred with Gehazi: "There's got to be something we can do for her. But what?" Gehazi said, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man." (GNB)
Now Elisha summons his servant Gehazi, to find out if he knew of anything that the woman could be in need of. Gehazi then told the Elisha that the woman had no son, and that her husband was an old man.
Elisha’s outlook was spiritual being focused on serving the Lord, while Gehazi had a worldly perspective of things, and his mind set on worldly possessions. The eyes of a spiritual man see things from God’s viewpoint, whereas a person who is earthly only perceives things from a worldly standpoint. This was also evident in the incident of Naaman the Syrian commander who was healed of leprosy by obeying the word of Elisha. When Naaman came back and offered loads of gifts to Elisha, he refused to accept anything from Naaman. However, Gehazi ran after Naaman and received the gifts that Elisha refused from Naaman, and ended up contracting the leprosy that Naaman had been healed of.
It is good for us to examine ourselves to see if our eyes are focused on the things of God, or on just the earthly things. We must decide to fix our eyes on Jesus alone. The woman of Shunem had a great need, she was childless and probably derided by others, but she had a heart of contentment, for she believed in God, and knew that in His time God could give her a child, if He desired to.
The woman of Shunem was blessed with a son
In 2 Kings 4:16-17 we read, and Elisha said to her, "By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms." But, as Elisha had said, at about that time the following year she gave birth to a son. (GNB)
Elisha called the woman and promised her that God would bless her with a son, and true to His word the Lord helped the woman conceive. The following year, God fulfilled the words of Elisha, and she gave birth to a son.
It all began when the woman of Shunem decided to honor the man of God with her hospitality and generosity, not considering the lack of a child in her own life. She esteemed the Lord’s anointed, and the blessing she received in return was a son from the hands of God.
If we like that woman of Shunem are willing to use whatever little is in our hands to serve and honor God, the Lord will do wonders in our lives that are far beyond our expectations.
We read in Matthew 10:41, “The person who welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet's reward.” (GW)
The woman recognized that Elisha was a holy man, a prophet of God and as she respected him, the Lord gave her the due reward. So also, when we give the honor due to the servants of God, we will most certainly receive the rightful recompense from God Himself.
2. The woman of Shunem had faith and perseverance
A few years later, the son of the Shunnamite woman, took ill and died. This is what the woman did when her son died on her lap.
We read in 2 Kings 4:21,“She took him upstairs and laid him on the bed of the man of God, left the room, and shut the door behind her.” (GW)
This woman did not place the son on his own cot, but took him to the prophet’s room, and laid him on the prophet’s cot closing the door behind him. Here was a woman who did not wail and cry when tragedy struck her son. A woman of fear would have been totally broken considering the next steps for the burial of her son, but here was a woman of faith, who did not even tell her husband that their son had died, but ran to the prophet. She believed that if God gave her a son, He did so to bless her, and that the Lord would not take her son away from her so suddenly. She also ran believing that God had endowed the prophet with the power to raise the boy back from death, to grant him a new lease of life.
In 2 Kings 4:26, we read, “Run to meet her and ask her how she, her husband, and the boy are doing." "Everyone's fine," she answered.” (GW)
As the woman of Shunem came rushing to meet Elisha, the prophet recognized her at a distance, and sent Gehazi to enquire if all was well with her, her husband and her son, to which she replied, ‘Everyone’s fine’. This is a strange answer, knowing that she had just laid her dead son on the prophet’s cot back home. She begged Elisha to come to her home, and all through the entire episode she did not once mention to Elisha or Gehazi, that her son was indeed dead. The prophet also declared that the Lord had also hidden this incident from him.
Many of us when we encounter difficulties, we share with others who have no faith, and end up being filled with all sorts of fears. Often we speak negative words, and make our situations far worse than what they actually are. When faced with any sort of difficult situations, it is important that we don’t let any negative words proceed from our mouth. We often speak with finality into several circumstances, thereby creating a sense of apprehension. There are others, who when met with some simple symptoms, check them out on google, and often conclude wrongly that they are struck with some untreatable malady. Instead of analyzing the symptoms of our sickness or situations, we should like the woman of Shunem, run to God who can turn everything around in no time.
We read in 2 Kings 4:32, “When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the room and saw the boy lying dead on the bed.” (GNB)
Also in 2 Kings 4:35, “Elisha got up, walked around the room, and then went back and again stretched himself over the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes.” (GNB)
It was only when Elisha entered his room, did he realize that the boy was dead. Elisha stretched himself over the boy twice, and as he did so, the boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. The woman’s hospitality resulted in her being blessed with a son, her faith and perseverance culminated in her receiving her dead son back to life.
Often in the midst of hardships and challenges, we give up praying, and thereby lose out on our blessings because we do not persevere with faith. When we turn to the presence of the Lord and lay at his feet all our problems and difficulties, the Lord will intervene to do the miraculous, bringing great deliverance. Instead of seeking advice from those around us, most of which may be ungodly, it is far wiser for us to pursue after God and receive His counsel.
3. The woman of Shunem was obedient
We read in 2 Kings 8:1-2, “Now Elisha had told the woman who lived in Shunem, whose son he had brought back to life, that the LORD was sending a famine on the land, which would last for seven years, and that she should leave with her family and go and live somewhere else. She had followed his instructions, and had gone with her family to live in Philistia for the seven years.” (GNB)
When Elisha foretold the woman of Shunem that there was a famine imminent in the land, which would last for seven years, and instructed her to leave elsewhere, she and her family did so without questioning. She was implicitly obedient to the word of God, through the prophet Elisha. This resulted in the woman and her family being saved from the severe famine that plagued the land of Israel for seven years.
To those who are willing to obey the word of God wholeheartedly, the power of God will be made manifest most certainly in every area of our lives.
God restored everything to the woman of Shunem
We read further in 2 Kings 8:3-4, “At the end of the seven years she returned to Israel and went to the king to ask that her house and her land be restored to her. She found the king talking with Gehazi, Elisha's servant; the king wanted to know about Elisha's miracles.”
After the seven years of famine were over, the woman of Shunem decided to go back to her home in Israel to petition the King of Israel to restore all that belonged to her. As she went back she was probably filled with apprehension, if all of her house and possessions would ever be restored back to her. She must have proceeded to her home town with much confusion and turmoil wondering as to what would have become of all that she had left behind.
At that exact time, when the woman of Shunem went to place her petition to the King of Israel, there was Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, elaborating to the king all that the Lord had performed through Elisha the Prophet. As Gehazi narrated the part of the incident of the miracle of the son of the woman of Shunem being raised to life, at that very moment the woman and her son appeared before the king to present her request. Immediately Gehazi introduced her to the king as the woman whose son Elisha had raised from the dead.
In 2 Kings 8:6, “And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto 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.” (ASV)
When the king saw the woman of Shunem, he now desired to hear the incident firsthand from her. As she recounted in detail the wonderful miracles that God executed in her life through Elisha, the king was totally pleased. The king appointed an officer to go out with her and restore back to her all that was hers, all the fruits of the field, since the day she left the land until the time she came back. By her obedience to the word of Elisha, though she had to leave everything behind, the Lord honored her obedience and restored every bit of what was due to her right back to her a hundred fold.
When we go forth in obedience to the word of God, no matter what our hardships are the Lord will intervene to restore everything back to us. We live in a rebellious time where obedience is hard for many, but for those who chose to obey God and His word, His grace will be poured out in abundance. Obedience may seem hard, but when we chose to walk in obedience, the Lord will restore back to us all that we have lost. God is a faithful God and He will restore back to us all that we have missed.
There are important lessons we learn from the woman of Shunem. She was a woman who practiced hospitality, one who had unshakeable faith with unwavering perseverance, and was totally obedient to the word of God. The Lord will work wonders and restore to us too, if we use whatever is in our hands for His glory, live a life of faith, choosing to speak only words of faith, persevere in this faith walk, and live a life of complete obedience to the word of God.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
